Shen Xingyan's home was located quite close to the base's border, and due to a lack of funds, his family lived in a rather deserted area. It wasn't that there were no people at all, but they were rarely seen, and right now there was no one around.
In such an environment, the rustling sound coming from the bushes made Shen Xingyan wary. His heart involuntarily beat faster, and his body automatically assumed a fighting stance.
As the source of the noise drew closer, Shen Xingyan slowly retreated, lowering his hands to search for a stone to at least somehow improve his combat readiness.
He had barely finished preparing when the strange movement in the bushes suddenly ceased. Before Shen Xingyan could react in surprise, a black shadow leaped out and lunged directly at him.
The speed of the attack was such that even the best of humanity before the Primal Energy explosion would not have been able to react. But Shen Xingyan was an awakened person with all maxed-out base stats, and he had been watching that direction intently. Seeing the black shadow, he instinctively dodged, and the attack flew past him.
When Shen Xingyan came to his senses and saw who the culprit of the incident was, his anxiety somewhat subsided, but he squeezed the stone in his hand even tighter.
Before him was a Calamity of the lowest level—a giant rat, mutated from an ordinary rat.
More than a hundred years ago, the explosion of Primal Energy led to the evolution of all living creatures on the Blue Planet, and rats were no exception. Their danger to humanity had increased manifold.
In that era, due to different paths of development, the growth speed of these creatures seemed even more astonishing.
Unlike humans, whose physical attributes improved over time but required training for rapid growth, animals focused on Primal Energy, and their other attributes significantly surpassed human ones.
Moreover, without the help of the Star Source's beam for awakening, using naturally accumulated Primal Energy was an extremely difficult task.
In past defensive battles, these rats, despite their low combat power, caused a lot of trouble for recently awakened professionals due to their sheer numbers.
Furthermore, even the weakest Calamity remained a Calamity, with an innate aggression toward humans.
"How did such a weak giant rat manage to get through the border?" Shen Xingyan wondered, observing the creature.
Even in school, he had studied the characteristics of Calamities and knew that giant rats were only renowned for their speed but did not possess great destructive power.
Not to mention that after his Awakening, his speed significantly surpassed that of the rat, but even before the Awakening, if he caught a good moment, it wouldn't have been difficult to deal with such an opponent.
The rat was also looking intently at Shen Xingyan. Its nail-sized eyes moved restlessly, as if analyzing the difference in strength between them. Two sharp incisors protruded, displaying a threat.
However, Shen Xingyan didn't wait for his opponent to attack first. He raised the stone and charged forward. With his current Defense stat of 12, it would be difficult for the rat to break through his defenses, and Shen Xingyan was confident in that.
Seeing that the little human was not only unafraid but was even attacking, the giant rat was frightened by such determination and hastily turned around, fleeing for its life. Not a trace of its former ferocity remained.
But Shen Xingyan had no intention of letting it get away. His Speed stat of 10 fully manifested itself—in three steps, he covered a distance of five and quickly got behind the rat.
A dull thud sounded—Shen Xingyan's right hand with the stone came crashing down on the rat's body, making it squeal in pain, and its speed of escape significantly decreased.
Ignoring the rat's reaction, Shen Xingyan swung the stone again, aiming for its head, but this time he missed—the rat suddenly vanished from the spot. This made him momentarily flustered.
When he saw his opponent again, the rat was already dozens of meters away from him. But after Shen Xingyan's powerful blow, its speed had significantly decreased.
Without a second thought, Shen Xingyan charged in pursuit again.
Despite the rat's desperate attempts to escape, Shen Xingyan quickly caught up to it and delivered several blows to its head until it finally fell still. Only then did he stop.
Making sure the rat was no longer showing signs of life, Shen Xingyan straightened up and let out a deep breath.
By this point, his stamina, already exhausted from his gym training, was almost depleted after the tense fight. Although the struggle was short, the energy expenditure was enormous—beads of sweat beaded on his forehead. This made him realize the fundamental difference between training and real combat.
This was Shen Xingyan's first direct encounter with a Calamity, and the composure he had feigned during the fight now dissipated, giving way to a lingering fear.
What if a stronger Calamity had appeared instead of a lowest-level giant rat? Would he have been able to destroy it just as easily? In the end, there is always only one outcome on the battlefield—it's you or your opponent.
The uncertainty in his answer made his heart tighten. After all, he now had two powerful skills, and if something unforeseen were to happen to him at this early stage of his development, it would be too unfair!
For all these years, professionals had said that the closer one was to the border, the more dangerous it was. Previously, Shen Xingyan had believed this, but he had no direct experience. Now, after his encounter with the small Calamity, his understanding had become much deeper.
"Since Calamities have begun to appear, it may become even more dangerous here in the future. It looks like I need to rent a place near the school as soon as possible—that way, my sister will be safer," Shen Xingyan decided, assessing the situation.
Only now did he remember that he needed to examine his defeated prey.
Shen Xingyan squatted down, looking at his bloody kill. Observing a Calamity this closely for the first time, he didn't know how to describe his feelings. There was curiosity, and excitement, but most of all—hatred. After all, it was these very Calamities that had once shattered his happy family. And now, he had taken the first step on the path of revenge.
Examining the rat, Shen Xingyan noticed that its belly seemed much bigger than what was described in the materials he had studied. There was something unusual about it.
Unfortunately, he didn't have any butchering tools with him, so he decided to take the rat home to figure out what was going on. The rat's meat could be butchered and sold at the open market.