"Fuuuuh~"
I let out a long, satisfied sigh while a faint, content smile appeared across my face. I looked down at the forest floor beneath me, and there, lying amidst the dirt and fallen leaves— I saw the once-menacing leader of the Dire Wolves.
It was dead.
Its lifeless body looks like absolute shit now, which wasn't surprising considering I just finished draining every single drop of its blood from its veins.
The Alpha Dire Wolf was strong, but it's just alone... And I'm a lot stronger.
Fighting it was a piece of cake once the restriction on my strength disappeared. I could've taken all the eight of them if I wanted, but I need some distractions for the others so I could fight without worrying about being seen.
Anyway, of course I didn't stop with just the leader; I had also drunk the blood of the three other wolves that followed me here deep into the forest.
And from them, I managed to acquire a new passive skill called [Predatory Posture]. This skill significantly improves my natural sense of balance as well as my overall reaction speed by a huge margin.
Then, from the leader itself— I obtained the skill [Dominion Aura]. This is an active skill that allows me to project an overwhelming, crushing presence onto others, very similar to the terrifying pressure I felt radiating from the alpha earlier when it roared at me.
It's a growth-type skill as well; it looks like the potency of the aura will continue to get stronger and more oppressive the stronger I become myself.
'Just as I thought. Even if they belong to the same species, if they hold a position like a leader or possess something special— they still grant me a unique skill.'
I said in my head, making a mental note of this important new information regarding my innate skill, [Blood Is Power].
It really feels incredible whenever I acquire new skills and get stronger. I think I'm becoming genuinely addicted to this feeling of constant progression.
"Hmm, maybe I should try to hunt a few more monsters or wild animals on the way back to the group."
I mumbled to myself as I began the short trek back to the clearing where I left the others.
*****
I encountered a few stray bears and deers during my walk back, and I didn't hesitate to quickly kill them and drink their blood on the spot. Though, I didn't run into any other monsters, which was peobably because this section of the forest was the territory of the Dire Wolves.
And so, just like that— I arrived back at the location where the carriages were waiting after about a minute or so of steady walking.
I saw that Geremie and Albert had just finished up with their own tasks as well. Four dead Dire Wolves were laid out on the grass, and the two mercenaries were carefully dissecting the carcasses, working to harvest the parts that could be sold for a good price once we reached the city.
"Ohh, Sir Verc!"
Anyway, as I drew closer to the party, Miguel noticed me and immediately ran over to greet me with a look of relief. The two mercenaries stopped their messy work for a moment to look up and acknowledge my return.
"You really are a monster. I honestly thought it would take you much longer than this to deal with them and make your way back."
Albert said, sounding genuinely impressed by my speed.
"Yeah, I feel like it actually took you longer to lead the leader and those other three away from us than it did to actually kill them."
Geremie added with a nod. Well, what he said was indeed the truth, but I don't really need to explicitly confirm that to them, do I?
I just gave them a casual shrug of my shoulders, and opening my mouth—
"Haha, that's absurd. Anyway, thanks for staying behind and protecting the others and Bong. I was able to fight without any worries knowing you two were handling things back here."
I said that to them. The two of them looked quite bashful and sheepish after hearing my words of praise. I guess they have truly come to respect my strength now, which is why my compliments have such a visible effect on their confidence.
... ... ...
I decided to let the two of them continue dissecting the monsters they had killed in peace. Instead of hovering, I went over to tend to Bong, feeding him a bit and petting his mane while we all took a short rest in the clearing.
Miguel spent that time tending to the two coachmen as well. Both of the are originally from the village, working for Miguel just like Barbara and the two girls.
Anyway, after a few more minutes had passed...
The two mercenaries finally finished their harvest. They had successfully taken the thick fur, the sharp claws, and the long fangs from the Dire Wolves. Apparently, the meat of this specific monster is actually poisonous for humans to consume, so they simply left the carcasses behind to rot in the woods.
After hearing about the meat, I suggested that we should continue our journey immediately so we could clear the forest before the sun went down. I also mentioned that I would be staying at the very back of the line for a while to watch out for any potential ambushes from the rear. They didn't raise any questions or suspicions about my request.
So happily, as they were busily preparing the carriages to leave again— I secretly doubled back and checked the Dire Wolf carcasses the two had skinned and abandoned. Immediately, I knelt down and drank the remaining blood from all four bodies in a matter of seconds.
Once finished, I quickly returned to the group and told them that the rear was completely clear of any threats.
They had just finished their own preparations as well, and so once again— we started our journey forward.
*****
We encountered another set of monsters as we traveled even deeper into the heart of the forest.
This time, the threat came from a group of Ironhide Boars. They were massive, intimidating boars covered in hides that were as hard as reinforced metal. Geremie really does seem to know a lot about the various monsters inhabiting this region.
Well, he does look like a vetran in his 40s so he had probably seen and studied a lot about monsters, considering the line of his work.
Anyway, a small pack of the Ironhide Boars attacked us from the brush, and just like we did with the Dire Wolves, we split up to deal with them separately. There was no clear leader among them this time, though.
Anyway, I took charge of five of the boars myself and left the remaining three for the two mercenaries to handle.
And of course, I didn't let the chance to acquire a new skill pass me by. After killing my targets and drinking their blood, I obtained a new passive skill called [Reinforced Musculature]. This skill allows my muscles to generate significantly more physical force without actually increasing their physical size. This just made me even stronger in terms of raw physical power.
After regrouping with the others, Albert then informed me that while their metallic hides would sell for a very high price, their meat was also perfectly safe and delicious for humans to eat. So, unfortunately for me, I wasn't able to sneak away for a free power-up from the three they had killed.
We took the time to cook the meat from the three boars they handled and ate it as we traveled. It was actually very delicious, so I suppose missing out on their blood wasn't such a big deal in the end.
As we were traveling, the two mercenaries did eventually ask me why I didn't bother harvesting any parts from the monsters I killed, especially since I didn't take any of the boars' valuable hides.
I just looked at them calmly and told them that trying to carry all that extra weight would be a major hassle and would end up costing us a lot of precious time.
They clearly thought it was a massive waste of potential profit, but they also understood the logic that staying in this dangerous forest for too long would only invite more trouble.
Moving on from the boar encounter— no more monsters attacked our group, fortunately.
We kept pushing forward, and finally...
... ... ...
We managed to emerge from the dense trees and get out of the forest just as the sun was beginning to set on the horizon.
We were all quite tired.
I mean, the rest of them were genuinely exhausted, but I had to make sure I acted like I was feeling the same way to avoid suspicion.
And so, we traveled a bit further away from the edge of the forest to find a safe spot, and after that— we began setting up our tents for the night.
We will be spending the rest of the day resting here in the open field.