Chapter 80: Preparing for D-Rank

Because of the effects of the "Enhanced Senses" skill, Arthur had great control over the strength of his senses, but even after lowering his hearing to its minimum level, the bat’s scream managed to affect him.

His ears began to ring, and an unpleasant feeling of dizziness and nausea came over him, causing him to stumble when he landed on the ground, and he also involuntarily weakened his bite.

Seizing this precious opportunity, the bat stopped its wild struggle for survival, took a moment to adjust its position, then flapped its leathery wings forward powerfully.

The force of the thrust made it slide out from between Arthur’s sharp fangs, partially freeing itself from his jaws, and although it sustained several wounds, some of them severe, it endured the pain and flapped its wings powerfully again.

Woosh!

Dust and blood flew in all directions.

The rest of the bat’s body suddenly broke free, and it lost its balance. It barely stopped itself from falling, quickly adjusted its position, then fled at full speed, unaware that Arthur’s cold eyes were fixed on it.

The moment it moved two meters away, its echolocation picked up some kind of lightning-fast movement, and before it understood what was happening, a faint gleam passed behind it in the blink of an eye.

Then, in the next moment, its head flew from its place, while its body that bled profusely from the neck, continued gliding for a few more meters, and in the end fell right beside the ledge.

[ +4 XP ]

Fearing that his dinner would topple over the edge from the wind, Arthur quickly stepped forward and secured the carcass in place with his paw. There was a thin layer of blood around his long, sharp claws.

He stared at the distant horizon cloaked in darkness, and murmured to himself: "Who would have thought that sonic attacks would affect me to this extent. Tsk, this is a fatal weakness I was not aware of."

The fact that a monster merely weaker than him had managed to paralyze him for a moment made him think seriously about the extent of the threat this type of attack posed, for had the enemy he had faced today been of the same rank as him, he might well have ended up sustaining severe injuries.

’It seems limiting my hearing strength is not effective, the high-frequency sound targeted my eardrum directly, affecting my brain. Unfortunately, even the Unbreakable Will skill will not help me much, for this is not actually a mental attack, but a physical one.’

All the solutions he thought of were impossible with his current abilities, so he quickly dismissed this matter. He dragged the bat carcass inside, and after eating it he sank into a deep sleep.

By morning, his physical condition had improved greatly, and to get accustomed to moving with an amputated leg he did some exercises suited to his wolf form, including jogging in circles, surging forward at speed and then stopping suddenly, jumping on the walls, and trying several strange movements.

At first he faced some difficulty, which caused him to stumble and fall a few times, but as the minutes and hours passed he gradually began to adapt to his new physical state, and in the end his movements became steady and smooth as before.

After taking a short rest, he pushed a little inside the dark tunnel network in search of some water and prey, and in order not to be subjected to any unpleasant surprise, he maintained maximum levels of caution and did not approach the area where those invisible monsters were.

He wandered through the place for several hours, during which he found a small watercourse, drank from it until his thirst was quenched, and hunted a large F-Rank mole that he ate the moment he returned to the cave overlooking the outside.

The following day he followed the same routine, trained in the morning, took a short nap at noon, then spent the entire evening hunting, and at night returned loaded with prey.

Thus, one day passed then two, then three, as more days followed his boldness increased, and he pushed deeper and deeper into the tunnel network in search of larger prey that would satisfy him.

Even though he was not demanding and ate everything he found from small monsters to insects, he faced great difficulty meeting the nutritional needs of his large body. His stomach was more like a bottomless pit, digesting food at an unreasonable speed and always screaming for more.

Fortunately, the Map feature of the system enabled him to draw a detailed map of the places he had passed through, so he was not afraid of getting lost in the vast tunnel network.

The underground environment was very harsh, especially in the areas far from those large glowing roots.

Scarce water and food sources, the absence of light, and low oxygen levels made the creatures that had adapted to living in these conditions far more dangerous than their counterparts living on the surface.

During the hunting trips in which Arthur delved very deep, he faced some of these fierce creatures most of which resembled insects, and in truth, had it not been for his extreme caution and the diversity of his

skills arsenal, he would have ended up as food for one of them.

The venomous stings he was subjected to alone were enough to kill him several times, not to mention the many traps and ambushes set up in every corner. But, despite all these hardships, Arthur showed no sign of fear or retreat.

He used the darkness to sharpen his senses, and turned the terrifying monsters into training dummies. He adapted to his new skills, and learned many attack patterns suitable for tight spaces, and in addition gained a fair amount of XP.

By the eleventh day, he had fully recovered, and his amputated leg had grown about twenty centimeters, and he estimated he needed seven more weeks before it was fully regenerated.

He had had enough of the adventure, and decided to do nothing on this day, he spent all his time sleeping, and the following morning he woke up early full of energy.

He had a light breakfast, then summoned the messages screen.

[ Recalibrating timeline... 16% ]

"Nine days have already passed. Isn’t this too slow?" He sighed in disappointment. He had checked the loading bar several times over the past days hoping for some kind of change, but its rate of progress had remained constant.

He dismissed the screen, and without wasting any more time on secondary matters, he cleared his mind and directed his full focus toward his body. The time had come to ascend to D-Rank.

He had gathered a great amount of information from the spider woman, so he was aware that reaching D-Rank came with many advantages, and that the ascension process itself was different from before.

"System, begin the rank-up." Arthur commanded in a firm voice.