Chapter 13: Fang Wolves (2)

Eight kills. Four wolves left, and they broke formation entirely, scattering instead of coordinating. Leon didn’t give them the chance to regroup.

A wolf came in low, aiming for his knee. Leon stepped into it instead of away, driving his staff down onto its spine with enough force to snap it. It collapsed instantly.

Ding!

[You have killed "Fang Wolf (Level 1)" and gained 12 experience points.]

Nine.

Two wolves tried to flank him from the carriage side, close enough to Garrick that the merchant let out a short, undignified yelp and scrambled further back. Leon pivoted, caught the first wolf across the throat with a mana-charged swing, and used the follow-through momentum to drive his elbow into the second before it could close its jaws around anything important.

Ding!

[You have killed "Fang Wolf (Level 1)" and gained 12 experience points.]

[You have killed "Fang Wolf (Level 1)" and gained 12 experience points.]

Eleven kills. One wolf remained, and it was larger than the others, its fur darker, its eyes carrying something closer to calculation than instinct. It didn’t charge. It circled, watching him the way the others hadn’t bothered to.

An Alpha.

Leon exhaled slowly and settled into a low stance, staff angled forward.

"You’ve been hanging back this whole time," he said quietly. "Smart. Doesn’t change how this ends."

The Alpha lunged.

It was faster than the others, faster than a level one creature had any right to be, closing the gap in a blur of dark fur and bared teeth. Leon barely got his staff up in time to deflect the first bite, the impact jarring enough to numb his fingers for a moment.

It didn’t stop. It twisted mid-air, snapping at his exposed side, and Leon threw himself sideways, feeling fangs graze the fabric of his coat close enough to hear the tear.

He answered with everything Arcane Surge had left in it.

Crack!

Mana detonated point-blank against the Alpha’s ribs, the force lifting it off its paws and slamming it into the dirt several feet away. It struggled up once, snarling, blood matting its fur.

Leon didn’t give it a second chance.

He closed the distance in three long strides and drove the head of his staff down through its skull with both hands.

The wolf went still.

Ding!

[You have killed "Fang Wolf Alpha (Level 1)" and gained 40 experience points.]

Leon straightened slowly, breathing hard, his arm throbbing where the claws had caught him earlier. For a moment, the road was quiet except for the creak of the carriage and Garrick’s ragged breathing behind him.

Then another notification appeared, and this one made Leon go still.

Ding!

[Lucky Fate has activated!]

[Rare Drop Probability significantly increased.]

[Fang Wolf Alpha has dropped: Gold-Rank Full Armor Set — Fanghide Battleplate Set.]

[Fang Wolf Alpha has dropped: Silver-Rank Sword — Bloodfang Edge.]

Leon blinked, then looked down at where the Alpha’s body had collapsed. A faint golden light shimmered above the corpse, resolving into a set of dark, layered armor plates next to a slim, silver-edged sword still humming faintly with residual mana.

"You have got to be kidding me," Leon said, staring at the two items now sitting quietly in his notification window.

Twelve level one Fang Wolves shouldn’t have been carrying a Gold-Rank anything, let alone a matched set. Instead, his first fight in Eternal Heaven had ended with loot that most players wouldn’t see for weeks, if not longer.

Lucky Fate, apparently, did not do things by half measures.

Garrick finally peered out from behind the driver’s seat, eyes wide as he took in the scattered wolf corpses and the man standing calmly in the middle of them like he hadn’t just been poisoned and clawed within the same minute.

"You’re... still alive," the merchant said, somewhere between a statement and a question.

"So far," Leon replied, flexing the fingers on his injured arm. The wound had already started to close, sluggish but steady, whatever residual healing properties Life Mend carried working quietly in the background.

Garrick climbed down from the carriage on unsteady legs, staring at the golden gleam of the armor still hovering faintly above the ground. "Is that..."

"Gold-Rank and Silver-Rank." Leon confirmed the items on the ground, a faint smile forming on his lips. "Looks like luck really is on my side."

"That’s not normal," Garrick said slowly, staring at the loot in disbelief. "Fang Wolves shouldn’t be dropping Gold-Rank items, let alone multiple high-rank rewards. Even experienced adventurers would consider themselves lucky to get something like this."

Leon crouched beside the fallen Alpha, studying its massive body for a moment before reaching out to claim the drops. The armor settled into his hands with more weight than its appearance suggested, each dark plate etched with faint silver lines that seemed to catch the sunlight in an almost unnatural way. The sword, by comparison, was surprisingly light, its balance so precise that Leon immediately knew its maker had understood exactly how a weapon should feel in the hands of a fighter.

Leon opened his Status Panel, more out of habit than necessity at this point. The translucent interface appeared before him, displaying the changes brought about by the battle. His eyes briefly scanned the numbers, taking note of his increased level, EXP, and available Stat Points.

[Status]

Name: Leon Wes

Role: Support

STR: 5

AGI: 5

CON: 5

INT: 10

Stat Points: 5

Level: 2

Rank: Initiate

EXP: 72 / 300

HP: 100 / 100

MP: 100 / 100

Skills: Arcane Surge (Lvl. 2, Silver)

Role Talent: Life Mend (A)

Inventory: Mana Staff (Iron), Bloodfang Edge (Silver), Fanghide Battleplate Set (Gold): 3/50

Extra: Evolution Points : 2

Leon stared at the panel for another few seconds before closing it. He had cleared the first level with room to spare, and the five newly acquired Stat Points were another advantage. Not bad for a fight that had started with poison eating away at his HP and ended with him standing over a monster that had dropped equipment far beyond what should have been available this early.

He also noticed the increase in his Evolution Points, which immediately caught his attention. It seemed that leveling up wasn’t only useful for increasing his skills and earning Stat Points; it also rewarded him with Evolution Points.

And based on what he’s seeing, every time he gained a level, he received 2 Evolution Points. If that pattern continued, leveling up would become one of the most important ways for him to acquire the resources needed to evolve his skills and abilities.

Garrick then let out a long breath and slowly shook his head, his eyes moving between Leon and the twelve Fang Wolf corpses scattered across the road. Even after witnessing the entire battle, the merchant still looked as though he hadn’t completely processed what had happened.

"Boy, I’ve hired escorts twice your size who wouldn’t have walked away from that. Most would have run the moment those wolves surrounded the carriage, and I certainly wouldn’t blame them. But you actually stood your ground and killed every last one of them."

Leon glanced at the corpses before looking back at Garrick. "Running was an option, but considering I had already accepted the quest, abandoning the carriage didn’t seem particularly professional."

"Professional?" Garrick repeated, staring at him incredulously. "You call what you just did professional? Twelve Fang Wolves attacked us, one nearly tore through you, and somehow you’re standing there talking about professionalism like you just finished delivering a package."

Leon gave him a faint smile. "Well, the package is still intact."

Garrick huffed out something between a laugh and a sigh before climbing down from the driver’s seat to inspect the horses. Thankfully, the animals had survived the attack, though they were still visibly nervous. He ran a hand along one of their necks, murmuring reassuringly as Leon glanced once more toward the road leading into the eastern forest.

The trees stood dark and silent in the distance now that the wolves were gone. Yet Leon couldn’t shake the feeling that the forest was still watching them.