Warden was exhausted beyond measure. It was worse than when he woke up near the stream. His insides were burning with an icy chill. Although he didn't bear any serious injuries, thanks to the benefit of the legendary cloak and armour, his body was battered after tussling with the wretched wolves.
With no other options in hand, Warden brought out the raw hearts he harvested from the cursed creatures and stuffed one of them into his mouth. It felt like he was eating a lump of squashy flesh, disgusting to the end. Worse, he had to chew it well to crush it into fine mush for ideal digestion.
However, the worst possible realisation was that simply one raw heart wouldn't be enough to bring back his vigor.
Gritting his teeth, Warden stuffed another one into his mouth, leaning against the boulder as the cacophony of howls rang in his ears.
The cloak's [Ethereal Veil] was still active to the fullest, as even though he managed to escape the chase of the damned wolves, they could actually sniff their way to him. The veil camouflaged his aura and odor enough that even the wretched Ghost Wolf hadn't managed to find him yet.
Warden had to take the lesson the hard way to understand. Even the lowliest of the wolves here were predators by nature. They could easily find something after they had its scent. Thankfully, the cloak's veiling ability not only countered against that, but even against divination and similar magic. Whoever made the cloak and armor for him seemed to have great insight.
A fiery anguish erupted within him as the mushed heart settled in his stomach. His metabolism was of superhuman level, so he could put his mind at ease on the matter and work on the blade.
As intended, Warden brought out the cores and fed them to [The Divider]. He only had three iron-grade cores, so the progression barely reached the 92% mark.
Sighing, he meditated for about half an hour. The hearts seemed to have done their work, as Warden was once again in his peak form after ending his meditation. All his energy had recovered, and the fiery anguish had almost driven away.
In one sentence, Warden was ready for another round of tussle with the wretched wolves.
He crept from his spot to hunt wolves again. Not much of his initial plan had changed, even with all the dungeon creatures searching for him. He still sneaked onto the dire wolves and claimed their lives and cores. Of course, he simply didn't sneak on cursed-rank creatures, but rather whenever he found wolves in low numbers.
With the wolves on high alert, sneaking on the cursed-rank creatures would be hard, so he had to improvise a little, which meant being a lot more cautious. The Ghost Wolf alone wasn't enough to make him cautious on its own. Although it had remarkable instinct and agility with that weird shadow power, and high attributes, Warden was certain he could deal with it if it came alone, albeit after taking some blows.
Of course, the equation might lean more towards him if he managed to upgrade his blade before the battle.
Warden reckoned its strength to be the very peak of the Iron rank, while its Spirit was in the early stage like his. While his Strength was still a few points away from making it to the Iron rank, his void energy and artifacts made up for the difference between their stats.
He planned to deal with the mobs first and then begin the true hunt after his Strength and the blade leapt another step forward.
Unfortunately, the mobs weren't doing it for him anymore.
[Copper Grade Energy harvested.]
[+ 0.1 Strength]
[+ 0.09 Strength]
[+ 0.08 Strength]
...
[+ 0.04 Strength]
[+ 0.09 Strength]
He reckoned it would take over 30 copper-rank cores for 1% of improvement in the sword as well. Meaning, he wouldn't be able to upgrade the blade unless he targeted the iron-grade wolves as well.
There were already three, but the Ghost Wolf called upon more. There were at least eight or nine lurking in the dungeon, searching for him at this moment.
Warden searched too for his fourth target that he left wounded. It would be the easiest to deal with it.
It appeared the Ghost Wolf's reign wasn't ironclad, as Warden did find a bunch of wolves getting back to the blissful devouring of their dead kin. The Ghost Wolf ruled over the rest of the minions, and the cursed creatures were through its kingly aura. However, on the benefit of not being anywhere near, its commanding aura's effect wore off, as the wolves returned to their feeble greedy mindset.
Warden couldn't help but chuckle inwardly as he approached a dozen wolves, which included an injured cursed one as well. This certainly was a welcoming surprise.
Warden simply couldn't silence all their howls. That was why he targeted the cursed-ranked one first. While the minions howled and fled away, he made sure its demise was literally beheading it in one clean sweep.
This was the first time he had managed this feat with the iron-grade equivalent foe, although much of the credit went to it being already wounded and feeble, with the void energy feasting on its recovery ability.
[Iron Grade Energy harvested.]
[+ 1.7 Strength.]
[+ 0.2 Spirit.]
He only collected the beast core and enabled the veil to fade into the darkness.
The cacophony the rest of the minions created called another pack of wolves, led by another cursed wolf.
Warden's lips split into a menacing smile as he jumped into the battle before the creatures could even expect it.
[Iron Grade Energy harvested.]
[+ 1.9 Strength.]
The third time was the charm, but it was very much a recipe for disaster after cashing in the prize twice. So Warden departed from there to hunt wolves from other regions.
He didn't take any chances, always wary of the Ghost Wolf's location while hunting. With most of his abilities on display during the fight, Warden exhausted himself yet again within an hour.
Thankfully, he not only just managed to hunt down two or three cursed wolves, but four, along with tens of tainted ones. The blade already clicked at 93% after absorbing the remnants of energy from the slayed beasts, but with the cores, Warden might just make it.