Defense wasn't really an issue.

Speed, however...Was.

It was the lowest out of all his states, he didn't have any skills to help with it, leaving him to rely on his exoskeleton which was the reason how he survive encounters like the lizard turtle. The evolved acid spitter had managed to keep him at a distance by making him focus primarily on dodging, not attacking as while his [Danger Sense] was great, it was worthless if he couldn't react in time for said dangers.

Path of the Swift it was then.

Light once again enveloped him.

And it disappears just as quickly as it appeared, leaving Hans feeling very different than he was just a moment ago.

Inspecting himself, Hans found that his exoskeleton was sleeker and was quite literally shining. He also somehow feels lighter while being bigger than he was previously as well.

You have gained the skill [Dash - Lv. 1]!

[Dash - Lv.1] - Move somewhere with a burst of speed.

You have gained the skill [Slow Down - Lv. 1]!

[Slow Down - Lv. 1] - Slow down your perception of time and increase your reflexes.

Congrats! You have evolved from [Venomous Desert Scorpion] to [Sandstream Scorpion]!

The new skills were pretty too. With them being exactly what he needed.

Hans took a few moments to adjust himself to his new body before crawling back into his home. The corpse of the lizard turtle, scuta which was what it was called apparently, he noticed was now picked clean of any flesh with a monster cracking open the bones, devouring the contents inside.

Well, now was a good time to test out the new skills, he guess. Hans rushes toward the scavenger, activating [Dash].

He felt the world around him blurred as he appeared right next to the scavenger, causing them to let out various noises of surprise, ranging from caws to screeches.

Fuck, that covered a lot more distance than he thought.

[Slow Down] was activated as quickly as possible and Hans felt...Weird.

He could feel his body move in slow motion as his claw slowly move its way to the monster, who was seemly frozen in time. Hans watches in fascination as the monster, a vulture, face crumples like wet tissue, droplets of blood spilling out.

Then time sped up and the vulture's limp body skidded across the ground, leaving a trail of blood behind.

You have slain [Desert Sky Vulture - Lv. 10]!

You Have Leveled Up! [Sandstream Scorpion - Lv. 1—> Lv. 2]!

Hans with his claw still held up could only stare as his brain tried to process what just happen. He then clutches his head in pain as a dull, throbbing sensation in his head.

It felt like a jackhammer was hammering away at his skull nonstop, the pain causing him to flop to the ground, still clutching his head as he desperately waited for the pain to go away.

The pain was unbearable, worse than the time he slammed his head against a telephone pole because at least that only lasted for a minute or two before it stopped hurting while this lasted for how much longer? Minutes? Hours?

He doesn't know.

After what felt like eons, the pain finally subsided.

Hans lay there breathing heavily before he slowly got up.

"System, what the hell was that?"

Silence was the answer.

Hans glared at the empty air in front of him.

"Oh, so that's how going to be huh? Not even an 'I can not answer that' from you?" Hans yells. "Because I can't help but feel like side effects should be mentioned in the skill description, considering that they're part of the skill, right?"

Again, silence.

Hans sighed and just made his way back to his cave to rest, considering that he just suffered a horrible headache, and his body was still hurting like from the injuries he sustained from the scuta.

Dried blood coating his body, he crawls into his little abode, and slumps to the ground, sleep taking him.

Why the hell was there so many rats here?

That was the question he asked himself when he woke up and crawl out of his cave. Rats and mice are practically everywhere. Some even try to attack Em!

Those were the first he killed.

Hans shook a rat off his claw before stomping it with his legs.

You have slain [Berserk Fanged Rat - Lv. 3]!

Also, there was something off about these rodents. They had berserk in their names, red eyes, and were acting far crazier than they used to be, attacking everything nearby with reckless abandonment, drooling out of their mouth.

Swarms of shrieking mice were swarming acid spitters and tearing the snakes apart, letting out high-pitch screeches as they did so, his fellow scorpions were trying their best, but they were simply just over overwhelmed and devoured alive.

You weren't even safe in the air!

The rodents were forming piles out of their brethren, living or dead, and climbing over them to reach their targets. They would fling themselves onto the vultures, and when he looked closely, some weird bat-like creature, weighed them down, while simultaneously ripping into their flesh.

It was nothing but chaos, just like yesterday. However, the difference was that while that was caused by the monsters acting out of stress and fear, this seem to be caused only by pure bloodlust, and consist of only rodents for some reason.

With a sweeping motion, his tail blade slices up several rodents while he crushes more into bloody pastes with his claws. More rush him, only to be flattened or cut up.

You have slain [Berserk Fanged Rat - Lv. 2]!

[Berserk Shrieking Mouse - Lv. 3]!

You have slain [Berserk Fanged Rat - Lv. 4]!

You have slain [Berserk Fanged Rat - Lv. 3]!

You have slain [Berserk Fanged Rat - Lv. 2]!

You have slain [Berserk Fanged Rat - Lv. 6]!

[Berserk Shrieking Mo—

Hans grab a fanged rat and threw it into the crowd, knocking out a few. Another leap at him, latching its jaw onto one of his claws. He responded by swinging his claw around, making it held on for dear life, and using it as a living weapon.

Rodents were getting whipped across the face as they approach, and those that tried to sneak up on him met their end with his tail blade.

It was laughable how easy it was to kill a huge swath of them. They were low-level, tiny compared to him, so much that he could kill them by stepping on them, and lastly, not a single one of them had evolved.

Which also means none of them was able to harm him even a little bit.

The fanged rat that latched onto his claws finally die, its limp body dropping to the ground.

You have slain [Berserk Fanged Rat - Lv. 9]!

Another got crushed under his feet.

You have slain [Berserk Fanged Rat - Lv. 8]!

You Have Leveled Up! [Sandstream Scorpion - Lv. 4 —> Lv. 5]!

A shrieking mouse opens its mouth to let a screech only for its tail blade to pierce its skull.

You have slain [Berserk Shrieking Mouse - Lv. 10]!

One leap at him, ready to sink its teeth in him. Hans caught it while it was still in mid-air and putting some force behind it, proceed to throw it into the swarm.

You have slain [Berserk Fanged Rat - Lv. 6]!

[Berserk Shrieking Mouse - Lv. 7]!

You have slain [Berserk Fanged Rat - Lv. 9]!

[Fling - Lv. 2] Leveled Up!

[Sandstream Scorpion - Lv. 5 —> Lv. 6]!

Hans leaps and crushes any rat or mouse he lands on. With a flick, his tail blade shot out, bisecting more rodents. Despite seeing the deaths of so many of its kind, despite seeing how pointless it was to fight against him, despite all of that...

They still attack him.

And that was something he had them props for, whether they were in or not.

Too bad, their efforts amount to nothing.

Using [Dash], Hans plows through the crowd, facing no resistance as he does so. Screeches of anger filled his ear, his body an unstoppable force, teeth gnawing on his exoskeleton, failing to do any damage.

He felt like he was invincible.

No, he was invincible.

Hans laugh.

"I am a perpetual pain machine! None of you fuckers can stop me!" Hans roars at the top of his lungs. "I survive beings far worse than all of you combine! I survive acid melting my body. I survive being boiled alive by the sun! I survived my body being crushed by the Scuta! I survive all of them and came out at the top and do you know why?"

Hans stop moving and spread his arms out, glancing at the swarm as if he was awaiting an answer.

The swarm answer was swarming him in another attempt to kill him.

With a flick of his tail and a swing of claws, the swarm was beaten back, and Hans howled with laughter.

"It's because I"M FUCKING INVINCIBLE!"