Chapter 2 - Mice and Maiden

[Would the Host like like to receive your rewards, Y/N?]

Upon seeing the message on the display change, Ethan snapped out of his daze. This was really happening. A cheat system, just like in those fantasy novels, and he was the one who who had it.

Excitement and curiosity flowed through him as he reached out to click the [Yes] button.

[Excellent! Please standby...

Your results are as follows...

Time required - 1 hour 17 minutes

Injuries sustained - zero

Rewards -

Sandals 1x - Quality(poor)

Red Tunic 1x - Quality(average)

Iron Dagger 1x - Quality(poor)

Congratulations once again and Good luck!]

When the rewards message finished, the System Window disappeared leaving the items at his feet. It was only then that Ethan realized, his shirt, pants and shoes were quite loose.

"did I lose weight?" he questioned as he inspected his attire.

No, this was something else. if he had simply lost a few pounds, his feet wouldn't shrink like this.

Suddenly, as if reading his thoughts...

[Would the user like to check his status, Y/N?]

The System Window reappearing made Ethan's heart skip a beat. He took a quick breath to settle down and extended his hand, selecting the [Yes] option again.

The display on the window changed....

[Name - Ethan Specter, Age - 17(32), Height 5'8", Weight - 160 pounds

Strength - 8

Endurance - 6

intelligence - 15

Agility - 4

Skills - None

Titles - Holder of Otherworldly Knowledge

Injuries/Illness - None]

"Are these my stats? they don't seem very good, And what's up with my age?" Ethan mumbled, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.

"if I'm reading this right, I must have gotten a younger body when I came here. It must be my physical and mental ages then." He concluded. Ethan was surprised that the [Imperial System] would even distinguish between the two.

Deciding he had seen enough for now, He pressed the [X] at the upper right corner. The System Window once again vanished from his sight.

Since the clothes he was wearing were now too big, he removed them and put on the sandals and tunic that the system rewarded him. Even though they weren't the best, they fit him perfectly which was more important right now. He then placed his shoes and pants into his shirt and tied them up into a bundle.

After securing his belt around his waist, he slipped the dagger into it so he wouldn't lose it. Ethan then proceeded to leave the cave, exiting into a lush, green forest. The air was crisp and clean, with a hint of pine and earth.

The Sun was at its midpoint. The sky was blue, with only a few only a few white and fluffy clouds.

"Now, how am I going to get out of this forest?" Ethan wondered aloud. "I guess I can use 'that' method to find my way." he said with a chuckle.

He proceeded to pick up a small branch, holding it upright on the ground. After waiting a moment, Ethan let go of the stick and it fell, indicating which direction he should go.

"Alright, East it is!" he said with a smile, clearly excited to begin his adventure in a new world.

----

Roughly an hour of walking later, Ethan Began to hear the sound of running water. He picked up his pace, having gone most of the day without water already, he was quite thirsty.

He found the source of water a minute later, a narrow stream, maybe 8 feet wide and no more than a foot deep. He stooped down on the bank and cupped his hands, splashing water on his face.

Ethan was taking his first drink of water when suddenly...

"Ahhh! No, get away!" A female voice rang out, disturbing the stillness of the forest.

Ethan stood up and ran across the stream, heading in the direction of the shouting.

"Get back! back I say!" the voice cried out again.

After a short sprint, Ethan came to a clearing in the trees where a young woman stood on a boulder. She was surrounded by 5 rodent-like creatures. she was swinging a branch back and forth like a club, trying to keep them at bay.

The creatures also wielded clubs, except one who was clearly the leader, held a stone knife.

Ethan immediately went into action, he pulled his iron dagger and charged the leader from behind. He knew he had to to kill it first, since it's knife posed the biggest threat.

It must have heard his footsteps, but it was to late in noticing. As it turned around, Ethan's dagger came down on its neck. The rodent leaders eyes went dark as its crimson blood splashed on the ground and boulder, startling the other four.

*-skree-* *-skreee-* They screeched at each other, clearly panicked and not sure what to do. However, that didn't last long as two of the remaining beasts charged Ethan, hoping he would panic and they could kill him. They were dead wrong.

Ethan had always known that in a fight, the best defense is offense. So, he met their charge with his own, causing them to falter. The rodent in the lead stopped abruptly, causing the other to crash into its back, knocking them both over.

Seeing an the opening, Ethan sliced at both their necks before they could get back to their feet. Blood sprayed like a fountain from their throats. As for the last 2, they quickly understood that only death awaited them if they challenge this crazy human.

The rodent creatures rushed back to the bushes. However, only one managed to escape as the slower of the two was hit by Ethan's flying dagger. He had thrown his dagger with enough force to bury it to the hilt. The beast never knew what hit it.

Once he retrieved his dagger, Ethan walked back towards the girl.

---

Amira was frozen. Her eyes staring dazedly at the young man who saved her from a group of Ratlings. She had been sure she would be killed and eaten by those foul monsters, when suddenly, she was saved by this stranger.

Amira's emotions were all over the place, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. However, due to her state, she managed to do both simultaneously.

suddenly, a voice filled with concern brought here out of her daze.

"....ok?"

"Sorry?" Amira responded, having not heard the full question.

"Are you hurt anywhere, or are you okay?" Ethan asked again, his face showing worry.

"Oh, um...i thinks I'm fine." Amira replied after taking a self inventory. Aside from a missing sandal, a few scrapes and being covered in dirt, everything else was in good condition.

Amira slowly climbed off the boulder with the help of an outstretched hand from Ethan.

"Thank you." she said shyly "If you hadn't come when you did, I probably wouldn't be alive now." she added, bowing her head slightly.

"Please, there's no need for thanks. I just did what any decent person should." Ethan said nervously, scratching his head.

"No, you saved my life. At the very least, I should pay you back. while I don't have any money, my legs, back and arms are strong enough to work. So even if you made me your servant, I wouldn't complain." she spit out in a flurry of word, stunning Ethan.

He wasn't expecting his first encounter with a person of this world to wind up like this. Just moments after her rescue, this girl was spouting nonsense like becoming his servant.

Seeing the determination in her eyes, Ethan knew that she wouldn't let this go easily, regardless of what he said to her.

"Alright, we can talk about repayment later, if that's what you really want." he said with a bitter smile.

A wide smile spread across Amira's face, happy that she wasn't refused by her savior.

"Before we do anything else though, we should probably clean ourselves up first. There's a stream not to far from here we could use if you'd like?" he suggested.

Amira thought for a moment before responding "Ok, let's do that."

Thus, Ethan led Amira in the direction he had come from towards the stream.