Awooooo!
His powerful howl echoed through a large part of the forest, making many weak creatures tremble in fear and curl up.
The nearby insects went silent, leaving only the sound of running water.
When he finally stopped howling, all signs of rationality had vanished; only ferocity and savagery remained.
His body had undergone subtle changes: his eyes turned red, his fangs grew larger, and his muscles bulged.
His fur became darker, and all the injuries he had sustained during his fight with the Goblins were fully healed.
Ding!
[ Alert ]
[Frenzy Mode has been activated. All basic Attributes have increased by 30%.]
Arthur glanced at the System screen for a moment, then completely ignored it. Only a sliver of his human consciousness remained.
He felt like he was hallucinating, and he barely kept a fraction of clear thought. His movements came purely from instinct.
He wagged his tail and moved his ears like radar. His senses were operating at full power. Without any hesitation, he began roaming the forest freely.
He didn't think or fear, nor did he care about the darkness of the night or the predatory monsters he might encounter. He had only one goal: to kill and eat.
After an hour of searching, he found his first prey—a massive stag. Unlike usual, he didn't use the "Evaluation" Skill to check it.
More accurately, he didn't need to. His instincts took care of everything and told him the stag was F-rank and not dangerous.
Using the darkness of the night, he easily concealed himself and silently crept toward his unsuspecting target. When he got close enough, he attacked suddenly.
The stag noticed him, and before it could escape, Arthur grabbed it, making it stumble and fall to the ground.
Then he began tearing it apart violently with his claws and fangs. Even though he could have finished it quickly, he let it suffer, screaming in despair until it died from its wounds.
[ +4XP ]
After securing his dinner, he devoured the stag greedily, leaving only some remains. Without wasting any time, he immediately searched for another prey.
During his hunt, he left the safe area he usually roamed and ventured into a part of the forest he hadn't explored yet.
The first thing he encountered in this new area was a herd of sleeping horned deer. He didn't dare approach them, as they were guarded by an E-rank deer.
This was actually the first time Arthur saw a plant-based creature of higher rank. Instinctively, he realized he couldn't face it, so he changed his path and avoided it.
After moving half a mile away from the deer, he encountered another E-rank creature—a giant wild boar, standing 13 feet tall, with two sharp tusks each two feet long.
Its body was covered in a thick brown hide that looked like armored plating.
This time, the boar noticed him. It snorted loudly, slammed its front hooves against the ground, showing its intent to kill, and then charged at him, smashing every tree in its path.
Crack!
Roar!
Arthur panicked and ran at full speed. Fortunately, the boar was slower than him, so he managed to escape safely.
However, this was not the end. He kept encountering higher-rank monsters, forcing him to flee and dash through the forest in terror.
If he had been aware of what he was doing, he would have realized that the area he was in was extremely dangerous and beyond his current level.
He should have returned to his den. But unfortunately, he ignored his cowardly instincts and continued running on pure impulse, venturing deeper into the forest.
All the while, he couldn't hunt anything. As morning approached and only one hour remained until the end of the night's moon, he found himself far from his den.
In the midst of the unknown, he stood tense, surveying his surroundings cautiously.
His senses had alerted him to a nearby danger, yet he could see nothing and hear no sound. Still, he caught a repulsive scent close by. He couldn't flee blindly, risking falling into the clutches of a hidden enemy.
On a branch of a tree beside him, a pair of evil yellow eyes opened, glaring at him coldly.
It began to silently creep toward him, and as it moved, the entire tree twisted and shifted, letting a sliver of moonlight fall beside Arthur.
Noticing this, he lifted his head and looked back, only to see a massive snake, over fifty feet long, staring at him.
Its yellow eyes with vertical black pupils locked onto his, just a meter away.
Hiss!
The snake opened its wide mouth and lunged at him. Reacting instinctively, Arthur leaped aside, narrowly avoiding the sudden attack.
The snake bit the ground, then slithered across the earth at incredible speed, encircling him with its long, muscular black body patterned with yellow and red markings.
Arthur bared his fangs, preparing to fight for his life. Instinctively, he knew he was trapped.
He growled in anger, keeping his eyes fixed on the snake's head as it slowly coiled around him.
The two beasts studied each other cautiously for a few seconds. Then suddenly, the snake tightened its grip, coiling around him with the intent to crush and suffocate.
With no escape, Arthur unleashed all his savagery and strength, sinking his claws and fangs into the snake's body and tearing at it.
Blood splattered, and the scaly skin tore apart. Arthur took several bites of the tender flesh, but to no avail—unbelievably, the wounds he inflicted began to heal rapidly, visibly before his eyes.
At the same time, the snake's body encircled him completely, pressing down with immense force. He felt as if he were caught in a vice capable of crushing stone.
He gritted his teeth, intensifying his struggle. He shredded everything he touched with his claws, writhing like a slippery fish in an attempt to escape the snake's deadly embrace.
The pain was excruciating. His bones creaked softly, his muscles stiffened, and his movements were restrained.
The snake hissed, increasing its strength, and the pressure intensified further.
The extreme pain brought back a shred of Arthur's rationality, dimming the wildness in his eyes. He looked at the massive body crushing him in shock and cursed.
'Fuck'