When they got within range of the wolves, Luke stamped forward and whipped his sword in a wide arc, sending the wolves recoiling in fright.
This interrupted their stampeding momentum.
Elvis and Caelithia reached Luke at that moment.
Luke pounced on the two wolves at the center.
Elvis and Caelithia respectively engaged the wolves to Luke’s left and right.
Elvis slashed in a swift downward stroke, sending the two wolves retreating to avoid the blade. Then he lunged forward, thrusting his sword at the wolf closest to him.
The wolf twisted and darted aside with a swift reaction that stunned Elvis. As his sword stabbed into empty air, the wolf pounced, its wide maw bristling with razor-sharp fangs as it lunged for Elvis’s waist.
Elvis rolled aside, snow scraping against his face.
Just as he evaded the attack, the second wolf lunged at him from the side. A bloody stench assailed his nostrils. Elvis’s eyes widened as he saw the gaping maw closing in on his throat. There was no time to dodge.
The howling wind now sounded like the whistle of the Grim Reaper.
His brain threatened to short-circuit, but his survival instinct forced him to react—to move his petrified body.
He swung his left arm into the grotesque maw packed with fangs. The wolf bit down on his arm. A guttural growl tore from his throat as he felt his arm was about to snap from the powerful bite, despite the armor sleeve protecting him. His eyes reddened from the pain.
Elvis gnashed his teeth, forcing his scattered thoughts back into focus despite the pain. He thrust his sword into the wolf’s neck. The blade punched through, its bloodied tip protruding from the other side and pointing toward the sky.
The blue, bloodthirsty eyes slowly turned lifeless.
[You have slain a Lv. 3 Arctic Wolf!]
[20 Life Mana Extracted]
But he didn’t have time to dwell on it, as he felt a gust of wind rush from behind.
He didn’t need to think to know what was coming.
He released his sword and tried to roll aside, only for the dead wolf’s fangs to remain clamped around his arm, its collapsed body anchoring him in place. Without thinking, he grabbed the wolf with his free hand and swung it backward at the attacking wolf.
The corpse smacked into the charging wolf, sending it tumbling through the snow. Elvis quickly freed his arm from between the corpse’s clamping jaws while watching the wolf struggle back to its feet in the distance.
Four arrows protruded from its body, blood staining the fur around each impact point.
Just then, a black streak zipped through the air and pierced the wolf’s skull. It reeled backward, staggering a few steps before collapsing into the snow.
Having freed his hand, Elvis pulled his sword from the wolf’s throat. Lowering his gaze, he saw a bunch of faint bite marks over his armor sleeve.
He turned to see Luke standing not far from him.
"I wanted to help, but I was afraid I might accidentally kill the wolf and take the Life Mana. I felt... you wouldn’t have been happy about that," Luke explained.
Elvis could only nod before turning to Caelithia, planning to help.
Caelithia darted left and right, expertly kiting the only wolf on her, its fur-covered body riddled with gashes. Although it was faster than her, she maneuvered around it with ease. Beside her lay the corpse of a wolf, two ice spears impaled in its body.
Caelithia was moving with a speed that was nothing like Level 0. A Level 1 Arctic Wolf, with Agility as its dominant attribute, wasn’t as fast as her.
However, Elvis noticed something—the frigid air shimmered and distorted as it brushed against Caelithia’s body.
’Hmm?’
Within a few seconds, she finished off the last wolf.
[Your Spirit Beast has slain a Lv. 3 Arctic Wolf!]
[1 Monster Core Received]
’My first monster core. What a massive difference in Life Mana extraction. Unfortunately, she didn’t get the last hit for the other wolf,’ Elvis mused.
"Let’s take a short break," Luke suggested.
Everybody collected their kills in their storage bags and headed toward a tree.
"I need to ease myself. I’ll be back in a minute," Caelithia said to the team with an apathetic expression.
"Really?" Luke questioned, his gaze doubtful.
"Yes. I’ll be back in a short while," Caelithia answered.
Elvis deduced her obvious aim after putting two and two together—leaving after receiving a monster core.
Just as he was about to persuade Luke with an instant lie he had come up with, Luke said, "You can leave."
Caelithia nodded, her expression unchanged, making Elvis doubt that she would have stayed back if Luke had refused.
She quickly vanished into the distant haze.
"How was your first challenging battle?" Luke asked with a friendly smile.
Elvis shook his head, a smile glossing his lips. "Dreadful."
"You’ll get used to it. I think your sister is adapting quickly. Are you guys twins?" Luke asked.
"Nope. Same father, different mother," Elvis lied.
"Why didn’t you come when you were eighteen?" Luke asked.
"Lived my life in the village. The Awakener System was an abstract phenomenon to us, so I didn’t grind," Elvis explained.
"So, not only a bumbling old geezer but a village one, too," Hayden sneered.
However, Elvis’s eyes grew slightly unfocused as a panel sprang into view, completely ignoring the kid who had been trying to pick a fight with him at every turn.
[Your Spirit Beast has absorbed an Acolyte Level 3 Core!]
[Your Spirit Beast has leveled up!]
[Level: 0 → 1]
[All Attributes Increased.]
[...INSUFFICIENT BONDING...]
———’That’s all? Why are you hiding her attribute distribution? How do I even bond with her? Don’t tell me I have to...’
Elvis quickly shook the thoughts away.
"Are you good?" Luke asked.
Despite Freda’s timid nature, she was a competent teammate, as she had kept the other wolf off him, even slaying it.
’Now is not the time to think about other people.’
He pulled up Caelithia’s system, though he couldn’t tell whether it was an Awakener System or perhaps something unique to a Spirit Beast. Or maybe a branch of the Awakener System.
[Name: Caelithia II Veyne]
[Race: Human]
[Status]: [Blood Contract], [Void Shackle (Pilgrim of Misfortune)]
[Class: Light Warlock]
[Rank: Acolyte]
[Level: 1]
[Monster Cores: 0/2]
[Bonding: 2%]
[Skills]: [Solar Momentum]...
[...INSUFFICIENT BONDING...]
[... INSUFFICIENT BONDING...]
———’Level 1, and the Monster Cores tab has increased to two. Why haven’t I gotten a monster core? Don’t tell me her misfortune is starting to rub off on me. Let me check her Class too; I always forget. Wait... there’s a Skill. Why didn’t I get a notification?’
Curious, Elvis decided to open her Skill before checking her Class description.
[Skill: Solar Momentum]
[Rank: Acolyte]
[Mastery: Intermediate]
[Description: Stores light energy within the body and releases it to increase speed.]
———’Damn!’ Elvis’s eyes widened. ’This is what she has been using to keep up. Wait... what if the light energy she stored gets exhausted? Sigh... I need to improve our bonding to at least ten percent to unlock the telepathic communication channel between us.’
[Class: Light Warlock]
[Description: A mutated class that combines the paths of warrior and mage, wielding a unique light that stands as the bane of ill fate.]
———’Hmm? Does it really work against misfortune?’ Elvis pondered. ’I hope so. I don’t want to deal with any annoying, unbargained-for misfortune.’
Caelithia’s return snapped him out of his thoughts, a weird smirk on her lips. The smirk made her look one point away from insanity. She quietly settled beside Elvis.
Just as he was about to review his systems, Caelithia abruptly thrust her sword toward Elvis’s waist.