Once again, the two savage beasts clashed, tearing into each other in a chaotic frenzy. Fangs sank into flesh, claws ripped through skin, their blood splattering onto the ground like rain as dust burst into the air around them.
Using his human intelligence and taking advantage of his weight, Arthur pushed hard with his hind legs and knocked the Horned Leopard onto its back. He pounced, aiming to bite its neck and finish it off, but it wasn't that easy. The Horned Leopard rolled and twisted with uncanny agility, narrowly avoiding his attack.
To protect its neck, the Horned Leopard exposed its back—an opening Arthur didn't hesitate to exploit. He lunged forward, bit into its rear, and tore off a large chunk of its tender flesh.
The Horned Leopard let out a pained snarl and quickly turned around, wildly swinging its claws.
It managed to scratch Arthur's nose and cheek superficially, forcing him to retreat and take a defensive stance. With cold eyes, he stared at the Horned Leopard, which also backed away.
Ptooey!
Arthur spat out the chunk of butt meat from his mouth, furrowing his brows in concern. He had taken serious damage and lost a significant amount of blood.
He knew he wouldn't last long in this condition, yet he had no intention of backing down.
What pushed him to continue was the fact that the Horned Leopard was also badly injured and exhausted.
It was clear the beast no longer wanted to fight, as it cautiously scanned its surroundings, looking for an opening to escape.
For predatory beasts, dragging out a long endurance-based fight was never practical.
Once severely injured, they would lose most of their abilities, become unable to hunt, and either starve to death or simply become prey themselves.
There was no place for the weak in the forest.
'I need to finish this quickly. I won't let it escape now, not after all this exhausting fighting. Just a little more… and I can kill it.'
Arthur took a deep breath, gathered his strength, and suddenly dashed forward, pouncing on the Horned Leopard by surprise.
The beast was startled, and as a defensive reaction, it lowered its body and lunged forward, trying to stab him with the short horn on its forehead.
But it was pointless. Arthur leaped lightly, dodging the attack with ease.
Before even landing on the ground, he swung his sharp claws, tearing off the left side of the leopard's face, sending blood flying everywhere—along with sticky eye fluid and mucus.
Roar!
The Horned Leopard let out a painful roar, feeling dizzy as it lost its balance for a moment. It tried to flee immediately, but unfortunately for it, Arthur had no intention of letting it escape.
He lunged at the beast from its blind side so it wouldn't notice, sank his fangs into its neck, and choked it until it died.
The Horned Leopard struggled for a short while before it fell, lifeless
[ +9 XP ]
Huff!
'Finally… that damn thing is dead. Still, I only won because I was lucky. Without my human intelligence and a few deceptive moves, there's no way I could've survived this fight.'
Arthur panted heavily, feeling a sense of pride despite his exhaustion.
This was the first time he had ever killed a predatory monster. Even though he was badly injured, he believed the victory was worth it.
'Ugh…'
Once the danger passed and he allowed his body to relax, a wave of intense pain hit him, forcing a groan out of him.
He quickly scanned his surroundings to ensure there were no threats nearby.
Then he stored the Horned Leopard and the remains of the Burrow Squirrel inside his "Dimensional Storage" before heading back toward his den.
As soon as he arrived at his simple home, he closed the entrance with bushes as usual.
He took out the Horned Leopard and ate half of it, leaving the rest for later, knowing that he wouldn't be able to hunt in the coming days due to his injuries.
After filling his stomach, he headed to a pile of straw at the end of the cave, which he had made over the past few days. Even after transforming into a wolf, Arthur didn't want to give up his human identity. Besides, sleeping on the straw was much more comfortable than the hard, cold ground.
He yawned lazily, stretched his body, then lay down comfortably and opened his personal status to check his progress.
– – –
[ — Status — ]
Name: Arthur Grafton
Race: Wolf?
Rank: F
XP: 130 / 200
HP: 35 / 130
Mana: 0 / 0
Evolution Points: 4
[ — Basic Attributes — ]
Strength: 15
Endurance: 10
Speed: 10
Agility: 7
Vitality: 13
Perception: 11
Mana Control: 1
[ — Skills — ]
Primal Predator (SSS)
Dimensional Storage (D)
Evaluation (D)
Enhanced Senses (F)
Iron Will (F)
— — —
'I got 4 Evolution Points today. That's pretty good. Just a few more hunts, and I'll finally reach the next Rank, and I won't remain a weak monster at the bottom of the food chain.'
The longer Arthur stayed in this world, the more he realized the importance of strength.
Rank F might seem extraordinary for an ordinary human from Earth, but here, it was nothing special.
In fact, monsters of this Rank were considered common and ordinary, found everywhere.
It could be said that he was only lucky because he hadn't encountered any strong monsters yet—and this naturally didn't include the Spider Girl and the beast that passed by his den, for whom he was just an insect not worthy of their attention.
This was frustrating in a way, yet his resolve did not waver. Without giving the matter further attention, he redirected his focus toward his Attributes.
'My inability to hunt recently made me realize that I'm slow compared to other monsters, especially those damn deer. I'm also not very agile. That's not a huge problem compared to other aspects, but I still can't ignore it.'
Arthur furrowed his brows and thought seriously. He didn't have many Evolution Points, so he needed to distribute them wisely.
'I need to increase my Strength and Speed. My HP dropped significantly from the fight with the Horned Leopard, so I also need to raise my Vitality. Alright, I've made my decision.'
According to the system, every time he added an Evolution Point to his Vitality, his HP bar capacity increased by ten points, which also sped up his recovery.
'System, add 2 points to Vitality, and 1 point each to Speed and Strength.'
[ Distribution Complete ]
As soon as his vitality increased, he felt his body regain some of its vigor, letting out a relaxed sigh.
Without bothering himself with any more useless thoughts, he drifted off to sleep.