CHAPTER 155 - STALKING

With his powerful body, Han Wu quickly pursued the humanoid, remaining concealed within the shadows. As he stalked his target, he witnessed the humanoid, now clearly identified as a human, singlehandedly eliminating packs of wolves. It wasn’t until the human killed thirty wolves that the exhausted human smiled.

The human began to mutter in a strange, unfamiliar language that Han Wu found incomprehensible. A language barrier was a well-known challenge when exploring an unknown civilization, yet Han Wu remained unperturbed. He calmly persisted in stalking the human, closely observing his actions.

After hunting down the wolves, the human approached one wolf carcass and, raising his right arm, chanted, “Huracan.” Immediately afterward, the wolf corpse disappeared, turning into a slab of wolf meat and a piece of wolf pelt. The human then lifted his left arm, revealing a jewel ring, which both the meat and pelt were instantly absorbed into.

Han Wu was utterly astounded to discover that this civilization possessed technology as advanced as spatial storage, especially considering it was wielded by such a weak human. This revelation served as an indication that the civilization could prove to be a valuable target for future invasion.

The human, who was merely an Elite life form at most, remained completely oblivious to Han Wu’s presence. After converting the wolf carcasses into usable material and safely storing them, the human located a nearby tree stump, settled down beside it, and began to eat some jerky retrieved from his spatial ring.

An individual without any companions, like himself, always had to maintain his stamina at all times to ensure he possessed enough energy to flee from any unforeseen threats or dangers. Meanwhile, Han Wu carefully observed the human, busily compiling a series of mental notes.

Before long, another group of humanoids appeared in the area. The group consisted of a human, a dwarf, and a Blue Blood. The lone human, who had been resting, immediately noticed their arrival and warily drew his sword, his gaze fixed on them. The three newcomers exchanged a quick, knowing glance among themselves and deliberately encircled the lone human.

A fierce struggle ensued, but the battle was short-lived; the lone man soon perished due to a sneak attack by the Blue Blood. The three wasted no time, quickly stripping the fallen man of his equipment and his spatial ring before fleeing the scene. They felt no apprehension about abandoning the body, as the strong scent of blood had already alerted nearby wolves, which were now hurtling towards the location.

Han Wu quickly approached the fallen human’s corpse, only to find that the three had taken everything valuable, leaving nothing of worth behind but a small sack containing some clothes. Just as he turned to leave, his gaze caught a small iron plate fastened to the man’s waist, which, surprisingly, had been overlooked by the three assailants.

Some unknown alphabets were engraved on the iron plate, but Han Wu figured it might come in handy since the man had been carrying it. He took the plate, secured it to his own waist, and immediately set off in pursuit of the group.

Han Wu had only just left the area when a ravenous pack of wolves descended upon and completely devoured the corpse. In just three minutes, they left nothing but bones, effectively cleaning up the crime scene. He, meanwhile, diligently shadowed the group of three for half a day, learning much valuable information.

The most valuable information he had gleaned was confirmation that he was in a special hunting ground designed for upgrading an individual’s level and title.He realized this after observing the trio take out a map and engage in an extensive discussion.

The map depicted the oval-shaped hunting ground, which was further divided into different smaller regions. There was a forest indicated by tree drawings, a sand region marked by small dots, a marshy region represented by circles of varying sizes, and several others.

The three individuals appeared to be engaged in a serious discussion concerning a particular cave marked on their map. Judging by their grim expressions, Han Wu deduced that the area was very dangerous—for them, anyway. It took a lot of convincing from the human to finally get the dwarf and the Blue Blood to agree to investigate the cave.

Han Wu carefully stalked them. Along the way, they encountered other groups, but no attacks occurred as all parties were equally matched in numbers or strength.

Before long, the three safely arrived at the cave. Once there, the human began to also boast about his recent accomplishments to the Blue Blood, all the while delegating every difficult and unpleasant task to the dwarf. The dwarf was visibly upset at this treatment.

As they stepped into the cave, Han Wu discreetly followed behind. The primary inhabitants of the caves weren’t wolves, but instead bizarre creatures—spiders with wolf heads, known as wolf spiders. These creatures also seemed to be influenced by his Wolf Slayer title, because the instant they caught his scent, they aggressively moved to attack him.

Webs shot forth from the wolf spiders, aiming to ensnare him, but he effortlessly tore through them. While these creatures proved stronger than the average wolf, with each wolf spider possessing strength on par with an Elite life form, none of them posed a threat. Unfortunately for them, Han Wu’s current abilities put him on par with a Lord life form, making him unstoppable.

He quickly dealt with them, and in doing so, obtained a new Iron title, the Spider Slayer. Equipping the title would increase his damage output towards spiders by 10% and set their default affinity to him to Hostile. The title also stated that Han Wu could unequip his Wolf Slayer title and replace it with Spider Slayer. Without hesitation, he agreed and proceeded to exchange his currently equipped titles.

Upon equipping the Spider Slayer title, Han Wu immediately detected a distinct change in the odor his body emitted and quickly deduced that this new scent would incite hostility in nearby spiders. With his title now switched, he continued to discreetly follow the group, efficiently eliminating every wolf spider that dared to obstruct his path.

With the help of Gene Recombination, he soon upgraded his title to Bronze. In addition to strengthening its current effects, it also granted him the Fireball skill. Fireball had a one-minute cooldown, and each time one was cast, it would consume a portion of the caster’s stamina.

Han Wu initially dismissed the Fireball skill as useless, but that opinion quickly changed after he found that it was extremely useful in burning away the webs blocking his path, saving him a considerable amount of trouble. He proceeded deeper into the cave until he came upon a huge cavern. Inside, the three humanoids were locked in combat against the boss—a massive wolf spider that towered at two meters tall even without fully standing up. Its enormous body stretched four meters in length, yet it moved with surprising agility, continuously spitting out thick webs to prevent its opponents’ escape.

The three could barely harm the wolf spider and, despite their efforts, couldn’t even outrun it. They were quickly overwhelmed, captured in webs, and wrapped in cocoons before being dragged into the depths of the cave. Han Wu carefully trailed the beast, eventually reaching a particular section of the cave. Here, various human-sized cocoons hung suspended from the ceiling, revealing that this was the giant wolf spider’s larder.

Clusters of white spider eggs lay scattered beneath the cocoons. Several of these eggs were visibly pulsating, indicating they were on the verge of hatching. However, Han Wu had no intention of allowing them to emerge and immediately unleashed a Fireball. The intense heat generated by the spell consumed most of the eggs, and it was then, from the direction the Fireball originated, that the massive wolf spider finally detected Han Wu’s presence.

Enraged, the Unique wolf spider queen charged at Han Wu, its fangs bared, intent on tearing him to shreds. Han Wu, however, responded with a casual yawn and swung his fist in a relaxed, almost bored manner. With that simple punch, the massive wolf spider was instantly reduced to mince meat.

Having successfully slain a Silver wolf spider, Han Wu’s title ranked up to Silver grade. This upgrade not only enhanced the benefits of his existing three skills but also granted him a powerful new ability: Summon Wolf Spiders. By exhausting some of his stamina, he could now summon ten to twenty Bronze wolf spiders to attack a designated enemy.

“Not bad,” Han Wu muttered, quite pleased with the effects of the new skill.