Chapter 10

Rob crouched in the bushes, concealing himself in the shadows.

Pre-Tutorial Rob would have been irritated and fidgety with the bushes and brambles poking into his body. Now with his high Endurance attribute, the scratches of branches were not even noticeable. He could already feel himself slowly shedding the mindsets and attitude of his prior lifestyle, and embracing the new world of the jungle.

He narrowed his eyes and took in the five Jungle Lizards in the small clearing, hanging out by a small pond. The pond was negligible; it was more like a large puddle. Just a little patch of water to hangout by and cool off from the sun.

Rob focused and triggered his Identify skill on each of the Jungle Lizards in front of him. In his first battle, he hadn’t had time to Identify the two Jungle Lizards that had surprised him, but he found afterwards that both had been a level higher than the lizard he’d consciously chosen to fight.

So, it felt wise to check these new Jungle Lizards to see what levels they all were. It wasn’t safe to assume they’d all be the same level and the last thing he wanted to do was start a battle with a bunch of level 10 creatures.

He triggered Identify one by one and read them all in his system panel.

Rob was pleased with the information he picked up.

Taking on five Jungle Lizards was going to be a lot, and if a few of them were over level 6, that would have made things even more nervewracking, so he was glad to see the majority of them were a lower level than him. They would be the perfect group of creatures to test his new ability on.

He closed his eyes and let his new increased powers of Perception do their work. He could hear the rhythm of the jungle. The breeze of the ocean nearby. The breathing of the Jungle Lizards. From what he could tell, there weren’t any other lizards sneakily hiding in the bushes nearby.

Good.

Rob gripped his spear and planned his attack.

One of the level 4 Jungle Lizards was closer to him than the others.

He narrowed his eyes. The runt would be his first target.

Ideally, he’d want to take out the two level 5s first as they were the bigger threats, but they were closer to the pond, and so he wouldn’t be able to take advantage of this opening sneak opportunity.

Anyways, if he injured the level 4s, they might be less effective, allowing him to quickly take out the level 5s once the battle properly started.

Rob sucked in air through his nostrils. His heart beat in his chest. The excitement was rising in him. The thirst for battle and hunting was about to be quenched once more.

He consciously thought “Battle Instinct” in his head to see if he could trigger the skill on the level 4 Jungle Lizard, but nothing happened. He still wasn’t entirely sure whether the skill worked passively or if he could trigger it outright. It might not work at all until the system considered whatever altercation he was in as “a battle”.

He picked up a nearby rock and threw it out from the bushes so that it landed close by but within earshot of the level 4 Jungle Lizard.

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The rock made a shallow thump sound onto the ground. The nearby Jungle Lizard’s eyes perked up at this. It stretched its neck and turned in the direction of the bushes where Rob was hiding.

It slowly turned around and began to waddle towards Rob. Its eyes were completely innocent of an enemy nearby.

Rob clutched the shaft of his spear. He held his breath.

The Jungle Lizard got close to the shrub he was hiding behind and as it did so, something interesting happened.

It lifted up its neck, and just below its jaw, its body began to sparkle.

Rob’s eyes widened.

That’s it, he thought.

Battle Instinct was in full effect.

As soon as the Jungle Lizard’s neck sparkled, Rob reacted.

He thrusted his spear forward. The metal tip and shaft shot out of the bushes like a speeding arrow.

The spear went right through the lizard’s jugular.

Blood explosively shot out, showering the bushes and some of Rob’s skin.

The level 4 Jungle Lizard had been killed in one shot. Rob assumed the vulnerable spot from Battle Instinct and the fact that it was a stealth kill must have added loads of bonus damage.

The four remaining Jungle Lizards all perked up now, aware of a threat nearby.

Rob, still out of sight, retreated backwards.

He wanted to lead the Jungle Lizards out of the open and into the jungle.

His heart raced.