The recent upgrade of his sneaking skill aided him greatly in keeping out of sight, but it did little for him to keep track of the two visually. To be expected from keeping such a low stance in a field of grass almost as tall as he was. Ed realized that sight alone would do poorly in his attempts to not loose the two adult dire rats. Instead of relying only on sight, he opted to use smell and hearing to know where the two were. A few moments pass without issue, but as soon as Ed got more relaxed and used to moving around the tall grass, he felt a tremor. The blue ratman was not given a moment to think about what caused the tremor as a red carapace burst from the earth and slammed into the elder dire rat. Ed jumped back in reaction to the sudden attack but soon saw the creature that ambushed them. It looked similarly to a fire ant but was as big as Asteria or Mother Rat and twice as long. It had just knocked the elder dire rat over, but was already dead set on attacking her again, if its twitching stinger on its abdomen was any sign. In smaller sizes, the bites or stings of a fire ant would be a mere annoyance. But in this case, a bite or a sting from this monster would likely prove fatal. If the blood loss will not get you, the venom will. If Ed wanted to intervene, he needed to make a quick and decisive strike against the ambushing foe. Ed got up on from the ground and, in a span of a heartbeat, lunged at the abnormally large ant. It was not going to harm Mother Rat if he had something to do to prevent it. Gripping the gnarled stick over his head with both his hands he focused everything his body had to physically offer into the downward strike aimed at the massive bug. Billions of neurons in his brain fired instructions to his body's muscles, primarily in his arm and core, to exert as much force possible into the swing. His aggressive emotions and desire to leave the bug as a chunky smear on the ground caused the System to activate [b][Rabid Fit I][/b] by reaction. Not even his mana reserves were left untouched. All the mana contained in his body, negligible as the amount may be, was redirected and compressed into his arms just as he swung down. It was as if his body complied to his desire to use everything it had in the attack. It was unknown if imbuing his arms with mana were to contribute something positive to Ed or contribute anything at all, but one thing was quite clear. If Ed were to land the blow, the ant would be royally fucked. [hider=Stats] LVL: 5 HP: [color=yellowGreen]Minor Injuries[/color] SP: [color=yellowGreen]Rested[/color] MP: [color=green]Full[/color] Effect/s: [b]SKILLS:[/b] Unspent Skill Points: [color=red]12[/color] Current Skills: Beast Sense II (2.4) Rabid Fit I (1.2) [color=green](ACTIVE)[/color] Stronger I (1.05) [color=green](PASSIVE)[/color] Muffle II (2.0) [color=green](PASSIVE)[/color] Use Light Equipment (--) __________________________________ SKILL PROGRESS: Material Analysis (0.2) Magic Analysis (0.6) Monster Analysis (0.6) Faster (0.4) Warcry (0.1) Alert (0.3) Dexterous (0.8) Tremor Sense (0.025) Mental Resistance (0.9) Telepathy (0.075) Mana Shape (0.6) Focus (0.6) Shield (0.5) Mana Shell (0.3) Soil Manipulation (0.45) Overwork (0.5) Harder (0.2) Crafting (0.25) First Aid (0.1) Meditate (0.3) [b]Inventory:[/b] - Vine Belt (Shoddy Quality) - Healing Herbs x 4 - Bundle of Sticks - Flame touched crystals x 2 - Tainted Crystal x 1 - Gnarled Stick (Unknown Quality) [/hider] [hider=Action Summary] -Used hearing and smell to keep track of Asteria and Mama Rat in the tall grass. -Jumped back in reaction to Mama Rat getting attacked. -Lunged at giant ant and attacked it with all his body could offer. -Brain instructed muscle groups to exert as much force possible to the swing. -System activates [b][Rabid Fit I][/b] in response to aggression and desire to turn the bug into a chunky smear on the ground. -Body focuses and compresses mana into Ed's arms before swinging in response to desire for unknown results. [/hider]