Zack disappeared from the monster's sight, and only his shadow appeared when he swung the sword to behead the beast. A good three strikes was enough to behead them. That showed how much his strength had increased.
The other creatures actually howled and soon fired several ice lances at Zack, but they only hit the air. They began to be beheaded without showing much resistance.
In the end, the fixing ended quickly, so Zack began to skin them since their fur was the part that could be sold. Another pack soon arrived before Zack could finish the skinning, but he killed the dire wolves while he kept working. He just dropped some chunks of concrete in their heads when they got too close.
"My inventory is getting full, I guess I will make the skill also reach level ten," Zack thought.
Once Zack finished skinning the dire wolves, he took a moment to survey his surroundings, his senses on high alert for any signs of danger. But as he scanned the area, he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. The city around him was quiet and still, the only movement coming from the gentle sway of the wind.
There were no signs of footsteps in the snow around the teleportation circle, indicating that no one had been watching him from nearby. Zack felt a surge of relief at the thought, but he knew better than to let his guard down completely.
With a cautious eye, Zack continued to scan the area, his instincts honed for any hint of danger. He listened intently for any sounds that might betray the presence of an unseen observer, but all he heard was the faint sound of the wind.
Zack thought that those guys wouldn't try to hide their actions, and they would be the first ones to do something in the open; they didn't seem like the cream of the crop when it comes to brains, after all.
Once he was done with the skinning, Zack proceeded to check the area. Packs of the dire wolves always showed up, but he disposed of them as usual and with ease.
At the same time, Zack checked the city and found that it was truly buried in a thick layer of snow. He confirmed this when he saw some energy poles still standing, but the only parts above the snow were the tops of those.
The city didn't have anything off like a crater or anything similar, but soon, Zack found some places where dire wolves were resting and taking care of their cubs. When he appeared there, the mother of those cubs glared at Zack.
"Oh, boy… am I that naive now?" Zack furrowed his eyebrows.
Zack suddenly wondered if he should kill the cubs. In a world like that, there was no time for sentimentalism. All monsters were enemies that seemed like humans as snacks; they had to be exterminated. Still, he couldn't help but wonder if those creatures that hadn't done anything yet deserved to die.
While Zack was in deep thought, the mother of the cubs suddenly charged at him and tried to bite his head off… still, Zack just pierced its head with his sword in a quick succession of trusts.
"I have no qualms in killing those who try to kill me. I am not that naive," Zack thought and then stored away the body of the dire wolf. "Well, I guess I am to the point since I don't want to skin this one in front of its kids."
As Zack glanced at the small, whimpering cubs huddled together, he felt a bit of sympathy tug at his heartstrings. It was hard to say if they would survive on their own, but that wasn't his problem.
Deciding to leave the cubs alone, Zack thought that the best he could do was be naive enough not to kill them simply because they hadn't done anything wrong. After all, they were just innocent creatures for now.
With a heavy sigh, Zack turned away from the scene, knowing that he couldn't afford to let sentimentality cloud his judgment. He had a job to do, and getting involved with the fate of the wolf cubs would only complicate matters.
As he walked away, he couldn't shake the feeling of guilt that gnawed at him. But he knew that sometimes, tough decisions had to be made in this world, and he couldn't let his emotions get in the way of his survival.
At some point, Zack got tired of skinning the monsters at his normal speed and used Speed Back to deal with that. He also could skin them at home since he was going to test the Metal Warriors guild once more. In any case, at least at lunch, Zack reached his goal.
(You have obtained enough XP to level up.)
(You received five status points and one skill point.)
(You have reached level 40 and unlocked the skill Invisibility.)
(Invisibility: it allows the user to become completely unseen by the naked eye, effectively rendering them invisible to enemies and allies alike. When activated, the user becomes transparent, blending seamlessly into their surroundings. The skill's duration is ten seconds multiplied by the level of the skill.)