Werewolf Simon

A meter away from the Large Beast Trap, Abel found another bloodstain. He continued searching in that direction and soon found another patch of blood not far away.

Following the blood trail, Abel could tell that although the prey was injured, the wound was not too serious. It might only have been an injury to its leg. The blood trail never disappeared, which meant the wound on the prey's leg was not small and had kept bleeding.

Abel's hunting experience from his previous life told him that after being injured, prey would instinctively seek out the place where it felt safest and most secure to recover. This unknown creature was probably doing the same.

After tracking it for thirty minutes, Abel suddenly spotted firelight ahead. Firelight here? Could it really be a person? Abel found it strange. This was not a place where ordinary people could survive.

As he slowly approached the firelight, Abel saw a creature he had never encountered before tending to the wound on its leg. It had a wolf-like head, with two canine teeth protruding from its mouth. Its torso resembled a human's, though its back was more hunched, and it stood over two meters tall.

Beside the creature lay a gigantic wolf resting on the ground. Its belly was enormous, as if it were pregnant.

Abel was now certain that the creature before him was a Wolf Rider, and that the gigantic wolf was the legendary dire wolf.

Simon had been unlucky once again. He had hidden in the forest, far from humans, hunting every day to ensure that he and his dire wolf had enough food.

This time, he had gone hunting as usual. He was extremely familiar with the surrounding area, which had caused him to lower his guard considerably.

On a road he knew very well—a road he had traveled many times and considered perfectly safe—he stepped on something strange. Two enormous jaws, like the teeth of a giant elephant bear, clamped onto his lower leg. He did not understand what it was, but he knew it was something made by humans. The pain and anger made him throw back his head and howl.

He soon discovered that although the thing looked frightening, the injury was not particularly severe. It had not crushed his leg bones; its sharp teeth had merely torn through the skin and muscles of his calf. Opening the trap was also simple—he only needed to pull the jaws apart with enough force.

His injured leg needed treatment, but Simon had left his precious medicines at camp, so he could only limp back there for treatment.

As he treated himself, Simon thought that he would probably have to move somewhere else. The appearance of humans had made this place unsafe. Black Wind was due to give birth within the next few days, and if they had to move, they should leave tomorrow at the latest. The sooner, the better. Once Black Wind gave birth to cubs, moving around would become inconvenient.

Simon caught a trace of a different scent in the air—a human scent. He sprang to his feet and looked around nervously.

Abel was observing the scene when he saw the werewolf rise and search around for something. He had been discovered.

The werewolf Simon's terrifying sense of smell had detected Abel's presence. This human had injured him. Such a weak human had actually used such a despicable method to hurt him. He absolutely could not let him escape.

When Abel saw that Simon had noticed him and was charging over, he knew from the werewolf's Aura that things had become extremely troublesome. This werewolf possessed at least Junior Knight-level strength. In other words, this Wolf Rider was at least Level 6.

Although Abel was a Level 5 Apprentice Knight, only one level separated him from Level 6. However, during the Level 1 to Level 5 apprenticeship period, all Professionals who practiced battle qi could unleash battle qi only once. A Level 1 attack was weaker, while a Level 5 attack was stronger, but both could use battle qi only once. Level 5 apprentice Professionals had not yet formed a Qi Core in their bodies. Without a Qi Core, they could not continuously release battle qi. After the qi in their Qi Veins was used once, it would take several days to recover before it could be used again.

Battle qi was like an amplifier for strength. If a Professional possessed five hundred pounds of strength, battle qi could double it to one thousand pounds. A Level 6 Professional could use battle qi repeatedly to increase the power of their attacks, while a Level 5 Apprentice Knight had only one chance. This gap could not be made up for with equipment.

If Abel fought the werewolf Simon with his greatsword now, the only result would be Abel being sent flying, while Simon would at most be slowed somewhat by the frost on the Ice Magic Sword.

Abel thought of all this in an instant. He did not resist. Instead, he turned and ran because he had noticed the injury on the werewolf's lower leg and believed he still had a chance to escape.

When Simon saw that the human did not fight him but turned and ran, he cursed him inwardly as a coward and a frightened rat. He ignored the injury to his leg and immediately chased after Abel.

Abel had originally thought that the werewolf's injured leg would let him widen the distance between them. Who would have thought that even with an injured leg, the werewolf was still living up to the reputation of being the fastest Professional on the continent? From the moment Simon began chasing him, he had steadily been closing the distance.

Abel calculated the distance between himself and the werewolf. If he used the Explosive Greatsword, the three-second delay might seriously injure or even kill the werewolf. However, with trees all around them, Simon could use them as cover and dodge most of the attack thanks to his speed.

The Explosive Greatsword could only attack once. If Abel failed to hit the werewolf while he was unprepared, it would be even less likely to succeed a second time once Simon was on guard.

Abel drew the loaded Hand Crossbow from his waist and fired at the werewolf's head. Simon reacted extremely quickly, tilting his head aside to dodge the bolt. The brief exchange widened the distance again, but Abel had no time to reload the Hand Crossbow after firing. When he saw the werewolf catch up once more, he threw the Hand Crossbow directly at him. Simon's claws snapped through the air several times, and by the time the Hand Crossbow hit the ground, it had been reduced to a pile of scrap. The Hand Crossbow, crafted by dwarves, had become useless after firing only once in Abel's hands.

Abel could now only use the trees to widen the distance between himself and the werewolf. By constantly changing direction, he slowly managed to maintain the distance between them.

As he ran, Abel caught sight of a familiar mark from the corner of his eye. It was a trap he had set. He abruptly changed direction and ran toward it.

Simon grew increasingly frantic. The orc blood in his body seemed to boil. He let out a great roar, and all the muscles in his body suddenly swelled. His body grew from two meters to a towering two and a half meters.

His speed seemed to increase as well. Abel could already hear the werewolf's breathing behind him. He looked at the mark and saw that he had arrived. He dove forward, planting his hands on the ground between the two traps, then performed a forward handspring over the second trap, narrowly dodging the wolf's paw striking from behind.

With a howl, Simon's lower leg was caught once again. Since he had been running at full speed and one end of the Large Beast Trap's chain was tied to a tree trunk, the tremendous force yanked Simon off his feet and sent him crashing to the ground.

When Abel saw the werewolf fall, he did not wait for Simon to pull the jaws apart. He took an Explosive Greatsword from the Horadric Cube. Amid the white light flashing from the blade, Abel was already lying prone on the ground, with the Light Shield at his waist angled in front of him.

Simon saw a greatsword flashing with white light flying toward him. The sword was not moving very fast, which puzzled him, but at the same time, an instinctive terror rose from the depths of his body.

With a thunderous boom, Abel's shield rang loudly. When everything finally settled, he stood up. The werewolf caught in the trap was covered in blood. Most notably, a hole between his terrified eyes was gushing blood. A shard had struck the vital point in his head.

Abel approached the werewolf. After the two-and-a-half-meter-tall werewolf died, his body returned to two meters. Because of the transformation, his fur clothing had split apart, exposing several things beneath it.

Abel removed the bloodstained objects from the werewolf's body: a piece of parchment covered in orc writing, a map, and a strange card. Engraved on the card was a figure with curved bull horns, a lion's face, a body with muscles more developed than a human's, clawed hands, and hooves with two toes. This was the Beast God, the deity of the orcs. At the very bottom of the card was a star.

If an orc had been present, they would have realized how important this card was. It was an Orc Skill Card. Every card sealed a powerful skill. Since most orc races had no written language, the Beast God Priests used this method to preserve such skills, and the orcs learned the skills through special methods.

A star at the bottom of the card meant that this Orc Skill Card still had one learning opportunity left. Although Abel did not know where Simon had obtained it, the value of the Orc Skill Card was beyond doubt.