Chapter 10: Paralyzing Mist, Slaying the Dire Wolves

A Spatial Node can be destroyed by breaking its core.

However, with Luca's current strength, that was out of the question.

He needed to return and find a way to get the powerful figures of Riverfall City involved.

As he was thinking, the others asked curiously, "Luca, what did you mean just now?"

Catherine also looked puzzled.

Dire Wolves are solitary creatures, known for their violent nature. They don't even tolerate their offspring.

So making it highly unlikely for other creatures to share a den with it.

Luca shook his head, not elaborating. Instead, he picked up a pebble and tossed it into the cave.

"Bang!"

The pebble flew into the dark cave, hitting something inside.

While the others were still wondering what Luca was doing, a shocking scene unfolded before them.

"Roar! Roar! Roar!"

Multiple pairs of crimson eyes suddenly lit up inside the cave, and deafening roars echoed out!

The ground shook as countless birds took flight in panic from the Beast Forest.

Powerful auras surged from the cave, including those of Gold Grade monsters!

Everyone held their breath, their eyes wide with shock and fear.

It was now clear what Luca meant by saying there was more than one monster.

Catherine quickly reacted and shouted.

"Run!"

Her heart pounded with fear. She couldn't spare a moment to ask Luca how he knew there were so many monsters in the cave or why he had provoked them. She grabbed Luca, ready to flee.

But to her astonishment, she grabbed nothing but air!

"You..."

Catherine turned to call Luca back.

But what she saw made her gasp.

Luca, as quick as lightning, was running toward the cave entrance.

"Luca, come back!" Catherine shouted anxiously, rushing to pull him back.

"Captain, don't go! You'll get yourself killed!" the others shouted, trying to stop her.

But Catherine ignored them, sprinting toward Luca.

This boy had come here to save her brother. If he died here, she would never forgive herself.

Although Luca was fast, Catherine, being a Silver-grade warrior, was much faster.

In an instant, she was right behind him.

At that moment, Catherine could see the scene inside the cave, and her pupils contracted in shock.

The dark cave was teeming with hundreds of various monsters, all surging out!

There were Gale Tigers, Explosive Bears, Dire Wolves, Red-tailed Foxes, Purple-gold Bees...

As soon as they emerged, their violent eyes locked onto her and Luca.

The sheer number of monsters made everyone's scalp tingle.

There were simply too many!

Catherine didn't hesitate. She reached out to pull Luca back.

To her shock and anger, Catherine found that Luca had dodged her again.

How did he manage to avoid her without even seeing her?

She didn't have time to think and shouted angrily at Luca, "Are you trying to get yourself killed...?"

But before she could finish her sentence, she stopped abruptly.

The others also noticed something was off and exclaimed, "What's happening?"

The hundreds of fierce, snarling monsters charging toward Luca.

Suddenly stumbled and fell just a few meters away from him!

"Roar! Roar!"

For a moment, the air was filled with the sound of monsters' roars and their bodies hitting the ground. In less than two minutes, the previously chaotic herd lay on the ground, eyes rolling back and limbs twitching as if they were having seizures.

Catherine now saw that Luca was holding a yellow bottle in his hand.

Faint yellow smoke was billowing out of the bottle.

It was the Paralyzing Mist!

Understanding Luca's intentions, Catherine shocked a while.

That none of the monsters in this area exceeded Gold Grade. The Paralyzing Mist's potency was enough to incapacitate all of them.

Luca hadn't been reckless; he had planned this all along.

As she breathed a sigh of relief, Catherine suddenly felt dizzy and weak.

She gave a wry smile, realizing she had been affected as well.

Luca turned just in time to see Catherine collapsing and quickly caught her by the waist.

"The tool my teacher gave me doesn't differentiate between friend and foe. I ran over here to avoid exposing you to the mist, but I didn't expect you to follow," Luca said, half-amused and half-exasperated.

"I'm sorry," Catherine murmured, a blush spreading across her fair, delicate face.

Whether it was out of embarrassment from her earlier panic or from being held by a young man, she wasn't sure.

The city guards, now realizing what had happened, hurried over.

"What are …" Seeing their captain being held by Luca, they exchanged curious glances.

Catherine's blush deepened.

[Ding! Catherine's favorability towards you +10]

Luca looked at her in surprise, wondering why her favorability increased at this moment.

Shaking his head, he remembered that the Paralyzing Mist would only last five minutes, so he needed to act quickly.

"You sit here for now. I'll come back for you shortly," Luca instructed.

The mist's range was too large for the others to approach, so he would have to bring Catherine back himself later.

Catherine nodded and slowly sat down.

Luca stood up and surveyed the dozens of twitching monsters on the ground.

Finally, his gaze settled on a massive black wolf, several meters long.

[lv15 Dire Wolf (Rare)]

[HP: 2400/2400]

[Attack: 221]

[Defense: 78]

[Skills: Shadow Strike, Shadow Claws]

...

Monsters were categorized similarly to humans: Iron, Silver, Gold, and so on.

However, based on their bloodline talents, monsters also have their own talent tiers: Common, Rare, Elite, Leader, Overlord, and King.

Corresponding to human ranks such as Low, Intermediate, Advanced, High, Superclass, and Transcendent.

The monsters here were mostly Silver and Gold Grade. With Luca's current strength, he had limited chances to kill many of them.

If Luca wanted to maximize his gains within the five-minute window, he had to choose his targets wisely.

This Dire Wolf was perfect, and he could also complete Catherine's quest.

Time was running short, so Luca didn't delay. He took out his staff and approached.

Woof…

The Dire Wolf lay on the ground, baring its teeth and growling as Luca drew closer. Its blood-red eyes were filled with both menace and fear.

"Still trying to threaten me?" Luca narrowed his eyes.

In the next moment, his mana surged, and his staff glowed with a crimson light.

"Fireball!"

A spark ignited in the air.

Instantly, a fireball the size of a human head zoomed towards the Dire Wolf.

"Boom!"

The fireball exploded on the Dire Wolf, engulfing it in roaring flames!

A blood-red damage number appeared!

-611!

Wooooof!

The acrid smell of burning fur filled the air, and the Dire Wolf's wails of agony echoed, sounding incredibly pitiful.

Luca showed no mercy, continuously casting spells at the Dire Wolf.

Having experienced the cruelty of these monsters in his previous life.

He wanted to eat their flesh and drink their blood. Luca harbored no sympathy for them.

Under Luca's relentless attacks, the Dire Wolf's health, over 2000 points, rapidly decreased.

Despite having a limited number of spells, Luca's high damage output was overwhelming.

Even his basic magical attacks inflicted over 400 points of damage on the Dire Wolf.

In less than two minutes, Luca smashed the Dire Wolf's head with his staff.

[Ding! You have killed "lv15 Dire Wolf (Rare)" and gained 6654 experience points!]

A massive surge of experience flooded into Luca.

At the same time, multiple golden lights illuminated his body, and his level shot up to 10!

[Ding! Your level has reached lv10, gaining 10 free attribute points!]

[Job Advancement Trial has officially begun!]

[You cannot continue leveling up until you complete the Job Advancement Trial!]

[Ding! Congratulations on being the first player to reach level 10 in this game. A server-wide announcement has been made!]

[Reward: Silver-grade Storage Ring, "Wind Walk" Skill Scroll, 500 gold coins!]