[Cozy Fantasy] [Farming LitRPG] The Chronicles of Emberstone Farm

Chapter 89 - Demon Rat-termination

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The first thing I did was to try to teleport back to the Fox temple. Unfortunately, no matter how many times I ordered it mentally to [Activate] or [Teleport], the teleportation stone remained inert. I even said the words out loud, to no effect.

Why had I been teleported here? I had no idea how or why it had happened. Had someone from the Fox clan set me up? But no, the stone in the path had been covered in leaves and dirt. It didn’t look like it had been placed there recently. Perhaps it was simply an old, forgotten relic that I had accidentally triggered by stepping on it?

“Mr. Bear, why am I so unlucky?” I said to my only companion.

I gave up on the teleportation stone and looked around me. I was in a large clearing in the middle of a tropical jungle. Here, unlike the desert in the Westerlands, the leaves of the towering trees were a vivid green. Even from where I was standing, I could see that the rainforest floor was thick with vegetation. Vines, shrubs, and ferns grew in wild profusion beneath the broad-leafed tropical trees. The air was humid, and though I had only just teleported in, my head already felt hot from the heat of the sun. The sky was a clear blue with a few fluffy white clouds scattered here and there.

Turning on the System’s minimap, I confirmed my fears. I was right smack in the middle of the badlands. I knew this place well from when I used to play Adventure Incarnate since it was the location of the main teleportation stone. This was an area that high-level players used to train combat due to the large number of demons nearby.

Thank goodness the kids hadn’t been teleported with me. They would’ve been demon food for sure.

Come to think of it, why had the teleportation stone been in the Fox clan’s temple grounds? The ones in the game had been located in important areas.

Well, that was something to investigate later. Right now, what was important was my immediate safety. I turned on the expanded map to plan my next move. After some thinking, I came to the conclusion that I had three options.

One, I could simply stay here at the stone to wait for someone to teleport in. My apprentices would no doubt tell the Fox clan what had happened, and it was possible that someone from the Fox clan knew how the stone worked. However, there was no guarantee that help was coming since the teleportation stone looked like it was inactive and ancient. In addition, I couldn’t wait for long since I couldn’t build a proper shelter here in a place where demons were known to frequent.

Two, I could act like a total chad and fight my way back to the Westerlands. That would be the pro player move. I reckoned this was what GodIam would do if he was the one stuck here.

Three, I could find a safe place, build a shelter there, and level up until I was strong enough to make my way back to civilization.

“It’s just you and me, Mr. Bear,” I said to my faithful puppet.

I decided to give Plan One a chance. I pitched a tent and changed into my most comfortable summer pants and robe since it was quite hot and humid here in the Southerlands. Tying my hair back in a ponytail and then twisting the hair up into a bun, I made myself ready for combat. If I had to stay here longer, I would definitely have to cut my hair. When I was done, I put away the tent since it would block my view of the surroundings.

It wouldn’t be good to be unprepared for an attack, so I put on leather armor over my clothes. The leather vest went over my chest and back, and I pulled the leather chaps over my cotton pants. This newbie ranger gear offered a bit of protection.

Recently, I had been quite busy with the farm and quests, so I hadn’t had the chance to level up my combat skills.

[Violet

Level 1

HP: 100/100

MP: 35/35

Strength: 1/99

Attack: 1/99

Archery: 3/99

Magic: 3/99]

However, I had practiced on training dummies quite a lot. Taking out a simple [Wooden Shortbow] and [Iron Arrows] from my inventory, I shot a few trees to test my aim.

[Archery Skills:

Piercing Shot

Rapid Fire

Escape]

My skills would be of great help. [Piercing Shot] was still the easiest skill for me to use.

[Piercing Shot:

Imbue the arrow with your energy, allowing it to pierce through enemies. The shot is incredibly powerful, and can often take down multiple foes with a single arrow.

Cooldown: 5 seconds]

However, now that I was in the demon’s land, I should probably practice [Rapid Fire] more since it was almost certain that I would be attacked by more than one enemy at a time.

[Rapid Fire:

Fire a rapid succession of five arrows. This ability is great for taking down multiple targets quickly, or for taking down a single target with a lot of arrows.

Cooldown: 5 seconds]

I had never used [Escape] in combat before, but it could prove to be quite useful indeed.

[Escape:

Enter a state of heightened awareness and move ten feet in any direction. Time seems to slow, and the player has increased movement speed and agility, allowing the player to quickly move away from enemies or hazards.

Cooldown: 30 seconds]

I spread a picnic blanket on the ground and sat down to rest and drink some water while I waited for someone, anyone, to appear.

A few minutes later, Mr. Bear alerted me with a popup that a [Dire Rat] was approaching.

[Dire Rat:

Monstrous giant rodents with sharp claws and fangs. Their muscular bodies are covered in thick, wiry gray or brown fur. They are agile and quick, well able to dodge most slow attacks but have relatively low defense.]

Oh, shit, why did it have to be a [Dire Rat]? The game art depicted them as big, ugly, dirty red-eyed demons. Fortunately, their Battle Rating was low.

[Battle Rating:

A number that represents that character's overall power and fighting ability. The higher the BR, the stronger the character is. The BR is determined by a variety of factors, such as the character's stats, equipment, puppet, bonuses, and abilities.]

When it came into sight, bursting from behind a tall banyan tree, the Combat Screen appeared, showing the [Dire Rat’s] and my BR along with the Action Bar that I could use to trigger my skills.

[Dire Rat:

Type: Melee
Element: None

BR: 31]

[Violet

Level 1

HP: 100/100

BR: 26]

With practiced ease, I notched an arrow and raised my bow, taking careful aim before shooting at my target using [Piercing Shot]. Mr. Bear was a magic-type puppet so I had him cast [Fireball] on the [Dire Rat]. After getting hit by the magic spell, the rat’s HP bar went down by a quarter, and it stopped in its tracks for a few seconds as though trying to decide whether to flee or not.

My arrow hit it with a loud thunk, sinking into its side. The red HP bar above the rodent was cut in half. Mr. Bear’s next [Fireball] hit it right on the face and then I hit it with another arrow using a normal attack as fast as I could. Without the power of a skill behind it, my arrow only did half as much damage as before. The demon’s eyes glowed red and it ran towards us again. The [Dire Rat] was only three meters away when I managed to hit it with a third arrow, killing it.

In the game, when demons were killed, they left behind a few gold coins and various body parts or loot such as [Dire Rat Fang] or [Dire Rat Fur]. The reality was much less kind since the demon left behind its corpse. I sent my puppet to collect its body because I didn’t want to go near the dirty thing. Who knew what kind of diseases it carried?

Mr. Bear only had two inventory slots as well as a coin pouch, so I transferred the remains from my puppet’s inventory to mine.

I grimaced when I noticed that there was some blood left on the ground where it had died. I hoped that wouldn’t attract more demons.

The adrenaline from the fight made me feel shaky and nervous. I paced the clearing for a long time, on the lookout for more enemies.

When nothing happened after almost an hour, I got a large patio umbrella chair from my inventory and sat down to relax a bit. I was hydrating myself by sipping from a [Bowl of Water] when the next [Dire Rat] appeared. Mr. Bear and I made short work of it as well as the other three that attacked later.

It was almost noon when a pair of demon rats appeared. My heart beat faster as I sprang from the chair. Could we handle two of them at once?

This time, I took a chance on using [Rapid Fire]. Alas, only two of the five arrows I shot hit their mark. They were almost upon us when I hurriedly switched combat styles from Archery to Melee.

At my level, I could only wear [Iron Plate Armor] that covered my body from head to toe, but even this low-level equipment offered more protection than the leather archery gear. Though I had never cut anything with my [Iron Sword] but a training dummy, I had no time to worry about that when the nearest [Dire Rat] came within striking distance.

[Sword Skills:

Thrust

Slash

Blade Flurry]

This was no time for half-measures. Before I knew it, I had activated my strongest melee skill.

[Blade Flurry:

Slash the enemy with a flurry of quick and powerful strikes. This ability is often used as a finishing move, as it can deal a large amount of damage in a short period of time.

Cooldown: 30 seconds]

Dashing forward, I slashed diagonally at the enemy. My blade flashed blue and cut the side of the rat’s neck. Another diagonal slash cut its face, followed by a horizontal slash that nearly decapitated it. The last stroke of my [Blade Flurry] was a vertical slash that finished it off, cutting it in half completely.

Wow! Those training sessions were finally paying off!

All this took only a few seconds, and by the time I was finished, the other demon, whose HP bar had been slightly reduced by Mr. Bear’s spells, was upon me.

I stepped back a pace to get some distance between us before I swung my sword down in a mighty slash.

[Slash:

Swing an energy-infused sword in a powerful arc, dealing damage to an enemy. This ability has a small chance to knock back or stun the target.

Cooldown: 5 seconds]

Mr. Bear half-blinded it with a [Fireball] to the eyes, making its HP bar go down by a third. Then I lunged forward to pierce it with my weapon.

[Thrust:

Lunge forward with the mana-infused sword, dealing damage to an enemy. This ability can break through enemy shields or armor, dealing a large amount of damage.

Cooldown: 5 seconds]

The [Thrust] reduced its HP to less than half, but the [Dire Rat] struck at me with its claws, making a deep gash on the side of my armor. I sprang back out of the way as Mr. Bear hit it with another spell. The demon had enough and turned to flee.

By this time I was breathing hard and feeling a little nauseous, but I managed one more [Slash] that hit it squarely on its side. Its HP bar was emptied and it fell at my feet, a horrible mass of stinking fur, thick red blood, and fetid entrails.

I staggered away from it and puked my guts out.

“Ugh, this is the worst,” I said to Mr. Bear as I peeled off my armor and examined the jagged cut on my side. Thankfully, it wasn’t very deep. However, wounds made by animal claws were bound to become infected unless I cleaned them.

Taking out three buckets of water from my inventory, I washed the cut as best as I could then poured an [Antipoison Potion] over it. Then I spread the [Tiger’s Ten Thousand Golden Herb Balm] on the wound.

I looked at the System’s clock and saw that it wasn’t even noon yet.

This was definitely not good. Right then and there, I decided to flee and find a safer place.