Early morning...
"Are you ready?" Raven asked, turning his head back.
With a nervous expression, Claire nodded and replied, "I'm ready!"
Raven chuckled softly. He wanted to say, "Your face doesn't show it," but quickly held back and patted her shoulder to encourage her.
"Let's go," he said as he walked forward.
Claire followed behind him, the nervous expression on her face still not gone.
"By the way, I was monitoring last night. Most of the monsters in this forest are silver-furred wolves. They are level-one monsters and have extraordinary strength, speed, and endurance. So, we'll execute the formation we planned last night. Do you understand?"
Raven glanced at her over his shoulder.
Claire gave a small nod. "I understand. Leave it to me."
Raven smiled faintly. Last night, they had already prepared a plan for this mission.
His task was to lure the monster, while Claire would attack from a distance.
Speaking of which, Raven had checked Claire's status and couldn't help but feel surprised.
This woman was a hidden treasure. Her stats were incredibly luxurious, enough to make even Raven feel jealous.
"Open Claire's status panel," he whispered.
[STATUS]
Name: Claire Hiragi
Age: 24
Level: 1 (0/20)
Talents: Strength (C), Endurance (C), Intelligence (A), Magic (S), Agility (D), Speed (D), Charisma (S), Vitality (B)
Class: Not Yet Awakened
First Awakening: None
Second Awakening: None
Third Awakening: None
Skills: Basic Magic Understanding (S), Cooking (B), Sewing (C),...
Storage: Butterfly-shaped ribbon, magic staff
Description: She is a weak woman but has tremendous potential. With special training, she could become an incredibly powerful sorceress. She is incredibly beautiful, so she could bring disaster to those around her. Make her yours, and you will be the happiest man alive!
"Basic Magic Understanding ranked S? This is crazy," he muttered.
No matter how many times he looked at it, the skill still felt completely unreasonable.
The only woman with an S-rank skill was the one who had asked Malphas a question earlier.
Who would have thought that Claire also possessed an S-rank skill?
In addition, her talent in magic was astonishing—S-rank. For Raven, whose talent was only D-rank, it truly made his heart ache with envy.
Raven himself didn't have any S-rank talents except for charisma. But that was completely unimportant to him, aside from making the opposite sex—or even the same sex—feel comfortable around him.
He opened his panel and glanced at the Gluttony (FFF) skill, then felt nauseous.
He didn't understand how he could have gotten such a trash skill.
"What's wrong, Raven? Are you feeling sick?" Claire's worried voice came from behind him.
Raven snapped out of his thoughts and shook his head.
"I'm fine. By the way, we're not far from our destination, so get ready."
He opened his left palm, and a black sword suddenly appeared in his grasp.
Claire nodded and hurriedly opened her right palm. A blue magic staff appeared, and she gripped it tightly.
They walked farther until Raven suddenly stopped.
His gaze fixed on the front, where a silver-furred wolf stood. The monster wasn't particularly big—only about a meter tall.
Even so, its appearance was terrifying. Its fangs protruded, its claws dug into the ground, and its eyes were red like blood.
The wolf was eating the carcass of a two-meter-tall monster bird. Considering that the wolf was only one meter tall, being able to hunt such a large monster bird showed just how powerful it was.
[STATUS]
Name: ???
Kind: Silver-Furred Wolf
Age: 50+
Level: 1
Abilities: Camouflage (A), Shadow Movement (B), Soul-Piercing Howl (A), ...
Description: The silver-furred wolf is a powerful monster with excellent stats. Its speed, strength, and attacks are deadly, so be careful. Its weakness is its stomach.
Reading the description, Raven and Claire became alert. The wolf's abilities were far more dangerous than they had anticipated.
"Claire, let's begin. I'll attack it from the front and lure it in, while you attack it with magic. Don't worry—I'll protect you from its attacks," Raven said, swinging his sword. "Remember—don't get nervous and stay focused. Otherwise, we'll both die. Understand?"
His gaze sharpened. To be honest, Raven felt a little afraid. He had taken martial arts classes before, so his body wasn't too stiff when it came to fighting.
But fighting a monster was different from fighting a human. The wolf had speed, strength, and deadly attacks.
One wrong move and he would die. It could be said that he was placing his life in Claire's hands.
"I-I understand! Please trust me," Claire replied firmly, though there was a hint of nervousness behind her words.
Raven took a deep breath and steadied himself. He raised his sword with both hands, then, with a stable stance, charged toward the monster.
The wolf, which was enjoying its meal, suddenly sensed a threat from the front and quickly dodged.
Slash!
Raven's attack missed by only a few centimeters. But he didn't give the wolf time to react.
He bent his knees, then ran toward the wolf. He jumped and swung his sword at its neck.
The wolf jumped as well and managed to dodge. But the tip of the sword still struck its neck, leaving a deep wound.
Blackish-red blood flowed profusely from the wound.
"Argh... Rghh..." The wolf gasped for breath.
At that moment, a health panel appeared above its head. The panel showed the number 860/1000.
"A health panel?" Raven was surprised. He didn't expect a feature like in a game to appear in front of him.
But that was a good thing. He could estimate his attacks and make sure whether the wolf was truly dead or not.
Sweeping his sword forward, Raven smiled broadly and shouted, "Let's start the real fight!"
Whoosh!
Raven ran toward the wolf and jumped, swinging his sword with both hands.
This time, the wolf monster was ready. It stepped back and managed to dodge the attack.
Then it raised its right paw and aimed it at Raven's face. Its claws were extremely sharp—even sharper than a razor. If they hit Raven, he would surely be cut in half.
However, Raven was not caught off guard. He quickly used his body weight and rolled forward.
After successfully dodging the attack, he immediately got up and launched another strike.
Unfortunately, the wolf was incredibly agile and dodged his attack again.
At that moment, the wolf opened its mouth wide. At the same time, a panel appeared above its head.
[Soul Piercing Howl Activated!]