Infinite Realm

The creature was a hulking mass of flesh that had a natural thick fur that acted as armour, and five 3 feet(0.91144 metres) long sharp claws on each limb. Apart from that, the rodent had long whiskers that were a sharp as a brand new razor blade. Behind it was a long tail, about twice its body's length, that weighed about 1/4 of its entire mass. 

*Screech* 

The large rodent charged at Sato with red eyes, incensed that it was being provoked by a vermin.

Seeing the hulky figure that stampeding towards him, Sato didn't relax his guard even though he knew he could defeat the monster. 

Being higher in level doesn't necessarily mean that one would defeat their opponent. Players who tend to get cocky due to their strength would always find themselves eating a loss in the hands of a professional player or an expert. A player's level was one form of their strength while the other laid in their skills as well as their battle sense; this was typically so in PvP fights.

In the case of a PvE battle, the same still holds true.. Players had to take their fights against NPCs or monsters seriously lest they suffer a loss because of their underestimation of the opponent as well as their cockiness.

Every monster had a different fighting pattern and arsenal of skills from the other. The skills a kobold would possess wouldn't be the same as snake-type monster. Also, the fighting style of an ape monster wouldn't be the same as a human NPC. Each character had their own battle techniques and styles, so, whenever a player was faced with a monster he/she knew nothing about, they would be on guard and usually play the defensive role as they study the battle style of the said monster. This was particularly common when the said monster was at the same level as the player or higher.

While Sato had yet to determine the rodent's exact level, based on its aura alone, he was sure that it was no lower than level 14 which was just slightly beneath the Kobold King in strength.

"You better be able to put up a fight." Sato smiled as he lunged at the monster.

*Shiiing*

As if it could sense its wielder's enthusiasm for a battle, [Drakken] released a shrill sharp noise as it was about to clash with the giant rodent.

*Screech* 

The rodent responded to the shrill with a screech as it swiped its claw at Sato.

*Clang*

Despite seemingly being made of some bone-like material, the claw was able to contend with a low-tier Rare-Steel rank sword without much of a problem.

'Incredible.' Sato praised.

He wasn't only impressed by the monster's ability to contend with his sword but also its ability to contend with his strength.

Thanks to the bonuses of [Drakken], Sato's [Strength] stat stood at the peak alongside some players whose main focus was the aforementioned attribute. Even when comparing with a monster at the same level Sato was able to overwhelm them to a certain extent, unless it was a strength-type monster, but this wasn't so with the rodent in front of him; and it wasn't even a strength-type monster. While it was true that it wasn't exactly able to contend with him, it was still able to hold out against Sato to the point that the two were seemingly on par with each other.

But the main reason Sato was impressed was because of the claws.

'This is indeed a resource heaven for lifestyle classes. If I can make a weapon out of these claws, I wonder how much it would sell for as well as the final quality of the product.'

With the goal of satisfying his curiosity, Sato became even more pumped up to finish the battle.

"Ha."

Sato flung the claw to the side before leaping charging right at the monster.

Though it was strong and fast, the disadvantage of its size still existed for the large rodent, and to Sato, this was an advantage he could easily maximize.

-87 (???/??? ???)

'What a tough hide.' Sato exclaimed inwardly as he felt the resistance from the fur. The damage values displayed were also lower than what Sato had achieved before during his fight with the Kobold King, but just a bit above his average figures back when he was still level 9.

'This would take a while.' Sato thought as he prepared to retreat.

Just as he was about to do so, a green flash appeared on his interface display as he discovered that the rodent had recovered a portion of its HP; to the point that the damage he had caused was entirely patched up.

'Self-heal?' Sato was stunned.

*Whoosh*

It was at that moment that the weighty tail suddenly pierced forward like a spear, aiming for Sato. Due to the slight shock he had received at that moment, Sato was barely able to react to the attack so he was forced to block it with his sword.

*Bang*

Like a kite with loose strings, Sato was blasted away by the attack until he was at least 5 metres away from the monster. Even then, he still felt his arms tremble from the residue impact force from the collisions.

'So the tail is its trump card.' 

Sato realized that the true attack power of the huge rodent wasn't from its claws but the tail. However, knowing this didn't mean that the battle would be any easier; on the contrary, it would be taxing on Sato. Considering that the rodent creature could attack with both claws and its sole tail, it meant that Sato had to keep an eye out for 3 possible attacks. There were also its whiskers which he still wasn't sure if the rodent could use to attack. All these added together made this cute creature a ferocious beast.

'[Industrious Achiever]'

Sato replaced the previous title on display with one that best suited the current situation.

[Industrious Achiever] didn't give any boost in power but simply increased the rewards he would gain during looting.

"Let's try this again." 

. . .

*Screech*

With an unwilling yell, the rodent was finally put to rest as a patch of black flames burnt on a gashing injury on its body.

"That was fun." Sato breathed out before approaching the corpse for the loot.

While the large rodent monster was indeed stronger than most monsters, Sato was stronger than most players. Its defeat was an inevitable result that only required time. In total, it took Sato 5 minutes to finish off the monster, mostly because of the self-heal ability as well as the strange pattern of attacks that it used to battle. Once he was used to all those factors, Sato was able to deal more damage faster and finished it off within a minute. 

'Looks like my journey would take a lot longer than I thought.' Sato frowned as he tried to figure out how to solve the problem at hand.

*Boom* 

A loud explosion rocked the canyon as a small mushroom cloud rose up in the distance. The spot wasn't far from Sato so he was able to feel the shock waves even more.

"Roar!"

"Grawwr!!"

"Hauk!"

As if a prelude to an orchestra, the explosion caused a chain reaction of noises from the varying monsters in the area. One by one, different sounds from different monsters boomed through the region; some out of fear while some out of anger.

"What was that?" Sato wondered as he gazed in the direction of the explosion, his curiosity yearning to be satisfied.