"Dodge!" That was the only thought inside Alex's mind.

Even though the woman was 3 meters away from him, Alex had the inkling that her katana can affect him even with that distance!

Of course, Alex was not sure how the katana can do that to him, but Alex could somehow sense that being in the general vicinity of the katana will be bad for him.

This danger sense had been honed by Alex from all the countless dangerous fights that he had experienced already.

He had been saved by this danger sense many times before, so Alex did not hesitate to follow his danger sense.

Alex ducked low as the woman slashed her katana vertically, right at the part where Alex's waist should have been.

"Rip…" Alex heard a ripping sound above him and when he looked up, he saw that the space above him was seemingly affected by the katana slash.

Alex then looked behind him, and there he saw a long gash along the wall.

"Hm?" The woman seems to have been surprised by what Alex did. It was rare for her to find a person that was able to dodge her surprise attack.

She tightened her grip on the katana and this time, she let out three slashes.

"Oh s**t!" Alex cursed inwardly as he tried his best to dodge all three slashes. He jumped high in the air in order to avoid the first slash, which was almost hugging the ground.

The woman seems to have anticipated this move, as the second and third slashes were both barreling towards the airborne Alex.

"Ha!" Alex let out a shout as he forced his joints to follow his will.

He contorted his body while he was airborne, and this allowed him to somehow keep his limbs intact.

But the way that the woman placed her second and third slashes were so exquisite that one of the slashes managed to hit Alex's back.

"Guh!" Alex suppressed his scream of pain as blood began to dye his back. It slowly dripped into the floor as the woman looked at Alex coldly.

No matter which way someone will look at it, Alex is already doomed to die.

But even if he seemed to be in a losing situation right now, Alex still had the gall to smile as if he discovered something important.

"Your power… it is slashing across space, right?" Alex muttered as blood began to come out of his mouth. "It is a pretty versatile power, both in close and long-range combat."

The way that Alex said these words seemed to show his extreme confidence on his analysis.

But Alex was not really sure on this woman's real power.

After all, Alex had not seen any kind of this powerful abilities in his life!

Only when he had met that homeless man earlier that Alex realized that things like mind-reading actually exist.

The only reason that Alex guessed that this woman's ability was to slash through space was the fact that this is the best explanation for what the woman just did!

"Impressive. You managed to see through my Esper Ability with just two clashes." The woman said as she pointed her katana at Alex's direction.

"Since you are an Intruder, you should have a difficult time discerning my ability. But it seems like you were able to recognize mine with ease. That just means that you really are a dangerous Intruder."

"Wait what? Did this woman just say 'Esper Ability'?" Alex exclaimed to himself as he stared at the woman's sword warily.

Poor Alex. He has just woken up after a near-death experience, and he was here facing one again.

What was worse was that Alex still had not sorted his mind with all the weird stuff that happened with the homeless man.

For God's sake! Alex just literally woke up before this woman suddenly came in talking about Esper Ability and Intruders while trying to hack him alive!

If Alex did not have a great mental fortitude, then he could have already just given up right now.

"So you still do not have any idea about Esper Abilities huh. I better finish you off before you can know more." The woman said as another sword appeared on her left hand.

Alex looked at the woman with twitching eyes, as he realized that she is going to use dual-wielding to turn Alex into mincemeat!

"I must escape!" Alex thought as he tried to look for the best escape spot.

Unfortunately for Alex, the only exit in the room was the door where the woman had crashed in.

There is no way for Alex to approach that door without being chopped into pieces by the woman.

The black-haired woman seems to have sensed Alex's dilemma as she said,

"There is no way out for you now." She then wielded her twin swords at Alex's direction.

But before the space slashes could hit Alex, his forehead suddenly glowed as a glowing symbol appeared on it.

The glow coming from this symbol covered Alex, and just a moment later, Alex disappeared from the room.

The black-haired woman stared blankly at what happened, as her space slashes only managed to decimate the whole room.

"He escaped." The woman muttered to herself as she slowly ambled out of the room. It was hard to know what her exact emotions on what happened as she just continued on muttering to herself.

"Lord Ergo will not be happy about this..."

******************

A few seconds earlier.

Right before the black-haired woman could attack with her twin swords, Alex suddenly heard a voice inside his mind.

The voice sounded feminine, but the innate haughtiness in that voice made Alex immediately dislike the speaker.

"Traveler, since you are about to die here, you have the choice to use the One-Time Protection Service. This service will save you right now. But remember, you can only use this protection once. Once you use it, you have to rely on yourself to survive your next fights."

This haughty speaker seemed to not care on what happens to Alex as she took her time to talk to him.

"So Traveler, do you want to use the One-Time Protection Service right now?"

"Hell yes! Just do that One-Time thingy that you are talking about! I do not want to die here!" Alex thought as the black-haired woman started her attack. "Faster! I am about to die here!"

Alex then felt the same searing pain in his head as he saw a golden glow covering his body.

He then felt a sudden lurch as he felt that his feet were suddenly flailing in the air.

"Ahh!!!" Alex let out a shout as he fell downward.

Luckily for Alex, his body was only floating around 5 meters above the ground, which allowed him to have a safe but painful fall.

"Ouch…" Alex winced as he stretched his body.

Upon seeing that his body was still whole, he let out a sigh of relief as he sat on the ground.

"That was really something else." Alex thought to himself as he let out a deep breath.

He looked around him, and he realized that he was not in the room that he was in earlier. Even the woman that was attacking him was also gone, as Alex could only see lush grass and tall trees around him.

"Don't tell me that I teleported?" Alex muttered to himself disbelievingly as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"S**t, this it not the time for me to panic. I need to analyze what actually happened to me..." Alex thought to himself as he began to apply the one special rule that he had always used before.

This special rule is that no matter how weird or wrong things may be, Alex will still do his best to believe and accommodate them.

This special rule has saved Alex's life numerous times before.

After all, trying to outrun a lunatic doctor when he was 10 years old required a lot of wits and mental toughness.

"I do not believe that I will be unable to understand everything that happened to me right now!" Alex muttered as his mind began to replay everything that happened.

First, he was left to die in the snowstorm, and that was when he met the homeless man.

That homeless man then did something to Alex, and the next thing that Alex knew, he was already in that room earlier.

Then a sword-wielding woman that can slash through space attacked Alex, as she talked about Espers, Intruders and the World Diagram.

Then a voice inside Alex's head saved him and brought him here at the forest.

"Ok, now I have basically outlined everything that happened." Alex muttered to himself as he leaned his back on the nearby tree.

"But that does not still explain the reasons why these things had happened to me. Not only that, there is also this weird voice inside my head which saved me. I really need to know more about them before I try to make a move."

"Hmph, so have you calmed down now?" This time, the same haughty voice talked to Alex again. "You are impressive. You did not panic even when you saw something that should be unfamiliar to you. You will need that kind of attitude for the days to come."

Alex nodded sagely after hearing this. After all, if there was one thing that Alex can boast that he was good in, it was his mental fortitude.

"As long as something is believable and that I saw it by my eyes, I will personally believe it." Alex replied proudly. "After all everything is possible."

"Hmph, now I am not sure if you were just a tough guy or just another crazy person." The haughty voice murmured as Alex let out a yawn. "Hey! Don't you yawn while talking to me!"

"Oh, sorry, that was out of my habit." Alex replied sheepishly. He then cocked his head as he muttered to himself,

"This is also weird. I am talking to a voice inside my head. Are you real or are you just part of my already collapsing sanity?"

"Of course I am real!" Alex then felt a hot sensation on his forehead which prompted him to make a move.

He rushed towards the nearby river, and its clear surface showed Alex an image that he will never forget.

He saw a symbol engraved in his forehead, which is quite similar to the Ulzii Symbol, which he had already seen before.

It looked like a series of knots that start and end at the same place.

As he continued on observing his forehead, Alex saw a figure that came out of the symbol.

"Woah." That was all that Alex could say as he saw that it was a woman that came out of the symbol.

This woman was the second beautiful lady that Alex had encountered today.

If the woman earlier was a silent, brooding beauty, then the one in front of Alex right now is quite the opposite

This woman had a long, blonde hair that reached her ankles.

Her body was an hourglass figure, with her bosom and bottom bulging out perfectly.

Her thin waist and satin-white skin were enough to show that this woman was a peerless treasure that must be protected.

And her blue eyes only further emphasized the woman's beautiful face.

But there is one problem with this woman though.

And that problem was her size.

"You are so tiny." Alex exclaimed as he saw that this beautiful blonde was only as large as a chick. "Are you my new pet?"

"Hell no! You better apologize to me now!" The tiny blonde exclaimed as she glared at Alex angrily. "You do not want to see me angry!"

"Oh… I am weally scared…" Alex blurted out sarcastically. "Pwease don't kill me…"

"Hmph!" The tiny blonde could only stomp her feet angrily after realizing that Alex is just teasing her.

After seeing that Alex would never treat her that seriously, the tiny blonde decided to make him pay for what he did.

She suddenly floated in the air, much to Alex's surprise. She then hovered in front of Alex's face as she gave him a pouting expression.

"Hmph, if you do not apologize to me right now, then I will not do my job as your Guide!" The tiny blonde declared as she stared at Alex with anger. "You will need my help so that you, a Traveler, can survive your journey on the different worlds! Without my help, you will be dead immediately!"

"Umm... I think you are already doing your job as a Guide now." Alex pointed out as he tried not to snicker. "You just explained to me what your job is…"

"Argh!!!" This angry shout by the tiny blonde sounded like music to Alex's ears.

After all, a beautiful and mature woman shouting with her 2-inch tall body is something that every man must witness.