Fairy Tale Survival with Ability Copying

Little Red Riding Hood Emily had soft light-golden curls, rosy cheeks, and clear light-brown eyes filled with bright, childlike innocence.

What stood out most was the scarlet little cloak draped over her shoulders. The red hood fit snugly over her head and hung down to her shoulders, making her skin appear even fairer.

She wore a light gray linen dress tied at the waist with a thin cloth belt, and on her feet were sturdy leather boots suitable for walking through the forest.

Both of her hands clutched a small wicker basket tightly.

The basket was lined with a clean white cloth. Inside sat a freshly baked honey spice cake that still retained a trace of warmth—thick, golden, and fragrant with cinnamon and wheat.

Beside the cake was a small bottle of deep purplish-red wine sealed with a cork and stored in a rough clay bottle. These things had been prepared by her mother to help nourish her sick grandmother.

She had only just entered the forest when the trees gradually became denser and the light dimmer.

At first, sunlight still filtered through the leaves and branches, but the deeper she went, the darker it became. Thick tree trunks layered one after another, blocking most of the daylight. Only scattered patches of light and shadow remained in the forest. Occasionally, a few bird calls echoed through the woods, making the surroundings seem even quieter.

Just as the path curved ahead, a tall and powerfully built man suddenly stepped out from the shadows of the trees.

His physique was unusually robust, with broad shoulders and arms far stronger than those of an ordinary woodcutter. He wore a dark brown coarse-cloth coat with the collar open, exposing a hard-lined neck.

His hair was a messy dark black, and short stubble covered his chin. His features were deep and rugged. His eyes appeared gentle at first glance, yet concealed a sharp glint like that of a beast.

The man revealed what looked like a friendly, even somewhat honest smile, and spoke in a deep, magnetic voice: "Little girl, where are you heading so early? Is there something delicious in that basket?"

The big man's gaze seemed to fall casually upon the wicker basket in her arms. His nose twitched slightly, catching the sweet fragrance of the cake and the rich scent of the wine. A dark glimmer flashed through his eyes so quickly that it was impossible to notice—the instinctive craving of a beast toward food and prey. Yet his expression remained warm and gentle.

Little Red Riding Hood was completely deceived by his friendly appearance and felt no fear at all.

She revealed a faint smile and replied, "Ah! I'm going to my grandmother's house. She's sick, so Mother asked me to bring her cake and wine."

"And also, I'm not called little girl. I'm Little Red Riding Hood."

"Oh, Little Red Riding Hood. Hello there." Strange light flickered deep within the big man's eyes. "You really are a filial child."

"Thank you. How should I address you?" Little Red Riding Hood asked politely.

"A name, hm? My ancestors worshipped wolves as their totem. In that case, you can call me Mr. Wolf."

"Mr. Wolf? What a strange name!" Little Red Riding Hood said with a slightly odd expression, though she did not think too deeply about it or become wary.

"Strange?" Mr. Wolf's smile turned eerie, though Little Red Riding Hood could not tell. He simply said, "Little Red Riding Hood, where does your grandmother live?"

"It's still a bit farther after entering the forest. Her house is beneath three great oak trees, and there's a hedge of walnut trees around it. You must know the place."

Little Red Riding Hood answered honestly without the slightest guard.

After learning the grandmother's address, something stirred in Mr. Wolf's heart. He glanced at the surrounding scenery before saying: "Little Red Riding Hood, look at how beautiful all these flowers are around you."

"Why not stop and take a look?"

"And listen to these little birds. Their singing is so lovely."

"You probably haven't even noticed it, have you?"

"Everything in the forest is so beautiful, yet all you care about is hurrying forward, ignoring the wonderful scenery around you."

Hearing those words, Little Red Riding Hood lifted her head and saw sunlight dancing between the branches while beautiful flowers bloomed all around her.

She could not help but think, 'Perhaps I should pick a bouquet of flowers for Grandmother to make her happy. It's still early, so there's plenty of time.'

And so she was tempted.

Leaving the main forest path behind, she wandered deeper into the woods to gather flowers.

Every time she picked one blossom, she would notice an even prettier flower farther ahead and continue onward. Before she realized it, she had wandered deep into the forest.

Meanwhile, the seemingly honest Mr. Wolf ran through the woods with inhuman speed and quickly arrived at Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother's house beneath the three great oak trees.

Inside the cottage—

Though she had lived under a false identity for many years, her senses remained as sharp as ever.

The grandmother lying upon the bed suddenly opened her eyes.

Within those cloudy, dim old eyes, an extremely faint yet chilling golden light abruptly flashed past.

She sensed the presence of her own kind.

That immediately filled her with unease.

Weakly propping herself up, her withered fingers gripped the blankets tightly until her knuckles turned pale. The usual gentleness faded from her aged face as her gaze fixed upon the doorway, leaving behind only solemn coldness.

Outside the cottage—

Mr. Wolf adjusted his clothing, making himself appear a little less crude, then politely knocked on the door.

"Good day, Princess Artoria."

Mr. Wolf's voice came from outside.

The moment his words fell, the door was violently smashed open.

The towering man who had previously disguised himself as kind and honest now stood in the doorway.

He no longer concealed the savage presence radiating from his body. His black hair stood on end strand by strand. His pupils had completely transformed into the vertical pupils of a wolf, glowing with eerie green light. The muscles on his face began twisting and deforming, his teeth growing longer and sharper.

The instant his hands touched the ground, dense dark gray wolf fur spread across his limbs. His body rapidly expanded, completely shedding its human skin as he transformed into an enormous werewolf with a vicious appearance—the Moonchaser of the werewolf race.

"Princess, you have stained the honor of the Golden Wolf Royal Family by joining with a mere human. Your father is furious about this. He sent me to eliminate you and the filth you brought into this world."

Mr. Wolf coldly declared this to Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother.

Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother—Artoria herself—underwent a drastic change in expression.

This was clearly an attempt to exterminate her daughter and granddaughter completely.

Enduring her weakened state, she struggled to rise and assume her werewolf form to fight this Moonchaser. If not for herself, then at least for the sake of her daughter and granddaughter.

But it was useless.

This Mr. Wolf before her had already reached the level of a high-tier werewolf and was also a Moonchaser. Among humans, that corresponded to the combat strength of a Sky Knight. During a full moon, his strength would even increase by several more degrees.

As for Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother, although she possessed the highest bloodline of the werewolf race, she had not fought for many years. Her strength had greatly deteriorated, and she was currently sick on top of that.

She had almost no power to resist.

Mr. Wolf knocked her unconscious with ease, then opened his massive maw and horrifyingly swallowed the wolf grandmother whole in a single bite.

This was an innate ability of his race.

As long as he fully devoured and digested the former Golden Wolf Princess, he would be able to absorb the power within her bloodline and strengthen himself further, reaching a level beyond that of a high-tier werewolf.

Of course, digestion required time.

The Golden Wolf Princess would slowly perish from terror while trapped alive within his stomach.

And one Golden Wolf Princess might not be enough for him to eat.

There was still her granddaughter.

Though she was a mixed-blood, she still possessed the Golden Wolf bloodline. Devouring her would likewise nourish his body.

A thought crossed his mind, and his body slowly shrank as he attempted to return to human form. However, because he had swallowed Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother, he still retained a half-man, half-wolf appearance.

He put on Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother's clothes, wore her hat, climbed onto the bed, and pulled the blanket over himself as he quietly waited for Little Red Riding Hood to walk into the trap.

...

A faint blue light flashed through Levi's eyes.

No one noticed it.

Information regarding the Karaf family, one of the wealthy households in the village, immediately appeared before him.

Originally, this had merely been one of Levi's habitual actions.

Unexpectedly, he really did discover something unusual.

Karaf himself was perfectly normal—a completely ordinary villager.

But his wife was somewhat abnormal.

Through Detection, Levi discovered that this Laura was actually a human-werewolf hybrid.

A mixture between the human race and the dark race known as the werewolves.

Information regarding the werewolf race was also revealed through Detection.

This was a race that dwelled within darkness and was hunted and judged by the Church's Inquisition as heretics. Under normal circumstances, they appeared human, but during emotional agitation or combat, they transformed into half-man, half-wolf forms—the werewolf state.

In this state, werewolves possessed superhuman senses. Their night vision, smell, and hearing far surpassed those of ordinary humans. They also possessed extremely rapid regeneration. Ordinary wounds healed within seconds, broken bones rapidly repaired themselves, and the stronger and more noble the werewolf bloodline, the faster the regeneration became.

They also possessed monstrous strength capable of overturning carriages and tearing apart heavy armor. They could sprint through forests at terrifying speeds, while members of the same race could transmit information and sense one another's locations through howls.

However, the Laura before him was merely a half-werewolf.

Her mother had been a pureblood werewolf, while her father had only been an ordinary human.

Since there was no reproductive barrier between them, they had given birth to Laura, this half-werewolf whose bloodline had yet to awaken.

Half-werewolves were stronger than ordinary humans in terms of strength, senses, and regeneration. Even their lifespan exceeded that of normal humans.

That was why this Lady Laura, despite already being in her thirties, still looked barely in her early twenties.

Of course, that was not the important part.

The important part was that Levi had discovered through Detection that this Lady Laura was actually a supporting character within the fairy tale instance of Little Red Riding Hood—the very mother who had asked Little Red Riding Hood to deliver cake and wine.

This mother was a half-werewolf with mixed human and wolf blood.

Her mother—in other words, Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother—was a pureblood werewolf hiding within human society.

Pureblood werewolves were extremely powerful. Even in old age, dealing with a giant wolf would not have been difficult for her.

Yet in the fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood, both the girl and her grandmother had been swallowed by a wolf.

If that was the case, then that wolf was clearly no ordinary creature either.

Levi recalled that in the fairy tale, the wolf had even been able to converse normally with Little Red Riding Hood. Viewed as a fairy tale, that naturally did not feel particularly strange.

But if one applied real-world logic to it, would you not be terrified if a wolf suddenly spoke to you in the middle of a forest?

However, if that wolf possessed a human appearance and spoke to you with a warm, pleasant demeanor, then things might be completely different—

Levi now suspected—or rather, was almost one hundred percent certain—that the wolf who had devoured Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother in the fairy tale was actually a werewolf.

Having already experienced several fairy tale instances, Levi had come to understand that the situations recorded within fairy tale books differed somewhat from reality.

More accurately, the fairy tale books concealed many truths within subtle details.

The story of Little Red Riding Hood was the same.

The only question was: why did that werewolf want to devour Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother?

Levi pondered this quietly to himself.

Carrying that question in his mind, he walked over to Karaf and Laura.

"Good evening, sir."

Karaf and Laura greeted Levi somewhat nervously as he stepped down from the alchemical carriage, their eyes secretly sizing him up from the corners of their vision.

Look.

How handsome he was!

Just like a prince.

Look!

How elegant his clothes were!

As though he were about to attend a royal banquet.

Look!

How spotless his boots were!

As though they had never once stepped upon muddy ground.

Ah!

He must surely be a person of incomparably noble status.

Those were the thoughts running through Karaf and his wife's minds.

If Levi heard that, he would probably laugh himself to death.

But that was not what interested him right now.

What interested him was their daughter—Little Red Riding Hood.

Levi looked at the couple and said, "Good evening, sir and madam. Sorry to trouble you."

"You are too polite. Your arrival brings us tremendous honor. So long as you do not mind how humble our home is."

"Please, come in."

Karaf extended an invitation to Levi's group.

Laura then added from the side, "Sir, we baked a cake yesterday, and we also have wine. Would you like to try some?"

"Thank you, but there's no need." Levi shook his head. "Staying in your home is already enough trouble for you."

"Instead, why not try the food I brought?"

Levi then said to Yalina, "Yalina, go into the carriage and bring out the desserts and wine from the table."

Yalina froze for a moment.

The food had already all been eaten. There were only spices and tools left inside the carriage. What desserts was he talking about?

Could he possibly mean that bread, ham, and wine from before?

But Levi had clearly said desserts!

Wait—

Yalina was utterly bewildered.

"Understood."

At that moment, everyone's curious eyes were fixed upon her, leaving Yalina with no choice but to enter the carriage first.

The instant she stepped inside, she saw that the table within the carriage was now filled with furniture she had never seen before, along with all sorts of cream fruit cakes that looked incredibly delicious, as well as bottles of red, green, and white wine.

Yalina was utterly astonished.

She had never seen any of these things before.

She could swear upon the life of Rune Winter that before noon, none of these items had existed inside Levi's carriage.

It was as though they had grown out of the earth over the course of a single afternoon.

Was this yet another miraculous method possessed by her wizard lord?

Yalina could not help wondering just how many abilities he actually possessed.

What Yalina did not know was that this ability had only been mastered by her wizard lord after encountering the Sky Knight Rune Winter at noon.

Levi used Synthesis!

Then combined it with Gathering Technique!

And finally synthesized food, furniture, and countless other things.

Not merely bread, ham, and wine.

Levi could even synthesize the delicacies stored within his memories.

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I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> /TitoVillar

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