'He's following well,' I thought as I took a glance at the overly cautious male Hunter behind me.
It was a bit of a waste to leave behind the carcass of that dead Brown Wolf, but I figured that little guy wouldn't be worth much as a material seeing how weak and famished it was. At most, the U.S. government's reimbursement would be worth less than $440 US. I would have to derive satisfaction from knowing that I was able to help these two Hunters today instead.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, the exit from the mountainous region's border could be seen in the distance. A signboard near it said, "From here on, the number of Monster encounters will increase."
Confirming our location, I lowered the unconscious Hunter, who had a faint pulse, to the ground and glanced back.
"Heup!!"
The Hunter following me made a funny noise as he hurriedly held his breath in fear. Feeling rather mischievous after seeing that nervous appearance, I decided to pull a prank on the scared man.
– Krrrrng.
"Eeeeeeek!!"
I found the panicky reaction of the Hunter falling on his butt absolutely priceless.
'Have a less dangerous life, Mister.'
The funny reaction caused my lips to twist upwards. I then lightly patted the shoulder of the scared and sweaty Hunter with my front paw, and stepping past, I leisurely headed back towards the forest.
Left alone, Tom Harris remained there utterly dazed for a long time. The massive Brown Wolf had long disappeared into the thicket, but he failed to understand what had just happened…. this maddeningly weird experience.
Somehow recovering from the shock, he recounted the events from several moments ago. That big Brown Wolf…. That Monster…. It rescued him.
Unsure of whether he was dreaming or not, Tom sharply slapped his face.
"Ouch."
It hurt. Therefore, it was definitely not a dream. Still dazed, his stares fixed on the direction where the mystery Brown Wolf had gone off to.
"…Cough, cough."
"Ah, Alex!! Can you hear me?!"
The wounded comrade, Alex Reed, coughed weakly, breaking Tom's dazed state. He quickly shouldered the fellow Hunter and stood up.
"Heeeey, over here!!"
Tom shouted out aloud and soon, he could see some sort of stirring by the guard post building over yonder by the exit.
"Please help!!"
After determining the location of the desperate voice, soldiers hurriedly ran towards his direction. A relieved smile broke out on Tom's face as he realized that he'd be able to live for another day, all the while momentarily forgetting about the dream-like event of a Wolf saving him.
•
"A Spirit Beast?"
"That's right. That's the only fitting explanation for what happened. That massive size, that display of human-like intelligence…."
Once more, Tom's expression became profoundly moved after recalling the event as he sipped some warm tea.
"But, can a Monster evolve into a Spirit Beast?"
A soldier manning the border exit guard post tilted his head in puzzlement and asked, unconvinced.
Spirit Beasts were creatures seemingly blessed by Divine Spirits. They were unfathomably mysterious beings; their physical abilities and mental prowess were greatly enhanced as they accepted the aura of Mother Nature. They were essentially different from the vicious beasts with Mana that ran amok, and were treated differently as well.
"If it's a Wolf, then there's a good possibility. Right now, Wolves are treated like Monsters because of their vicious nature but, originally, they were wild animals to begin with."
"…If that's true, then, wow…that's some mystery."
The soldier couldn't fully believe Tom's words. That was because a Spirit Beast wasn't some common existence. For instance, the legendary creature, Nine Tailed Fox, was included in the category of Spirit Beasts.
Facing the skeptical attitude of the soldier, Tom creased his forehead while opening his mouth.
"There is no ifs. It's the honest truth. I really did encounter… Ah, that's right!!"
Suddenly remembering something really important, Tom shouted out and shot up from his seat.
"The Recording Lens!! I was wearing the Recording Lens at the time!!"
A Recording Lens did what its name implied — it recorded images reflected on the retina. Dirt-poor hunters like Tom, who could only survive day to day by earning his keep the hard way, wore this lens every now and then when going out on a Monster hunt. It was for that off chance of seeing a rare Monster that could be worth something. That, or if there happened to be a particularly detailed recording of a hunt, he could sell it off to make extra cash on the side, calling it "educational material."
"…Eh?"
"Just wait a dang moment!! I'll definitely show you!!"
The soldier worried about seeing blood pour out for a moment as Tom hurriedly began digging into his eyeball, fishing out a single lens.
"Here, here, take a good look!!"
"Achoo!!"
Around the same time, in a nearby cavern, I, Ethan Walker, in my Goblin Form suddenly sneezed out during the middle of dismantling a Monster corpse.
"…sniff"
I wiped my itchy nose with the bloodied hand and finished organizing the extracted Monster materials before putting them away, then took a seat on a stone chair.
One of the Goblin's traits was "unable to stay still." It was practically impossible to remain still in the Goblin Form as a result. Blowing my nose, rubbing my hands for no reason, making weird noises — they were instinctual habits and I ended up doing them involuntarily.
I deeply hated this side of the Goblin Form, so I promptly changed back into the Brown Wolf Form. Lying snugly on the flat stone bed, I willed the Status Window to appear before me.
►Trait ⸢Monster⸥
⸢Rank: Rare⸥
⸢Trait Level: 3⸥
– Species changed from Human to Monster. Once per 24 hours the host can maintain the Human Form for 70 Minutes, calculated from the numerical value of [Energy Manipulation] stat.
– Stats of the Monster Forms will be reduced during the Human Form.
– Desire to sleep has been lost.
– Currently maintaining the Brown Wolf* Form.
► Status
[Physical Strength 16]
[Endurance 15]
[Agility 19]
[Energy Manipulation 7]
[Mana Affinity 1]
[Magic Strength 1]
[Luck 3]
[*Brown Wolf: Strength and Defense increase by 5, Agility increases by 8. During the Human Form, the effects will be reduced by ⅓.]
⸻
The results of a month's effort was my Trait level increasing by a whopping 2.
– Krrrrng.
I growled. I was dissatisfied and angry at the slow rate of my progress.
It was almost a month ago when I resolved to become a Lycanthrope. I packed all my meager belongings together and set off to the Rocky Mountains. It was like doing a Time Attack in a video game — my previous home in the suburbs of Denver was 30 minutes away from the mountains of Colorado, a feat impossible if it weren't for the advent of the Mana Trains.
Cutting it fairly close, I cautiously evaded the eyes of the military and the Knight Orders, and successfully sneaked past the borders of the mountain region undetected.
At first, I had no idea what I should do. Suddenly barging into the land of Monsters, I had to repeatedly suffer through confusion and chaos. And when Monsters challenged me, I fought them off by turning into either the Orc Form or the Wolf Form and survived.
It was a painful experience. The smell of raw flesh stuck between my teeth nauseated me, the unpleasant sensation of pummeling the life out of my victims with a blunt weapon — all these experiences were something I just couldn't really get used to. I even cried myself to sleep every night thanks to the anxiety of steadily losing my humanity gnawing at me.
But the feeling of disgust lessened as time passed, and even though I couldn't readily accept them, just like that, I was progressing step by step towards achieving my goal.
The first thing I did after entering the mountains was to find and secure a nice cave that couldn't be located by the Hunters. I turned it into my base of operations. Then naturally, I started living there for good.
Utilizing the Goblin Form's surprisingly deft hands, I remodeled the interior of the cave, and to withstand the cold weather, I lined up the fur of several Monsters around the place.
There was a stream nearby, so drinking water was taken care of; I also roasted the meat of wild animals I caught for sustenance.
After that, all I did was nonstop hunting.
When I was at a level 1, pretty much every single Monster I fought posed a serious threat to my life. That was even including the other, common-variety Brown Wolves.
So I used my head a little. I only picked on those poor wolves that were rejected from their own pack or were too dull-witted, and by relying on the Orc Form's much greater physical strength over that of my victims, I smashed their skulls in. After smashing 10 heads, my Trait had its very first "level-up."
But the changes I went through were slightly different than expectation. Sure, both the bodies of the Orc Form and the Brown Wolf Form became a lot bigger and my stats became just that stronger, but weirdly, the Goblin Form stayed the same.
However, what I wanted wasn't this type of "growth." What I came here for was to "evolve."
Such as to become the higher-ranked Monster in the Wolf species after the Brown Wolf, the Grey Wolf. For the Orc Form, it was the Orc Warrior. For the Goblin Form… uh, whatever was higher up.
Instead of evolving, my Forms remained the same and only the "stats" improved.
I didn't lose heart though, and just poured in more effort. I thought that maybe I just needed to level up once more.
It was disappointing, but at least the hunting became easier with my Trait Level being 2 now.
Even if I fought against other Brown Wolves, I was over 1.5 times larger, and it was evident that the disparity in strength was greater still. In other words, I became the top predator in this neighborhood almost in an instant.
But leveling up became increasingly difficult. From Level 1 to Level 2, I only had to spend 3 days and kill 10 preys. However, for Level 3, even nearly 30 days and 100 kills proved to be insufficient.
Frustrated, I thought about heading to a hunting ground with higher-tier Monsters only to give up on that idea.
That was because, in the world of Monsters, the difference in power between two tiers was like heaven and earth. It was actually that enormous.
The easiest example was to compare a Brown Wolf to a Grey Wolf.
The Brown Wolves were ranked lowest tier, and the Grey Wolves were also ranked as low tier, just one place above them. That was it.
But if Brown Wolves wanted to hunt down one Grey Wolf, then at least a single pack consisting of over 12 individuals were needed.
That's why, without any other choice, I had to repeatedly grind away like crazy in this lowest-level hunting ground for the past 31 days. Finally, I was able to level up one more time.
But perhaps inevitably, what awaited me was the growth of my stats and not the evolution of my Forms. My size and overall power might have grown to a point where I could rival a Grey Wolf, a creature that could easily contend with a full-size tiger, but in the end, I still couldn't become one.
'Just what is it that I need to do?' I sighed in my Wolf Form.
An unexpectedly cute sound escaped my nostrils. None of the hapless Hunters would've thought I was cute though, as they would be too busy running away like scalded cats after encountering my massive Brown Wolf Form.
As I was sinking deeper into my worries, suddenly, strange texts popped out in front of my eyes.
⸢Condition Complete: Minimum Reputation.⸥
– The minimum of 100 people have engraved the existence of "the Brown Wolf" into their minds. All stats rise by 1.
– The Grey Wolf Form is available for host instead of the Brown Wolf. All stats related to the Wolf Form will be adjusted accordingly.
– "The Grey Wolf's Sense of Smell" will be available during Human Form. (Active Skill)
► Status
[Physical Strength 22]
[Endurance 21]
[Agility 28]
[Energy Manipulation 8]
[Mana Affinity 2]
[Magic Strength 2]
[Luck 4]
[*Grey Wolf: Strength and Defense increase by 10, Agility increases by 16. During the Human Form, the effects will be reduced by ⅓.]
"….Fuuheng??"
This inexplicable change was so out of nowhere, I was momentarily at a loss for words.
But after recovering quickly, using my pair of inquisitive, excessively round eyes, I ascertained the condition of my new body.
Definitely, I had changed.
My previously doggy-brown fur had completely morphed into a new shiny, grey coat.
I stretched my legs, flexed my claws, and sniffed the air. Everything felt sharper, faster, stronger. My senses were heightened to a point I hadn't imagined possible.
'So… this is what evolution feels like,' I thought, a thrill running down my spine.
I could feel the Grey Wolf's instincts slowly integrating with my mind. The scent of the forest, the distant cries of smaller Monsters, even the subtle tremble of a rabbit in the underbrush, it was all clear, all vivid.
'Finally… the first true step towards becoming a Lycanthrope,' I muttered to myself.
The mountain air tasted crisper, the stream water fresher. For the first time in what felt like forever, I felt… alive.
I shook my massive head, feeling the wind whip past my ears, and let out a long, low growl that echoed across the cavern. Not just a sound of warning, it was a declaration.
'I am no longer the Brown Wolf… I am the Grey Wolf.'
And somewhere deep inside, the instinct of a predator awakened fully.