Courage and Thought

"I'd only just arrived in the Hidden Borderlands, and there were Ice Badgers!"

"It wasn't easy getting the chance to come out and learn from an Awakened, yet we ran into these things again."

"What kind of cursed fate is this?"

On the frozen river, Linsey ran for his life.

He did not choose to step onto the log. Setting aside how much time the wooden bridge could save, the slick surface alone would likely make him fall off.

At a time like this, he had to conserve as much stamina as possible. He could not gamble on something like that.

The moment he reached the frozen river, Linsey's feet slipped.

But he had prepared himself for this race between life and death. With a sprint, he steadied himself, using the slick ice to accelerate and slide a considerable distance forward.

At the same time, three Ice Badgers emerged from the forest.

The one Linsey had provoked with his arrow charged the hardest. It had no time to observe its surroundings, fixated solely on the target ahead, and leaped onto the ice as well.

It landed right where Linsey had slid over.

The ice there was covered by a layer of snow Linsey had just compacted, making it slicker than anywhere else.

Caught completely off guard, the Ice Badger immediately slipped and fell.

"Awoo!"

Linsey heard the sound from up ahead.

His chance had come!

Without waiting for his momentum to fade, he boldly extended his left hand and planted his short bow against the ground. Using three points of support to steady his balance, he turned around.

The Ice Badger came into view, but Linsey's first glance went to the weapon in his hand.

"Good. No problem."

He sighed in relief.

Though the weapon Dan had given him looked ordinary, it was quite sturdy and had not suffered any damage.

"Now..."

Recalling the shooting techniques he had learned yesterday and following his skill's guidance,

Linsey gripped the middle of the bow with his left hand, wrapping all four fingers and his thumb around the bow, while fully extending his arm.

Then, with his right hand perpendicular to the bow, he nocked an arrow.

The arrow's tail rested roughly at the center of the bowstring, and he drew it all the way back to his lips.

At that moment, his eye, the arrowhead, and the arrow's tail formed a straight line.

Linsey aimed at the fallen Ice Badger and fired. Smack—

His novice-level Basic Archery undoubtedly missed again.

But Linsey's expression did not change. He kept his breathing as steady as possible and drew another arrow from behind his back.

With breaths so tense that he could almost hear his own heartbeat,

he drew the string as he inhaled and released it as he exhaled.

Twanging—

The bowstring rang, and the arrow flew.

Having adjusted after the first shot, Linsey's second arrow struck true.

The Ice Badger, which had just struggled back to its feet, was pierced straight through the belly. It shrieked and writhed on the ice, blood staining the surrounding ice and snow red.

"Awoo! Awoo! Awoo!"

Almost at the same moment, Linsey leaped backward.

The instant he jumped, the other two Ice Badgers fired Ice Cones toward his chest.

The chance to hit the enemy lasted only a few brief seconds.

And life and death hung by a thread.

The Ice Cones missed his vital points, but they still carved two bloody gashes across Linsey's chest that froze instantly.

"Hiss—"

Agonizing pain surged through him, but Linsey did not dare waste even a second.

Using both hands and feet, he scrambled awkwardly off the ice, then lurched forward in another sliding step, as though he were about to fall.

It looked as though he had landed a successful blow.

But Linsey was panicking inside, and even felt as if time had slowed by a beat.

Pain kept radiating from the wounds on his chest.

A thread of icy source material even tried to invade his body, only to be immediately blocked by Linsey's own Life Source Material.

"Fifteen seconds."

"Two left."

Linsey repeated the experience he had gained during his first encounter with Ice Badgers in the forest, counting the two remaining enemies.

Then, his thoughts began to clear.

At a time like this, the most important thing was to stay calm! He had dealt with one while facing three against one, so with only two against one now, his chances of defeating these two Ice Badgers were greater.

And although these beasts were magical creatures capable of casting spells,

at their core, they were merely wild animals that had gained source material this year. There was no way they could become especially clever in such a short time!

He was already injured, and his stamina could not support running for much longer.

Linsey's gaze hardened.

After calming down, a plan gradually formed in his mind.

After crossing the frozen river, Linsey ran north with a clear objective.

The two Ice Badgers chased relentlessly behind him.

Linsey's stamina bar steadily dwindled.

But he did not conserve his strength at all. He ran at full speed, repeating what he had learned from the first chase as his figure constantly darted between the trees, using the dense terrain around him as cover.

Seeing this, the two Ice Badgers behind him grew increasingly frantic in pursuit.

A few minutes later, Linsey suddenly stopped.

"This is it."

He looked at his nearly depleted stamina, took a deep breath, drew the last two arrows from his quiver, nocked them, and fired.

Two whooshes cut through the air, and this attack missed as well.

But the Ice Badgers were indeed enraged. They sped up again, while two Ice Cones shot toward Linsey in response to his attack.

Only then did Linsey leap forward.

He slipped between two birch trees and continued fleeing.

The next second—

"Awoo!"

One Ice Badger let out a miserable cry.

A Snare Trap set there had caught it around the neck, instantly hoisting it into the air as its four legs kicked wildly.

The space between these two birch trees was where Linsey had staked everything.

It was also where Dan had set a trap earlier!

After checking the condition of their traps, hunters would often reset them.

And Linsey had personally watched the Female Hunter set this snare.

A game trail ran directly between the two trees, terrain where animals were easily caught. Naturally, it was also the best place for a hunter to set a trap.

And after Linsey deliberately provoked them, the two Ice Badgers truly gave no thought to anything but charging after him.

Thus, the one in front

was immediately caught by the snare and dangled in the air, struggling in agony.

"Now it's one against one!"

With another of the three Ice Badgers eliminated, Linsey immediately turned around and lunged at the final enemy.

At times like this, courage was the most important thing!

Besides, these two Ice Badgers had just attacked him with Ice Cones. Their fifteen-second cooldown was far from over, so it was merely a beast with some stamina now. He would never find a better chance.

Victory or defeat would be decided in this one move! Linsey flung away his short bow with his left hand while drawing his short knife with his right.

The instant he collided with the lunging Ice Badger, he used every ounce of strength he had to seize its body, then drove the knife in with his right hand.

The exchange between the short knife and the Ice Badger lasted only an instant.

Linsey saw the Ice Badger springing from the ground, saw the soft belly of the magical beast pressing toward him, and saw the sharp tip of his knife extending forward.

Then he swung the blade upward from below.

He plunged it into flesh at its weakest point, destroying the most vital fragile organs.

Squelch—

The strike hit a vital spot directly. The Ice Badger barely struggled before going limp in Linsey's arms.

Linsey's hand and knife were both covered in blood.

He quickly got up and stabbed the Ice Badger's head several more times.

Then he immediately turned and slit the throat of the Ice Badger hanging from the snare.

Seeing all the Ice Badgers before him dead, Linsey dropped onto the snow and finally let out a breath.

"Ah..."

At that moment, an indescribable sense of accomplishment rose in Linsey's heart.

When he had first arrived in the Hidden Borderlands, he had been chased by a single Ice Badger and could only flee in a sorry state. In the end, he had relied on good luck to find a suitable place and kill it.

But now—

After only three days of training, by combining various skills and pieces of information, he had managed to defeat three enemies alone.

That sense of accomplishment was impossible to describe.

Linsey panted heavily, then suddenly realized something and checked his personal attributes.

Danger brought unexpected gains.

After this life-and-death battle, the Experience Points for his Basic Archery had filled completely, changing from (Novice) to (Mastered). His knife technique, which he had used only once at the end, had also risen by one-third.

Among his basic attributes, the increases in agility and strength were not as obvious as his skills, but they had still filled by a quarter.

Battles between life and death truly yielded far more experience than simple practice.

Linsey shook his head, both pleased and helpless. "The gains are certainly considerable."

"But compared to facing this kind of danger, I'd rather take things slowly."

As he recovered his stamina, Linsey picked up his short bow and arrows. Enduring the pain in his chest, he staggered back toward where he had come from.

Ju must have been badly frightened by the sudden danger too.

He could not return too late.