System vs Rebirth

"Hurry up and stand up! This is the best chance to kill them!" While saying those words, Noel killed one of the demons.

Meanwhile, the other demon, whose thigh was pierced by the trap, had freed itself from the trap and moved toward Noel, planning to avenge its fallen kin.

As expected from one of the best trainees, she struck the demon with her sword, stopping its movement.

Noel pulled his sword and charged at the demon.

The demon this time stood in two feet and its body was covered with fur. The size itself looked like a bear, but it had short arms.

The demon stopped the woman's sword with its paw while using the other paw to stop Noel.

Instead of facing the demon, Noel stopped and changed his direction, passing the woman. "I have a trap past this place. We'll use it to kill the demon."

The woman narrowed her eyes. Although she doubted Noel, the latter had saved her life. At the very least, Noel seemed to know this place better.

After taking another glance at her teammate, who seemed to have run too far, she clicked her tongue and chose to trust Noel this time.

She pulled her sword back and followed Noel running away.

Due to its injured foot, the demon's speed decreased significantly. Still, the demon itself had a quite quick speed, so the injury only made its speed similar to Noel's running speed.

After a while, the monster caught up with them as the woman said, "Here he comes! What should we do?"

Noel glanced back and said, "Ready to jump to the side when we're about to reach the bushes."

"Alright."

She nodded. It was hard to navigate during the night, but she could still find some bushes ahead. Since they were heading straight to it, she believed those bushes were the place he put those traps.

"Now!" Noel shouted when they were about to reach the bushes.

Without hesitation, both of them threw themselves to the side so that the demon had no time to stop its movement.

*Stab!*

A few spikes behind the bushes hit the demon's legs and Noel shouted, "Now! Kill the demon!"

They turned around and thrust their swords to the demon's back at the same time. Their move was in sync since they had the same objective.

However, there was a clear difference between Noel and the woman.

While the woman's sword pierced the demon's back, Noel's sword struck its head, ultimately becoming the one that killed the demon.

*Pant!*

*Pant!*

Like Noel who didn't have much time to rest, the woman was too exhausted after dealing with two demons for her teammates.

Still, Noel hurriedly pushed the demon's body down and opened its head, taking out the crystal on its head.

"You surely don't mind me taking the crystal, right?" Noel asked. He didn't expect a 'no' for an answer though, considering he had saved her life.

Before she even said anything, Noel had already walked away, wanting to get the other crystal.

The woman was speechless, never expecting Noel to be this direct. Still, she waited until Noel returned while looking around to find her teammates.

After Noel took the crystal, he returned and found the woman hadn't moved from her spot. It seemed she was waiting for him because the moment she saw him, the woman called him.

"You are Noel Ardagan, right?"

Noel looked at her and nodded before checking his trap. He clicked his tongue, annoyed. "The spikes crack. I guess I need to replace it with a new one."

That was right. Noel had been preparing so many traps which took a lot of his time today. He also needed to replace all the spikes that were broken by the demon's body.

If he didn't have Ardagan that could easily cut down a tree, he would need one or two days to even prepare all these traps. So, he was quite lucky even if he needed to survive alone.

"So, you're using this place to set up your base?" The woman asked before shaking her head. "No, that's not important right now. The first thing I should say is… Thank you for saving my life."

"It's fine." Noel shrugged. "I just don't want my traps to kill humans because we've a clear enemy, which is the demon."

The woman looked at him for a moment before introducing herself. "I am Kirika."

"You already know my name."

"Yeah. All my previous questions were completely due to my shock that you performed this good in this test. To think you set up traps around this area to kill the demon."

"They're strong, but at least dumber than me." Noel shrugged.

"That's true." Kirika agreed with Noel's statement. "Though, they're only a low level demon."

"Low level demon?"

"Yeah. There are a few classifications about the demons. Those who reside in this forest are only Low Level Demons and Mid Level Demons. Low Level Demons move purely on instinct, but Mid Level Demons are extremely dangerous. Not only do they have a more powerful physical abilities, but they have some intelligence. They can even mobilize other Low Level Demons." Kirika explained.

"I see. Traps will most likely not work on them… Is that what you want to say?"

"Yes. You saved my life. The least I can do is to tell you the danger of relying too much on traps. You need at least other people to help you when fighting against a Mid Level Demon. But don't worry, they're residing deep in the forest, we shouldn't find them unless we're going to the inner region."

"Fair point." Noel nodded but when he was about to ask something, they heard something from the side.

*Shake!*

*Shake!*

"!!!" Both of them turned their heads, staring at the bushes on the side. There were only a few meters to that place, so they hurriedly raised their weapons, pointing at the bushes.

Two pairs of eyes suddenly appeared in the darkness.

"We're in the middle of an outbreak and you're talking about that. Why do I feel a Mid Level Demon will appear?" Noel squinted his eyes.

"…" Kirika remained silent as she focused all her senses on the bushes, finding the real bodies of the demons. "They're two Low Level Demons. Do you have any more traps?"

"Only one. It can only kill one of them, so we need to work together to kill the other one." Although Noel didn't want to get another teammate, he had no choice because he couldn't fight against two demons without someone's help.

"Alright. Lead the way. We'll kill at least one with your trap and deal with the other one ourselves."

Noel nodded. "Follow me."