Kent's expression turned serious as he roared at the Great Terror Wolf, displaying dominance. Despite being one level higher, with the support of the wolf pack, he wasn't even sure if he could defeat the Great Terror Wolf.
At the same time, he was pondering why a group of over ten Terror Wolves would appear here, considering that during the beta, Terror Wolf packs mainly roamed around the "Howling Grasslands," with only three or four wolves appearing near the "Rushing Stream." Could he be suffering for the players' sake?
The Great Terror Wolf showed no signs of backing down. With a howl, the surrounding restless Terror Wolves surged towards Kent from all directions. The Great Terror Wolf itself approached leisurely, waiting for Kent to be overwhelmed by its minions.
Kent realized the danger and immediately activated his only AoE control skill.
[Skill: Roar (D-rank): Consumes 100 mana and 50 stamina to emit a roar lasting 2 seconds, dealing 50-200 physical damage to enemies within ten meters (damage varies with distance and enemy constitution), and applies a "Stun" debuff lasting three seconds to enemies within five meters without ear protection. Cooldown: 60 seconds.]
Kent took a deep breath, inflated his cheeks, and then opened his mouth wide, releasing a pale, translucent ripple—visualized sound waves. The Terror Wolves that had rushed to him were instantly affected, blood oozing from their wolf ears as they fell into a state of dizziness.
Kent took the opportunity to use his skill with the largest attack range, "Tail Whip."
[Skill: Tail Whip (E-rank): Consumes 50 mana and 50 stamina to whip the tail and deal 15*50 = 750 physical damage to enemies. Cooldown: 60 seconds.]
A white light appeared on his tail as he twisted his body and whipped his tail like a whip. Three Terror Wolves hit by the tail were sent flying and died on the spot.
[Killed "Terror Wolf (lv8)," gained 94.4 experience points.]
[Killed "Terror Wolf (lv8)," gained 94.4 experience points.]
[Killed "Terror Wolf (lv9)," gained 118.4 experience points.]
When the level difference isn't significant, a "Common" rank beast can withstand a skill from an "Elite" beast, resulting in a one-shot kill.
Now was the time!
The Great Terror Wolf, which had been on the edge of the battle, took advantage of Kent's skill's cooldown to rush forward, its fangs glowing white as it bit towards Kent's neck. Kent quickly tilted his head back and met the "Bite" with his chest.
In "Immortal," damage to weak points like the eyes, throat, or Achilles' tendon is increased by 1.5 times!
-730! The scales shattered, blood splattered!
Feeling the pain, Kent recovered from the skill's cooldown, opened his mouth wide to bite back at the Great Terror Wolf, but the opponent easily dodged. With his Agility far inferior to the Great Terror Wolf, and now reduced by 2 due to "Wolf Howl," he was left with a pitiful 7 points.
[Health: 1470/2200]
Seeing nearly half of his health gone in one attack, Kent panicked slightly. He quickly crawled to the dead Terror Wolf and swallowed it whole.
The Great Terror Wolf, although confused by Kent's actions—was he trying to be a glutton?—seized the opportunity to claw at Kent's buttocks.
-730!
Seeing their leader's courage, the other Terror Wolves also attacked from Kent's blind spots.
Despite being like scraping, the damage added up and was quite considerable.
Just as the Great Terror Wolf thought victory was assured, a green light flashed across Kent's body after successfully swallowing an entire Terror Wolf.
+220!
His S-rank talent "Gluttony" activated, quickly digesting the Terror Wolf and restoring 10% of his maximum health!
Not enough yet! Kent slapped away a Terror Wolf that had scraped him and began devouring another Terror Wolf's body.
The Great Terror Wolf, who had never seen a creature that could heal itself, finally realized what Kent was doing after he swallowed the second Terror Wolf.
Howl!
Hearing the leader's command, two Terror Wolves immediately left the skirmish and ran to drag away the last corpse.
Kent remained calm. The Terror Wolves were just watching and not participating in the battle, so they couldn't trigger "Wolf Pack Bond" because this didn't count as coordinated combat. Without the support of "Alpha of the Pack," the Great Terror Wolf couldn't defeat him in a one-on-one fight.
Just as he thought the Terror Wolf pack could only slink away, the Great Terror Wolf, now at a distance, suddenly began to howl at the sky. The other Terror Wolves joined in, and for a moment, the howls echoed along the Rushing Stream. What were they doing? Trying their luck to see if he would feel fear?
Just as he was pondering over this, he suddenly heard a howl not far away in response.
What's this?
Kent raised his head high and looked in the direction of the howl, only to see dust rolling and over a dozen Terror Wolves charging towards him.
Not good!
Kent suddenly remembered a widely circulated post on the forums from his past life. There was a super unlucky player who encountered a very rare double wolf pack during the "Wolf Pack Attack! Save the Caravan!" mission. It's worth noting that Terror Wolf packs have their own territories, and except for the "Three-Eyed Terror Wolf King," who can command the wolf pack, different Great Terror Wolves won't cooperate.
After some experts analyzed the death replay frame by frame, they concluded that the later Great Terror Wolf and the initial one were related by blood, which barely explained the cooperation between the two Terror Wolf packs.
Why am I so unlucky!
He could deal with a group of Terror Wolves using "Gluttony," but two groups could easily leave his minions behind and have the two Great Terror Wolves besiege him. Does he have to die here? Die in the mouths of these small Terror Wolf packs?
Seeing the danger, Kent quickly opened the design panel. There was no time to save design points; he had to use them to increase his combat power. He only had 150 design points, just enough to add a B-rank talent. After quickly skimming through the B-rank talents, he realized that while they were all strong, none could guarantee his survival against the encirclement of the Terror Wolf packs.
Better...
Kent's gaze fell on the word "Elite" behind the race on the panel.
150 design points were just enough. There was no time to hesitate. Design points, add them to me!
[Cost 150 design points, Race: Wasteland Dragon Lizard (Elite) → Giant Wasteland Dragon Lizard (Red-Name Elite)]
The moment the prompt appeared, a powerful and violent force surged from Kent's limbs and bones. The cells in his body seemed to go crazy, roaring and howling, breaking through the genetic blockade, and dividing and upgrading madly. Cells were sublimating, and the position was increasing. The feeling of almost being torn to shreds made him unable to suppress his painful roar.
A vast and violent aura, like a huge wave, suddenly erupted from his body. In an instant, the once peaceful streamside became silent, with all the creatures near Kent, whether it was the Wasteland Rabbits grazing in the distance or the Terror Wolf pack surrounding him, frozen in place, unable to move.
An indescribable chaotic flame surged out of him, becoming more and more, eventually enveloping him into a round egg-shaped object.
After an unknown period, the indescribable, almost rainbow-like black egg cracked open with a click, revealing the huge creature inside.
Kent woke up from endless pain.
"Damn, that hurts!"
He grimaced and began to observe his surroundings. The Terror Wolf pack had disappeared without a trace. Kent chuckled. He was now a "Red-Name Elite," and if the Terror Wolf pack dared to come, they would be defeated!
Feeling safe, Kent began to observe the changes in himself.
"Wow, the Giant Wasteland Dragon Lizard is truly worthy of its name, growing from over five meters long to over ten meters!"
His body was more robust than before, with thicker limbs and torso, and the proportion of his tail to body length had also decreased significantly, probably only about a third of his body length. The gray-white scales on his body had turned into a dark gray color, with faint and intricate dark patterns visible all over. Gray-black spikes had grown on his limbs and back, visibly sharp.
He crawled to the stream and carefully examined his reflection.
Kent found that his head had also changed significantly. Previously resembling a Komodo Dragon from Earth, it now became wider and more angular, resembling a Diablos from "Monster Hunter." The row of dagger-like teeth gleamed coldly, indicating a step up in sharpness.
But these were not the key points. Appearance was just superficial. Kent opened the attribute panel to check for other changes.