Armed with his new skill, Lumen trudged on through more caverns as he kept his eye out for any potential kills and any 'walking experience' he could gain.
While he was walking, it didn't take long before a cacophony of booms and loud growling and roaring could be heard coming from far ahead of him.
Curious about what could be going on for the rabid wolves to be making such a ruckus in their own territory, Lumen estimated the distance between him and the source of the noise to be over a kilometre.
Faced with such a gap between them, Lumen knew that the wolves couldn't possibly know that he was near, not if they were near his level at least.
He didn't waste any time as he ran for a whole minute before he entered within 100 metres of the noise.
As he arrived, he began to feel a sense of threat to his life for the first time since his fight with the two level 9 wolves.
He felt some danger in his battle with the lone level 10 wolf, but not a threat to his life.
However this time was different, he felt a real threat to his life within the vicinity as if he had gained a sixth sense unknowingly at some point.
But he didn't focus on the source of this sense as his attention was now on the scene in the cavern in front of him.
Ahead of him, 6 level 10 rabid wolves were fighting against a lone wolf that had an appearance similar to them, however this one had streaks of dark, black tinges of hair all over it's spine and paws. Not to mention that this wolf was about 1.5x bigger than the wolves surrounding it.
It had a distinct look, different enough from those of the surrounding wolves to be easily noticeable among the bunch even from Lumen's location in the low light of the cave.
The sense of threat to his life didn't come from the group of level 10 wolves, but rather the lone wolf that was ganged up on by them.
And upon using his inspection, he could see why.
[Rabid Wolf (Elite) - level 12]
He had never heard of an elite beast before, nor did he have any clue as to how powerful they could be or what made them special from their normal beast counterparts.
But one thing he did know is that this wolf could take out each level 10 wolf surrounding it and survive to tell the tale with only a few wounds.
Lumen was practically drooling from just thinking about the rewards he could get from killing such a beast, especially considering that it was a completely new specimen that he hadn't ever encountered before.
He didn't doubt that he would get some special rewards for killing this elite monster.
But he didn't let his greed and emotions cloud his judgement as his logic took over to analyse the situation before him.
'Realistically, it would be suicide for me to just intrude on this fight right now. The most likely scenario would be that the 6 level 10 wolves would team up with that elite to get rid of me before going back to their own internal conflict.'
'My best choice right now would be to observe the situation and assess the best opportunity to attack. The most opportune time for me to attack would be right as the elite kills the final level 10, as it would let it's guard down to heal and regain stamina and mana. Right then would be the perfect time for me to attack.'
With his plan of action in mind, he made some stealthy moves to inch closer to the battlefield to both get a better view and the better position himself for a surprise attack.
Back in the fight between wolves, it seemed that the Elite wolf had more intelligence than those level 10's around it, as it actually made proper use of it's paws and claws in a fight rather than just it's razor sharp teeth.
The other 6 wolves could hardly get in a proper attack on the Elite and the rare times they did, they were only superficial wounds that barely reached the surface of any muscle.
At this rate, it wouldn't take long for the Elite to take out the 6 wolves surrounding it as it had already severely injured 2 wolves, taking them out of the fight and leaving them whimpering on the side lines, licking their wounds.
However when all things looked bad, one of the level 10 wolves managed to sneak it's way around the back of the Elite and used all of it's strength and agility to take a bite at it's hind leg, where it's tendons lay.
A deafening howl came out of the Huge wolf's mouth as it entered an enraged state and whipped it's body around towards the wolf currently hanging off it's hind leg.
It used all of it's extremely powerful biting force to dig into the smaller wolf's chest area. With it's sheer power alone, it managed to bite half of the poor dog's chest clean off, taking many vital organs with it.
This level 10 wolf was practically done for, but it seemed to contain a praiseworthy willpower as it still clung onto the Elite wolf's leg tendon with all of it's power.
Through sheer willpower and with it's final death throes, the level 10 wolf managed to clamp it's jaw down to the limit, breaking it in the process but achieving it's goal.
Limply, the wolf fell down onto it's side in a puddle of it's own blood and guts. But in it's final honourable moments it had managed to take a considerable amount of leg with it from the Elite, hindering it's movements greatly.
Lumen could only cheer and give a silent prayer to this wolf for it's bravery and willpower as he was genuinely impressed at how it dealt with the Elite in it's final moments.
It didn't whimper like it's injured companions, nor did it let out any final howls in contempt before it's life left it.
It simply did it's best to get it's revenge on the Elite and in the end, it somewhat succeeded.
Such a show of power and tenacity by the level 10 wolf gave Lumen the perfect opportunity to strike, and he took it right at that moment, ignoring his plan to strike when the Elite had it's guard down.
Striking now when it was injured was a much better option, and he had the perfect way to clear the other level 10 wolves of the fight, making sure he doesn't have any annoying wolves interrupting his fight with the Elite.
All of this was made possible by that one brave level 10 wolf.
If Lumen managed to come out of this fight on top, he would give that wolf a proper burial. It had earned it.