The Discarded Son's Skill Market
Chapter 28: Surrounded

Chapter 28: Surrounded

Zaid and Scarlett walked through the area with great caution. This was the first time Zaid had to walk while protecting someone else, so he had to be extremely careful.

Keeping an eye on his surroundings so as not to miss anything was his specialty, thanks to his passive Talent, so there weren’t too many problems.

"Is it always this lonely? I’d heard that the portals were deadly," Scarlett said in an astonished whisper.

Zaid glanced at her and asked, "Is this your first time going in?"

"Yes. My master used to handle it," she replied. "But he’s not in town right now, so..."

Zaid nodded thoughtfully and looked around. "Dungeons and portals are truly deadly. But the early areas aren’t usually that dangerous. And this area isn’t exactly a portal or a dungeon, so we won’t run into too many beasts. If we’re lucky, a few dozen rats and a couple of rabbits."

No sooner had he said that than he raised his right hand to stop Scarlett from advancing. "Speak of the devil—here he comes," he whispered.

His dagger was already in his hand, and his ears pricked up.

Chrr!

A faint metallic screech rang out, and the sound of tiny paws tapping the ground told him who his enemy was.

Several tiny creatures emerged from the darkness in his blind spots and leaped toward him. They were small, but their iron teeth were deadly.

Moreover, the slime dripping from them—mutated poison—signaled danger.

However, his strength had increased beyond what it had been that first time. He stepped forward to dodge the first one, noticing that two were jumping and three others were coming along the ground.

Since they were so small, it was best to focus on the ones on the ground first.

He swung his dagger in a horizontal downward strike and severed a neck in a single blow. He then moved forward and plunged the dagger into another rat, killing two of them.

The third one, who was on the ground, was quick-witted and dodged his attack by throwing itself to the ground. Zaid then swung his dagger backward and aimed at his opponent; his dagger pierced it side and then ripped through its guts, killing it from blood loss.

But he didn’t just stand there watching that rat die. His attention turned to the other two.

After seeing that Zaid had dodged them in a single move, they tried to attack Scarlett.

But they didn’t get there in time.

Zaid had already killed their three friends by the time they had even thought of doing so, and they ended up impaled on the deadly dagger.

It all happened so quickly that Scarlett was stunned.

"Wow..." That was all she could say.

"Gather the things you need, and let’s keep going. The Rabbits are somewhere else; we have to look for them carefully."

She nodded. From her storage ring, she pulled out a couple of knives and some special bags.

"Can I take more than what’s listed? These guys’ guts are really good!"

"You can take whatever you want—those rats are yours anyway. Why don’t you just take the whole rat?"

She was delighted and cheerfully began to cut it up. "It’s too heavy; I don’t want my storage ring to be any heavier than it already is. It’s already heavy enough that I feel like it’ll build me some serious muscle," she joked.

She took several useful parts, but left the teeth there.

"Why don’t you take the teeth? I heard they’re the most useful part of these things," he asked.

"I’m an alchemist; the teeth are no use to me. They’re too hard."

"Oh..."

That makes sense.

An alchemist works with fire, but not with a hammer. The iron teeth on these tools are very useful for blacksmiths and similar, but alchemists need their materials to mix quickly with the rest in order to make their potions or whatever else they do.

She finished getting everything ready very quickly; she was an expert. Thanks to that, they were able to keep moving deeper in.

Zaid killed another five rats after that, until he didn’t find any more for a long time.

"If I’m not mistaken, Poisonous Rabbits usually live among rat burrows and in the gentle dampness of the trees..." said Zaid, arriving at an area where both conditions were met.

He had seen several rats going in and out of their burrows. There weren’t too many, but there were a few. These rabbits feed on the mutated poison from these rats and on the cockroaches that are always around them, which is why they live nearby.

So Zaid and Scarlett hid in the trees and waited patiently.

The rats scurried in and out of their burrows, but there were a few burrows from which nothing had yet emerged or gone in.

Zaid paid special attention to them and readied his dagger in case he needed it.

Just as he had expected, a white thing with green teeth emerged from one of those seemingly deserted burrows.

It looked hideous, but otherwise it was identical to a rabbit.

[Poisonous Rabbit: Rank F.] The system displayed this information above its head.

Zaid gripped the dagger tightly and activated his talent. He immediately hurled it at full speed.

The dagger flew toward it, and he leaped from behind. Before the Rabbit could even see what was attacking it, it had a dagger lodged in its chest.

Kyaa! A scream of pain escaped from its hideous, venomous mouth, and it tried to retreat back into the cave.

However, Zaid got there first. With a blow to the top of its head, the Rabbit was pinned to the ground.

[You have killed a F-Rank Poisonous Rabbit...]

[You gain 10 Primordial Essence Points.]

[You have reached Level 3!]

[+5 Stat Points to all your stats]

Zaid felt a sudden boost in all his stats, which maximized his happiness and performance.

Not only did his strength increase—to the point where it was even frightening—but his agility did as well; he finally felt that it was truly useful.

Similarly, he felt his vitality renewed. The few wounds he had were healed by this boost, and his mind became more decisive and sharper.

Those 20 Intelligence points made a positive difference, also enhancing his perception.

He wanted to grab the dead rabbit and take it with him, but he heard the squeals of several animals.

He smiled. ’Killing one will bring them all out, won’t it? Let’s see how many I can catch...’ Zaid looked behind him; there were several rats.

In front of him were the rabbits.

There were 25 in all.