Spoiler:

The second day of training had come and gone, and already the sun was beginning to set over the Star Island. The entire day for Linedwell had consisted of jogging through the jungle and increasing his stamina. He'd yet to really focus on combat in particular, instead hoping that an increase in stamina would further increase his combat abilities. He'd been noticing that in each of his encounters with opponents, he'd expend too much of his stamina too rapidly, and if he didn't get this under control he'd likely end up dead.

Linedwell had a habit of attempting to end fights as quickly as possible, and because of this, he tended to make use of techniques that most would wait to use. With Linedwell's thinking, however, he couldn't understand sitting back on something so powerful if it had the ability to crush all opposition in an instant. Why drag out a fight if it wasn't needed?

This wasn't to say that Linedwell abhorred fighting - this couldn't be further from the truth...he just didn't enjoy holding himself back against any level of opponent. Not matter who crossed him and what their level of prowess was, he'd fight them all the same way if it came down to it. Fighting someone with any less than that was simply showing disrespect - and if that was the case, there was no point in the fight whatsoever. Someone could be disrespected without needing to expend much energy in doing so.

With his training for the day completed, Linedwell began to set up his camp once again. Though he knew he deserved some rest, he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable with the thought of sleeping in this place once again. He tried to shake this thought out of his head, trying to chalk it up to merely being uncomfortable sleeping out in the wilderness, but he knew there was more to it than that. Last night he'd heard multiple sounds, twigs breaking, leaves rustling, all the cliche signs that something was amiss and that he was being stalked. If he were an idiot he'd simply tell himself he was imagining things, ignoring the fact that he was on an uninhabited island that was filled to the brim with all sorts of animals. There was more of a chance that he was being stalked than it was that he simply imagined all of this. Thus, he decided he'd stay awake tonight and deal with whatever threat would show itself.

Staying within the camp itself though while staying awake likely wouldn't help too much if he were being stalked. For all he knew, whatever was stalking him was simply waiting for a chance to spring an attack on him tonight. Being in the confines of a tent while waiting for an attack like this would do little to change the outcome. With this in mind, Linedwell decided to take up residence briefly in one of the nearby trees, hiding in the canopy and looking down on his camp from above. He wasn't sure if anything would show up, but if it did he'd be in the prime position to mount an attack if he needed to.

Thirty minutes or so passed and Linedwell was already beginning to dissuade himself from staying in his perched position above his camp. His exhaustion from his training was already getting to him, and already he was hoping he'd be able to sleep soon. He was about to yawn out loud, but a twig snapping in the distance gave him enough warning to cover his mouth and carry out this action as quietly as possible. As he continued to watch, he soon began to see the shadowy outline of multiple figures making their way towards the camp. From their appearance they appeared to be humanoid in appearance, but there was something off about them. Linedwell wasn't exactly sure what was so off putting about these figures, as it would have been easy enough to assume that these were simply bandits, but given they're wiry outline and short stature, he began to assume they were something else entirely.

The figures soon grew close enough for Linedwell to get a better view of them - and it was then that he verified that these weren't humans at all. The heads of these creatures appeared to be rat-like in appearance, but their bodies still seemed humanoid...with a few patches of fur here and there. To sum it all up, they looked disgusting....but it wasn't until one of the creatures sliced through Linedwell's tent that he'd been given enough information to realize they were indeed a threat. Not wanting to let any of these creatures escape he decided to attack from his perched position in the tree. With his right hand gripping his hilt, Linedwell quickly unsheathed it before sending a horizontal blade of compressed wind in the direction of four of the rat-like creatures. Once the blade reached them, it killed them almost immediately. The leading rat creature, however, was out of range of this attack since he'd traveled to the tent in order to check its contents, but as he heard the cries of his brethren, he'd been distracted long enough for Linedwell to drop from his position in the tree and land on top of him, his blade pierced deep into his skull. With all of his enemies dealt with....hopefully...Linedwell decided to finally get some rest.

He decided not to clean up the mess he'd created by killing the creatures, as he wanted to leave them as warnings if any others decided to show up, and with his tent now reassembled he could now get some rest and prepare for the next day.

-Exit-

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