The fifth dire lupus charged at him, and the one-eyed dire lupus also charged at him. Red had seen how they attacked. As he predicted, the fifth dire lupus jumped at him.
He was ready for it as he swung the dagger. The time was perfect as the dagger pierced the dire lupus' neck from the side. It whimpered in pain, and he caught the snout with his left hand before throwing it down to the ground.
Then he dashed forward, running at the one-eyed dire lupus. The moment it jumped at him, his dagger was coming from above. He held the dagger upside down as he swung it down to the one-eyed dire lupus's head.
The dagger pierced the head and brought it down to the branch. He could feel his dagger was hitting the tough tree branch. Meanwhile, his left hand was ready on the dire lupus' neck, but the dire lupus completely stopped moving.
Three dire lupus were still alive. The one got shot in the hind leg, the one who got shot in the head when trying to climb, and the one who got shot in the front leg and fell off the tree.
The one who got shot in the head was half-dying, didn't move, but was still alive with its bleeding head, staring at Red with rage. The remaining two who got shot on the leg were right below the tree, growling and howling at him.
They showed the determination to fight to their death even though they could not run anymore. Red wanted to finish them off with his dagger instead of a slingshot, but they were waiting for him below.
They might be limping, but their bites were not a joke. He could feel the throbbing pain in his left hand, right at the spot where a chunk of his meat was missing. With how high he was, he could not just jump either. He must use the trunk to climb down where the two dire lupus were waiting for him.
Red decided to play it safe and finished them off with his slingshot. He hit them in the head, yet it didn't kill them, even though they were bleeding profusely. That might be why they were level 2 beasts.
After shooting the two dire lupus, he didn't immediately jump off. The first thing he did was to check his health.
Health: 62
Red was surprised that the bite took 16 health, and he saw that his health was still decreasing as it went down to 61. That was when he saw a second negative status, Bleeding.
[Bleeding (3s)]
[Bleeding: Causes the affected to lose health over time.]
He lost three more health in the next three seconds before it disappeared from his negative status. He let out a deep sigh of relief when it disappeared because he didn't know how to stop the bleeding.
Red climbed down and finished off the three dying dire lupus. Then he used fresh leaves to dry the blood from his left arms.
The bleeding truly stopped, and he could see his flesh. He still could feel the throbbing pain, but that was just a bother. Not really affected his left arm in any way.
He checked his status once more to make sure his health didn't decrease. After making sure his health was not decreasing, he started to gather the dead lupus.
Red picked them up and brought them back with him, including the marget that lost a bit of its flesh. It was not because he didn't want to exchange them, but because he wanted to go somewhere safer.
He realized why the marget didn't appear here; he had entered dire lupus' territory. He was afraid that more dire lupus would appear if he stayed a little longer with the fresh dead bodies around.
After making sure he was not in the dire lupus' territory anymore, he put the prey down. Six level 2 dire lupus, and one marget.
He thought of bringing one dire lupus back, but there was a concern. He didn't know much about this dire lupus, whether they usually moved in a group or alone.
If they were known to move in a group, the matron would ask where the other dire lupus was. Especially after witnessing how determined the dire lupus were to fight to their death.
If the tribe knew about it, they knew dire lupus would not try to flee from him, and they would chase him. It was either him dead or the dire lupus dead. Just bringing one dire lupus back would backfire, exposing his own secret that he exchanged the beast for loot behind the tribe.
"Guess I am not bringing them back."
Red exchanged one dire lupus, and he got two cores and five Coppers Coins. He furrowed his brow, not liking what he got from the exchange.
He expected to get an additional core, not coins. That was why he decided to take the risk and fight the six dire lupus, but he got extra coins instead as loot.
His mouth opened from shock and frustration, and he didn't know how to react to this discovery. He risked his life just for the same two cores.
Red wanted to scream, letting out a similar howl to the dire lupus just to vent out his frustration, but then he shook his head. He let out a sigh, accepted his fate, and started to exchange the second dire lupus.
To his surprise, he still got two Might Cores but with more coins this time, 8 Copper Coins. The third dire lupus gave him fewer coins, 4 Copper Coins, and two cores: One Magic Core and one Might Core.
The fourth dire lupus gave him 2 Might Cores and 6 Copper Coins, and the fifth dire lupus also gave him 2 Might Cores and 5 Copper Coins. The five dire lupus gave him 7 Might Cores and 3 Magic Cores.
He looked at the last dire lupus, "I don't care about coins. Just give me three cores."
He only knew the coins were useful, but he still didn't know what the tribe used them for. The thought of asking the Matron for the use of the coins crossed his mind, but he was afraid that would put him under suspicion.
'I need to learn the human language quickly and ask that female human.' He thought to himself as he exchanged the last dire lupus for loot.
His eyes widened as what appeared after the body of the dire lupus disappeared into light particles.
Red wished for three Might Cores, but he got something better. A worn-out leather scroll lay on the ground. It was not a coin or core, but a skill scroll. His hand movement was so fast as he grabbed the scroll.
[Do you want to learn [Bleeding] skill?]