After the howling ceased, other, smaller howls erupted as Kimsung spotted the first few wolves coming out. For the past nine days, since entering the dungeon, the group combined had only killed about twenty-one wolves, including the first pack, the two that attacked the camp, and the stragglers the trio found along the way. Four Mid Tiers and twelve Low Tier wolves were dead thanks to Kimsung, and the other five had been killed by Keido and Heidi.
Now, about five of the remaining twelve Low Tiers were charging towards them in a loose formation. Keido didn't understand why this was happening, but Kimsung quickly drew his sword, Keido and Heidi drawing their weapons as well.
The wolves split into two groups, three charging to Kimsung, and the other two each attacking the Song siblings.
Kimsung drew away the three targeting him, using his future sight to evade them and their attacks, while Keido and Heidi stuck together, landing shallow attacks on the two wolves focused on them.
Kimsung quickly charged to one of the three and swung his blade in an upward right arch, leaving himself open to lure the wolf on his left to attack him, and it easily took the bait, only having its base primal instincts, unlike the Mid Tiers from before, who were cautious towards Kimsung.
He quickly rolled his wrists, stabbing down at the wolf in the head and killing it quickly, before just as easily dispatching the other two with the same method.
[You've slain an F-rank Mutated Wolf, you've gained +1 EXP]
[You've slain an F-rank Mutated Wolf, you've gained +1 EXP]
[You've slain an F-rank Mutated Wolf, you've gained +1 EXP]
Regaining mana from kills was always a good addition in Kimsung's opinion, allowing for many of the hunters in the future to survive and even win long, drawn-out battles against the different groups of monster attacks.
But now, it wasn't the time to focus on that minor detail, as he checked on the siblings. Keido himself was struggling a bit with fighting one of the wolves, and Heidi was mostly dodging and rolling around as the wolf jumped at her. It was a bit embarrassing to see, as he was always used to watching any party members he had killed the monsters with refined technique, always beating everything they faced with their cunning and tactics. Except, of course, for the sole exception, Achilles, who always saw through their plans and attacks.
Perhaps in this life, he could learn how the hell Achilles was able to always gain the upper hand in combat. After all, the best teacher was not a friend, but your enemy.
[You've slain an F-rank Mutated Wolf, you've gained +1 EXP]
After a bit more struggle, Keido finally was able to land a killing blow on the wolf's body, letting out a sigh of relief while Kimsung helped Heidi with the last one.
[You've slain an F-rank Mutated Wolf, you've gained +1 EXP]
"We need to go, and now. These wolves were most likely a distraction for us, and the High Tier of this dungeon probably knows the dungeon will break soon, so it's stalling for time." Kimsung quickly explained as he helped Keido onto his feet.
For the rest of their journey, they did not run into any other monsters. Soon after, Kimsung had the feeling that perhaps the wolves must've been ordered to take a detour by the High Tier, or else they would've found the remaining wolves by now. Looking around, he had an idea that possibly could help them locate where the boss and its surviving minions were hiding.
He turned to Keido and spoke quickly: "Keido, can you see through that worm of yours?" He asked, wanting to test his theory.
"I never tried before, but I can now," Keido replied, quickly understanding what Kimsung was trying to do. He summoned the Worm of Doubt quickly, and it crawled onto his hand.
"Alright, good. Now try to feel the connection between the two of you, and see through its eyes like they're your own. Remember, it's a worm, so use it on the ground.
Keido did exactly as told and sat down, trying to connect to the worm. A short while after, he felt a connection and was able to sense through its body. The worm crawled down into the ground, burrowing deep under his command, and with its own innate ability as a worm to detect vibrations, it was able to locate the wolf pack not long after.
However, the downside was that the wolf pack was quite far from where they had heard the howl. As he rose from his spot, he opened his eyes and shared the information: "That wolf howl from before must've also been a distraction, so the High Tier could get us to go in the wrong direction to find it, while it and the other wolves ran away."
Kimsung looked in the direction Keido had pointed at. Northwest, and they had run to their current location from the eastern side of the dungeon.
"Alright, let's go. We have to hurry, because the dungeon will break in a few hours." He said as they went off northwest to find and kill the boss.
Chengdu, Shanxi (China), 1:52 AM CST
In a supermarket, two people were inside, a man and a woman. Monsters, specifically dragons, were outside, causing heavy rains to fall and flood much of the capital. The two were on one of the higher floors of the supermarket, luckily having evaded the dragons flying around.
The woman, holding some of the food they had luckily gathered on their short raid, shared it with her friend and love interest.
"Liang, here." She said as she took it out of her inventory. The man next to her, with shoulder-length hair tied in a bun, clear skin, and sharp features, accepted the food, grateful for her having such a useful ability.
"Thank you, Lee Jin." The man, whose first name was Liang, ate a bit of the cooked fish they had saved the night before. He couldn't help but hate the situation they were in, and the location no less. He had looked out the window multiple times and saw only dragons, specifically the river type, the Jiaolong, slithering through the water filling the streets below. Their path of exits was quite limited, since the ground level couldn't possibly be survived.
Not to mention, his terrible luck lately had also given him the lowest rank of skill, an F-ranked skill, while his friend, Hei Lee Jin, received the second-highest rank, an SSS-ranked skill. He couldn't help but be envious and had voiced his annoyance multiple times throughout the ten days, much to her amusement.
He was actually quite glad now, since her use of mana was far higher than his, and allowed him to use his skill much longer. Lao Liang's skill was of the Enchantment type, which allowed him to imbue items with special abilities, but said abilities were random and quite weak. However, the most useful one he had found out was one that alerted them of any monsters near them, into his necklace, which Hei Lee Jin had once gifted him.
That enchantment had allowed them to stay far from danger the entire time, but only gave them a bit of breathing room. But the strangest thing was how he was able to gather his energy and do something he'd only seen in novels, which was to cultivate.