After breakfast, for the rest of the day, John and the others were tasked to learn formation drills and some disciplinary movements. The worst thing John felt was the running. His endurance couldn't keep up even when he tried to push himself.
At the end of the day, he was extremely exhausted. The rest of the trainees who shared the large room with him didn't have the energy to talk and went directly to bed.
However, he did not forget to implement his plan. He brought out a few things—one was a snap trap he had made with simple wood and a spring he found, and the other was leftover dried milk scraps.
He silently placed his snap trap at the edge of the corner, hidden by a rack where no one could accidentally see it.
After finishing everything, he felt extremely exhausted and went to lay on his bed.
Before sleeping, he smiled and couldn't wait until the morning.
…
When the bell rang, John quickly rose up. He saw the others put on their training clothes and head out. He knew he only had about 10–15 minutes. Making sure no one was around, he quickly ran to check his mouse trap.
Then he saw his target, and with an evil smile, whispered, "Hello there."
John did not kill the rat immediately. Although he wanted to check if he would get experience, he had been eager to try out his time magic.
"Sorry little one, you will have to be my lab rat. Well, you are a rat after all."
Then John prepared himself. He extended his hand and focused his mind on the rat.
"Temporal Acceleration!"
Suddenly, a golden sphere was created. John's eyes flashed with amazement. Looking closer, he saw that inside the golden sphere was a small hourglass where golden sands were slowly coming down. Furthermore, golden particles were slowly rotating around the hourglass.
When John pushed the golden sphere toward the rat, it was enveloped by it. Quickly, time seemed to pass in the bubble. The rat started to grow bigger until it reached maturity. Then it no longer grew, but its muscles started to shrink. A minute later, the rat became a skeleton with bits of skin and hair left. Although it only lasted for three minutes, John was amazed by this quick transformation.
He checked his lifespan, which still showed 27/65. Although it did not change, he felt in his heart that something had been lost within him.
With three minutes gone, the rat had aged quickly—about half a year—which consumed its short lifespan. Rats often live only about a year.
…
After completing his experiment, John had an extremely bright smile.
Level 1 (Exp 1/10)
The log interface showed:
"You killed a rodent, Exp +1"
Knowing that he did not have enough time, he quickly cleaned up and rearmed his trap with the same setup as last night.
…
Back in the drill yard, John was matched with a different youth. This opponent did not underestimate John since he had also witnessed John knock someone out yesterday. On the other hand, John had no intention of striking his opponent's weakness. He wanted to grind his opponents for experience to improve his swordsmanship.
After two hours of sparring, although John was exhausted, he smiled at his interface.
18/100
When his opponent saw John's wicked smile, he shuddered and quickly left him alone.
After breakfast, John quickly came back to his room and checked his trap. To his surprise, another rat had been caught.
This time he no longer performed Temporal Acceleration. He also did not bother to try Temporal Deceleration, since it would be pointless to slow down a rat. Furthermore, it would consume a day of his lifespan—much greater than acceleration.
He grabbed a sharp stone and quickly ended the rat's life. Blood splattered on the ground.
His interface showed:
Level 1 (Exp 2/10)
"You killed a rodent, Exp +1"
As before, he quickly rearmed his trap and headed outside. He hoped that another rat would be caught by lunchtime.
…
When night came, the skies were still dark, thunder was louder, and sporadic rain added to the atmosphere.
John checked his interface.
Level 1 (Exp 7/10)
After killing six rats in one day, John was happy he was close to leveling up. He had been setting the trap every two hours whenever he had the chance.
Furthermore, his swordsmanship experience also progressed further, now at 32/100.
"I won't be able to sleep in this situation. I just need three more rats! The good thing is I found another set of materials to create another trap. Now I have two traps."
After setting the two traps in different corners, John went back to bed. After an hour of waiting, he stood up again. Both traps had sprung. Without hesitation, he grabbed the stone he prepared earlier and quickly ended both rats' lives before they could make a sound.
Level 1 (Exp 9/10)
After confirming his experience gain, John set both traps again. Another hour later, he checked once more.
John was lucky—another trap had sprung. He couldn't help but marvel at how many rats were in this place.
He looked at the 10th rat with extreme excitement on his face. With a strong blow from the sharp stone, blood splattered.
He quickly checked his interface.
"Ding! You leveled up!"
His interface showed:
Name: John
Level: 2 (Exp: 0/100)
Realm: Mortal
Strength: 0.6
Agility: 0.4
Constitution: 0.6
Spirit: 3.1
Free Attribute Points: 3
Skill Points: 1
John couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Coincidentally, the dark, rumbling skies outside also seemed to match his maniacal laughter.
Caleb, who had sparred with John on the first day, woke up since his bed was closest. There he saw John illuminated by lightning, holding a bloodied stone that was still dripping. Caleb screamed out loud: "MURDER! MURDER! MURDER!"
When the others who were still sleeping heard the scream, they also woke up. Seeing John holding a bloodied stone, they immediately assumed he was the killer. Some of them ran out of the room, not wanting to be the next victim. Others, not even knowing why people were running, also fled in panic.
John, confused by the mention of murder, was dumbfounded. "Who murdered who?" Then realization hit. "Wait!"
But before he could explain, people were already running in panic. Because of the loud thunder outside, they couldn't hear one another clearly. Cries for help spread, and the situation went from bad to worse.
Suddenly, a majestic pressure came crashing into the room. It was Captain Knox, who blasted through part of the stone wall.
"Where is the enemy?!" he roared inside the sleeping quarters, his two-handed axe brandished and ready to kill.
John and the rest couldn't help but tremble as they fell to their knees. The pressure was so strong they couldn't even look up.
Guards suddenly rushed into the quarters as the bell alarms rang out.
Through the blasted wall, John glimpsed outside and saw knights and cavalry pouring in. He also caught sight of ballistas being aimed toward his location.
"What the freak is going on?!"
The whole city had been thrown into chaos. Multiple heavy auras rose all over the fortress. Residents panicked and fled in all directions. Some ran outside the city, others cried out in fear for no reason. The city had turned into madness.
John, still on his knees, blurted out at Caleb, "I just killed a rat! You mothertrucker!"
Soon, the eyes of everyone—including a golden-haired knight—turned to him, the catalyst of all the chaos. Next to John lay the very dead rat.