[Due to continued negative effects during your rest, your HP and MP have been half recovered.]

I felt pain when I awoke was excruciating, every time I moved it felt as if my bones were creaking, scraping against each other as I attempted to make my body function in the way I desired.

I finally sat up, slumping forward slightly, tiredly looking around as I did so. It was dark, annoyingly so, I squinted into the darkness, everything slowly getting brighter and brighter before I realized that Nightvision had finally activated.

In the immediate vicinity, I could see Serene, laying with her back against the wall, sleeping. It would've been cute if not for the cuts and scratches littering her body alongside the obvious tear stains marring her face. I stood shakily and took off my coat, walking over before dropping it over her body and walking towards the entrance to what seemed to be a cave.

I slipped slightly and placed an arm on the wall of the nearby stone, sucking in a shaken breath as I took a step forward again, I felt the bones in my body meld back together as I took in the latent magical energy of the forest. Allowing it to waft through me and mend my body, correcting any broken bones I had relatively easily.

I looked towards the small set of bars in the top left, noticing that my HP had started to slowly return alongside my MP. This was good, it meant that unlike in the game, I didn't need healing items on me at all times, especially since I had passive healing.

I shook my head lightly and continued to move as my body finished fixing itself, when it all finish I started to move. My body carrying itself easily through the forest as I took in everything around me.

[Enhanced Sight has been created due to constant fixation on your surroundings.]

I physically felt my pupils dilate as the message appeared, everything around me becoming clearer as I exited the treeline and entered a large open area, a large river glowing beneath the light of the moon, it was undoubtedly beautiful.

My eyes however were focused on something different, a small pack of wolves that looked young. A source of food, not a good one, but food none the less. My bloodlust seemed to have been sensed by the eldest of the pack as they perked up and looked in my direction, growling to the others before they turned as well.

I watched them carefully, standing taller than them as I began to make my way forward with measured steps. My fists clenching and unclenching as I got closer, twenty meters, fifteen, ten. I stopped, crouching slightly as the tips of my nails began to sharpen.

The first wolf to move was one of the youngest, it moved towards me as fast as it could, which had been easily faster than myself, my eyes however followed it easily. The moment it came within my range I stepped out of the way of its claw strike and swung my hand down towards the back of its neck.

A startled yelp filled the air as my nail strike pieced through and severed the spine from the neck down, I turned away as it wolf crumpled to the ground, a set of claws dug into my chest, knocking me back as a second wolf launched itself into me with a howl.

As it made to bite my throat with another lunge I caught the top and bottom sides of its mouth in my hands. I stopped as it stared at me with fearful eyes, my own features had to have been twisted in shock at the mere fact I was keeping the mouth open with ease, I remembered however that my STR stat had been unnaturally high at fifteen early on before I increased it over time.

I was apparently strong enough to deal with some little wolves.

'Good.'

Without a second thought I twisted to the top of the head in the opposite direction of where I twisted the jaw and watched the wolf die then and there, my eyes shifted to the golden bar beneath my MP, watching as it filled a quarter of the way with interest.

I stood from my position on the ground and took a step forward, slamming my foot down atop the head of the paralyzed wolf I had left laying on the dirt, watching as the bar filled up to halfway. I nodded and looked towards the remaining three wolves, two of which looked unwilling to move forward, stepping backward slowly as I began to move forward myself.

Blood dripping from my fingers, I felt a low hum emanate from my throat as I moved. Running forward as fast as I could, startling the two wolves and causing them to jump backwards away from the larger wolf that had accompanied them to the river. The bigger one stepped forward and lunged at me, forced to watch as I ducked beneath it and pushed nail strike into both of my hands, without a second thought I tackled the last two smaller wolves and jammed both hands into each of their throats.

Quickly removing my hands and turning, I caught the larger paws of the bigger wolf and buckled slightly. It was a fully grown wolf, its stats were undoubtedly higher than the smaller ones I had killed. But, it wasn't an Alpha, it's golden eyes didn't match the Boss for the outer forest region of the Dungeon within the game. Meaning I was dealing with a Beta.

I took in a light breath and forced my way into a full stand. not letting go of the adult wolf, forcing it to stand on its back legs, I swept its legs out and followed it down as it slammed into the ground hard, quickly pinning its upper legs with my own and sitting atop it. My hands began to flow again as Nail Strike flooded them, the glow intensifying before I struck.

The resounding crack that followed was one that caused me to freeze, it wasn't my hand, but the bones beneath them shattering because of the overcharged Nail Strike, the wolf beneath me letting out a pained whimper, no longer struggling as I sat atop it. If this had been my own world, I likely would've felt bad for what I had done. For now, though, I charged up a second Nail Strike and struck fast, killing the adult wolf without a second thought.

[Young Wolfpack Encounter Complete! EXP and Items have been rewarded!]

[You have levelled up!]

[Four low-quality pelts obtained!]

[One medium-quality pelt obtained!]

[Twenty One wolf teeth obtained!]

[Two wolf fangs obtained!]

I nodded in acceptance and calmly collected the bodies of the wolves, dragging them to the river and cleaning them off as best as I could before removing my bloodied shirt and cleaning it along with the cuts across my body.

My clothes had no marks on them, meaning that my clothes were protected due to their item status. They were near-invincible, apart from one simple thing. The bar beneath said item in question, it was a durability bar for my equipment, meaning I'd need to find a way to repair them in the near future.

Once I was finished, I made my way back to the cave, picking a few herbs and random vegetables along the way while also killing a few rabbits. I placed the food down on the cleanest part of the cave and exited again after checking if Serene was still asleep.

I grabbed some large stones and made a few fire pits, filling them with wood and creating makeshift skewers to place the wolves on over the fire pits while just stabbing the rabbits onto sticks and placing them near the fire, yet not quite in it.

Living in the wilderness had been a hobby during my childhood, so using some of that old knowledge had been quite easy. Enough so that I used the random herbs I had found and mixed it with a little honey from a nearby beehive to create a glaze for the food. It would help Serene with digesting it, especially since she had likely lived off of pretty fancy food in the past, the sudden shift would be hard.

It didn't take long for the smell to catch the sleeping royals' attention as she made her way slowly out of the cave and spotted me. She rushed forward and began spewing incoherent sentences, I shook my head with an amused smile, ignoring the pungent smell of the cooking wolf meat.

I grabbed the skewer of one of the more cooked rabbits and shoved it meat first into her mouth right as she opened it, cutting her off and forcing her to bite into it in an instant. She seemed to like it as she just held the entire thing there in her mouth for a few moments before grabbing each side of the skewers and digging in.

I watched her eat, it was oddly adorable, like a chipmunk storing as much as it could out of fear that it would disappear. When she finished that one, I pointed towards the fire pit behind me where more rabbit meat had been cooking.

"Thank you..."

"Bahamut."

"Bahamut."

I watched her move towards the food and begin to eat a bit more, she had likely been watching over me since we had arrived in the forest and had been attacked. That's why I made sure her food would taste good. My food? Vegetables and the horrid smelling wolves meat before me. It would be enough however and if my body didn't like it, I didn't care.

That was why I reached forward and tore off the leg of the smallest wolf out of the group, without a second thought I sunk my teeth into it, forcing back a retch as my body attempted to vomit out the almost acidic tasting meat. I swallowed it, however, ignoring the spit that trailed down from my lips as I took another bite and swallowed again. I wouldn't get used to it, every bite made bile gurgle within my stomach, threatening to rise, I wouldn't let it.

I looked to Serene who finished off her second rabbit with a calmer expression, my vigor renewing itself as I tore into the rest of the wolf and its brethren, tearing meat from the bone as fast as I could, absorbing its nutrients into my body before snuffing shoving the leftover carcasses into the fire pits and letting them burn, the scent of a burned wolf would give off the impression that there was a fire that went out of hand, marking the area as unsafe. I stalked my way back inside of the cave, followed by Serene.

It had still been night when we ate and I had slept for the whole day, but I needed to sleep. I needed to fully heal if I wanted to figure out what to do in the morning, So I let myself drift away, sleep taking over my form, not noticing as Serene made her way closer and laid down next to me, tugging my coat tight against her body as she fell asleep beside me.

[You have Sinned. May your punishment be merciful.]