"It's my turn now."
As if regretting why not taking out this weak prey when they have the chance, the Feral Horned Wolves all launched attack at the same time and this time around, they were using their most powerful attack.
Horn Charge!
If it was the before Malik, only the pressure from this assault is enough to take him down—but this Malik was incredibly calm.
"System... Allocate the 4 stats to agility." Malik gave the command as he took the stance.
Ping.
<<+4 stats has been allocated to agility.>>
Immediately he heard the confirmation from the system, he moved. His speed was crazily fast as he appeared before two Feral Horned Wolves, slamming his fists into their horns which snapped immediately. He turned to two others and did the same thing before they could even have the chance to react.
Holding the four bony horns in his hand, he flung it with all his strength toward two charging Wolves. The four horns flew directly into the eyes of these two wolves, causing their shriek to fill the air as their HP depleted by half.
The four hornless Wolves tried retreating, but how will Malik let them escape? His left fist shot through the air, cutting through it like a hammer of flesh, when it landed on the body of one of the Wolves—which got it flying so hard that it landed on the horn attack of another wolf, killing it instantly.
<
Malik didn't get the time to look at the notification as he followed up with a kick, his body spinning with practiced control, and in no time, he defeated the three hornless Feral Wolves. He then turned to the blind ones who had gone berserk, attacking members of their own group.
'Maybe I shouldn't kill them now... They'll be of help to me.'
Malik said when he turned his attention to the other Horned Wolves. The Feral Horned Wolves were just very much surprised about the change. At first, he was the prey and they were toying with him... wanting to wear him down. But now, the situation had reversed. They were now the prey, unable to do anything but just wait for their death.
<
Ping!
<
Malik was happy that he was able to level up to 2, which means that he has grown stronger and he can now solo the Feral Horned Wolves with ease. He went further into the cave, taking out every wolf he sees with ease as he acquired their loots, till there were no more wolves in sight.
He used his enhanced senses to the limit but couldn't find any other wolves, so he guessed he had taken out all of them. But then he realized that the system hadn't given him a notification that he had completed his quest—which means he still had to kill the leader of the Feral Horned Wolves, the boss of the Feral Cave...
"Am I strong enough to face against the Alpha Feral Horned Wolf?" Malik asked himself as he walked further into the cave and subconsciously pulled up his status page.
---
[Player Status]
Name: Malik
Class: Cultivator
Stage: Half-Step Body Refinement Realm
Level: 2
HP: 400/400
MP: ?ERROR?
SQP: 2850/4000
[Attributes]
STRENGTH: 30
AGILITY: 34
ENDURANCE: 30
INTELLIGENCE: 25
4 free stats
[Skill Bar]
?? ??
Physique: Primordial Chaos Physique
---
"Will this be enough?" Malik couldn't help but ask himself as he stared at the status page, his eyes fixed on his attributes. After gazing for a while, his eyes slowly went up and then he discovered that he's still a Half Step Refinement Realm Cultivator.
"What? I thought I leveled up twice?" Malik couldn't contain his shock at this sudden revelation. All his thoughts were that when he leveled up, his cultivation base would also grow—but it seems so wasn't the case.
"Seems I'll need to learn more about this cultivation of a thing." Malik bit his lip as his eyes traveled down to his physique. Before he could even think about it, he heard a voice—or should I say voices—which were transmitted into his head.
"Who do we have here?"
"A human—and a weak one for that matter."
The voices echoed in his head and he turned sharply to see two creatures standing in front of a closed room.
[Beta Feral Horned Wolf] [Level 4 Special Common Monster]
[HP: 1000/1000]
"How can this be? Their defense is incredibly high, and they're more larger and sturdier than those common monsters. I'm sure I can't pull out their horn or break it in one attack, even if it was a sneak attack..."
Malik evaluated his chances as he stared at the two wolves who were sitting down leisurely while their gazes roamed all over him.
"Weak Human. Tell us how you got here?"
He heard the voices again in his head and this time he was sure it came from the Beta Wolves. A frown appeared on his face when they called him weak. Although he was really weak, at Level 0, he had soloed all the monsters in the cave till he got to this point—with no weapon or equipment. This was a feat that hadn't been achieved by anyone. He's definitely not weak.
"Elder. Do you think he killed his way through?" one of the Beta Wolves asked the other, noticing the frown on Malik's face.
"That will be the only case, because our packs can't let an intruder in up to this point." The Elder Beta replied the Junior and then turned to Malik.
"Seeing that you were able to reach this point... It seems you've some tricks up your sleeve. As the first human to ever get to this point, we will honor you by not ganging up against you."
The Elder Beta said to Malik and the latter nodded. To say the truth, he was already feeling pressure from the two wolves. Facing against one first would help alleviate overwhelming pressure.
"Junior... It's up to you." The Elder said to the other Wolf, who sprang up instantly.
"Junior would not disappoint Elder." He replied as he leisurely walked toward Malik, who stood his stance, not by any means underestimating his enemy.
He raised his hands up protecting his chin, his elbow close to his rib as he placed a foot behind, balanced and ready to dodge or attack.
"You should attack." The Beta Wolf transmitted his voice to Malik—and Malik didn't waste time before launching at the Beta Wolf.
His foot slammed down and he dashed forward like a bullet. The air cracked under the force of his dash.
"He's fast." The Wolf's eyes widened in shock, but it was too late. Malik sent a quick jab toward its neck with a sharp snap of his shoulder.
The Feral Horned Wolf lowered its head, and the blow connected with its skull, causing a loud bang to reverberate through the surroundings like a war drum in the narrow cave.
Malik's hand recoiled instantly, the shock traveling down to his wrist like he'd punched stone. His fist went numb and a throbbing ache ran up his forearm. But he didn't have the time to nurse the feeling. Not now.
The Wolf's body twisted violently as its head reared back and its mouth widened.
Then came the howl.
A soul-piercing, mind-shattering sound that tore through Malik's senses. His eardrums screamed. His eyes twitched. His brain felt like it was about to burst.
He staggered, hands instinctively flying to his ears—but that made him vulnerable.
Boom!
The Wolf stomped its paw down like a battering ram, its sheer weight and momentum carrying all of its rage into the blow. Malik couldn't even dodge.
He was flung backwards—violently.
He crashed against the cave wall like a broken kite, his body slamming hard and sliding down the rock face before hitting the floor.
A large red gash streaked across his ribs. His breath was knocked out of him. Blood trailed from the edge of his lips.
<
He barely had time to breathe before the voice hit again.
"Too weak..."
He heard the Beta's voice echo inside his head, not mocking—but judging. Cold. Indifferent.
And Malik?
Malik couldn't help but admit that he's indeed a weakling.