Chapter 8

[The Green Hydra has been digested. Showing consumable skills.]

<<Grey Hydra (Eight-Headed) Skills.

-Super Regeneration [Skill]:

This skill will activate the moment your body is injured. Any and all forms of wounds, including illnesses and poisons, can be dispelled by this ability. [Owned]

[Duplicate Skill detected! If you choose this option, your Bloodline Skill 'Super Regeneration' will increase by one level!]

-Mythic Roar [Skill]:

The user lets out a nerve-shaking roar. Simply hearing it would render any creature of a lower level to be paralyzed with fear. The effects can be shaken off by higher intelligent beings.>>

Theodore was woken up by the sudden notification, his vision returned to his eyes and he slightly lifted his head to look at a screen that'd appeared in front of him.

"…Oh, give me the 'Super Regeneration' skill then." He'd almost forgotten about the hydra he'd eaten yesterday, he did it on the spur of the moment since he thought his friend was about to steal his kill.

[The Bloodline Skill: 'Super Regeneration' has been upgraded!]

<<Bloodline Skills: Super Regeneration [50%] (Lvl.2) —> Super Regeneration [50%] (Lvl.3)>>

He dismissed the screen and began looking around, noticing that the sun was just about to rise, spreading rays of orange light across the sky. "Huh, it took that long to digest the hydra?"

[Yes. Due to the toxicity of its blood, your skill 'Master of Poison' is still too low-leveled to properly dispel it.]

The System's voice rang out in his mind. After getting a reasonable explanation, he began slithering towards the entrance of the pocket space.

He peeked his head through the window frame and turned towards Merlin, who has his messy orange hair poking through his thick blanket, his chest rising up and down as he softly snores in his sleep.

He crawled down from the pocket space and went onto the bed, he stared at his friend and he suppressed a laughter as a cunning thought came to his mind. "Oh, aren't you sleeping so peacefully…? It would be a shame…IF SOMEONE WAKES YOU UP!"

After a loud shout, he threw himself onto Merlin's body, the impact from a 15-meters-long snake caused the ginger to wake up screaming. "Ah!! What the f*ck!? Theo!?"

"Wake up!" He continued to slam his heavy physique onto his friend as he let out cries of surprise.

"Hey! Stop that! You're going to break my ribs!!! I surrender! I surrender!!!"

Theodore would stop after hearing Merlin's desperate shouting, he circulated him until he was loosely wrapping around his body before perking his head up. "Do you have anything to do today? I want to farm some experience points in Delphi."

"H—Huh? Oh, um…Today is Monday so I need to go to school." Merlin said while rubbing the drowsiness from his eyes. "I can send you off first though. Are you going right now?"

"With my current strength, I can probably gain a million EXP per day if I hunt non-stop." Theodore had already done the necessary calculations, for the next four or five days, he can level up once before his experience points requirement reaches the sixth digit. "So the earlier I can leave, the better."

[You'll gain an option for new Bloodline Skills every 5 Levels.]

The System prompted, as if it'd read his thoughts. Unlike evolution, the specification for getting a new skill was reduced to only five levels instead of the usual ten, this is most likely because his growth would stagnate if the constraint was too high.

Merlin yawned. "Ugh, it's still…What? Five in the morning?…Wait. What time is it?" He turned towards a clock on the wall and his face went pale. "Theodore, we're going out immediately."

.

.

.

"Ah! I was supposed to wake up at five! How did I oversleep for a whole hour!?"

"You've slept through the final exam once, this is probably nothing." Theodore spoke as he and Merlin walked out of the GCG's [Griffin's Commissioning Guild] building.

The redhead had a piece of bread in his mouth while holding a large brown suitcase. He wore a simple outfit consisting of a pink polo shirt and dark blue trousers, which he'd thrown together in a hurry. He didn't even bother combing his messy hair, he'd only brushed his teeth and washed his face on the way out.

"This is different! I'm a teacher now, I still can't be late for school!" Merlin said in a muffled voice as he slowly chewed on his breakfast.

As soon as they left the area of the Guild's building, the floor changed from concrete to dirt and grass.

They began to walk to the hill that they'd once crossed, a road was built for easy access but there was nothing 'easy' about walking there at all. The path was roughed, filled with weeds and sharp stones, showing that people didn't bother to maintain its usability.

But it still only took them about five minutes to get to the other side nonetheless, since Merlin was used to the terrain and Theodore didn't have any problems at all because his body was adapted to these sorts of obstacles.

"I'll get going then." Merlin spoke once they were in front of the Delphi Forest.

The Stella Academy was only a few minutes walk away from here and one could even see the tip of the building in clear weather. However, today the sky was quite cloudy though the sun was still shining very brightly indicating that it wouldn't rain any time soon.

"Alright, you have fun."

After the ginger waved at him, Theodore began to slither into the forest, ready to hunt more gate creatures.

He started flicking his tongue and received the chemical information in the air. The range of his 'Tongue Receptor' attribute had increased tremendously and he could 'smell' a great tit from over a 100 meters distance.

He crawled around the forest at a moderate speed, he'd made a lot of noise while moving but many animals that dared to cross his path would only end up as his experience points and breakfast.

After around half an hour of killing and eating regular animals, his forked tongue soon picked up on a new scent. He'd recognized it somewhere before but he couldn't exactly wrap his mind around what it was, either way, he began to move towards the source of the smell in hopes of finding good prey.

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.

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His head emerged from the bushes and immediately he spotted a familiar figure—'figures', to be exact, there were around ten of them in total. They're almost as big as a horse and their fur was very beautiful, some were brown and some were pearly white, it was no wonder why many rich people sought after their coats.

He looked at the one that stood out amongst its peers: It had a long, obsidian-like fur and a fierce posture, its eyes gleamed blood-red as it walked around in circles, as if patrolling the perimeter.

<<Black Direwolf

Lvl. 61

Rank: A

Rarity: Very Rare

Yield: 600,000 Exp.

Chance of Victory: 90%

Strength: The direwolf is said to have 30% more biting force than a regular wolf, they can defeat nearly any opponent since they usually hunt in groups. Their thick coat and large body allows them to thrive in cold climates but even moderately warm areas doesn't affect them much either.

Weakness: Direwolves rely on pure strength and teamwork, once separated, they can be easily dealt with using powerful magic and long-ranged attacks. Do beware though, as despite its size, it's relatively fast due to its large muscles.

Description: Direwolves had once roamed the ancient earth, they're several times larger than their modern wolf counterparts. They have steel-like claws and fangs that could easily tore to any flesh, and even the thick shells of turtles would be no match for their strength. But these creatures are not mythical in nature, so while they're extremely strong they're not the hardest to beat when encountered.

Expanded: This particular black direwolf is the leader of its pack, direwolves live in small numbers, the biggest group having only ten members. The strongest direwolf of the pack will become the alpha and most of the time he will keep his position for the rest of his life. Direwolves are also extremely intelligent, they can coordinate attacks and understand basic physics. They recognize themselves in the mirror and can even solve simple problems such as getting food out of a glass jar or even use levers. The wisest wolves becomes the beta, normally there's one but there can be more on rare occasions, the beta wolves will command the other wolves in combat with the alpha in the lead, showing that even the leader will follow the strategists.>>

Seeing the amount of information, Theodore would dismiss the window once he'd read through it. "Direwolves…The alpha seemed to give the most experience points as expected."

He turned to look at the white-furred wolf.

<<Yield: 300,000 Exp.>>

After doing basic maths, if he killed all the ten direwolves, he would gain around three million experience points, which would be enough to level up three times. "That's a lot more than I thought I would get today."

But because the Delphi Forest is extremely big, the direwolf packs will most likely be dispersed, it would take quite a lot of time hunting all of them down which wouldn't be as beneficial as hunting the lesser hydras and other creatures that are more common.

Either way, Theodore wasn't going to pass on this opportunity, he flicked his tongue to once again confirm the number of the enemies and began thinking about a proper plan to kill them.

"This is difficult…"

The wolves could easily overwhelm him with their numbers, it would be suicide if he were to attack them right now.

"Ouroboros." As soon as he called the deity's name, a voice replied back.

[Yes?]

"Do you have any ideas on how to defeat them?"

[Your status now compared to them is quite powerful, I doubt that they'll kill you that easily.] Ouroboros began to speak, his voice tinged with confidence as if he was the one that would be doing all the fighting. [I suggest you simply blast them all with your magic. That way they'll be caught off guard. Even species as intelligent as humans don't fare well under pressure.]

Theodore nodded. "Hm, okay. If you say so." He didn't want to recklessly charge in without a plan, after his near-death encounter with the Chimera, he'd been telling himself each time that he shouldn't be overconfident in his abilities.

However, since he'd gotten a second opinion on the matter, he thought to give it a shot. "Ouroboros, control the skill 'Embodiment of Chaos' for me."

[As you wish.]

He began to conjure up multiple magic circles. A total of six shone a fierce blue as they manifested around the area where the wolves were resting. The black alpha perked its head up and looked around as it sensed that something was wrong.

But Theodore didn't let the direwolf react, he immediately casted a spell: [Freeze]

[The Bloodline Skill: Embodiment of Chaos has been activated.]

The System's voice rang out.

[The Fragment of the Original is responding to the skill. Proficiency is increasing.]

[Your attacks will now be imbued with the power of Chaos.]

<<Effect Description: The strength of the Great Discord resides within you. Due to the increase in proficiency your attacks have the potential to disturb the soul, causing immense pain to the target, it could also cause a body part to malfunction. However, this skill's level is still too low, you cannot control the probability of the effects.>>

The air's temperature suddenly dropped as the spell became active, freezing wind emerged from the magic circles and struck the wolf pack, immediately the weaker ones began to panic as their skin were slowly frozen from the intense temperature.

The distressed wolves had tried to run away, however some would find out that one of their legs wouldn't move as they wanted to. One of them even mysteriously began to choke, the poor wolf thrashed on the ground, struggling to breathe as frost crept up its body.

[You killed a Brown Direwolf. Gained 200,000 Exp.]

[You killed a Grey Direwolf. Gained 200,000 Exp.]

[You killed a Gold Direwolf. Gained 200,000 Exp.]

[You killed a Brown Direwolf. Gained 200,000 Exp.]

[Level Up! You're now Level 11!]

<<Lvl: 11

EXP: 111,050/820,000

Skill Points: 20>>

The alpha direwolf stared at the chaos within its pack. Its calm gaze landed on the only white wolf who looked back at it with a questioning look, it seemed to be the beta of its pack considering that it was sitting close to the alpha.

Suddenly, a thundering howl erupted from the black wolf, causing all of its pack members still alive to turn their attention to their leader. "Keep your heads, fools! Do you wish to die without even struggling?" The freezing air seemed to have a minimal effect on the wolf despite its dark coat beginning to catch frost.

"Master…"

"Find the attacker! It killed our kind! We will make it die a painful death!"

"As you command, master!" The other direwolves began to scatter around, the effects of the [Freeze] spell had already come to an end so there were no more than four casualties.

However, that result was more than acceptable for Theodore, he didn't think his magic could penetrate through the thick fur of the direwolves, but then again, even hydra scales couldn't withstand his power. "Six remaining."

When a brown wolf had stepped close to the bush he was hiding, he immediately cast another spell and pierce the wolf with a spike of ice from behind.

[You killed a Brown Direwolf. Gained 200,000 EXP.]

<<MP: 575/925>>

The sudden death of another one of its members caused the rest of the pack to become distressed. "Ah! Is it a human? That's magic isn't it!?"

The alpha didn't waver as its red eyes suddenly landed on somewhere, when Theodore turned to look at it, he suddenly flinched with surprise.

"I found you." The large wolf jumped into the air and immediately crossed an eight-meters distance, it landed in front of the bush Theo had been using as a cover before it began to charge at him with great speed. All of this had happened within mere seconds.

Theodore let out a loud hiss as he weaved to the side, avoiding the direwolf's razor-like claws. "Damn, it's certainly worth 600,000 experience points."

He wouldn't waste these precious seconds of delay though as he opened his mouth and let a column of fire shot forward, hitting the alpha wolf on its side.

[The Bloodline Skill: Divine Blaze has enhanced the skill 'Flames of Pride']

[Your flame will burn everything you consider your enemy!]

"…What sort of monster are you?"

Much to his surprise, the deep tone of the dark-coated wolf sounded out. He closed his mouth and watched as the large beast walked out of the flames unscathed.

<<MP: 570/925>>

Normally, the 'Flames of Pride' skill doesn't consume mana but is powered by his mentality, however, when he uses it with the bloodline skill, it will use up his mana by one point every second.

"Do I need to answer that?"

"No mere beast could use magic, especially not a serpent such as yourself." The wolf's crimson gaze stared at him with a murderous glare.

The other remaining wolves began to stroll closer to him after seeing that their leader was still standing. "As expected of our master, he's truly strong!"

"We can definitely beat that freak of nature!"

Confidence began to rise amongst the pack and soon Theo was surrounded by five large hungry wolves. He let out a sigh as he looked at his remaining mana points, after seeing that he has more than five hundred, he began chanting. "Great Lord of the Arctic."

"Hm? What was that?"

"The snake went mad with fear!"

He ignored the laughter of the wolves and continued chanting, the alpha eyed him with wariness but otherwise didn't move forward. "…What are you saying?"

"May your presence freeze all that is not yet your domain. Descend and cast this land of life into eternal winter."

"!!!" The black wolf's eyes suddenly widened with fear. "My kindred! We must get out of here!"

"Master?" The other wolves turned to their leader, surprised at what it'd just said.

"Quickly! We can't beat this serpent!"

"W—Why? Master? What's wrong?"

As the rest of the pack began to panic at their alpha's sudden change of attitude, a large, intricately designed circle appeared above them. When the white beta wolf shifted its head up, its expression melted into shock. "That…That is…!"

"The Sacred Wind of Boreas!" The black wolf cried out as it began to back away, causing the other wolves to do the same as well.

But their realization had come just a little too late, the entire area had already started to freeze up, the trees withered at an alarming speed as snow began falling from the sky. Ice spikes and chains rose beneath the wolves' feet and attacked them instantaneously.

Soon, pained cries of the beasts would rang throughout the forest.

[The Bloodline Skill: Embodiment of Chaos has amplified your attack.]

[Temporary: Devouring Frost —> Devouring Winter.]

The magic circle above suddenly grew in size and the temperature abnormally dropped to zero, the wolves that'd been caught by the cold chains were beginning to turn into ice, their entire body freezing at a frightening rate.

"Master! Help us!"

'Ah!! It hurts! Master!!"

"Run away, master! You must live!"

The agonizing howls caused the black wolf's expression to change. At first, it was calm and intimidating, but now hearing the sounds of its family dying before its eyes caused it to experience multiple emotions at once.

It would turn towards Theodore with a hint of both sorrow and rage gleaming in its eyes. "Stop this right now."

[You killed a White Direwolf. Gained 300,000 EXP.]

[You killed a Grey Direwolf. Gained 200,000 EXP.]

[You killed a Grey Direwolf. Gained 200,000 EXP.]

[You killed a Brown Direwolf. Gained 200,000 EXP.]

[Level Up! You're now Level 12!]

<<Lvl: 12

EXP: 219,050/830,000

Skill Points: 22>>

"I can't." Theodore didn't know why, but his spell didn't work on the alpha wolf at all, even the freeze spells earlier didn't target it directly.

He naturally got curious and spoke. "You seemed to already have an idea on how this spell works. How did you even know such a thing?"

"I"m not going to answer to a murderer!" It let out a fearful bark and sprinted at him. The ice chains sensed its caster's danger and some shifted its target towards the black wolf, however when they tried wrapping themselves around it, the chains instantly broke like glass.

Theodore was surprised by this sudden development and didn't have enough time to properly dodge the wolf's attack; he tried weaving to the side but was inevitably caught, as it opened its jaw, revealing its sharp canines. "Damnit!"

He couldn't move at all since the wolf had its powerful front paws pinning him to the ground, one pressed on his face and preventing him from delivering a bite.

The teeth bit hard into his scales and metal-like cracks could be heard coming from the impact, it took the direwolf a full five second to finally pierce his tough armor.

He fought through the pain and began to struggle, luckily he wasn't the type to waver under stress and he immediately thought of a usable skill in this situation. "Just die!"

[The skill 'Master of Poison' has been activated!]

[Your blood will now become poisonous!]

The alpha wolf didn't back down and began to bite him harder, however that would prove to be a fatal mistake as in only a few seconds, the beast started to lose strength. "What?" The direwolf let go of him and took a few steps back, slightly struggling as if its limbs were becoming paralyzed. "What did you do!?"

Theodore got up from the ground, holding his head up high and began to hiss. "F*ck! That hurts you piece of sh*t! You'll be the one who dies a painful death now!"

[The Bloodline Skill 'Super Regeneration' has been activated!]

[The current level of this skill is Three (3). The effects will be amplified!]

[Noticed! A 50% debuff has been detected! Adjusting the effectiveness!]

Even while the healing had been nerfed down, his wounds were still healing at a visible speed. He estimated that it should only take a few minutes for his body to be in top condition again.

The alpha wolf started staggering as it struggled to stand up properly, it gritted its bloodied teeth as if feeling intense pain. "This…! Poison?"

"If you tell me how you knew about my spell then I'll end your suffering." Theodore glared at the dying wolf, he hoped to at least get a few answers from it before it died. "Why didn't my magic affect you? Answer me!"

"Are you making fun of a direwolf's pride? I will never let myself die peacefully while my kin has suffered!" The alpha fell onto the ground, its body paralyzed as blood would begin to leak out of its eyes, mouth and ears.

The wolf knew it didn't have much time left. It glared at him one last time as it croaked out a dying sentence. "I…My spirit…Shall seek…Vengeance…"

[You killed a Black Direwolf—]

[Anomaly detected! Recalculating the information…]

"!!!" Theodore was shocked at the sudden change in the message.

He was about to sulk about how the direwolf had died before he could get some potentially useful information, but now he'd almost forgotten about it as he stared at the notification window in front of his vision.

[Adjustments completed! Showing the new information.]

His mouth would fall open the moment he saw what was written on the screen.