I appraised the ghostly moth in the distance, as it made its skilful getaway.

If I ever faced it again, I wanted to have some idea of what I was dealing with.

--------------

LV14 Melior Solinum

Specie: Ailith Vespoidea

HP: 92/92 Defence: 82

MP: 80/84 Intellect: 65

SP: 96/96 Magic: 70

Attack: 75 Agility: 142

Skills:

[Olfactory Enhancement:LV6] [Flight: LV10]

[Ultraviolet Vision: LV8] [Bite: LV7] [Lift: LV6]

[Grip: LV8] [Perception: LV3] [Claw: LV4]

[Silence: LV10] [Directional Stability: LV3]

[Paralysis Venom: LV4] [Dreamer: LV7]

[Compound Eyes: LV10] [Scent: LV10]

[Exoskeleton: LV5] [Stalking: LV8]

[Predatory Grace: LV4] [Dust: LV8]

[Vision Expansion: LV4] [Stealth: LV8]

Magic Skills:

[Air Magic]

Attributes:

Resistances:

[Wind Resistance: LV8]

[Pain Resistance: LV6]

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Rather than join the wolves to fight over the kill, it had left the two creatures to fight it out and only revealed itself when the stinger creatures were gone, and the wolves were weak. Although its stats were pretty weak for an evolved monster, it was quite intelligent. It seemed to depend solely on surprise attacks, and use its speed to steal.

The pack of wolves that had their prey stolen, kept looking around for the moth, and when it couldn't be found, they howled desperately for their leader. Compared to the wolf pups, the pale moth was rather interesting.

But from what I spotted through the trees using [Mana Sense], I could see the alpha was fighting off what looked like the larger version of those stinger beasts. It was clear he was too busy to come, and the wolves could only look around confused and helpless.

There were only twelve wolves here, so while their Alpha was busy, I quietly stalked them in my cloaked form.

They had already started moving away to hunt something else, and each one looked around warily for predators, but I stuck closely in the shadows of the trees, inching closer to them whenever they turned their backs to me.

There were three wolves further behind the pack than the others, so I moved quickly to snatch the stragglers, extending my shadow to envelop them within.

The sinister tendrils of darkness surged ahead, swallowing the bodies of the wolves instantly. I managed to get two, and the third was sadly out of my range.

When the lucky wolf looked backwards, it didn't find anything amiss and continued to move, not thinking twice about its missing pack members. Wolf pups weren't very bright, it seemed.

I could see the two wolves very clearly in the darkness of my shadow. Their behaviour was unusual. Instead of trying to run out of the dark, they cowered in fear and kept whimpering as they looked this way and that in a confused state.

I was right next to them but neither of them could see me, but one of the wolves tried to move around and bumped into my tail and fell. It quickly stood back up and snarled with luminous blue fangs, before leaping to attack, but it missed and ended up harming the other wolf.

Did my shadow make it difficult for them to see?

Before the two wolves ripped each other apart and made a ruckus, I sliced their throats with my poison blades, ending their lives. And when I dispersed my shadows, all of the wolf pups had fled into the trees. It was a shame I couldn't catch more.

The Alpha was still battling with the stinger beast and the sound of their battle was attracting other creatures to the area.

I was curious about who would win, so I sneaked close to witness their showdown. However, on climbing uphill, I was shocked to see the large body of the stinger beast, already dead. Its pale body was riddled with massive claw marks and even a part of its tail was missing.

Did I arrive late? It seemed the Alpha had already won.

It was nothing unexpected really, but I felt cheated. I'd wanted to see his fighting methods – and what kind of magic he had, if any.

But I soon heard a low growl from a nearby spot in the trees, and I could make out a pair of piercing blue eyes.

Ah…were my prayers about to be answered?

However when I looked towards the wolf, I noticed its eyes were rather high up.

Er…had the alpha always been this big? The grey wolf seemed to be the size of a horse now.

His chilling eyes passed over me, settling to glare over at the spot where his wolf pups had been, they seemed to pick up something off the ground and I got nervous. It just happened to be where I'd killed the two pups.

Had I left bloodstains when my poison slashed them?

But it was so far away, he couldn't possibly see the blood, right?

I remained still and watched as the alpha sniffed the air, before it padded away to drag the corpse of the stinger beast towards the rest of his pack.

And I was relieved.

With him gone, I slithered away with speed, and immediately regretted it.

Should I have appraised him? He may have gotten bigger, but that huge mimic lizard showed me that size didn't always equal strength. What if, he was actually really weak, and I'd just missed the opportunity to get a third meal?

By the time I doubled back, the alpha was nowhere to be found.

Hmm…I had to meet those wolves again. But then again, I wasn't here to hunt, as tempting as it might be.

I looked around and noticed the trees were extremely bare without any leaves…almost like they had been burnt…by a recent fire.

Eeek! I remember this place! Isn't this where those spiders lurked?

I scanned through the bare trees with [Heat Sense] and [Mana Sense], wary of encountering those hairy critters again.

Fortunately, the area was empty, seemingly devoid of life. Although it rained, the trees still smelled of smoke and most were hollow shells after being torched.

I seemed to remember there being water around here, so I tried to find the silvery lake from before. But, when I went to the spot, all I saw was more forest.

I did a double take. I could have sworn the lake was here – did the fire burn it up? Was that even possible?

I wondered if I was in the right place, so I checked the atlas. If there was water nearby, a lake would be shown on the map. But then again, there was nothing. It was strange, I was certain I was in the right place.

I wanted to cry. It would have been so convenient to have a lake near the cave, to take a bath s and spend some time alone.

Did I walk through a mirage before? Or swim in disappearing lake water? Did I have to find another lake to take a bath again? How annoying!

I scanned around the area one more time just to make sure there were no enemies, and stepped out of my shroud.

There was something in my [Dimensional Box] that I had been ignoring for a while now. That one silvery fish I'd stolen from the lizard was from this lake.

I accessed it quickly and the silver eel like fish plopped down in front of me.

It was real. I hadn't imagined the whole thing.

This fish was my only proof that the lake had existed! I quickly appraised it.

--------------

LV13 Ivenium Feligre

Specie: Ailith Arima

HP: 0/36 Defence: 22

MP: 0/60 Intellect: 8

SP: 0/32 Magic: 10

Attack: 28 Agility: 25

Skills:

[Bite: LV1] [Swim: LV8] [Splash: LV4]

[Silence: LV4] [Hydrokinetics: LV2]

[Water Regeneration: LV5]

Resistances:

[Water Resistance: LV4]

--------------

The heck? It was so weak.

I sniffed it and a briny watery smell wafted over. There was no hint of the water it had swam in, it just seemed to be a typical fish. I sighed in disappointment and ate it.

The system dinged, giving me quite a surprise.

〚You have consumed a low grade core〛

〚Status: Inferior〛

〚Magic: +20〛

I didn't expect to gain anything from something so weak, so this was a pleasant surprise. And now, I wish I had taken more from the lizard!

I ate the corpses of the two wolf pups and this time the system did not ding.

I sighed. For now, it seemed I had to find a new source of water for myself and the nestlings. I knew of another lake, but it was much closer to the lizard's cave than ours. But the last time I saw it, it was filled with those stinger beasts and it wasn't exactly the safest choice.

As I searched the atlas for clues, I felt as if I was being observed so I scanned around again carefully and spotted a faint mana trace in the trees.

I looked closely and it didn't seem like a creature, it looked more like a tiny orb of light, so tiny, I almost thought it was a flying speck of dust, until it moved.

Golden in colour, it hovered above the bare trees watching me, seemingly wanting to stay out of sight but there were no leaves to conceal it, so it went behind a tree branch to lurk.

Its behaviour was kind of cute… but I wasn't going to fall for its innocent and harmless appearance, so I immediately appraised it.

--------------

LV7 Ivenium Ellydian

Specie: Ailith Fae

HP: 63/63 Defence: 17

MP: 78/78 Intellect: 76

SP: 46/46 Magic: 65

Attack: 52 Agility: 45

Skills:

[Allure: LV5] [Buoyancy: LV7]

[Photokinesis: LV6] [Flight: LV8]

[Telepathy: LV2] [Dash:LV10]

Title:

[Trickster]

Resistances:

[Wind Resistance: LV6]

--------------

Eh, some kind of fairy? No way!