[18]

The cave was dark and eerie.

While the weather was indeed growing colder, the chill inside felt even more biting.

The atmosphere was oppressively heavy, with only the sound of dripping water breaking the silence.

Hugo was hunched over, tense, and alert, scanning his surroundings nervously.

In contrast, Ethan moved forward with a casual demeanor.

'I don't sense anything special,' he thought.

The cave appeared ordinary on the surface. Despite the spooky ambiance, there was nothing more to it.

'Should we go a bit further?'

Flap! Screech!

"Hiiik!"

A bat suddenly flew out of the darkness.

Hugo shrieked, cowering.

"Get up."

"Y-Young master, but just now—"

"Those aren't the problem. Stand up."

"Yes…?" Hugo looked up at Ethan with a bewildered expression.

Adjusting to the darkness, Hugo could vaguely see Ethan's face.

'Is he... smiling?'

It seemed as if Ethan was almost glad something had finally appeared.

Hugo couldn't comprehend Ethan's state of mind. How could he be so relaxed in such an extreme situation?

'Bats.'

But Ethan had his reasons.

The appearance of bats meant they were on the right path.

"We found it."

In the darkness, a pair of fierce red eyes gleamed.

Ethan didn't need to see it to know.

Every hair on his body stood on end, warning him of danger.

Hugo, too, sensed the change in the atmosphere.

His pupils narrowed, and his breathing became labored.

'A vampire's nemesis.'

Within Hugo flowed the blood of a werewolf.

'Overwhelming physical capabilities.'

His resilience was almost inhuman, capable of recovering from extreme exhaustion in just a day.

All these traits stemmed from his lineage.

However, Hugo was unaware of this fact. Living among humans had dulled and faded his primal instincts.

The most effective way to awaken a beast's dormant instincts is to confront it with fresh prey.

'The air has changed.'

The innocent look on Hugo's face turned ferocious.

However, having lived a lifetime with a gentle disposition, Hugo couldn't easily accept the rising bloodlust and wild instincts, showing clear signs of confusion.

"Filthy blood mingles within you," someone started walking out from the darkness.

The man, who appeared to be a young man, had dark hair, a pale face, and a sinister presence.

He alternated his gaze between Ethan and Hugo, speaking in a cold, low voice. "What brings you crawling all the way here?"

"We came to deal with pests like you. Isn't that right?" Ethan grinned at Hugo.

He was leaving this to Hugo.

Though he seemed strained now, soon Hugo's true nature as a werewolf would be revealed.

'That's why I didn't teach him swordsmanship.'

There's no need to teach a beast how to hunt. Acting on instinct is their best fighting style.

A cat doesn't need to be taught to catch mice or snakes.

Wolf blood flowed in Hugo's veins.

'And noble blood at that.'

No matter how much Ethan thought about it, the storyline was undoubtedly twisted.

But no matter how absurd it seemed, Ethan had to survive in this bizarre world.

"Then I'll be on my way."

The vampire's gaze shifted from Hugo to Ethan.

"...Are you mocking me?"

"No, why would you bother with me when your nemesis is right there? Go ahead and duke it out."

Ethan's words seemed to break the vampire's patience, as his eyes filled with murderous intent.

"A brat like you isn't even worth turning into a thrall. Just die." The vampire's hand shot towards Ethan's face.

But Ethan tilted his head to avoid the attack.

'Fast hands.'

He had been prepared since sensing the attack, but he nearly had his face pierced.

"...You dare to dodge, human?"

"Can't you fix that way of speaking? It's really annoying."

Ethan's sharp retort twisted the vampire's face in anger.

"If your wish is to die in agony, I'll grant it—"

Roar!

Before the vampire could finish, a terrifying roar echoed from behind.

From behind, Hugo's silver hair started to spike upward in two large prongs. His innocent visage was long gone, replaced by a feral one.

(He looked like Garou from OPM. Image in the comment section.)

Seizing the moment of distraction, Ethan dashed away at full speed.

The vampire turned to chase him but was intercepted by a beast leaping towards him.

Grrr!

Hugo's body transformed.

His frame grew larger, with silver fur and a long snout.

The transformed Hugo lunged at the vampire.

Hugo, who had already possessed exceptional agility and resilience, now far exceeded those levels as a werewolf.

The vampire couldn't react in time.

"Graaah!"

The vampire screamed in agony as Hugo's razor-sharp claws tore into his shoulder.

Blood flowed from the vampire's wound, and his pupils contracted in pain.

The vampire swung his claw-like nails, aiming them like blades at Hugo.

Hugo, eyes fixed on the vampire's hands, dodged the attack effortlessly.

He growled, consumed by his primal instincts.

Realizing the severity of the situation, the vampire's expression hardened.

In the wild, a mistake means death.

For the vampire, who had ruled over his territory, the emergence of such a formidable nemesis was a grave threat.

Ethan glanced back as he ran.

'Stronger than I expected.'

He remembered Hugo fighting the vampire on equal terms in the original story. But now, transformed into a werewolf, Hugo was completely overpowering the vampire.

'Is it the effect of training?'

In the original, Hugo couldn't handle his power after transforming into a werewolf.

His incomplete body caused overloads, and his inability to control his instincts was a major hindrance.

But Ethan had trained Hugo's body to perfection. Strength, agility, endurance, and cardiovascular capacity—all were honed to their peak.

By excluding combat training and focusing solely on physical conditioning, Ethan ensured that Hugo could withstand his werewolf form.

'The outcome won't change.' Ethan had a keen eye for such things.

The vampire had been complacent.

Though he ruled his domain, his senses had dulled, and his arrogance led to a severe injury. A deep wound was not something to be taken lightly.

In most battles, the first to bleed was at a disadvantage.

Not that the skill gap was overwhelmingly large. The vampire was more experienced in combat.

But like lions, some beings are born with the knowledge of how to fight.

Hugo, too, could naturally fight without learning specific hunting methods.

'Time to claim my reward.' Without looking back, Ethan sprinted forward.

***

Ethan had bypassed the vampire, but other obstacles still lay in his path.

However, they were laughably weak compared to the vampire.

Emaciated vampires and kobolds, low-level monsters that were hardly a threat.

The cave, though more cramped inside than it appeared from outside, was filled with these feeble adversaries.

Ethan dispatched each one with his dagger as he advanced.

'Still not used to bigger weapons,' he thought.

Despite his rapidly improving swordsmanship, Ethan was most comfortable and proficient with his own body.

Given that his life was on the line in this operation, it made sense to use what he was familiar with.

'It's not as bad as I thought,' he mused.

Ethan, or rather Ryu in his former life, had never killed anyone before.

Although the creatures he was killing now were hardly human, but they had once been human-like creatures of similar size. Yet, he felt no particular emotion while dispatching them.

'Is it because of this character's personality?'

It was possible.

Ethan, as depicted in the original, was an arrogant, ruthless psychopath. A character who enjoyed torture and killing without remorse.

Given that he had taken over such a character, this level of desensitization made sense.

'Besides, this is a novel world,' he reminded himself.

Stab—

Ethan grabbed a goblin from behind and drove his dagger into its neck.

'I'm getting used to this,' he noted.

Initially, he'd accidentally splashed blood on his clothes, but after a few tries, he had minimized such mistakes.

'Hmm, still some distance to go,' he observed, wiping the blood off his dagger.

Staring into the pitch-black cave, he began moving deeper into its depths.

After some time.

"Is this it?" Ethan murmured, spotting a small wooden stick stuck in the ground at the cave's deepest point.

It was surprisingly unimpressive.

'The Dead Tree,' he noted.

Despite its ominous name, it looked like an ordinary wooden stick.

Ethan stared at the stick embedded in the ground for a moment, then began to take steps towards it.

'This is strange,' he thought.

His heightened senses were warning him, almost whispering for him not to proceed.

But Ethan suppressed his instincts and moved forward.

This was what he had come for.

'This is the fastest way,' he resolved.

He wasn't planning to follow the conventional path.

To keep up with the main characters, he had to use shortcuts.

Reaching out, Ethan grasped the stick.

"Ugh."

As soon as he gripped the stick, a sharp pain shot through his hand, spreading through his skin and veins.

The creepy sensation almost made him let go, but he gritted his teeth and pulled out the stick.

The dead, desiccated wood seemed to hum mournfully.

'I feel nauseous,' he realized. The pain wasn't unbearable, but it was nauseating.

However, that feeling gradually subsided.

After a moment, Ethan felt normal again, silently gazing at the Dead Tree.

It no longer exuded its previous eeriness.

'Hmm... Is it over?' he wondered, clenching and unclenching his fist.

There wasn't any noticeable change yet, but he knew he had absorbed the power of the Dead Tree.

'Time to head back,' he decided.

By now, the fight between Hugo and the vampire should be over.

— Where do you think you're going?

A voice echoed from behind.

Ethan stopped and slowly turned around, seeing no one. He couldn't even sense anyone's presence.

"I'm not hearing things…"

As he muttered, the mysterious voice spoke again.

— I sense the blood of Blante.

This time, the voice was unmistakable.

An unexpected situation.

Ethan hesitated before speaking.

"Um… who are you?"

— ….

The voice paused before responding.

— …I am also a descendant of Blante. You could say I am your ancestor.

…What?

For a moment, Ethan stared blankly into the empty space.

Ancestor?

Such a setting revealed here, out of the blue?

"Why now?" he muttered in disbelief.