Chapter 86: My luck is not that bad…

Leaving that aside, he slowly turned back to the wolf’s corpse again.

His mind raced with various thoughts… as he imagined multiple scenarios in which he could use his skill.

He had gained the skill [Inventory], and it could be used in multiple ways. Its value was more than he had thought it was previously.

It couldn’t just be used to store items, but it will also help him so much during combat or other necessary situations.

Lucian exhaled quietly and put the backpack into his inventory.

The instant he did, the weight vanished from his hands.

After staring at his empty hand for a second, wondering how it had just disappeared, slowly he closed his eyes.

He thought about the space where he had put the items, focusing inwardly, and suddenly he felt like he had entered another space.

It was the space of the inventory, and Lucian could see the backpack floating in the dark void.

The process of accessing it came to him instinctively.

After a moment of silently staring into the dark space, he opened his eyes, returning to the cold,corpse-littered reality around him.

But he didn’t linger on that too much.

Now wasn’t the time, nor the place to experiment with a skill.

No matter how useful it was, he didn’t have the luxury while being surrounded by unknown dangers.

‘Let’s remove the core first,’ he thought, before stabbing the bone dagger into the chest area of the wolf’s corpse.

He dragged the dagger, slicing through its chest, before plunging his hand into it.

Removing the bloodied core, he looked at it for a moment.

The core was slightly bigger than the normal F rank cores, confirming Akasha’s words on how it was in the process of its evolution.

After a second, the dark, bloodied, marble-like core vanished from his hand.

Lucian couldn’t help but marvel at how the skill was working.

The item in his hands just vanished, not even flickering or turning into sparkles.

It didn’t even take a second for it to vanish.

Slowly, he closed his eyes again, and he could clearly see the core floating in the inventory space, along with the backpack beside it.

Despite the darkness inside the space, he could clearly see the items inside.

Lucian didn’t know if it was because of his Night Vision or if he could see because it was his personal space.

But whatever it was, he appreciated it.

It brought out a smile on his face as he reopened his eyes.

“This makes things so much easier—”

Lucian stopped suddenly.

The words he was about to say paused before he closed his mouth shut.

His eyes sharpened as his head snapped back, his gaze instantly locking onto the source of that disturbance.

Another creature.

Another wolf… that was slowly sneaking behind him.

The wolf’s body was low, its movements careful and deliberate.

Its steps were soft, so soft that they were almost inaudible.

Even Lucian only heard it because of the faint rustling of the corpses while its paws hit one of the bodies as it walked through them.

The monster was startled for a second, seeing the human suddenly turn at him.

Its body froze for a brief moment.

But then—

“Grrraaaa—!”

It growled loudly before aggressively lunging at him.

Lucian didn’t think; his body instantly reacted.

He put force in his legs, muscles tightening in his calves, as he pushed himself sideways, as it missed its attack.

“Grrr…”

A low growl escaped its mouth as it slowly moved around him.

Lucian adjusted his posture, his grip tightening around the knife, as his eyes sharpened.

The wolf’s eyes looked at him with a feral hunger.

Then—

Without warning, it jumped at him again, slashing its paw at his stomach.

Lucian, seeing no way to attack, stepped back.

The attack failed.

Its limbs slashed at nothing.

Lucian didn’t give it much time to get back. He tightened his grip over the knife, stepping in before plunging it into its neck, or at least the place near its neck.

It slashed its other arm in a sudden, desperate motion, making Lucian remove the hold over the knife as he instinctively stepped back to avoid the follow-up strike.

His feet scraped against the ground as he created distance between himself and the wounded beast.

The wolf let out a rough, strained grunt, its body trembling slightly as one of its limbs faltered beneath it for a second before it regained its balance.

Its stance was uneven, but still dangerous… very much capable of killing him if he made even the smallest mistake.

Lucian clicked his tongue, irritation flickering in his eyes, seeing the bone dagger clutched onto the wolf’s neck, as it instinctively moved its head towards it, grunting in pain.

But even then—

Its eyes didn’t move away from him, and neither did Lucian’s.

They stared at each other in silence, a tense, suffocating moment stretching between the predator and prey—though neither of them was willing to accept which role they truly played.

“Grrrrr…”

Rather than directly attacking him, it snarled, a growl rumbling from its throat, before it slowly began circling around him, its steps cautious and measured.

‘I don’t have a weapon now,’ Lucian thought, before a thought struck his mind.

His eyes sparkled slightly.

He opened his palm slightly, focusing on the inventory space that felt as natural to him as moving his own limbs.

And in the next instant—

Another bone dagger appeared in his hands.

His fingers closed around the handle, gripping it firmly and tightly.

“It’s not that strong,” he mumbled to himself, his voice low and calm—aside from the faint trembling caused by his heavy breathing—seeing the creature not attacking him.

Sweat was clinging to his forehead, and his chest heaved up and down because of the constant battle.

Lucian wasn’t in a hurry to kill it.

There was no need for that.

Blood was spilling from its wound, dripping steadily onto the ground, dark and thick.

The longer it took to attack him, the weaker it would become, each second draining more of its strength away.

Without breaking his focus, he instantly activated his skill.

His gaze sharpened slightly as the status panel appeared before his eyes.

[Analysing…]

[Analysis Complete.]

[Status Window — Direwolf]𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Race – Direwolf

Rank – F

Titles – None

Bloodline – Wild Fang Bloodline

Affinity – None

— — —

Lucian looked at the blue translucent screen hovering before him, showing the entire status window of the wolf trembling before him.

‘Direwolf…’ he thought inwardly as he continued looking at the other sections, reading through them swiftly.

But even as he did that—

He couldn’t help but compare this wolf to the previous one he just fought.

That one…

He hadn’t seen its status, as it hadn’t crossed his mind, his mind entirely focused on the fight at that time.

But still—

He knew.

That one was more ferocious, more dangerous than this one.

He could handle this.

He exhaled, reaching his hand over his face as he removed the mask entirely, which had been resting just below his chin, making it slightly difficult to move his neck, irritating him.

“Seems like my luck is not that bad…” he muttered under his breath, seeing the monster faltering before him.

Its legs had begun trembling.

The strength in them was fading.

Seeing the small smile on his face, it growled loudly.

But, before Lucian could get any happier—

His ears picked up something.

“OOOuuuuuu!”

“Ouuuuu…!”

“OOUuuu!”

Lucian’s body tensed suddenly, hearing the loud howls echoing through the air, along with the loud footsteps that were getting closer and closer.

Lucian’s gaze flickered around his surroundings for a second.

But in that small moment of distraction—

The wounded direwolf suddenly dashed forward, abandoning its cautious circling as it lunged at him with everything it had left, its jaws opening wide as it closed up to him.

Lucian’s eyes sharpened as he suddenly did something crazy.

Rather than dodging, which was impossible at such a distance, he stepped forward.

His hands shot upwards, moving with explosive speed as he grabbed the direwolf’s jaws with both of his hands, his fingers pressing against the upper and lower parts of its mouth, stopping just inches away from his face.

The impact jolted sharply through his arms, sending a brief shock through his muscles, but he didn’t relent or loosen his hold.

The direwolf was stunned for a moment, but soon it reacted.

Violently.

Its jaws strained, trying to snap its mouth shut, which Lucian didn’t let happen.

With his increased strength, his arms locked in place, his muscles tightening as he resisted the force.

The beast growled louder, more frantic now.

In desperation, the direwolf’s front limbs shot toward him, aiming to tear into his body.

But before they could reach him—

Lucian moved.

He twisted its head sideways, using the grip over its jaws, redirecting its movement, pivoting its entire body, along with its previous attack.

Its claws missed.

Its jaws snapped shut.

Without giving it a moment to move further—

Lucian raised his legs and kicked it hard, slamming it over the road, along with the few corpses who were pushed slightly as the wolf’s body collided into them.

Lucian’s grip tightened over the knife before he dashed at it.

Fast.

But just as he was halfway—

Something flickered in his peripheral vision.

His eyes snapped toward the side—

And widened.

Without slowing down, without stopping—

He suddenly twisted his body mid-run, forcing his momentum to shift as he barely dodged another bite, the jaws clamping shut right where his neck had been a moment ago.

He landed, turning instantly.

Facing one more wolf that had just arrived.

But then, as if that wasn’t over—

One after another, more and more wolves came towards him, before keeping a fair distance as they circled him.

Lucian’s eyes twitched slightly, but his expression didn’t change, still refusing to show tension on his face despite being in such a situation.

“My luck is really bad…” he muttered under his breath, cursing himself for praising his luck just a moment ago.

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