A cold wind passed through the black trees of the forest.

Lian quietly jumped down from a large tree root and looked around. They had been out of the valley for about an hour now.

Or at least what could be called "out."

The valley was still visible behind them. A huge crack in the middle of dark mountains, like the mouth of a giant monster that had opened inside the ruined realm.

And now they had entered the forest. A forest that was unnaturally quiet.

The trees were huge. Black twisted trunks, some of them as tall as small towers. Their leaves were a color between gray and dark red, and a faint mist moved between them.

There was no sound of birds. No insects. No sign of normal life. Which was, fortunately, a good thing.

He was still not sure if they were in a safe place or not. They could be in an area with no monsters. No dangerous monsters. Or actually, an area with very dangerous monsters.

But with the information he had as an Analyzer student, he could argue that their environment was not that dangerous.

That Fallen Wolf was level 10. All the monster corpses in the valley had been hunted by that wolf. Except, of course, for those extremely huge bones.

And since there was no other wolf in that area, it meant the wolf lived alone and was not part of any pack. On the other hand, he doubted a level 10 Fallen Wolf would dare to hunt in these forests without worry if it knew there was a monster stronger than itself.

This meant he did not need to worry about monsters stronger than that Fallen Wolf. Even though he trusted this reasoning, it might not apply to this entire strange mountain range covered by a forest.

"This world really feels dead..." Lian let out his breath slowly.

"It is." The girl next to him answered without looking.

Lian glanced at her. Since they had left the valley, the girl had walked almost the entire way in silence. Her long sword was still in her hand, and even though her body was covered in blood, her steps were calm and completely balanced.

As if she did not get tired. Or maybe the concept of tiredness did not matter to her.

He had been uncertain about accepting this girl’s offer at first, but he had decided it could be a good idea. Especially since she seemed to be a powerful Awakened.

A few seconds of silence passed between them.

"Do you have a name?" Lian finally said.

"Seris."

A short and cold name. It suited her strangely.

"Lian." He introduced himself as well. But only his first name. Because his family name might be recognized.

Seris just said a quiet "Hmm" and fell silent again.

Lian sighed. This was probably the strangest companionship he could imagine.

But at least he was sure the girl did not intend to kill him.

While moving through the trees, he finally had a chance to open his status panel again.

[Strength: 13]

[Soul: 5]

[Speed: 20]

[Mana: 3]

[Resistance: 25]

[Stat Points: 61]

His eyes narrowed a little. He looked carefully at his stats. He had seen charts before that showed the normal range for stats.

And his stats were completely within the normal range. No problems. Except for Mana. His Mana was terrible. The normal range for Mana was 5 to 7.

And then his gaze fell on the Stat Points.

61 points!

The total of all his current stats was 66. And he had gotten 61 stat points. In a way, he could almost double the total of his stats.

If he put all of them into Strength, his physical power would become four or five times stronger. And he could increase his Mana up to 20 times.

"The total stats of that Fallen Wolf must have been significant." But he could not tell exactly how much.

Because aside from receiving one percent of the monster’s total stats as stat points due to the Butcher innate skill, he had also gained four levels. He should have received stat points for those level increases too.

But because his class was an anomaly, he did not know how many stat points he got per level up.

’I need to pay attention to this,’ he thought to himself.

But what should he do with these stat points?

Right now, he did not have enough information. Depending on the situation he found himself in, he might have specific needs for the points. For now, keeping them was more logical.

Then his gaze fell on his new skill.

[Wolf Speed]

He tapped on its description.

[Wolf Speed]

[Rank: Common (+)]

[Temporarily increases movement speed by 30 points. Your instincts sharpen while active.]

The skill was strong. Actually, very strong. If he had had it while running from the Fallen Wolf, he might not have been wounded at all. With such a skill, hunting monsters would be easier.

Especially if he faced monsters that were slow and big. He could use this as an advantage.

Lian closed the panel. But at that moment, he noticed Seris was looking at him.

"What?"

"When you walk, sometimes you frown for no reason. Is there a problem?"

"I was thinking."

"Hmm." And then she looked forward again.

Lian really did not know how to talk to this girl. But did he really have to spend this whole journey in this strange way?

A few minutes later, he broke the silence.

"How did you wound that wolf so badly?"

"I hit it with my sword."

"..."

"A few times." Seris continued without changing her expression.

Lian just stared at her for a few seconds. Then he sighed.

"Right. That was the wrong question."

For the first time, he felt that maybe the girl was not purposely being dry and strange. Maybe she really thought this way. Maybe silence really was the best option.

Suddenly Seris stopped. Her movement was so sudden that Lian stopped immediately.

The girl’s eyes narrowed. Her hand gripped the handle of her sword tighter.

Lian frowned.

"What is it?"

"A sound." Seris said quietly.

Lian listened. At first he heard nothing. But a few seconds later...

Tak.

Tak.

Tak.

The ground shook. Very lightly, but it really happened. Lian’s eyes narrowed a little. The sound of a tree breaking came from a distance.

And then a sharp smell of blood and rotten flesh spread in the air. The mist between the trees slowly moved aside, and something came out of the darkness. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

A monster.

Its body looked like a bear, but much larger. Almost the size of a huge polar bear. Its fur was a mix of black and dark purple. Two curved horns like a mammoth’s tusks stuck out from the sides of its head.

Its claws...

Lian frowned unconsciously.

Those things looked more like blades than claws. Each one as long as a short sword.

The monster’s red eyes locked onto them. A heavy growl came from its throat.

But before Lian could say anything, a second monster came out from between the trees.

Then a third.

Fourth.

Fifth.

Sixth.

And finally... a seventh!

Seven pairs of bloody eyes opened in the darkness of the forest.

Seris slowly raised her sword. And Lian, while his gaze moved between those huge monsters, had only one thought in his mind.

"You have to be kidding me..."