After Celia covered Rael's mouth, she swiftly took his hand and concealed themselves behind a massive, thick tree.
"What did she see? How could her senses be superior to mine? I didn't sense a single presence."
Still not thinking about the wolves, Rael wanted to inquire about something, but he suddenly noticed Celia turning toward him.
"We're surrounded..."
Upon hearing that, Rael wanted to argue, but at that moment, his senses finally picked up on something.
Peering back at the forest they had come from, six gray wolves emerged from among the tree branches.
"Huh. They're really here, but how?" Rael furrowed his brow, contemplating this, when he felt Celia tugging at his sleeves.
"They are Gray Wolves, highly nimble predators whose advantage usually lies in their ability to ambush their prey."
"But since they are still a bit of a distance from us, it should be relatively easy to eliminate them all."
"Can you cover for me?" Celia asked as she retrieved her 1.5-meter bow from behind her back. However, what caught Rael's attention were the blue arrows she had prepared to fire. They emitted a chilling sensation, and for good reason, Rael knew he didn't want to be hit by them.
"Don't worry; leave the protection to me. Just focus on taking down the wolves," Rael assured her as he summoned his Rare Black Spider Sword, which appeared in his hand without hesitation.
Without wasting a second, Rael advanced toward the six wolves, who were still approximately 30 meters away from their position.
"Come at me, you bastards!" Although the wolves couldn't comprehend human language, they were incensed after hearing Rael's venomous shout. They roared and lunged toward him.
"Entropic Shield!" A black shield crafted from chaotic energy appeared in front of Rael just before he could swing his sword at the first wolf. In a swift motion, Celia fired an arrow that impaled the first wolf's head.
'She's skilled with bows,' Rael thought as he turned his head to see Celia aiming to his right, allowing him to focus on the wolf to his left.
"Chaotic Flux!" Using his class skill, Rael's sword moved chaotically toward the wolf's claws that were aimed at him. By chance or not, his sword swiftly cut through the wolf's claws before proceeding to its neck.
The large beast, standing close to 2 meters tall, immediately felt hot blood gushing from its neck and collapsed without a single breath remaining. Another arrow fired by Celia entered the ear of the other wolf close to Rael and exited through the other side.
"Rael, front!" Celia's shout snapped Rael back to reality, reminding him that there were still three wolves to deal with.
'Come here, little lambs...' Rael's eyes gleamed with ferocity as he gazed at the free White Crystals before him. He couldn't wait to feel 'saturated' and level up to become an F Rank Lifeform, wondering if his attributes would increase.
Two minutes later, the last wolf succumbed to Rael's sword.
"Rael! That was amazing! Even among the best F+ Rank hunters in my village, I think you're the top one! Comparable to an E Rank hunter," Celia exclaimed, her eyes filled with admiration as she looked at Rael like he was her prince charming.
"This was all thanks to you. I didn't think it would be possible for me to leave my back unguarded and rely on someone else for safety," Rael said, giving Celia a contented smile, though he couldn't quite understand why he felt so at ease in her presence.
"Why not? Don't you have anyone you trust? I do this with my dad and brother quite often," Celia inquired.
"I'm afraid there's no one like that for me," Rael replied, signaling that he didn't want to discuss this topic any further. Celia quickly gathered the six White Crystals from the wolves.
"Look, there was one that reached F Rank! That's great! With another ten or so White Crystals, you should be able to become an F Rank Lifeform!" Celia said, excitement in her voice.
Rael looked at her curiously for a moment before sharing, "Celia... I've already absorbed over 30 of these White Crystals, and two of them even reached F+ Rank... It's not as simple as it seems."
As Celia heard Rael say that, she was stunned, unable to find her voice to respond.
"You... You're not lying, are you?" Celia finally managed to speak, her voice trembling.
Rael, slightly perplexed by her reaction, assured her, "I'm certain. Even after absorbing so many, I can barely sense the saturation that the Village Head mentioned."
"This... Rael, you might be the first person to say that. You may not realize it, but typically, people use around 10 F- Rank White Crystals to advance to an F Rank Lifeform. It's not unheard of to need more, but for someone to absorb over 30 and barely feel anything... What are you, really?"
Rael remained silent as Celia continued to question him, pondering the one thing that set him apart: his Unique Class. It seemed to be the most plausible explanation for his delayed evolution, although there could be other factors at play.
'Wait, there's also my bloodline. Evolution involves enhancing your bloodline, right? There's too much for me to contemplate; I should go with the flow and wait until I become an F Rank Lifeform to discern what's right and wrong,' Rael thought.
With this in mind, Rael and Celia prepared to venture deeper into the forest to search for further traces of the wolf pack. However, before they could proceed, a resounding howl echoed from the depths of the forest.
"Awoooo!"
"E Rank Lifeform! Rael, let's go back quickly; that's most likely the pack's Alpha!" Celia urgently exclaimed, taking Rael's hand as they hastened to return at the village.
Even if Celia herself was an F+ Rank Lifeform that under normal circumstances could draw against an E Rank Lifeform, she wasn't confident in facing an Alpha Wolf.
They were extremely dangerous due to their insane speed and powerful attack.