The red wolves I killed previously were weak, they're Rank beasts, I'm a rank higher. They also don't have skills, while I do.
In short, let's just say that red wolves are wolves but stronger... And red.
So I'm not strong, they're just weak.
I'm keeping that in mind so I don't get arrogant.
Anyway, I've been traveling for 2 days now. The wound on my leg had already healed thanks to the mana here in the mountain that helped recover faster.
I encounter red wolves from ti to ti on my way. But if possible, I always run away.
Why?
Because what does an unnecessary fight do?
Body fatigues and injuries.
I have a different objective. Fighting every enemy I encounter on the way is just plain stupid when you're on a long journey. Also, bullets are expensive and I only have limited number of them so I need to use them carefully.
Well, if I can't run, then I'll fight them.
I do sneak attacks to prevent injuries and save bullets. I use information from my recent fights, so dealing with red wolves got easier as I go on.
"Hey system, how long till I get there?"
I asked the system as I got bored walking for days.
[If you continue your pace, you will arrive there tomorrow afternoon.]
It replied.
I don't exactly know where I need to go, I just know it's on the top right part of this mountain.
"Then that will be 4 days, I need to get back in 3 days to attend the academy."
I tried thinking of how to go back faster.
"Maybe once I finish my objective, I'll just roll my way down. I'm up the mountain anyway, gravity will do the deed for ."
I jokingly said.
[Based on the terrain and trees in the mountain, your plan may lead to you having broken legs and arms, broken neck, internal injuries, broken spine or even coma. Anyway, you won't die because you're sturdy enough, so have your way.]
"..."
I don't know if the system is worried for or just being a jerk. I think it's the latter.
I just ignored it and shut my mouth.
*****
I arrived at my destination a day after that. Fighting so red wolves on the way made the system's prediction off a little because it's already dark.
And right now, I'm in front of a wall-like stone structure. It looks like a naturally ford rock wall, but it's not. I know it because I wrote it.
"Let see..."
I started searching through the stone wall to find a switch that will open an entrance.
"Why can't I have my lucky encounter too? My luck is high, you know."
I grumbled while doing so.
...
...
I searched for half an hour and then...
Click—
With the sound of sothing being clicked, the wall trembled.
And soon... A passage appeared on the wall.
Seeing that—
"Good, let's go."
I entered it without hesitation.
*****
Not long after entering, I arrived in a room. In the room there's a desk and a chair, and a lot of books scattered everywhere.
"So ssy."
Sitting on the chair is a skeleton with a ring on its index finger.
That ring was supposed to be for a mid-level villain that exists just to annoy the protagonist.
But before getting to that—
I searched the scattered books all around first until I found the books that I want.
[Support Magics] and [Buffs and Debuffs].
I put the two books in my bag and headed where the skeleton is.
I stood beside it.
It's a skeleton of a dead mage that had been researching like crazy about mana and magic. Having lost the sense of ti and not feeling hunger because of being too committed to their research, the mage died without them realizing it. I don't even know its gender because I didn't put any in the novel.
"System."
I called out. It didn't take long for the system to answer.
[Yeah?]
"Can you appraise things?"
[That's easy for .]
It boastfully answered. Well, I'm used to it now so I just let it pass.
"Appraise the ring on the skeleton's finger."
[Sure.]
The system responded, then the ring's description was displayed in front of .
Swish~
=====
[Ring of Gluttony]
-Has a unique skill .
-Absorbs mana from anything.
-50% of the mana absorbed will be transferred to the ring wearer.
-When the absorbed mana surpasses your capacity, pain will be felt all over your body.
-The skill has a 60-second cooldown.
=====
This ring is an artifact from the leader of a demonic cult that serves the Demon of Glutton.
This skeleton here killed that leader and took this ring as a reward for granted.
"This is the best item for considering my low mana. The future owner is just a mid-tier villain anyway, I need it for my survival."
In the story, 10 years from now, demons and monsters will be stronger, and their population will increase too.
I need to be strong to survive that.
"Hm?"
I then glanced at the skeleton.
"Can you appraise the skeleton?"
I asked the system, curious.
[I can't appraise it, maybe because it has no data in your novel. The Higher Being didn't put any information about it too.]
"I see."
I feel a bit guilty to be honest. I'm just a human after all, I'm kinda responsible for it too. Those characters in the novel that act emotionless for survival is pretty much impossible for .
I'm just a bored author, not an emotionless jerk.
Looking at the skeleton again, I opened my mouth.
"I don't know what and who you are, but I'm gonna take so of your things and I will put better use to them."
I said.
Then I took the ring from the skeleton.
Though... Right after I wore it, the room began to shake violently!
"What the hell?!"
I got no recollection of this happening in my novel.
"Hey system, what's happening?!"
I asked the system. I felt that it knew sothing.
And I was right.
[The Higher Being said that so changes in the story will happen, right? This is one of them. They said that the item is too good and easy to acquire, thus they decided to add a monster to guard it.]
The system said. And I frowned after hearing that.
"Guard?"
[Yes, so of the Transcendent Beings showed interest in you, so the Higher Being who created this universe gave you a challenge to boost their interest.]
Because of how complicated the topic is, my trait [Understanding] activated on its own.
"So basically, that Higher Being shit wants to attract more audiences, so he decided to make suffer?"
[Right :)]
"Then fuck the two of you!"
I felt anger rise from my body because of this developnt. I started running toward the exit of the room.
[Why too? It's not my fault.]
"You didn't tell earlier, you shit!"
I cursed at the system while speeding up.
[You can't escape from it, it's faster than you.]
"I already guessed that! But it's better to fight in a wide area than this cramped room!"
Upon the activation of [Understanding] earlier, I also understood the situation I was in.
And not long after, I was out of the room.
Bam!
It was then sothing burst out from the entrance where I ca from.
Tap-
It landed on its four paws softly.
What ca out of the entrance looked like a red wolf—just way bigger and scarier than any red wolf I'd encountered. It felt more dangerous than the other red wolves too!
It's also about 2 ters tall!
And I was just a couple of steps away from its side.
"System! Appraise it!"
I exclaid while distancing myself from it. It's still dark, and wolves have good senses, so hiding is pretty much useless.
=====
[King Wolf]
Rank: E-
Strength: E-
Agility: F
Stamina: E-
Intelligence: F-
[Skills]
=====
I didn't even have to read what the skills were—the nas already gave it all. And what's with the naming sense again?
King Wolf? Really?
Anyway—
"Fuck, that's two tis higher than my rank! It even has skills!"
I complained after reading the stats of the beast. I'm on the verge of ranking up, but even if I did, it'd still be a rank higher than .
"System! Focus my trait [Understanding] on that beast's anatomy, can you do that?"
[Yes, I can.]
"Great, then do it fast."
I instructed the system.
And after that, information about the King Wolf's body entered my brain. A quarter of my mana imdiately went down the drained.
I hid behind a tree about 20 ters away from it.
Using the information I got about its anatomy, I could guess its obvious weak spots.
'[Calm Thinker]'
As I chanted those words in my mind—
My mind cald down and my thoughts flowed smoother. I was still scared, but I was thinking calmly.
"Fuuu..."
I let out a sigh and aid my gun at its head.
'There's no way out, so I should at least take the first hit to increase my chance of winning.'
I concluded in my head... And then I pulled the trigger.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
I shot 5 tis consecutively. 3 hit the side of The King Wolf's head, 1 hit the right side of its body, and the other 1 missed.
-GAAARGH?!!
The King Wolf roared.
'Now there's no backing out.'
I still have 6 magazines left, including the one loaded in my handgun now. Each magazine has 10 bullets, so I still have 55 bullets.
The side of the beast's head bled, but it wasn't serious.
The bullets didn't even penetrate its skin properly.
'Shit.'
I cursed in my mind as the King Wolf faced my direction.
It then grinned... And ran toward !
Bam!
-GRAAAAHHH!!!
I held my handgun up with both of my hands, aid it at the King Wolf... And then I shot.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
But it dodged all 3 of my bullets.
"Fuck."
The King Wolf was now in front of . I rolled sideways to dodge the its tackle.
Boom!
Crash—
With a loud crashing sound, the tree I was hiding behind earlier got smashed.
I imdiately stood up, and I glared at the King Wolf.
'[Monarch's Presence]'
It would make my presence stronger, but my location was already discovered, so it's no big deal.
SWOOSH~!
-GRRGH?!
As I activated [Monarch's Presence], the King Wolf got surprised by the sudden pressure coming from and it stopped moving for a second.
And I didn't waste that opportunity—
Bang! Bang!
I shot the rest of the bullets in my magazine while dashing backward away from the King Wolf.
1 hit the left eye, the other 1 hit the right ear.
Its eyes and ears were the weakest parts of its body, so it took a decent amount of damage. Damaging its vision and hearing would make things easier for .
Being hurt by my bullets, the King Wolf got angry at . It had just been surprised by the sudden increase in pressure coming from , but it basically had no effect on it.
-GRAAAAHHH!!!
The King Wolf opened its mouth wide... And a fireball the size of a basketball flew toward .
FWOOSH—!
'[Insight]'
I predicted the fireball's trajectory using that skill.
Then raising my right hand with the [Ring of Gluttony] on it, I aid where the fireball was supposed to go.
'[Devour]'
And I activated the ring's skill.
WHOOSH~
A vortex-like shadow ca out from the ring and swallowed the fireball whole. I felt my mana got replenished.
The King Wolf looked surprised seeing that.
And in that mont—I loaded a new magazine into my gun, aid at the wolf, then pulled the trigger.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
I shot 5 bullets again. 4 hit the head, 1 missed.
-GARGH?!
The bleeding on its head got worse, but it still wasn't serious.
The King Wolf may be dumb, but it sure is sturdy as hell.
Bam!
It then leaped toward again, attempting to tackle like it wasn't hurt.
"Seriously?!"
I'd pretty much tried all my tricks, so I don't know what to do now.
I racked my brain for a plan... And luckily, I thought of a long-term plan that let survive as long as my stamina and mana held out.
So imdiately—
Fwish~
I climbed up a tree, then coated my feet and legs with mana.
And with [Insight] and [Calm Thinker] activated—
Bam!
I jumped to a different tree just as the King Wolf destroyed the one I'd climbed.
Crash—
"Fuck..."
I almost slipped and fell. The King Wolf then charged again at the tree I'd jumped onto.
Boom!
But just before it ca in contact with the tree, I had already jumped into a different one.
I didn't slip this ti and landed properly on a thick branch, so I aid my gun at the King Wolf.
Bang! Bang!
And shot 2 bullets. Both hit its head again.
-...!
The King Wolf then glared at . It looked annoyed.
-GROAAAAAAAHHH!!!
The King Wolf growled so loud as it charged at the tree I was on again.
"Hup...!"
I jumped to a different tree—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Then I continued shooting toward the King Wolf again!
That's right... This is my plan.
Facing that beast head-on is just plain stupid, so I decided to hit and run.
CRASH!
Every tree I landed on got smashed afterward by the King Wolf. anwhile, its fireballs weren't that fast and I have [Insight], so avoiding them was easy.
I absorbed them too from ti to ti to replenish my mana using the [Ring of Gluttony]'s skill.
*****
This whole thing went on like that for about 20 minutes.
"Haa... Haa..."
Rough breaths ca out of my mouth.
I had my last magazine in with 3 bullets remaining. My mana was almost empty. And my stamina wasn't that high to begin with, so I was pretty much at my limit physical too.
Also, it seed like the King Wolf was so mad at that it wanted to kill personally. That beast intimidated every red wolf trying to interfere with us.
Which was good for , really. I don't think I can fight any other more beast with that King Wolf already after .
"Normally when soone with a higher status gets annoyed, they make their subordinates handle it. You're a good leader. We could be friends if you just calm down."
I said while looking at the King Wolf below and catching my breath.
The King Wolf was covered with small wounds and I could tell it was starting to feel exhausted just like .
Anyway, looks like it didn't understand , or it just didn't want to listen.
-GRAAAAHHH!!!
It rushed at the tree I was on again.
"Or maybe you're just dumb enough to not think of that!"
I shot an insult at it, annoyed.
But just as I was about to leap to another tree—
-GROOOOOOOWL!!!!
The King Wolf let out a thunderous roar!
"?!!"
My body stiffened for a second, and in that second—
Crash!
The tree that I was on was already falling!
'I think this is the effect of its skill [Leader's Roar]!'
"Fucking hell!"
I couldn't jump to another tree as I lost my footing.
THUD!
So with a loud sound, I fell to the ground with the tree. Then maybe because of its pent-up anger or experience from fighting , the King Wolf imdiately jumped at and bit my side!
"ARGH!!!"
I groaned in pain. With [Calm Thinker] working, I didn't panic—but it still hurts like hell!
The corners of my eyes started to water. It didn't take long before tears fell. I was just a forr author—I'm not used to pain!
"YOU FUCKING WOLF!!!"
Fwip-
I yelled as I grabbed the King Wolf's head with my right hand.
'[Devour]!'
I activated.
And this ti... The shadow from the ring didn't form a vortex.
FWOOP—
It just covered the King Wolf's head and started absorbing mana from its body!
Moving on...
PHUCK!
I took out my extra dagger from my pocket with my left hand and stabbed the wolf's neck. This way, it couldn't escape from either. Unfortunately, I couldn't cover the dagger with mana to do more damage because I still haven't learned how. Worst-case scenario is my dagger breaks attempting to do it without practice. Coating body parts with mana is the best I can do.
So I coated my left hand with mana to hold the dagger tightly.
"Argh...! LET GO!!!"
The King Wolf was still biting —no, it was munching, so it started to hurt more.
My tears started to fall more. I also didn't want to cry, but it hurt like hell and there was no one around, so I just let the tears fall.
I stopped the [Devour] skill after refilling my mana capacity.
I coated the side of my body, where I was being bitten, with mana to minimize the damage I was receiving.
I then aid my gun at the King Wolf's left eye... And shot my remaining bullets.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Now the damage was serious. Its left eye was destroyed, revealing so of its skull, but the King Wolf still wasn't loosening its fangs!
-GRRRGH...!!!
So to respond to that...
I dropped my gun. I coated my right hand with mana and ford a fist.
"AGHH!!!"
I shouted to ignore the pain I was in.
Then—
Bam!
I punched the side of the King Wolf's head. Having lost a lot of mana, it took damage. Also, it couldn't use skills anymore.
I raised my fist again.
Bam!
Then punched it again.
Bam!
And again.
Bam!
And again.
BAM!
I punched it in the sa place with my right hand, continuously.
This wolf had tackled a lot of trees on the way, so its body was weakened. Especially its goddamn head.
Now, I just needed to endure till the end...
BAM!
*****
After punching the King Wolf continuously with a mana-coated fist, and holding it in place with the dagger for a minute... I stopped.
"Fuck, I'm gonna die..."
I mumbled, looking at the sky.
The King Wolf's fangs, which were tightly bitten into my side... It finally loosened.
With being completely free from its fangs—
Thud!
My body fell on the ground.
And after ...
THUD—
The King Wolf followed and fell too just beside .
-...
It was dead. I survived.
BAM!
I punched it again with a mana-coated fist to make sure it was really gone—or maybe out of annoyance.
"You leech-like bastard."
I won against a beast 2 ranks higher than . But I can't celebrate.
"Gurgh..."
Because I'm also about to die.
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