Outside The City First Hunt

As they exited the city, they scanned the area for potential enemies, keeping their guard up, but found nothing amiss. A few other humans passed by, seemingly fine as they were returning from gathering food. When asked, they mentioned picking some fruits from a nearby forest.

With a sense of urgency, that group hastened their return to the city, concerned that something might occur after giving a sort answer.

"Why are they so scared?" Lily mused, savoring the fresh air as though she were on a leisurely picnic. On the contrary, Kevin appeared anxious, consistently scanning their surroundings.

"Perhaps they fear we might rob them or worse," Lucius calmly remarked, his gaze fixed on their departing figures. He asked the other two to follow and increased their pace to a jog. After approximately two hours and a journey covering about ten miles, they drew near to the forest. He spotted some marks on the ground and signaled for the others to stop.

Kneeling down, he touched the dried bloodstains. Uncertain whether it was from an animal or a human, he spotted dragging marks leading to the nearby forest. After a brief debate, he decided to check it out carefully.

''Let's check it out,'' Lucius said, drawing his sword. The others followed suit, weapons at the ready. The sound of crunching leaves was annoying, but fortunately, the forest was not too dense, allowing them to see a good distance ahead.

''Stop,'' Lucius motioned, instructing the others to halt and lower themselves to the ground. He decided to communicate using gestures.

He demonstrated the hand sign for 'stop' by lifting his arm and making a fist, then holding it there for a few seconds. Lily found it fun and copied him, nodding in understanding.

''This is for monsters,'' he pointed with one finger. Then he pointed with two fingers, indicating 'two'. Opening and closing his fingers, he continued, ''This will be for more than your fingers can point.'' They all nodded their heads, comprehending the signs.

''Okay, let's not talk now. This forest is eerily quiet,'' Lucius whispered, aware that the continuous sound of breaking leaves was putting them on edge.

Deeper into the forest, the crunching noises grew louder. he raised his fist, signalling for everyone to stop and lower themselves to the ground.

They cautiously approached the source of the sound, their senses heightened. Soon, a wolf came into sight. It was approximately one meter in size, with brownish fur and dark brown eyes.

Feeling relieved that it was just a wolf, he let out a sigh. He had worried it might be something more dangerous. However, his relief quickly turned to shock as he saw what the wolf was eating—a dead human. The wolf seemed to have minor injuries, but nothing severe.

Inwardly debating, he signalled for the others to stay hidden and stepped forward. Sensing someone approaching, the wolf turned around and spotted a man. Growling threateningly, it surveyed its surroundings, thinking it was alone.

Driven by hunger, the wolf lunged at Lucius, its teeth dripping with saliva. Prepared for the attack, he swiftly dodged to the side and slashed at the wolf, severing one of its legs.

Yelping in pain, the wolf fell to the ground, limping and attempting to run away.

Seeing the wolf fall, Lucius rushed forward and thrust his sword at its head, aiming for a quick kill.

However, he missed and only managed to wound its ear. Seeing the wolf still alive, he followed up with another slash, cutting deep into its skull and ending its life.

Seeing the dead wolf, Lucius turned his attention to the body nearby. It was a deceased male with torn clothes.

Lily and Kevin, although looking a bit pale, did not panic as much, knowing that encountering dead bodies would soon become a grim reality for them.

''Should we bury them?'' Lily asked, her strong personality seeming slightly weakened as she gazed at the body.

Lucius glanced at the forest, realizing that burying the body would be time-consuming due to the hard ground and the lack of shovels.

He sadly shook his head and replied, ''The ground is too hard, and it would take a long time to dig a hole. We don't have any shovels, and using our arms and swords would not be practical.''

Anticipating Kevin's question, Lucius cut him off, explaining the futility of carrying the body back to the city. "We can't. And even if we could, what would we do with it?"

With a tinge of sadness, he knelt down next to the body and removed the shoes from the deceased individual. Kevin was about to voice his opposition, but he realized it would be pointless.

The man was already dead, and the shoes could prove useful in the future, considering they only had one pair of clothes each.

The man's ripped clothes and missing weapon held no value, but the black pair of boots they all wore were still in good condition.

Storing the shoes in his inventory, Lucius walked back to the wolf and attempted to store them as well.

Summoning the panel, he noticed that the wolf had changed to experience points, and he had gained +10 exp. It seemed that killing level 1 trash mobs awarded the same experience as killing the goblin.

Cutting off the wolf's head and legs, Lucius managed to store them, instructing the others to pick up the remaining legs that he couldn't store.

Leaving the signs of the battle behind, they continued walking deeper into the forest, venturing further into the unknown.

Travelling through the increasingly thick forest, something suddenly jumped out and attacked Kevin. Turning his head, Lucius caught sight of the creature that had attacked him—a two-meter snake [Snake LvL1].

Kevin managed to react in time and block the attack with his shield. The snake fell to the ground but started preparing for another attack.

Then, a voice was heard, ''Moonlight Slash!'' A swift slash followed, cutting the snake in half. Feeling proud of her action, Lily nodded to herself.

Observing how easily Lily disposed of the snake, Lucius decided to compliment her, ''Good job, Lily. It was a clean blow that killed the snake in one hit.''

Lily beamed with joy, nodding in response, and then returned to her melancholic aura.

''Why did you shout the name of the skill?'' Kevin, already kneeling next to the snake to make it fit in the inventory, asked. Lily twitched a bit but declined answering.

''Let's continue,'' Lucius spoke, and they soon found some fruits. Uncertain whether they were poisonous or not, they stored them.

As it was getting late and they were unsure of the safety of the area, they turned back the same way they had come, passing through the snake's territory.

Reaching the place where the wolf was, they heard screaming and cries for help. Lucius signalled the others to stop, and they crouched down and hid behind a tree, trying to see what was happening.

In the distance, three humans were running with eight wolves chasing them. Six of the wolves were the same as the one Lucius had killed earlier, while the other two were stronger [Strong Brown Wolf LvL3].

Observing the situation, Lucius decided to wait and see how strong the wolves were. Soon, he realized that the wolves with their pack leaders were significantly faster and stronger than the others.

The female among the humans used her shield to block the attacks but was pushed back, her arms visibly shaking from the impact.

Her companions wielded swords and a bow, but the wolves had the numerical advantage, making the fight unfair.

Recognizing an opportunity to eliminate the wolves, Lucius signalled to Kevin, and they rushed out, swinging their swords and swiftly killing two of the wolves.

Lucius felt resistance in his arm as the sword struck the wolf's bones, causing some pain, but he powered through and aimed for the heart.

With two wolves out of the way, only four remained. The male with the bow had already injured one, which was now taking its last breath.

Meanwhile, Kevin focused on blocking the strong wolf's attacks with his shield, trying to injure it whenever possible.

"Lily, deal with the regular ones. The rest of you, do the same, and then come help me once you're done," Lucius shouted to the rest of the group. He hurried to assist Kevin, slashing at the last strong wolf.

With some teamwork, the wolf's wounds increased, and it eventually breathed its last. Lucius +20 EXP and +2 Gold.

Upon seeing the system's reward, Lucius instructed Kevin to assist Lily, who was fighting two of the regular ones alone.

Lucius then approached the last strong wolf, with the female companion's help, managing to injure it before delivering the final blow himself.

This time, he did the majority of the work. He gained +30 EXP and +3 Gold, as indicated by the blinking panel.

Although the numbers differed, he briefly pondered their significance before refocusing on the battle and swiftly killing the last remaining normal wolf. This earned him +10 EXP and +1 Gold.

Surveying the lifeless wolves surrounding them, the group let out a collective sigh. In this fight, he gained a total of 60 EXP and 6 Gold. He realized that when killed individually, the strong wolves gave 40 EXP and 4 Gold.

The system had split the reward for the first strong wolf, 50/50, between Kevin and him, with each of them claiming half based on their contributions.

Meanwhile, the female companion, who contributed less, received fewer rewards while he gained more.

Sitting down and catching their breath, the female from the other group spoke up, "Thank you for the help. I'm Natalia."

Sitting down and catching their breath, Lucius finally had a good look at the other group. Natalia stood at a height of 1.7 meters and had a slim figure. Her short black hair and brown eyes added to her tomboyish look.

The archer, Karl, had a sly expression and seemed to always be looking for personal gain. The longsword user appeared goofy and easygoing, but Lucius knew better than to be fooled by appearances.

Natalia spoke up, thanking them for their help and asking for their names. He simply replied, "I'm Lucius."

The archer introduced himself as Karl, followed by a laugh from the man next to him. "I'm William," he said as he walked over to pat Lucius on the shoulder, only to have him point his sword towards him in a cautionary gesture.

"That's close enough," he warned. Seeing the situation, William nodded friendly and sat with his group.

Recognizing the tension, Natalia spoke up in a dry tone, "We won't do you any harm. You saved us, so you can take whatever rewards you want." She smiled in a friendly manner.

Considering her words, he ordered Lily, "Go and try to store the strong wolf in the inventory." Lily nodded and walked over to the larger wolf, cutting off its head and managing to store the body.

"Kevin, you go and store the other one too," he instructed. But before Kevin could act, Karl spoke up, "Wait!"

''Take it. It's your reward." Natalia cut Karl off and glared at him, signalling him to keep quiet.

Observing the situation, Lucius motioned for Kevin to continue, and soon they sat in their respective groups with some distance between them.

Natalia broke the silence, saying, "I want to exchange information for the bodies of the other dead wolves."

Lucius knew they couldn't carry any more, so he gestured for her to continue. "You can take four normal wolves, and we will carry the other two back in our hands."

Satisfied with the deal, Natalia continued, "From what we know, this was our first exploration outside the city. In this forest, these fruits are edible, while this one is not."

She showed the red and black fruits. "On the way here, we encountered another group that was wounded, and we exchanged this information for some red fruits."

"Thanks," Lucius nodded, getting up. "We shall leave. It's getting late, and to avoid any misunderstandings, we will depart first." Lily and Kevin stood up and followed him.

"Take care. May our paths cross again," Natalia bid them farewell. As they walked away with two wolves in their hands, Natalia turned to Karl, who was looking at her.

"Idiot! You saw how they managed to kill the wolves. Has your brain been fried by the system?" Karl was about to respond but was cut off by William.

"Listen to Natalia. That Lucius was strong enough to kill a wolf, but that female..." William paused to take a breath.

"She yelled 'Moonlight Slash,' and a wolf dropped down dead. You should have seen it. I think she has a skill," he said with a grim expression.

Natalia thought back to the fight and realized that she did witness Lily yell those words before a wolf died. It seemed that Lily indeed had a skill.

"Let's rest a bit, and then we'll head back," Natalia said, sitting with the group in silence.

Little did Lucius know that Lily, the aspiring swordsman, had instilled fear in their potential ambushers.