Chapter 17: Chapter 16

'What a rough day…' I thought when the Cerberus was finally out of my sight. But seriously, meeting a Dragon and a Cerberus in just one day? Talk about incredible bad luck!! Of course, I didn't forget that I owed lady luck my life two times now, but I think it was safe to assume that it was already evened out because of meeting those two powerful monsters. Besides, when I looked at it more carefully. The reason my life was endangered in the first place was because of those unlucky encounters. It was the same with the snake and even more so with that Dragon and Cerberus.

'Seriously, this life has been so freaking dangerous and eventful ever since my memories had resurfaced… Well, I guess that I can also say the same about my past two lives huh?'

When that thought crossed my mind, I honestly felt depressed. Because when I carefully looked at it, I started to realize that I had experienced some pretty terrible stuff in both of my memories. It was as if I was cursed by the heavens to always experience some setbacks in every turn of my life. And although it was true that because of those experiences I have become a much more mentally strong individual, I would gladly take a mediocre but stable life if I was given a choice.

'Well, at least in my life as a human, I met some trusted companions and even had experienced a good life before I died… Although I cannot say the same thing with my life as a normal wolf, at the very least I can make some difference now since I had two memories within me.'

Of course, I knew that standing here wallowing in my insecurities wasn't a good idea. That was why after I returned to my senses, I carefully and silently dragged the dead bee towards the cave where the two Hellhounds came from. Now, some of you must have been thinking that it was a really bad idea. But I disagree and the reasoning for that was quite simple…

First reason. Since it was pretty much already established that the Hellhounds were not only carnivorous but also cannibalistic, then it goes to show that those things couldn't possibly live in packs. Most likely, those things live alone and hunt for their food on their own. (Although because of this, the process of how those things reproduce became a complete mystery.) Anyway, because of that fact, I could confidently conclude that the cave must have been the lair of one of those Hellhounds, and since both of them were dead, then that lair was now surely empty.

Second reason. When I first found the two Hellhounds, the two of them were both inside a cave which was, by all means, goes against my first conclusion. So, if that was the case, why would two Hellhounds stay inside a single lair and then try to consume each other? And for that question, there were two possibilities. One was that those two may have been a couple of Hellhounds who were living inside a single lair together. But of course, given their basic nature of being cannibalistic, that was highly unlikely to be the case. And so, that would only leave the other possibility in which one of those Hellhounds must have been on a hunt only to be followed by the other when it tried to return to its lair. Probably, I only came at just the right time when one of the Hellhounds confronted the owner of the lair. Of course, it was also possible that one of them just happened to wander inside the lair, and it just got caught by its owner while searching the place. But given the behavior of those things, I doubt they have the habit of leaving some stocked-up food behind. Meaning, there was no reason for the other Hellhound to search the lair of the other to find some stocked-up food.

Now, there may have been some arguments along the lines of; 'but is it possible for a beast as feral as that to have any intelligence to follow a prey unto its nest?' Okay, listen here. That was only the impression I got when I saw them fighting. And that also meant that I had not the slightest idea of how clever those things were when it comes to hunting for prey. For all I know, those things might be the same as those savage and crazy killers I encountered in my past life as a human. Seriously, those guys were definitely barbaric, but they were all still incredibly crafty when it came to hunting for their targets.

Anyway, now that I was quite sure that there were no threats within that cave, I could now use it as a temporary base until I have completely recovered. Furthermore, If I was lucky, it was possible that the original owner may have left a newly killed prey untouched given that it was ambushed just right after it came out to hunt for food. But regardless if that was the case or not, having a place to recover was still a lot better than nothing at all.

Luckily, when I entered the cave, all my deductions were proven right. Because the moment I stepped inside, my eyes immediately caught a glimpse of a lizard-type monster lying dead at the center of the cave. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that aside from the clearly fatal wound on its neck, there was also a torn-up flesh near its stomach. Most likely, that wound was made by the Hellhound when it was about to eat the lizard here. Unfortunately, it looked like the Hellhound was ambushed before it even managed to have another bite.

'Lucky!! Now, with this lizard and bee, I can finally be sure that the evolution process will be safe!!'

Originally, as long as I found a safe place to hide, I was planning to proceed with evolution using only the bee as the sole source of nutrition. Of course, it was incredibly risky, but given my current condition, I doubt that using devour on the bee would be enough to heal my injuries. That was why I thought that instead of using my skill, I would rather bet on the full recovery effect of evolution. But now, with the size of this lizard monster, I was pretty sure that I could evolve safely now.

Normally, if we were talking about the size of the lizard monsters that I had fought previously, I was sure that it wouldn't be enough even if I combined it with the bee. But given the size of this particular lizard, that wouldn't be a problem. Actually, I have already seen one of these lizard monsters before. To be specific, it was the evolution of those lizard monsters from before. And apparently, this lizard monster was called a [Horned Umbrazard].

'Okay, now let's start preparing for a safe evolution!!'

After deciding my course of action, I started dragging the lizard and bee into the corner of the cave. Of course, I couldn't just start the evolution process without taking proper measures first. It may sound paranoid, but I couldn't risk sleeping here knowing that the former owner of this place has been ambushed inside. Fortunately, there were a lot of bones scattered around this cave that I could use to make a temporary fence and trap. First, I gathered the bones that were long enough, sturdy, and also sharp enough to pierce a tough hide. After gathering all the bones that fitted that criteria, I started stabbing all of it on a diagonal position pointing its sharp edges at the entrance of the cave. Essentially, I was creating an anti-cavalry spike.

Normally, using bones to make an anti-cavalry spike was a bad idea because of how brittle a bone could be. But in this case, these monster bones were so sturdy that they could probably rival a wood or metal in that department. Actually, I have already noticed this when I used a bone to catch those tadpoles one time. But now I was sure. These things were abnormally sturdy compared to normal bones. Not only that, but it also seemed like if a monster was powerful, they would naturally have some sturdy bones inside them. Fortunately, that feature has been working in my favor so far.

After pushing my battered body to finish that menial task, I gazed at my work from deep within the cave. 'With this, huge monsters will not be able to enter this cave.' Honestly, there were probably a lot of monsters in this place that could easily enter this cave, despite all of those traps. And when I said that, I am not only talking about snake-like monsters that could just crawl around those spikes. I was talking about monsters who could just destroy those traps without even breaking a sweat. I know that it sounds pessimistic, but based on what I have seen so far, I was certain that monsters like that exist.

'Well, at least this was better than sleeping here without any defensive measures… Besides, this is all I can do right now.'

Probably because of my encounter with the Dragon and Cerberus, I felt more anxious than usual. It was actually a really unpleasant feeling, especially since I knew that I had already done everything I could to secure my safety. Seriously, after seeing those powerful beings with my own eyes, I felt so terribly insecure and weak.

'Ugh… I hate this feeling… I guess this just goes to show how weak I am currently… But I will not die here. After all, I still need to find my sister, and I have yet to know why I was brought into this world. So, I'm gonna survive here. And to do that, I will do whatever is necessary.'

After renewing my resolve, I began gobbling up the two dead monsters. Of course, since nutrition was necessary for the evolutionary process, I haven't invoked the effect of Devour during that. And because of that, I was already full before I even managed to finish eating the Horned Umbrazard. At first, I actually thought that I could finish eating the two monsters leaving only their bones behind. But for some unknown reason, the Horned Umbrazard was incredibly heavy on the stomach.

'Seriously, I cannot believe that I am unable to finish this thing… Wait, don't tell me that the nutritional value of the meat is also dependent on the monster's level and race…? Well, for now, it doesn't matter. In fact, this is actually a good thing for me… Now, let us begin the evolution!!'

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