Becoming the Predator

Prince opened his status screen, deciding to allocate the points he got. Absentmindedly, he held the head of a goblin within his hand, not even feeling the weight of the body. Behind him, four dead goblins lay limp.

Attribute Screen - Prince Collins

Species: Human

Faction: N/A

Class: N/A

Titles: N/A

Grade: F

Level: 9

Strength: 19

Endurance: 17

Dexterity: 19

Vitality: 16

Mental: 15

Wisdom: 13

Free Points: 6

Prince stared at the screen for a moment. Deciding to focus on physical for now, he put three into strength and three into dexterity. He then waved the screen away.

Throughout today, Prince had ambushed four hunting groups, and had only gotten two levels. At this point, killing a level one would be of little benefit to him.

Prince noticed the goblin in his hand and flung it away, walking off into the forest. He'd long since stopped using real-world equivalents to his physicality now.

He was five times fitter-looking than the average pre-System human. He was stronger than a professional weight lifter and was faster than a professional sprinter, while having the endurance of a professional marathon runner and the durability of... A brick wall, maybe?

Prince was counting on the tribe noticing less successful hunting groups returning day after day. Hopefully, the Goblin King would start sending out hobgoblins instead. 

Prince's body itched for a good fight.

Prince found himself already back at the cave he had soon begun to call home. He bent down and took a sip from the stream- he got woozy, as always. A sip was all he would ever dare to take. Anything more and he would faint.

And the stream always put him in a wondrous mood. Prince felt something just at the edges of his perception, as if there was something in the air that he couldn't quite grasp. But with every level, his understanding grew.

Prince released a content sigh. He carefully stepped over the stream to walk inside his cave. He had found that even touching the stream would induce the same effects, and Prince wanted to be lucid for what he was planning to do next.

He would wage war.

...

Prince stood on top a mountain of corpses.

Well, not really. Just five goblins dead on the ground around him. This whole group had only gotten him halfway to level 10.

It was getting increasingly easier to fight these guys now. Before, when a level five would've threatened him, now he didn't even bat an eye. Truthfully, he was debating whether or not to go back to the goblin village.

Prince decided that for now it would be best to just gain more levels. As a result, he set to hunting again.

Being a superhuman was an amazing thing. His physicality was insane, and things that had previously required effort were now elementary. His muscles felt filled to the brim with energy.

And the control he had over his body was incredible. He crouched, muscles knitted tight, on the branch of a sturdy tree. Waiting.

And eventually, another group appeared. This group was between the levels of 1-4, a horribly low-leveled group that Prince would find no challenge against. Prince felt his body lean forward, ready.

The head of the level four was just below him.

Prince dropped from the tree, his fist cocked back. He was propelled forward by the momentum of his punch, and his fist connected with the level four's skull.

Prince felt it shatter.

The level four dropped to the ground, and a surge of energy entered Prince. It might've been a lot when he was level two, but he knew that it meant nearly nothing now. 

The other goblins yelled in outrage, a level one bravely dashing toward Prince first.

He only yawned as he stood upright.

As soon as the goblin was within punching distance, Prince's fist rocketed forward. It connected with the level one's nose, breaking it, and continued. It broke not just its nose, but its skull, and continued until the goblin's face bent inward a large degree.

The goblin dropped to the floor. The other three goblins stared at Prince, who's fist was coated in fresh blood. 

"Come on, then." He said. 

A goblin ran toward him, extending a clawed hand. Prince sidestepped, gripping the goblins wrist.

Then he threw it toward another goblin, quite easily. The two goblins collided, both hitting a tree.

Prince ran after the goblin, already preparing a punch. His fist connected with the first goblins chest, shattering some ribs. And then it continued, shattering the other goblins ribs.

The last goblin screamed in outrage as it clawed at Prince's back, tearing though the hoodie.

Or what was left of it, anyway.

Prince sighed. With his enhanced endurance, the goblins sharp claws now felt like a rough massage at most.

Prince whirled around the sole of his foot connecting with the goblins temple. The kick was like a scythe, creating a small crater on the side of the goblins head. 

It dropped to the ground as well. 

Now that I think about it, Prince thought, Their bodies are really weak, aren't they?

Prince began to walk away, shaking the blood off of his knuckles, when he heard a slight whistling behind him.

Prince turned around, raising his fists instantly.

Facing him was a snow-white wolf as tall as his waist. It didn't seem like a regular wolf- as wickedly sharp claws protruded from its paws. It also seemed to be making a whistling sound, its fur moving as if the wind blew by.

Weird, Prince though, immediately scanning it.

Whistling Wolf (Dungeon Boss) - Level 21

A whistling wolf is a solitary creature. They are named as whistling wolves because of their innate affinity for Wind Essence. Whenever they using any attack regarding wind, they produce a whistling sound. They are extremely fast, and are prideful. Stronger variants can even fly before the D-Grade.

Why would a wolf fly?

Prince read the description quickly. He had no idea what Wind Essence meant, but he knew one thing.

This wolf was strong.

Prince locked gazes with the wolf. He was in the presence of an apex predator. A beast that could kill him if it wanted to.

He averted his gaze.

The wolf was a white blur, appearing next to one of Prince's slain goblins at a speed his eyes struggled to keep up with. The wolf picked up the goblin with its mouth and turned to Prince, who was still frozen.

Prince felt as if the wolf was weighing whether or not to kill him.

Almost immediately, Prince got on his knees and kowtowed before the beast. The description mentioned that it was prideful... Surely it will understand a gesture of respect like this?

Prince felt fear bubbling up within him, as he waited one second and the next. 

And then he heard the whistling.

Prince backpedaled immediately, pushing himself off the ground with explosive force.

The wolf raised a single claw.

A condensed blade of wind flew outward, speeding towards Prince. The blade of wind flew so fast that Prince had no time to react.

It landed, scoring a shallow gash across his chest. Thankfully, much of the attacks energy had dissipated due to the distance between Prince and the wolf. Any closer, and the blade would've touched his heart.

A phantom blade, like a move in a videogame!  The attack had shredded through his hoodie like paper. 

Prince immediately lifted his fists, the wound stinging. His vitality was already getting to work on his wound. This wolf was strong, too strong. He wouldn't be able to beat it. But he sure as hell would try.

...Only for Prince to see that the wolf was already walking away, taking its meal with it.

Huh.

...

Prince lay on the grass, staring up at the starry sky. He opened his status screen.

Attribute Screen - Prince Collins

Species: Human

Faction: N/A

Class: N/A

Titles: N/A

Grade: F

Level: 9

Strength: 22

Endurance: 17

Dexterity: 22

Vitality: 16

Mental: 15

Wisdom: 13

Free Points: 0

He once again felt a sense of accomplishment as he stared at his screen. Every single one of these attribute points mattered. Still, he couldn't help but think about the whistling wolf.

And how helpless he'd been against it.

If it wanted to, it could've killed him. The only reason it didn't was because it deemed him as a bug, not a threat.

Prince had to kill the goblins, and fast. Eventually, it would get to a point where the wolf could no longer ignore him.

And he had to be strong for that point.