SSS-Rank Bloodline: Wolf Evolution

She thought about the matter for a brief moment, then added, "’What I am trying to say is that the Primal Core is not apparent while it is growing, so you did not notice its presence. In your case and in the case of weak monsters like you at E-Rank, it will be a small fleshy cluster, located somewhere in the chest area.’"

"So that is how it is, I understand." An enlightened expression appeared on Arthur’s face. His curiosity grew, and without restraining himself, he asked all his questions.

"Tell me, when will my Primal Core finish growing? And will I gain any new abilities when that happens? In general, will any major changes occur to my body? I mean like you."

He had not used her as an example without reason, for since he had seen her transform into a semi-human form, he had been eager to know the secret behind that, for despite getting used to the wolf’s life, he wished from the bottom of his heart to return to his human form, even if partially or temporarily.

As for the damage to his Primal Core, he was not concerned about this at all, his Primal Core was fine, and so was his bloodline, for what the spider woman did not know was that he had lost his skill because of the system malfunction, and not because of his internal injuries.

She did not reply to him, a heavy silence fell over the place, then suddenly the silk threads inside his body shook hard, which made him feel a little pain, and in the next moment her cold voice echoed inside his head.

"’Where is your respect, you insolent one, I have overlooked many of your mistakes, and was even generous enough to answer your question so do not push it, no, do you know what? You truly deserve some discipline.’" An overwhelming killing intent emanated from her, and she increased the agitation of the silk threads inside his body.

It was as though he was being tortured in several savage ways at the same time, he felt hellish pain, he gritted his fangs, and with great difficulty maintained his composure. He was barely able to suppress the sound of his screaming, which caused him to let out several muffled groans.

The seconds passed very slowly as though they were hours, the spider woman continued watching him, and without realizing it, she opened her mouth slightly revealing her astonishment. His endurance was very shocking to her.

’Why does he not beg? Why does he not scream?’ She felt challenged, and instead of disciplining him a little and stopping as she had initially planned, she continued torturing him for several minutes, and did not stop, until she realized she had gone too far.

Arthur sat in his place trembling and panting madly, blood flowed heavily from his nostrils and ear openings, and he barely remained conscious. She had hurt him severely yet could not shake his determination even slightly.

When the silk threads calmed down and that hellish pain he was feeling disappeared, he let out a long sigh, then said in the same usual calm and polite tone, as though nothing had happened,

"Thank you for your mercy, and I sincerely apologize for my impertinence, your wisdom was so overwhelming that I forgot myself."

The words of rebuke and sarcasm got stuck in her throat, the coldness in her tone disappeared, and all that came out of her mouth was a few soft stuttering words. "’Ah, well, it is alright.’"

She wanted to say more, but in the end she found nothing to say, she directed her attention to the prey he had brought, and as usual she moved her silk threads, they wrapped around them, and transferred them to the place where she was.

When she finished, she heard Arthur ask spontaneously. "Can I go now, I want to sleep."

He was greatly bothered by what had happened, but, despite that, he did not feel any anger or grudge toward her, and that was due to two reasons, first, declaring his hatred of her was useless and would not change anything, and second, his plan required a great deal of impertinence from him, and he had to endure the consequences of that.

Besides that, he could have made her stop torturing him with a few words of pleading or flattery, but he had intended from the beginning to clarify his refusal to submit in the first ordeal, and this was also part of his plan.

’Everything for the sake of survival, hah, it is truly strange how I have become accustomed to all this madness.’ He sighed silently, unable to determine whether this was a good or bad thing.

The spider woman did not reply to him directly, the silk walls around him shook, and in the next moment, half of the E-Rank buffalo fell beside him, and after that she said to him in a strange tone.

"’Eat all of this and rest well. The time I gave you is up. Starting tomorrow, you’ll have to hunt a lot of monsters for me.’"

Her presence disappeared, and silence returned to fill the place, Arthur stared at the half carcass for a short while then his lips twisted into a small cunning smile. ’Does she want to use a carrot and stick policy with me? No, I think she is just concerned, this is very good, it seems I have managed to influence her greatly during this short period.’

He kept his thoughts and emotions hidden, and with a suspicious smile he dragged the half carcass to his room, ate it, then slept.

...

The following morning he woke up a little late, and to maintain the cleanliness of his room, he took out the carcass remains, and cleaned up the blood traces. After that he headed to the river to drink, and also hunted a few fish and ate them for breakfast.

As noon approached, he was fully prepared to hunt for the spider woman. He headed toward the lake, and as usual, searched for a good spot, and hid in it.

Time passed slowly, and despite the boredom, he did not move from his place, and continued watching cautiously, and after two full hours of waiting, his first prey arrived, a herd of tree deer.

This time, Arthur didn’t wait for the crocodiles to attack first. The deer were fast, and if he gave them the chance, they would escape.

He watched them with anticipation, and when he confirmed they had lowered their guard, or rather directed their full attention toward the lake, he crept behind them silently. The moment he got close enough, he pounced on them.

The deer noticed his presence and were terrified. With the path ahead of them blocked by water, they hesitated for a very brief moment before fleeing. That was what he wanted. He used that brief moment to close the gap between himself and a fat E-Rank tree deer and grabbed it.

He drove his claws into its body and quickly dragged it away from the lake, the moment he moved a short distance, a massive crocodile surfaced, fixed him with a wicked look, and let out a frightening hiss.

Arthur paid it no attention, finished off the deer, and without wasting the precious time, took it to the nest, handed it to the spider woman, then returned to the lake but suddenly stopped midway, for he had noticed something was wrong.

He sniffed the air hard, and carefully examined everything around him, a suspicious expression appeared on his face, and he thought. ’What is this disgusting scent? I passed through here half an hour ago and it was not present, something had changed.’

The scent was somewhat familiar, and before he could identify the reason, his instincts and bloodline both reacted at the same time, unusually so, and warned him of the presence of a dangerous creature lurking around him.

’This is not good.’ His expression darkened, and since he could not determine its location even though he had examined everything around him, he realized it was a type of creature skilled at concealment and camouflage.

He activated King’s Dominion and Iron Will skills, prepared himself to fight for his life, and at the same time, retreated very slowly and cautiously as though he were in the middle of a minefield.

Rasp!

Growl!

Suddenly a massive pile of accumulated mushrooms two hundred meters away shook, and a terrifying harsh breathing sound came from it that sent shivers through his entire body.

His instincts screamed in warning, and without any hesitation, without even thinking, he fled at his maximum speed, at that very same moment, the massive pile of mushrooms moved and began chasing him.

With every step it took, the ground shook slightly, and the mushrooms not firmly attached fell off, which made the monster’s true form become clearer, it was a massive deformed bear, mushrooms covered its entire body like parasites, as for the few bare parts of its skin, they were filled with festering wounds, and worms.

Its appearance was disgusting in every sense of the word.