Max crouched down by the entrance of the cave and waited. He strained his ears and heard nothing.

‘Should I go out again to check?’

Max took some time to weigh the pros and cons and decided to err on the side of caution. His surprise attack with the Formation worked, which was a relief. However, he had failed to plan for the eventuality that he would be facing more than one enemy at a time. That second surprise attack was a complete fluke in his eyes.

Not only did he catch the second wolf off guard while it was facing away from him, but also in terms of visibility. It was a full moon tonight, from what he could tell. If it wasn’t for that fact, he might be still struggling with the second wolf. He wasn’t sure if the moon was this bright every night since he had spent both nights inside the cave. But based on what Ma Erk had said earlier about Ling Wolfs having night vision, a full moon was probably an exception and not the norm. There wouldn’t be a reason for Ma Erk to highlight the night vision part if all the beasts could see at night.

‘Ah Ma Erk, that little bugger is also with me’

Max was so focused on the task at hand that he had forgotten Ma Erk was also here. Realizing this, Max quickly hatched another plan.

“Ma Erk, come here.” Max whispered.

After Max had relayed his plans to Ma Erk, he watched as the little guy took hurried steps out of the cave. Once Ma Erk had left, Max checked his notifications and character sheet.

Enemy killed. For killing an enemy, you gain experience.

30+ experience points

Enemy killed. For killing an enemy, you gain experience.

30+ experience points

Max first checked his reserves. They were still all full. It looked like he hadn’t lost any HP nor spent any stamina. Or maybe he did but was replenished by Greater Enhance Regeneration. Either way, he was going into this next fight as ready as he could be. He had entertained the idea of letting the “Boss” go, but Max was afraid that the last wolf would bring the whole pack. Then he would really be in trouble, he wanted to nip this issue in the bud. But regardless of what happened tonight, he’ll be working much harder to get stronger. He hadn't been looking for trouble, but trouble always ended up finding him. First, it was the Hawk, now it is these Wolves.

Taking a quick look at his level and experience, he was 2 points away from leveling up.

‘Damn so close!’

Max was hoping that the two kills would put him over the top and level him up. If he had, he could have immediately leveraged the two free stat points. Any advantage would help. He wasn't going to be dumb again by using the free stat points only after the fight. Thinking about it, if he did level up, he would have probably put it in Agility, since he was planning another surprise attack.

‘Wait. wait. Agility?’

Max took another look at his character sheet and he didn’t see an Agility stat.

‘That’s odd, Agility is a very common stat in all the RPG games that I’ve played.’

Just as he finished that thought, his character sheet started to vibrate and blink in and out like a light bulb on its last leg. Before Max could come to terms with his confusion. The sheet winked out one last time and stopped. To his bewilderment, he now had an Agility stat.

Name:

Max Oxford

Level:

4

Cultivation:

Body Tempering 3rd Stage

Age:

23

Progress:

84/86

Progress:

78/150

Status:

Weakened Body

Greater Enhance Regeneration

Titles:

System Pioneer

Realm Walker

Cultivator

Traits:

Quick Learner

Cultivation Body

Skills:

Analyze

Common Tongue

HP:

54/54

SP:

58/58

CHI:

NA

HP Regen:

70/hr

SP Regen:

85/hr

CHI Regen:

NA

Stats (Multiplier:1.3x)

Strength:

10

Perception:

14

Constitution:

22

Agility:

13

Dexterity:

13

Intelligence:

22

Endurance

14

Spirit:

1

Vitality:

10

Free Stat Points:

0

As soon as the new screen stabilized, Max could feel that something was different. It was similar to when he had added all those points into his Constitution stat, but this time it wasn't as drastic. Last time, after adding his points, he felt more solid and denser, this time, he felt lighter. But not a whole lot, just enough for him to notice. If he were to compare it to anything, it would be like the feeling of taking a massive shit after being constipated for a week.

He didn’t have time to dwell on it, from outside the cave, Max could hear Ma Erk start taunting the last wolf.

…

Ma Erk was happy to comply with his new pack leader’s orders. Seeing how quickly the two lackeys were defeated, Ma Erk was even more confident that he had made the right decision in following the human. Ma Erk did have conflicting feelings about seeing his bullies finally dealt with. As bad as they treated him, they were still part of the same pack for a long time, basically for as long as Ma Erk could remember.

But thinking back to how they left him for dead the night before, Ma Erk’s mixed feelings became a lot less complicated. Even tonight, the lackeys were looking for him. If they were here to help him, why did they take so long and why didn’t they call out to him?

‘Hmph. No good wolves.’

As Ma Erk reached the edge of the cliff, he looked down and saw that hateful wolf. There he was, Rik-re, the ringleader of the trio. The wolf not only bullied him but was openly hostile to him. Rik-re was the son of the pack leader, no one in the pack was willing to offend him for Ma Erk and draw the ire of the pack leader. Looking at Rik-re, Ma Erk was reminded of all the “pranks” that Rik-re had pulled on him. They might have started out as harmless, but as time went by, the pranks became more and more devious. It often ended with Ma Erk with bruises that would take weeks to heal.

Channeling all his anger and indignity Ma Erk didn't even need to put on an act as his new boss suggested. He had rehearsed this so many times in his head but never dared give voice to them, afraid the beatings would get worse. But today he would let that all out.

“YOU! BIG UGLY DUMB WOLF!”

Ma Erk saw Rik-re was just about to exit the clearing, but upon hearing the insult, Rik-re’s head snapped back to the cliff where Ma Erk was standing. Ma Erk would like to think he saw some panic flashed across Rik-re’s features. His yell had even startled himself. He was surprised at how loud his voice was. This was the first time in recent memory where he had let loose. In the past, he was always trying to be as small and quiet as possible in order to not draw attention.

“Grrr. Puny. You DARE!”

“YES I DARE. YOU SMELLY WOLF”

This time, Ma Erk could clearly see the rage on Rik-re's face. If the boss wasn’t nearby, Ma Erk would be resigned to a grand beating already. In the past, it didn’t matter if he ran, his small stature made it so for every three steps he took, the others would only need one to catch up to him,. He had once thought himself smart by squeezing in between two boulders where the other wolves were too big to get at him. But it turned out that he had to eat at some point so when he did, he would get served an extra-large side of beating.

Seeing that Rik-re took a few menacing steps across the clearing towards the path to the cliff, Ma Erk was elated, the plan was working. But only after a couple of steps Rik-re suddenly stop. The look of fury was replaced by something else. Something that Ma Erk couldn’t put his paws on, was it confusion, or was it fear? It wasn’t an expression that he had seen Rik-re make before.

Ma Erk could see that Rik-re was panning the surroundings and looking for something, likely his two lackeys. Ma Erk couldn’t let him start getting suspicious or else he might figure something out.

Just as Rik-re was going to demand an answer, Ma Erk turned to his side and raised one of his hind legs, and started peeing. Ma Erk purposely aimed his little guy at Rik-re’s direction, but Ma Erk had no confidence that it would come even close to reaching Rik-re, they were simply too far apart. But whether it be a twist of fate or a higher being’s interference or just plain collision of hot and cold air, a strong gust of wind blew across the cliff carrying Ma Erk’s urine further than it had any right to travel. It sprayed out uncontrollably through the air. Since Ma Erk was on the high ground, the urine sprinkled onto Rik-re’s face like a drizzle.

Rik-re’s expression instantly turned back to rage. With a quick few bounces, he had covered the distance of the small clearing and started to make his way up. In his embarrassment, he ran straight into more of Ma Erk’s urine. This fueled his anger even more, looking up at Ma Erk, Rik-re’s eye’s promised unspeakable violence.

When Ma Erk finished his business, he looked down to see Rik-re. He attempted to run up the path at full tilt, but every few steps he would slip. Rik-re was demonstrating the three steps forward, two steps back concept to Ma Erk. Seeing this, Ma Erk couldn’t help but have the widest smile across his face.

“BIG UGLY DUMB WOLF. NOW UGLY DUMB SLOW WOLF” Ma Erk hooted without a care in the world.

Hearing that, Rik-re threw Ma Erk another hate-filled glare and redoubled his efforts. He was also starting to get used to this uneven terrain. He would still occasionally slip down a couple of steps but was making much faster progress. Compared to humans, wolves did have a lower center of gravity which improved their balance and ultimately gave them a leg up when making this climb.

‘Yes. Faster up. Faster die’

Looking at Rik-re one more time, Ma Erk wiggled his butt at him and made a show of slowly walking away. With each step, Ma Erk made sure to press his paw deep into the ground to make clear prints that led into the cave.