*GROWL*
Shye quickly looked behind him after hearing a growl.
He couldn't immediately spot where the creature who growled at him was but as the creature slowly descended from the branches of a tree, he finally saw its whole body.
His pupils dilated upon recognizing the creature.
A gale leopard!
He knew that a gale leopard was one of the apex predators of the beginner adventurer zone so Shye was a bit intimidated.
He unconsciously backed away but he tripped on something and fell on his butt. Upon looking at the thing that tripped him, Shye's eyes widened.
Badly mangled corpses of two adventurers were rotting behind the dense shrubbery.
Fortunately, Shye was able to quickly gather his wits as he stood back up and assumed his battle stance.
He knew that there was no way he could outrun a gale leopard right now so his only choice was to defeat it in combat.
The gale leopard slowly crept towards him as it bared its fangs. Saliva slowly dripped from its open mouth as the leopard fantasized about feeding on his corpse.
Finally, the leopard couldn't wait any longer and pounced at Shye.
He quickly moved to the side as the gale leopard's two front paws landed at the place where he previously stood.
A chance!
Shye quickly slashed his Iron Greatsword at the gale leopard's body but unfortunately, the leopard was too quick.
He had perfect timing on the dodge which opened up a chance for him but he still wasn't able to touch the gale leopard's body.
"Damn…This big cat is too quick!" Shye thought to himself.
After dodging his slash, the gale leopard immediately pounced at him again but unfortunately, this time, he wasn't able to escape scot-free.
The leopard's claw managed to open up a small claw wound on his left arm.
Shye blocked the small wound with his right hand to momentarily stop the bleeding as he tried to think of a way to defeat the gale leopard.
"This gale leopard is quicker than me but it is a bit weaker when it comes to raw strength…"
Shye muttered to himself as he continued to ponder.
Unfortunately, the leopard wasn't gonna give him some free time to think as it immediately tried to swipe at his left arm again.
This time, Shye saw this as a chance so he tried to use the same tactics he used against the greywolf back when he was still weak.
The leopard's claws dug deep into his left arm but in exchange, Shye cleanly slashed the leopard's right front paw.
*GROWL*
The leopard growled in pain and blood splattered on the ground as the leopard's paw separated from its right front leg.
On the other hand, Shye gnashed his teeth due to how painful the deep wounds on his left arm were.
His left arm limped down as he tried holding the Iron Greatsword with a single hand.
The gale leopard had difficulties walking due to its severed right front paw. However, as a wild animal who operated on instincts, it charged towards Shye even while struggling on three legs.
Shye's determined eyes looked straight at the charging gale leopard. It had already pounced at him multiple times so he was confident that he could find the right timing to defeat it.
As the leopard awkwardly pounced, Shye stepped back by half a step and slashed his Iron Greatsword horizontally.
…
At the entrance of the beginner adventurer zone, the two guards were chatting casually.
However, as they saw a limping silhouette walking out from the forest, the two of them stopped chatting and immediately dashed towards the figure to help.
They're already familiar with such a scene and arriving a split second faster might decide the life or death of that individual.
This is why the two of them didn't hesitate and immediately dashed at the figure who limped out from the forest.
Their pupils dilated after seeing that the figure was a bloody Shye. He limped out of the forest through sheer willpower after harvesting the remains of the gale leopard.
He knew that he might die if he didn't get treatment right away but he still risked harvesting the gale leopard's carcass first.
Shye was low on money right now and although he didn't know how much would the gale leopard's important parts sell for, he knew that it was valuable since it was from an apex predator of the beginner adventurer zone.
"H-Hey! Are you alright?"
"Do I look like I'm alright?" Shye thought to himself.
"I'm bleeding heavily from my left arm and I feel weak because of it…" He honestly admitted to the guards.
"Wait here!"
A guard swiftly ran towards the guard house while the other guard helped him sit down.
A few moments later, the other guard ran back to them while holding some sort of healing salve on his left hand and a leaf bandage on his right hand.
Fortunately for Shye, these two guards knew what to do so his wounds were treated quickly.
He sincerely thanked the two guards for treating him and promised to bring back some food for them some other time.
After hearing Shye's promise, the two guards smiled happily.
They weren't happy about the promise regarding food but they were happy about a student in the top 20 owing his life to them.
In addition to this, the student seemed like a good kid so the guards were happy that they were able to save him.
Once he felt better, Shye left the two guards and headed home to rest.
It was almost night time and Maia was probably worried about him so he decided to go home first and eat a warm dinner with his beloved little sister.