"GROWLL~"
"Holy-" Leon stepped to the side at the last second, avoiding the claws as they would have surely torn him apart if they hit.
[Good job!]
Upgrading his speed to its current stat looked like it actually paid, since even if his [Perception] alerted him (which it didn't this time since the wolf was hidden), then he wouldn't be able to avoid the attack.
"Come at me, shitty wolf," Leon analyzed the wolf.
It was completely dark, its fur almost invisible in the darkness of the forest, making it an incredible environment for it to ambush people.
The only thing that could give it out were its crimson eyes as they were visible from a good distance, and its sharp white teeth that glistened in the dim light.
[Darkness Wolf - Level 5]
Leon couldn't see stats or skills as the monster also had some as well, but based on its level, he would assume it should be just as strong as him.
"Grrr…" the wolf turned around Leon while showing its teeth, ready to jump at any point: it knew the human was in its mercy, waiting for it to attack to counter.
[What the fuck are you doing? It's just going around in circles! Attack it first!] EGO advised, as Leon was clearly just waiting, [Didn't you learn with the dummies? Attacking first gives much more of an advantage in many situations!]
"…" Leon knew that EGO was right, and he clearly saw it in the wolf's gaze that it was actually already anticipating for the human to just wait for it to attack.
And so…
"Not today," Leon, surrounded with his aura, predicted where the wolf would be in a second, and rushed toward it.
"Growl?" the [Darkness Wolf] was surprised, after all, why would the human risk attacking it while it was shrouded in the darkness of the forest?
~SLAM~
Leon reached the wolf in less than a second and raised his leg, slamming its stomach with all his strength.
"GROWAL-!" but it seemed like this wasn't enough to kill.
[The enemies in the pre-selection trial were all one shot, but the higher the level, the harder it becomes to kill since their HP increases!] EGO informed Leon, [Except if you level up strength, that is!]
"CLAW SLASH!" the wolf, while still hurting and in the air, tried to slash in Leon's direction to hit his face and kill him.
But...
"I guess that's true, huh," Leon punched it again while it was attacking, in the face this time, sending it crashing against one of the trees.
[Thanks for the meal!] immediately, EGO rushed toward the corpse of the dead wolf and devoured its soul using [Devour].
And immediately, the panel Leon liked so much appeared, the one that showed he was growing stronger.
[You have devoured 'Darkness Wolf', gaining 4 stat points!]
[+1 Soul!]
"All on strength."
[Your 'Strength' stat has increased by 4 stat points!]
[Souls (Experience): 5/15]
Getting souls (exp) was still difficult even like this, and fighting one wolf at a time, which didn't give him that many souls to begin with, would take way too long.
[Do not fret, Host, the deeper we go in the dimension, the stronger the monsters will become!] EGO reassured him.
Leon didn't know why, but EGO seemed so much more proactive when they were inside a rift/dimension, or when it involved fighting, as in the real world it would usually stay quiet.
"Well, that's good, then," Leon sighed as kept advancing in the direction he had been following.
He didn't know if this was the road to the second zone, but he would just have to hope his luck is good.
And so just like that, Leon kept going.
But less than five minutes later...
[Look in the darkness to your right.]
"...?" Leon did what EGO asked, and... "Holy shit."
There were around four pairs of crimson eyes staring at him from behind trees, hidden by the darkness of the forest.
[Darkness Wolves Pack - Level 6-7]
"So does the attacking first thing apply here?" Leon asked, actually intrigued.
[Nah.]
"Oh well, then I better start running-" but before he could even finish his sentence.
"Quick Dash," all the wolves suddenly moved, rushing toward Leon at the same time, with the sole intent of overwhelming him with their higher number.
[Yeahhh, no,] even EGO didn't want this, [This isn't a fair fight at all.]
"Oh, really? You think?" Leon began to run in the opposite direction, still being followed by the pack of wolves who seemed to have the same speed as he did, easily keeping up with him as he avoided tree after tree.
"CLAW SLASH," one of them caught up to him, then jumped in his direction, its claws really to slash.
But...
"Fuck you," Leon, feeling more angry than usual, punched it in the face with all of his strength, sending it toward its friends, who all moved to avoid its corpse.
It was an instant-death.
[DEVOUR!] EGO immediately devoured the body.
[You have devoured 'Darkness Wolf', gaining 4 stat points!]
"Speed."
[Your 'Speed' stat has increased by 4 stat points!]
[3 more, Host!]
Even though one of their kind had died, the wolves didn't back down though, all their crimson eyes could see was the flesh of the human that would serve as their meal.
And so...
"GROUP ATTACK!" once they got close enough, all of them jumped in Leon's direction.
This time he couldn't focus on countering as there were too many of them, and neither his speed or strength would be enough to take them down.
[...] EGO didn't even say anything, maybe trying to see if he would actually get out of this situation.
"FUCK THAT SHIT," Leon shouted as he positioned his arms and faced the wolves, no more running now, he never enjoyed doing that to begin with!
[Finally, Host!] EGO smiled again.
"...?"
[Running is NEVER the solution, glad you finally grew some balls and figured it out!] if he could give him a thumbs up, he would, but unfortunately he can't, maybe if he grew hands?
But for now...
~SLAM, SLAM~
The impact was hard as the wolf's bodies and endurance was actually pretty high, but Leon held on.
He avoided one of the attacks from a wolf that came a bit early, then blocked the claws of the second.
And the third... wasn't there?
"Huh?" he couldn't see it, "What the fuck-"
Yet he didn't have the time to finish his sentence that...
"Quick Dash!" the last remaining wolf, who was also the only one that was level 7, suddenly dashed right behind Leon while he was taking care of the two others.
And so...
~SLASH~
He actually managed to hit Leon from behind, the sharp claws leaving deep red marks on his back as a massive amount of blood poured out.
[Ouch, that must hurt,] EGO didn't lose his smile though.