As I dashed through the forest I marveled at the improvements on my body. It had been months since he last noticed a change so big on his body. Although the WF was useful and improved his physical capabilities, it had diminishing benefits the more I ate of a single species, so after months with the same kind of food every day, I was almost stuck, so it was no wonder I was as marveled as I was.

My supplies, which were Draconic Wolf meat, were one of the meats I had eaten the more, so the benefits I could gain from eating it was almost negligible; the fact that I noticed changes within me with the first meal demonstrate the big change on the reinforcement capabilities of the meat. And not only were the benefits from the Draconic Wolf meat multiplying like hell, the Berserker Fury subtle change to my body, making it more apt to carry its energy, and making it stronger were also not subtle anymore.

The once dark bluish skin I had was now dark purple. The reddening from the Red Mist merging in my body had changed my skin tone, and even though it was weird as hell, I didn’t dislike it that much.

Now that I could increase my strength with WF at a high efficiency again I was not in a hurry to come back to the cave, so I notified Bob and told him my hunt season would extend a few months. Nothing to lose from being here and hunting, yet a lot to gain, I couldn’t back down.

I sensed something to my right, following me from the side, so I passed between two trees, making sure whichever beast was following me didn’t see me, and I teleported towards his back, making myself invisible in the process, a smooth transition I had come to enjoy and master.

I followed the beast for a while without attacking it. It was a beast I hadn’t seen until now, so I didn’t have any info on its style, strengths or weaknesses, I wouldn’t risk myself without more data. I had discovered that not being overconfident was the way I would be safest.

The beast was some kind fox. It had a dark fur, and its steps were lighter than a breeze. Seeing I wasn’t there anymore, it accelerated, somehow scared, and I had troubles to keep up without losing it. I was following it just thanks to my smell and the shadows, because neither my eyesight nor my hearing could detect it. The power I obtained from Wolverine and Deadpool was incredibly effective once my body improved, or at least I thought it was its doing. I had improved senses far exceeding what Werewolf Fury should provide.

What’s more, none of the preys I had devoured said anything about improving smell, yet I suspected my smell was as good as a dog’s or wolf’s was.

To the point, the fox was leaving no trail at all, so my eyesight did nothing to help, and its steps didn’t produce a sound, so in that department I was screwed as well. Luckily, its smell was not as covered, and I could track it, for now.

I was deciding whether I should hunt it when something bit me on the neck.

I released a silent scream as I reached towards whatever was biting me, and found nothing. Whatever had bit me was already away from me. I turned around; looking for whatever attacked me while my injury healed in an instant and came out empty-handed. Nothing was around me, not that I could see, at least. After a few seconds looking for the attacker, I realized I couldn’t smell the fox anymore, more than the traces left there; it was as if it vanished, and I deduced it was the fox that attacked me.

I tried to look for it, but as I had known already, it was nigh invisible, it was silent, and now, it seems it could hide its smell as well. It was like he could do what I could with the Shadow Dimension and more, even if he couldn’t teleport, which I couldn’t discard yet.

I knew that with such a fast opponent, drawing my sword would only be a bother, so I took two daggers out and waited. I was hoping it would make some kind of noise before it attacked, but as I thought I heard something from one direction and turned to there, I was clawed at my legs.

*GRAA!*

[Damn! It even avoids my armor, it seems like it’s quite smart, but this makes things more difficult.] – I recovered instantly, but that didn’t mean it didn’t… …hurt?.

Since when such a shallow cut could hurt me? This didn’t seem right. I looked around, and noticed something strange. I was almost sure it was around noon, but the forest was dark, and a deep mist occupied everything, it was the same mist from the Dragon’s swamp. Another slash and another hurting wound.

[It’s impossible, the swamp was the other way around, and quite far. It’s not the Dragon by itself that produces the mist, but the water, so why would the mist be here?] – This made things even stranger. – [What the hell is happening?]

I was wondering what was happening when I heard a rustle, I turned around and threw the dagger which I had already charged at the bush. I heard it booming and something hitting the ground, yet I somehow ended having another hurting wound on my neck, which obviously healed in an instant.

I went to see what I had hit and I immediately paled.

“BOB!” – What was Bob doing here?! Bob was on the floor, with a huge hole where its heart should be. I had killed him! – “Nooo! Bob, you can’t die! I’m sorry, come back!”

[…wait, heart?] – The hell was I thinking? This doesn’t make sense, I know Bob has two hearts.

I realized something was wrong, so dissimulating a cry, I approached his chest, and put my good hearing to work. Nothing, nada, nichts, no heartbeat.

“Ha… ha… ha…” – I started trembling – “HAHAHAHAHA!”

“YOU DARE TRICK ME WITH STUPID ILUSIONS?!” – I shouted as loud as I could as all started making sense. It wasn’t that the wounds hurt me; it was that somehow I was trapped in an illusion, and it tricked me into making me feel pain. Also the mist, it probably fiddled with my mind and detected some kind of fear towards it, but it didn’t know why, which is why it appeared here although it didn’t make any sense.

And then there was Bob. Again it used my mind to deduce it was a friend, and identified him as a Fiery Ape, yet it didn’t know that Bob was special and had two hearts. Once I analyzed it all made so much sense, and it seemed stupid that I had been tricked.

Once again something cut me, but this time I didn’t feel any pain.

“Hmpf, seems like this is your limit.” – I smiled widely as I started walking, but my smile faded when suddenly the roots of all the trees around started sprouting from the ground and bound me. It did it so fast that I couldn’t do anything, and when I tried to shadowstep away, I discovered I couldn’t.

“NO YOU DON’T!” – I was maddened as I had never been. – “YOU WON’T TRAP ME HERE! NOTHING WILL ROB ME OF MY FREEDOM!”

And as suddenly as I had been trapped by the roots, all disappeared.

*Ding*

I was again on the forest, the sun shined at its algid point and some kind of mix between a lich and an octopus was trying to run away, not very effectively, though.

I grabbed a javelin, and impaled it to the ground. It shrieked and soon the life left it.

*Sigh…* I couldn’t help but wonder how I was trapped without even realizing.

“Let’s see what I did to get notified by the System.” – Ignoring everything else, I opened the System, and as I read through it I was amazed.

Fenrir, the Immortal Wolf D mid tier Progress: 0.1% (Knowledge insuficient)

Immortality: Regeneration beyond comparision. It regenerates so fast that is at practical efects, immortal. As long as some part of him is there, be it a hand, a finger, a drop of blood or a mere cell, the user can regenerate. Sharp claws made of bone can surge from between the knuckles. Bones as strong as marble, and better senses than wolves, be it in smell, hearing or eyesight. The holder of this power becomes a born predator.

Hunter Claws: User has retractable claws made of bones. They are sharp and stronger than other bones in the user's body, and are a weapon to be careful of.

Undying Will: The will of the user is more powerful than others. This doesn't mean it has a stronger will, which may or not be true, but its will afects his powers, making him stronger the more he wills it.

Unbound: As Fenrir, you yearn freedom from the depths of your soul. You won't allow anyone to take away that freedom you yearn. High resistance to magic or mental bonds, almost impossible to imprison in physical bounds, which will suffer a strong strain from tying you, and so deteriorate faster and allow you to release yourself easier.

Upon upgrade: Sharpen claws while strengthening bones. Develop instincts which help the holder to be more effective on the hunt. Accelerated regeneration. Will eficiency upgraded.

“Now it makes sense!” – I couldn’t help but smile deeply, I had always loved Norse mythology, that’s why I ended loving Vikings, and with it, Ragnar. Now that I had a power that was set in the Norse myths, I couldn’t help but wonder if I really had something as simple as an X-Men System, or it was more profound than I could see right now.

My powers included both Wolverine's and Deadpool's powers, but they were also about Fenrir. It probably would develop acording to Norse mythology, as other powers did acording to their own history. I knew most of Fenrir lore, so I would enjoy unraveling its powers mysteries.

[Now, what to do with this little fella?] – I wondered if I should eat it, and came to the conclusion that nothing wrong could come out from it.

Half an hour later I was proved wrong. It was as if the WF energy was allergic to it, because as soon as it entered in contact, the energy went wild and almost ripped my stomach, making me puke.

“So… no octopus for me, then…” – I was sad, I liked its taste, but if I couldn’t digest it, it was a loss of time to eat it.

***

Two months later and with mountains of food having passed through my stomach, three of the beasts stopped giving me any kind of improvement. I had eaten two hundred of each of them: Draconic Wolf, Scorpion-Panther and Iron Elk. I had tried to eat more, but the energy seemed to avoid the food. It seems like it was the actual limit for these.

Actually, I didn’t dislike it that much, because it gave me a clearer objective.

I was wondering what would happen if I ate two hundred Dragons when a shadow dashed forwards and took a piece of my food, only to run away.

“What?!” – I wasn’t bothered by the food, it was an Elk, and I didn’t get anything else from eating it, but the shadow… it was a fox!

[Of course! That octopus didn’t invent anything from scratch; it was all from its own experiences. Well, its victims’ experiences, at the least.] – I realized now that the fox was as true as the Fiery Apes, I just hadn’t seen any yet. I stood up and ran after it, trying not to lose it.

It was fast, light as a feather and nigh invisible, but not as exaggerated as during the illusion. It was traceable. I chased for twenty minutes before it stopped near a burrow, and a few foxes came out to greet it.

It seemed as though they were probably a family, and any normal person would feel apprehension at attacking such cute animals, so it may not be surprising that half an hour later I was having fox barbecue.

…

What, I did say any normal person. You don’t expect me to be normal, no? I’ve lived for more than a year in a different world than earth, and everything I had found on the forest had either tried to eat me, or ran away because I was too dangerous for it to try it. If the foxes were strong enough, they would have eaten me without a doubt, so why should I feel pity for them?

This would be the first animal I ate for the first time with the improved version of the energy consumption, I was anxious to know what it would result into.

Werewolf Fury G mid tier Progress: 99.7 %

Preys devoured (Naming acording to knowledge):

- Shadow Fox ( x1 ): Highly improves speed and stealth.

Well, that was surprising. It did nothing special.

Whatever, I probably will receive the same amount of improvement than with the Elks, Wolves and Panthers; I suppose it will just spread more than with them, as I started from scratch with the improved version.

***

Another month has gone by, and I have yet to find the stupid double-horned Elk. It’s possible something ate it, but for some reason I doubted it, so I decided to stay there for some extra time. Anyway, I had improved so much that it didn’t matter at all. I had eaten already more than a hundred and sixty foxes.

…Don’t judge me, they were delicious! Anyway, living here in the forest was a pleasure to me, I felt liberated from tensions I didn’t know I had. Being away from the civilization was a gift to me. I wish it had happened earlier, but well, nothing to complain about, at least it happened.

I was getting tired though, not physically, that was old stories, but I wanted to find the Elk already, so I needed something to find it.

“*Sigh*, I guess it’s time for that power up, it’s a pity, though, I expected to find it before I bought it, so I would make him pay with my actual strength, and not anything new bought with essence.”

I was about to open the System to buy a new power when something caught my attention…

[You’ve got to be kidding me! Three months looking for it and the moment I surrender it appears?!] – Yes, it was the Double-Horned Elk. It was looking at me with what I assumed was a mix of mockery and surprise. The mockery part from the fact that it tricked me, and the surprise one from the fact that I survived.

“Ha! I’ve found you, and now…” – I shadowstepped to his side and stabbed him on its neck with one of my daggers which I had pulled during the travel in the Shadow Dimension. – “…you’re dead!”

I felt something was wrong, I didn’t notice any kind of resistance. I widened my eyes in surprise. It had dodged it! The Elk was a few meters away from me, and looking me with anger and caution.

[Damn, that was fast! How can he move like that?] – I shadowstepped again and slashed at him, not trying to hit the neck this time, yet it dodged me again. I shadowstepped for a third time but this time I didn’t pay attention to the slash I did; instead, I was trying to look at how it dodged. And what I saw astounded me. It was like he was the opposite of my powers. The light bended around him and he moved with almost no movement from his body!

So that’s how, he travels thanks to the light. He doesn’t move at the speed of light, so it should still be possible to kill him. I took my javelins out of my quiver and started throwing them except I didn’t remove the layer of resin, to avoid them from exploding.

I started throwing and shadowstepping throughout, except every time I shadowstepped, I appeared near a javelin that was stabbed on the floor, and I lightly touched it. By the time I was done, we were “fighting” in a minefield, the Elk just didn’t know yet. Suddenly, as if he was already fed up with me, he pointed at me with its horns and dashed forward, which at his speed would have an amazing strength, but I shadowstepped away, leaving a javelin right behind me pointing towards him.

*BOOM!*

And a flying Elk it is. Now that he was flying, he wouldn’t be able to dodge me at all! I shadowstepped towards him, and punched him hard towards the ground.

*BOOM!*

The Elk was lying on the ground, obviously hurt, and it didn’t seem like he was going to move soon. It was lucky, but it wouldn’t have mattered even if he could still move, I would have just driven him to another javelin and toyed with him again.

“Ha! You have nowhere to run, you bastard. You’re dead!” – I shadowstepped where he was and this time brought down my sword instead of my dagger, ready to decapitate him, but a light suddenly blinded me, and I missed him. A second later my eyes were fine already, and I looked around. The Elk was trying to run away! I ran and took a javelin from the ground, threw it at the Elk’s right side and shadowstepped to his left. As I appeared, I saw the Elk lightly step to the left to dodge the javelin, only to come near me and fall to my sword.

I had finally hunted him, so I guess it was time to go home after a long time.

I grabbed the body and dragged it as I took back all the javelins. I drained its energy and carried them with me. One shadowstep later and I was here; home sweet home.

[Master! How was the hunt?] – Bob excitedly asked me as soon as I appeared. I looked at him and gasped. His skin was redder than before, and his physique was slimmer, yet it seemed heavier. I guess the Berserk Energy was effective even without cheating like I did.

“It was fine, Bob, I finally hunted the Elk, so come here and help me cook it.” – I liked having him around, it made my life livelier, which was uncommon on my “previous life”.

I wondered if I wouldn’t be able to eat it, knowing (or suspecting, at least) it was an Iron Elk, even if stronger and stranger. But as soon as the WF energy entered in contact with the meat it started eating it away. I was amazed!

You wonder why? Until now, since I discovered that I could infuse the WF energy with kinetic energy, anything touched by it just vaporized immediately, no eating away, just poof, so the fact that the energy was having some trouble eating it, was amazing to me.

Due to this, it took me three hours to eat every piece of meat from it.

*Ding*

I hurried to open the System, anxious to know if it was a different species, or the same as the Iron Elk.

Double-Horned Steel Elk devoured, induce sleep to evolve improvements recieved from lower species Iron Elk? Estimated time of completion is 72 hours.

Yes No

And as I didn't have anything better to do now...

"Bob, see ya' in three days, protect me while I rest okay?" – And as I clicked yes, my world faded.