Chapter 21: Predator Of The Deep Woods After the three of them had safely left the forest, Alex bid his two new acquaintances goodbye. But of course, Alex wasn’t planning to waste the day. He wouldn’t return just yet. ’Since the conflict is in the northwest, I’ll just go to the east,’ Alex thought as he made his way to the eastern outskirts of the forest. He wanted to cover as much ground as possible. This way, he could map the outer perimeter of the forest, allowing him to see monsters prowling in the locations he had visited once. Dim Dim hadn’t said anything either, which meant it hadn’t sensed any danger in the surroundings. Two hours later, Alex successfully found an area filled with Redcap Mushrooms, allowing him to reach his quota. However, he hadn’t seen any Thornberries, making him sigh in regret. Just as he was planning to dive a little deeper to look for the elusive berries, Dim Dim suddenly warned him. "Dim!" Alex immediately stopped moving and crouched down as low as possible. Dim Dim told him that there was a lone Rank 2 Monster approaching his location. The young man hid first, wanting to know what kind of monster it was. If it could be defeated, he would try to fight it. Otherwise, he would stay away and leave the forest for the day. Soon, a nearly two-meter-long Red-Eyed Zebra Jumping Spider entered his vision. **** < Red-Eyed Zebra Jumping Spider > Monster Rank: Rank 2 Monster Monster Grade: Common Health: 200 Attack: 20 - 50 Note: This predator of the deep woods brings inescapable death to those weaker than it. The moment you see it, it has already leaped. And by then, it is far too late. **** Alex wasn’t good with spiders, especially the big and hairy ones. He read the information, and he wasn’t confident that he was strong enough to defeat it. Based on the TV documentary he had watched in the past, jumping spiders weren’t really aggressive to humans. But when the jumping spider was nearly two meters long, the possibility of humans being part of their diet was really high. ’Sh*t.’ Alex’s entire body tensed, knowing how fast these spiders could move. Not to mention, it was a Rank 2 Monster, making it a very dangerous opponent. Of course, it was still possible to defeat it, but Alex wasn’t too keen on facing a creature that gave him goosebumps. The young man’s body tensed as adrenaline pumped through his body, currently in fight or flight mode. Alex observed the jumping spider carefully, preparing for what it might do next. Given the current situation, being forced to fight with his life on the line was not far off as an option. The tense standoff dragged on for nearly half a minute before the monster suddenly turned its head toward Alex. Its eight eyes locked firmly onto him, and in that moment, he knew there was no more hiding. When the spider crouched down in preparation for a jump, Alex swiftly took out one of his Brittle Vials, which he had filled with a mixture of chili powder and black pepper. Everything happened so fast. Before he knew it, the vial had already left his hand and the spider was already mid-air, having leapt from its spot. Alex didn’t pause to check if the vial had hit its mark. He quickly dove to the side, trying to avoid the monster that had locked onto him. A second later, a heavy thud sounded as the spider landed in the area where he originally stood. One of the spider’s front legs was stained red, enough for Alex to assume the vial had hit the monster mid-jump. Unfortunately, since it had only struck the leg, the attack had barely done any real damage. The spider didn’t hesitate. In the blink of an eye, it sprang forward, its eight legs blurring as it closed the distance between them. Alex threw himself to the side, rolling behind a nearby tree just as the monster crashed into where he’d been a moment before. With the creature’s speed, running wasn’t even an option. His only chance to win was to hurt it badly enough to make it back off or land one clean hit on its head with one of his brittle vials. And for that, he needed a clear shot. The spider screeched, frustrated by another missed attack. Making use of the terrain, Alex moved from tree to tree, avoiding fighting it head-on. He let the woods shield him, successfully keeping himself uninjured. "Dim Dim!" "Okay, let’s go with that plan!" The Dim Sum God jumped off Alex’s head and climbed the tree he was using as a shield. Holding a vial in his hand, Alex tried to hit the spider’s head, but the latter was moving too fast for him to hit. The only thing he could do was to circle around the tree, holding a sword with his left hand and a vial with his right. The young man was right-handed, so swinging with his left hand halved his fighting prowess. However, there was nothing he could do about it. He put all of his concentration into trying to stay alive, circling around the tree to prevent the spider from biting him. A desperate struggle ensued, making Alex sweat profusely. Sometimes he would thrust his sword forward in an attempt to stab the monster’s head, but its legs would block his attack, pushing his weapon aside. It would then counterattack, but Alex didn’t stay still. He kept moving, circling the tree like his life depended on it, using the thick trunk to shield himself from the enemy. To an onlooker, the scene would look unserious and quite silly. They might not even think that a life was on the line and assume that the young man and spider were merely playing a game of tag. Suddenly, the sound of something breaking reached Alex’s ears. A moment later, a screech of pain reverberated through the forest. Dim Dim had climbed up the tree earlier, holding two of Alex’s brittle vials. Being the reliable teammate it was, it threw one of the vials at the spider’s head at the right moment. The vial broke, hitting the monster’s head. Its contents spread and hit its eyes, blinding it momentarily. Knowing that he couldn’t miss this moment of truth, Alex struck the monster’s head with his sword. Blue blood sprayed from the monster’s head, and its screaming only became louder. With a roar, Alex hacked the monster’s head a second time. However, the monster jumped away, so his attack only grazed the side of its body. Still blinded by Dim Dim’s surprise attack, the jumping spider slammed into a tree head-first, causing it to stagger before falling. Alex knew that if he didn’t kill this monster now, the one who would die was him. Since the spider was thrashing about, it was extremely hard to target its head. In the end, the young man resorted to hacking whatever was within his reach. He hacked its legs, then its back, then the side of its body, and watched as blue blood streamed down from its injuries. But this wasn’t enough to make him feel better. Thinking that the effect of the vial might be weakening by the second, he threw more vials at the monster’s head as soon as he saw an opportunity. Every time the chili-pepper mix got into the monster’s eyes, a loud scream left its vocal cords as it jumped and thrashed about, desperately crazy to flee. Unfortunately, they were surrounded by trees, so every time it jumped, a part of its body would hit a tree, adding injury to itself. **** < Red-Eyed Zebra Jumping Spider > Monster Rank: Rank 2 Monster Monster Grade: Common Health: 30/200 Attack: 20 - 50 **** When Alex saw the monster’s health points were around the 15% mark and still decreasing due to bleeding damage, he no longer held back and started to hack it repeatedly. He no longer cared what part of its body he could hit. As long as he dealt damage to it, that was good enough. Finally, the spider uttered its dying scream before collapsing on the ground. [Level Up!] Alex didn’t even bother inspecting the monster’s body, directly storing it inside his beast pouch. Without hesitation, he dumped all of his stat points into Agility before running away. Leaving the forest was his top priority, especially since he was certain that his battle against the jumping spider had caught the attention of monsters in the area. Dim Dim was following behind him, jumping from tree branch to tree branch. They only slowed down when both of them had managed to leave the forest completely. As soon as the woods were all behind them, Alex caught Dim Dim as the latter jumped in his direction. Still not feeling safe from his latest encounter, he decided to speed up again, only stopping when he was hundreds of meters away from the forest. As he panted, sweat dripped down his clothes, which were dyed blue by the blood of the spider. He looked disheveled, but looking like a mess was still better than being dead. After he regained his breath, he headed straight back to the city, ignoring the looks of the guards, as well as the people, who saw his sorry state. Thinking that Dahlia would tease him if he went to the Adventurer’s Guild in his current state, Alex decided to return to his inn to take a shower and switch to a new set of clothes. He hoped that the profit from the monsters he acquired during his latest trip in the forest would allow him to stay in the city for a few more days. ’I underestimated a Rank 2 Monster,’ Alex thought. ’I need to train more and raise my stats. I just got lucky this time.’ His Master would be returning after a week, so he planned to focus on his swordsmanship training. That way, he could further ensure that Cairo would be satisfied with what he’d see once he was back.