One Sword at a Time, Draw the Sword

"I'll cut down the walking corpses!"

Just as Old Man Jack and the others were locked in a stalemate with the walking corpses outside the door, Tian Xing stepped forward. He understood clearly now: if no one went out to cut down the walking corpses, then before long, once the people bracing the door ran out of strength, the walking corpses would rush in all at once, and everyone here would die.

"Parr, you..."

Old Man Jack, who was straining against the door, turned to look at his adopted son. He thought of Parr's strength, which could rival that of an adult, as well as the Wind Wolf Basic Swordsmanship he had taught him. Then he looked at Achilles and the others around him, their faces red and necks swollen as they desperately held the door shut to keep the walking corpses out, along with the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled who did not even dare come forward and would be useless even if they did.

In the end, Old Man Jack gritted his teeth and nodded. "Parr, do it!"

"Mm."

Tian Xing—now Parr—gripped the Black Short Sword, which had already been sheathed, and squeezed through the crowd. He arrived directly before the warehouse's wooden door, which had a gap wide enough for half a person. His left hand held the scabbard at his waist while his right slowly gripped the hilt, his little face full of solemnity.

"Parr, the walking corpses' weakness is their heads. Only by destroying their heads can you stop them." Old Man Jack thought Parr did not know, so he reminded him again.

"I know."

Without taking his eyes off the target, Tian Xing replied, then took a deep breath.

Inhale... Holding his breath, Tian Xing stepped forward. His right arm exerted force as the Black Short Sword left its sheath in an upward flick, just reaching the first walking corpse's head.

"Upward Flick!"

Swish! The Black Short Sword, of unknown material, was exceedingly sharp. Empowered by the skill, it split the walking corpse's head in two in a single strike.

Thud! Having suffered a fatal wound, the walking corpse collapsed limply to the ground and was trampled underfoot by the other walking corpses behind it.

Huff...

"Not bad! Using the skill is just enough to kill one."

After drawing one strike, Tian Xing took a step back and let out a long breath. He suppressed the discomfort in his heart from cutting down a person for the first time and slowly sheathed the Black Short Sword. During the process, he lowered his head and glanced at its blade.

Beep, absorbable Life Energy Points detected. Absorb? Beep, absorbable Mental Energy Points detected. Absorb? Absorb! Tian Xing silently thought.

Beep, absorbing...

Beep, absorption complete. Obtained 1 Life Energy Point and 1 Mental Energy Point.

"Seriously? That little?"

Tian Xing grumbled inwardly. He had not expected a walking corpse transformed from an ordinary villager to provide so little energy, not even as much as the two Ball Pigs the Black Short Sword had killed earlier!

"But it's not surprising. Ball Pigs are so much bigger, and they're quite a bit stronger than ordinary people..."

Parr was simply called Parr, with no surname, because only nobles could possess surnames in this world.

Parr was an ordinary child. His parents had both died, and he had been raised by Old Man Jack. He was ten years old this year and stood 1.3 meters tall. He looked quite thin and weak, with short black hair and large eyes with black pupils. His appearance was decent enough, though his personality was somewhat dull-witted.

Originally, Parr had not been so strong. He had even been much weaker than children his own age and was given a nickname: "Parr, weaker than a chicken."

It was not until a year ago, when Parr discovered the secret of the Black Short Sword left behind by his biological parents, that he finally shook off that nickname.

It was one evening after the Harvest Festival. Parr, having spent the day playing with children his age, ran home and angrily grabbed the Black Short Sword before charging into the chicken coop in the backyard. He wanted to prove that he was not weaker than a chicken.

After a fierce struggle, Parr, his face bruised and swollen and his head covered in bumps, finally washed away that humiliating nickname. He killed a chicken, and because of that incident, Parr discovered the Black Short Sword's secret: killing living creatures would cause small red dots to form on the uneven black blade, and touching them would increase his strength.

Still just a child, Parr was so delighted that he killed every chicken his family kept. Then... Old Man Jack gave him the essential childhood lesson, granting him a complete childhood.

But that could not stop Parr's yearning for strength. His family's chickens were gone, but other people still had chickens!

Thus, Parr the chicken thief officially emerged. Left with no other choice, Old Man Jack threw the somewhat deranged child into the home of Old Man Rottus, Haystack Village's butcher, and had Parr become Old Man Rottus's apprentice. Only then did Parr finally settle down.

With his face full of wrinkles and scars, Old Man Rottus was the most terrifying existence in the eyes of Haystack Village's children. Whenever children misbehaved, their parents only needed to say, "Keep it up and I'll have Old Man Rottus come catch you," and they would stop at once. The method never failed. Let us observe three seconds of silence for poor Little Parr.

In half a year, Parr, who possessed a special Talent for slaughtering beasts, had completed his apprenticeship, and Old Man Rottus honorably retired.

Tonight, Parr had just slaughtered two huge Ball Pigs that the hunting party had caught with great difficulty. Before he could touch the red dots and increase his strength, the accident happened.

Oh, right. No one else could see the red dots on the sword, and no one knew why.

"What a brat!"

Shaking his head, Tian Xing once again suppressed Parr's memories. He looked down at his current brat's body and gave a bitter smile inwardly. Now that I've become Parr, am I Tian Xing? Or Parr?

Who am I? It was a profound question, but Tian Xing could not be bothered to think so deeply. The one occupying this body now was him, the transmigrator. Although Parr's memories had exerted some imperceptible influence on him, he was still Tian Xing.

"It's just that I need an identity in this other world. Since I transmigrated into Parr's body, Parr's identity is my identity. From now on, I am Parr."

Tian Xing the transmigrator, now Parr, thought this. But in order to distinguish himself from the previous brat Parr, and so as not to forget his past life, he decided to alter his name slightly.

"I'm a dignified transmigrator. How can I only have a given name and no surname? So I'll be called... Parr Tianxing!"

With a body and a changed name, the transmigrator had completely settled into the other world. However, because only nobles could possess surnames in this world, he still had to be called Parr for the time being.

"Roar..."

The roar of a walking corpse right before him jolted Parr awake. He looked up and involuntarily took a step back. A teenage walking corpse had squeezed half its body through the gap in the door and had nearly grabbed him.

"Parr, are you all right?"

Old Man Jack's concerned voice entered Parr's ears. Parr shook his head. After saying that he was fine, he focused his mind and drew another upward flick.

Swish! The teenage walking corpse's low growl abruptly stopped. A bloody line appeared from its jaw to the top of its head, and then it fell to the ground. Only in death did it finally enter the warehouse.

Huff~ Parr adjusted his breathing and sheathed his sword. He kicked away the teenage walking corpse blocking his path, and a woman immediately rushed forward from behind, picked up the teenage walking corpse's body, and burst into loud sobs.

Sigh~ Parr, who was about to draw his sword to kill the third walking corpse, paused and sighed. Then he resolutely drew his third strike and killed the third walking corpse on the spot.

"Roar..."

The walking corpses outside were still roaring, but Old Man Jack and the others were under far less pressure, because Parr had already drawn twelve strikes and killed twelve walking corpses.

Huff~ Huff~ Sweat poured down Parr's body as he gulped in the foul air. Each strike consumed 4 Stamina, and of his 50 Stamina, only 2 remained.

When his Stamina fell below 10, Parr had begun to feel tired. When it fell below 5, weakness arose from deep within him. Now, with only 2 Stamina, Parr could barely remain standing.

"Parr, hurry and rest for a while. Use the Wind Wolf Basic Breathing Technique to recover your strength. We'll hold them off for now!" Old Man Jack saw Parr's condition and shouted.

"No need!"

Parr shook his head, closed his eyes, and began breathing in a rhythm.

"Wind Wolf Basic Breathing Technique!"

The Wind Wolf Basic Breathing Technique on the Status Panel began flashing again, a sign that the skill had activated.

Every ten seconds, Parr's Mental Power decreased by one point while his Stamina increased by five points.

After eighty seconds, Parr stopped using the Wind Wolf Basic Breathing Technique. His Stamina had recovered to 42 points. It was not that Parr did not want to keep recovering, but his head was spinning now, as if he had stayed up all night playing games.

"Mental Power can't get too low!" Parr shook his head and opened the Status Panel for a look.

Name: Parr Tianxing Gender: Baron Race: Human Race

Age: 10 (20)

Realm: Peak Chicken (0/50)

Stamina: 42/50 Mental Power: 2/10 HP: 100/100 Talent:

Prompt Wake-Up LV1 Skill: Wind Wolf Basic Breathing Technique LV5 Basic Wind Wolf Swordsmanship LV4 Life Energy Points: 21 Mental Energy Points: 12

With Mental Energy Points, the Mental Power and Talent sections on the Status Panel lit up. Parr fixed his gaze on the Mental Power section and learned that 1 Mental Energy Point could replenish 10 points of Mental Power.

"Replenishment can completely keep up with consumption."

With a quick thought, Parr felt reassured. With these Energy Points, plus the replenishment from killing walking corpses, he might not rest tonight until he had cut down every last walking corpse.

The Talent section showed that 10 Life Energy Points and 10 Mental Energy Points were needed to raise Talent Prompt Wake-Up to LV2.

However, Parr felt that this Talent was not very useful to him right now. After all, dawn was still a long way off, so he did not upgrade it.