*A disturbance in the spiritual energy*

Kevin used his perception skill to make sure the beast that was facing him and growling was really Axel.

[ STATS ]

Name: AXEL

Race: Shapeshifter (???)

Level: ???

Class: Fighter

Well, at least he wasn't in danger of getting eaten, he said out loud, "Fuck, Axel, you and I don't really have the same notion of what a wolf is."

The wolf in front of him had black fur, and upon closer inspection, his deep blue eyes were the same as Axel's. He must have been at least 2.5 meters tall; just his paws were already taller than Kevin.

Now, he understood better why Alan had said that. Besides his impressive size, Axel's wolf gave off an aura of power that was stronger and wilder than his human form.

Kevin stepped forward slowly and stretched out his hand to stroke him. Axel rested his muzzle on Kevin's hand and, after licking it, rubbed his head against it.

Kevin laughed and scratched him behind the ears; that was usually where dogs liked to be petted. When he heard Axel moan, he thought he had guessed right.

He voiced his thoughts: "Too bad you're so tall; I could never walk around with you in that form."

Axel, although in his wolf form, fully understood what Kevin was telling him. He had wanted to show him his original form to see if Kevin would run away, but this kid hadn't even shown a hint of fear.

So Axel started to reduce his height and stopped when he was the same height as Kevin. The latter swore when he saw him change his height, and Axel took advantage of his speechlessness to lick his cheek. He could always play innocent when he resumed his human appearance.

Kevin swore again and wiped away the slime that Axel the Wolf had just put on his cheek.

He said to Axel as he continued to stroke him, "You look a little more like the image I have of a wolf like that. Damn, I should have asked you questions before you shapeshifted. You're already super fast when you're in human form, but I guess you have to be even faster in your wolf form, right?"

Axel, who was enjoying Kevin's caresses, felt it would be even better to feel him closer to his body. So he bent down and motioned for Kevin to ride him; he was going to show him how fast he could go.

Axel had already noticed that Kevin liked speed, so he was going to show him the benefits of having a wolf as a boyfriend.

When Kevin saw him bend down and motion for him to ride, he grabbed Axel's head and looked him in the eye to ask, "Can I really ride on your back? Are you sure?"

Axel answered him by licking his cheek again, and Kevin took that as a yes. After wiping the slime off his face again, he looked at Axel with a "what the fuck" expression.

But he didn't say anything and climbed onto Axel's back. Even though he was a little afraid of hurting Axel, he grabbed his fur around his neck to avoid falling.

He was riding Axel as he would have on his racing motorcycle from his past life. Besides virtual reality games, speed was another one of his greatest pleasures.

But when Axel dashed through the woods, the sensation he felt was far more intense than anything he had experienced before; even a parachute jump was nothing compared to the speed at which Axel was moving.

At one point, Axel jumped off the top of a cliff and started running across the sea, and when he propelled himself, he could jump over thirty meters.

Kevin was having one of the best times of his life and didn't want it to stop. But once they were back in the forest, Axel slowed down and ultimately came to a complete stop, sniffing the air around him.

Kevin looked at him, frowning; he must have sensed something unusual. Then Axel began to growl, looking in one direction. Kevin said to him, "If you want to go, go ahead. I promise you that whatever it is, I won't be reckless."

Axel had never been to this part of the forest before; he had been caught up in his wolfish instinct and had run free without paying attention to where he was going.

He knew it would take him about 30 minutes at full speed to get back to the city, and that was what he had intended to do when his senses spotted a disturbance in the spiritual energy.

That could only mean two things. The first was that there was a dungeon nearby that he didn't know about, and the second, which was much more problematic and dangerous for Kevin, was that it was a teleportation portal.

Teleportation portals were created by very powerful mages and could be used by anyone—be it humans, shapeshifters, or demons. He could only judge the danger by approaching it.

Kevin had just given him his consent to check it out, and he knew Kevin was the cautious type, so if things got dangerous, Kevin would undoubtedly be able to hide and go unnoticed.

With that in mind, Axel walked over to where the disturbance in spiritual energy was coming from, and after only a few minutes, he finally relaxed when he saw that it was ultimately just a dungeon.

It was rather unexpected to stumble upon a dungeon in this part of the forest, and this dungeon hadn't been looted yet, so it was a jackpot.

He used his wolf's senses to ensure that the level of this dungeon was acceptable, and judging from what he was sensing, he felt able to deal with it on his own—no need to create an expedition team.

When Axel stopped in front of the cliff that was in the middle of the forest, Kevin immediately saw what had drawn him here, and the sound of the System echoed in his head.

[ OPTIONAL QUEST ]

Team up with Axel and kill the dungeon boss.

- Reward 1: 10 Stat Points

- Reward 2: 2,000 Gold Coins

- Reward 3: Low Grade Box × 1

Kevin almost wanted to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. These rewards were really tempting, but he felt the hard part wouldn't be killing the dungeon boss but rather convincing Axel to let him come with him.

He slid off Axel's back and approached the dungeon gate, which looked like a blue vortex. Axel immediately put his wolf head on Kevin's shoulder to convey that he shouldn't move any closer. Kevin stroked him to reassure Axel that he understood the message.