Aerial Battle

Anna was in front, with Shen Yi right behind her. The two of them ran frantically, chased by a pack of wolves.

Despite being a woman, Anna's movements were incredibly agile. If not for Shen Yi's doubled attributes, he wouldn't have been able to outpace her. She moved through the jungle and grasslands like a swift fire fox, constantly changing her path. The wolves, though fast, couldn't catch up to them for a while.

"Hurry up! There's a cliff up ahead. When we get to the edge, don't hesitate, just jump!" Anna shouted from the front.

"Weren't you here to hunt werewolves?" Shen Yi called out from behind.

"Sometimes, the werewolves hunt us too!" Anna replied without turning her head.

"It doesn't seem like 'sometimes'."

The distant cliff was now in sight.

Just as they were about to reach the edge of the cliff, Shen Yi suddenly felt a premonition of danger.

Without time to think, he yelled, "Danger!" and pushed Anna away.

A silver arc streaked across the sky, accompanied by a piercing screech. It struck fiercely onto Anna's previous path, creating a deep crater in the rocky ground.

Upon closer inspection, it was a giant silver wolf, its body completely snow-white, descending from the sky. Its claw's impact was comparable to that of a cannonball.

"Roar!" The silver wolf missed its target and let out a wild howl. The pack of wolves chasing from afar also stopped, howling mournfully towards the sky, sending chills down one's spine.

"It's the Silver Wolf Leader!" Anna screamed, her face turning pale with fear.

The Silver Wolf Leader, the king of werewolves, was extremely powerful and fast. It was also one of Count Dracula's most important subordinates. Anna's brother, Viken, had gone missing in a battle against this wolf leader. At that time, the siblings had gathered dozens of demon hunters with hunting rifles, but in the end, the silver wolf survived. Those who attempted to kill it became part of the werewolf pack now pursuing them.

Shen Yi raised his hand and released a mental probe towards the silver wolf. Above its head was a long health bar:

"Silver Wolf Leader, Attack 12-25, Defense 7. Life 600. Skills: Transformation: Turns a target into a member of its pack. Undead creature, vulnerable to holy attacks, strength type."

The vital points were not displayed, likely due to the higher level of the adversary, thus reducing the information shown.

Shen Yi's heart tightened.

No wonder the main mission in Bloody City was to escape.

This Silver Wolf Leader possessed four skills, three of which were currently beyond Shen Yi's ability to discern.

With just ordinary bullets in hand, he couldn't even break through the Silver Wolf Leader's defense.

Moreover, the Silver Wolf Leader's attack power was outrageously high.

A regular bullet inflicted 7 points of damage, but the Silver Wolf's attack ranged from 12-25 points. What did this mean? Its paw strike had three times the kinetic energy of a bullet.

With 600 life points, even if Shen Yi used all holy light bullets, it would take more than ten shots to kill it.

Would the enemy foolishly stand there and let him fire more than ten shots? The answer was obvious.

However, often people don't have a choice. In fact, as Shen Yi was conducting his mental probe, he had already rushed out and fired two shots at the Silver Wolf. The Silver Wolf Leader seemed to have underestimated Shen Yi's attack, as it had been a long time since a human had been able to hurt it.

The two consecutive shots hit the Silver Wolf Leader, causing it evident pain.

But Shen Yi didn't get a chance to fire a third shot.

"Oh!" It roared in anger, transforming again into a sharp silver arc and lunging at them.

"Dodge!" Shen Yi shouted.

Both of them split to either side, with the Silver Wolf's snowy silver streak just missing Shen Yi's waist, drawing a bright trail of blood.

After missing its target, the giant silver wolf immediately turned around, its eerie green eyes fixating on them once more.

"Run!" Shen Yi yelled at Anna.

Anna turned and ran towards the edge of the cliff, as the Silver Wolf roared and leaped into the air again.

Shen Yi raised his hand to fire, but to his astonishment, the massive wolf spun in the air, miraculously dodging the bullet. Shen Yi was dumbfounded: "Are you even a wolf?"

Above the Silver Wolf's head appeared a display:

"Silver Wolf Special Technique: Arc Turn, dodging attacks with a bizarre aerial maneuver."

"Damn it!" Shen Yi cursed.

After performing its Arc Turn, the Silver Wolf immediately pounced downward, charging at Shen Yi with ferocious momentum. Its huge wolf claw swung down, hitting Shen Yi squarely.

The blow was so powerful that it made Shen Yi spit out a mouthful of blood. Had it not been for his doubled physique and increased vitality and defense, that single strike could have taken most of his life.

Shen Yi was slammed against a small tree, breaking it, while Anna used this opportunity to successfully jump off the cliff, landing in the river below. She created a bright red splash, bobbing up and down with the current.

"Ooh!" The Silver Wolf, having lost its target, stood at the edge of the cliff, howling in anger.

As dozens of robust werewolves approached from a distance, with the fierce Silver Wolf still blocking the way, Shen Yi's pupils contracted.

"Get out of the way, bastard!"

Gritting his teeth, Shen Yi charged towards the Silver Wolf, firing his gun continuously.

The wolf let out a huge screech as blood splattered from its body. But this time, it didn't dodge. It stood on its hind legs, brandishing its massive claw at Shen Yi.

Shen Yi rolled on the ground, narrowly avoiding the blow, and ended up right in front of the wolf. He grabbed the beast and leaped off the cliff, the pack of wolves catching up just in time to see their leader and Shen Yi fall together, letting out mournful howls.

The Silver Wolf obviously didn't expect Shen Yi to be so desperate. Caught off guard, Shen Yi kicked the wolf's abdomen in mid-air, propelling himself away, while the wolf's claw grazed his face, leaving three deep gashes.

Without blinking, Shen Yi aimed his gun at the Silver Wolf's head.

The gun fired.

A holy light bullet entered through the wolf's eye socket, blowing a bloody hole in its head.

Despite the critical hit, the Silver Wolf wasn't dead yet. Half of its brain exposed, it howled loudly, raising its huge paw.

"Silver Wolf Special Technique: Claw Strike..."

A massive wolf paw rapidly enlarged before Shen Yi, its five sharp claws gleaming in the sunlight, plunging towards Shen Yi's chest.

There was a sound of shattering, followed by a prompt: "Protective amulet activated, reducing damage by 50%..."

Shen Yi was sent flying, his life bar nearly depleted, leaving just a sliver of red.

Dizzy, Shen Yi fired another shot at the distant Silver Wolf.

Bang!

The howling stopped abruptly.

This shot finally claimed the last of the Silver Wolf Leader's life. Its body shook violently in the air before it ceased moving.

Shen Yi fell into the river, creating a huge splash. Just before hitting the water, he heard the crisp sound of the Bloody Badge...

Falling into the river, the cold water somewhat revived Shen Yi's dulled senses. He had no strength to swim ashore, but the river, like a gentle lover, carried him to the bank.

Not far away lay the body of the Silver Wolf. This powerful werewolf had faced countless monster hunters, relying on its immense strength and speed for numerous victories, but today, it met its end at Shen Yi's hands.

Thinking back, Shen Yi realized his luck had played a significant part in this victory. If the fight hadn't taken place in the air, he wouldn't have been able to harm the wolf so easily. The Silver Wolf's speed and power were unmatched, and it could even glide in the air for short periods. Unfortunately, the high-altitude fall severely limited its dodging ability, while Shen Yi's gunfire was unaffected.

After killing the Silver Wolf Leader, Bloody City awarded Shen Yi an extra 500 Bloody Points. The relative insignificance of this reward compared to the difficulty of the task indicated that the Silver Wolf's power might not have been as formidable as it seemed. It was Shen Yi's limited strength that made the fight so challenging.

The Bloody City, despite setting the difficulty at 100%, seemed to have treated newcomers somewhat leniently, relaxing the mission requirements.

Shen Yi noticed something glittering under the Silver Wolf's body. It was a blue box.

Upon opening the box, the Bloody Badge prompted: "Perfect kill of the Silver Wolf: You have obtained the Silver Wolf Leader's treasure box, eligible for the Silver Wolf's regular BOSS reward and a newcomer's additional reward. Do you wish to open the box now? Yes/No."

Shen Yi immediately chose 'Yes'.

"Silver Wolf Perfect Level Reward: You have obtained a Grade D skill scroll with healing ability, worth 3000 Bloody Points. Do you wish to learn it?"

"Newcomer 100% Difficulty Additional Reward: You have obtained an ungraded Wolf Fang Ring, +2 strength, +2 agility, worth 350 Bloody Points."

"Newcomer 100% Difficulty Additional Reward: You have obtained two Light Traps. Single-use items that release sunlight, causing high damage to all undead creatures within a 5-meter radius. Activation time 1 minute, worth 200 Bloody Points."

"Newcomer 100% Difficulty Additional Reward: You have obtained a bottle of Wolf Blood. After use, you will possess werewolf bloodline and the ability to transform into a werewolf. Adventurers need to pay an additional 3000 Bloody Points to use it. Werewolf bloodline, a low-level bloodline, does not have compatibility or promotion capabilities."

Shen Yi was delighted to see the skill scroll for medical treatment, as he needed to heal his wounds.

He quickly learned the skill, and a burst of knowledge flooded his mind.

'Despicable Medical Art' could effectively heal external, bleeding wounds, restoring 30 life points per use, and moderately heal piercing, tearing, concussion, and skill damage, restoring 18 life points per use. It could weakly heal incomplete and toxic injuries, restoring 3 life points per use, and was ineffective against special attacks. The skill had a 60-second cooldown.

Shen Yi was dizzy.

'Despicable Medical Art'? What was this skill? He didn't have time to ponder, as he immediately applied the skill to his wounds, feeling a warm sensation spreading from his palm to the injury. His life force rapidly recovered, and the wounds visibly healed.

His spirits also improved significantly.

Killing the monster had brought such great rewards, which was definitely good news for Shen Yi.

No wonder Scarface said that the newcomer missions were the most rewarding. Shen Yi decided to explore the potential of these missions further. If he couldn't handle the danger in the newcomer missions, there was no point in risking his life in more dangerous tasks later.

Having just escaped death, Shen Yi put the recent danger behind him. Some people are born with a strong adventurous spirit, finding joy in adventure and seeing death as a destination. Shen Yi was probably one of them.

After putting on the Wolf Fang Ring, Shen Yi felt stronger and more agile. Opening his character attribute energy screen, he saw his attributes had increased to Strength 4 (10), Agility 7 (16). Attributes gained through equipment were not affected by the newcomer bonus. He was considering using the medical art again to fully heal when he heard Anna's voice in the distance.

Thinking it over, Shen Yi decided to keep some of his injuries. He had just killed a Silver Wolf, and it wouldn't be believable if he had no wounds. He wasn't sure how Bloody City arranged things in the mission world and preferred not to reveal his abilities too soon.

Anna rushed over from downstream, her face full of shock.

"My God, what did I see? You killed the Silver Wolf Leader!"

Shen Yi replied lazily, "Don't make a big deal out of it. You didn't come running to tell the Silver Wolf, 'Oh my God, you killed that monster hunter...'"

Anna put her hands on her hips. "I wanted to see if you were still worth saving." She had seen Shen Yi's aerial battle with the Silver Wolf, even though it lasted only a few seconds, it was breathtaking. She had never thought a person could maintain such a fighting will in such a situation.

"Of course I need saving!" Shen Yi pointed to his chest wound. "Look at this. I need the full-time care of a beautiful woman."

Anna chuckled. "At least your spirit seems fine. Did the Silver Wolf use its transformation on you?"

"If I were to be transformed, it would only be into a 'pervert wolf'."

"That's good," Anna said, extending a hand of friendship to help Shen Yi. "Come to my house, and I'll dress your wounds."