Derek slept until the morning of the next day. When he checked his wounds, he was surprised to find that only scars remained.
He opened his inventory and decided to check the wolf's description.
[Corpse of a young "Forest Wolf" Type: Material Description: The corpse of a teenage wolf who reached the 2nd stage of Body Tempering. Can be dismantled for materials and ingredients.]
"So this wolf had reached the second stage of Body Tempering. That explains why it was so strong, even though I was only at level 2 and at the first stage," Derek sighed.
After trading it, he received 4.8 King Points. Derek thought for a moment and decided to improve his spear skill.
Using the 5 free attribute points he gained after leveling up, he increased Dexterity and Constitution to 20, and invested the last point into Endurance.
However, he noticed that he had gained two more King Points instead of just one.
"Is it because I reached the first stage of Body Tempering?" Derek wondered. It seemed like the most logical explanation. But he decided not to worry about it for now—if he was right, he'd find out tomorrow.
[Upgrade skill "Basic Spear Mastery" for 2 King Points?]
[Confirm]
[Yes/No]
Derek upgraded the skill, and as he expected, received 2 more free attribute points. He invested them into Endurance and resumed his cultivation.
After an hour of training, he ate and decided to buy some new clothes. He spent a few minutes choosing and bought a camouflage military uniform for 3 points, leaving him with 2.9.
Wearing the new outfit, he left the cave and went to the stream to fetch water. On the way, he didn't encounter anything interesting. After collecting water, he followed the stream downstream.
After several dozen meters, he saw a lizard. Drawing his spear and aiming, he threw it at the lizard but missed, and it ran away.
[Skill learned: "Spear Throwing"]
"Well, at least I got a new skill," Derek thought and retrieved his spear.
Continuing along the path, he found some plants after about 30 minutes, which he traded for 2.5 points. He also encountered a few animals that immediately fled upon seeing him.
He decided to improve his Stealth skill to be able to hunt them.
[Upgrade skill "Stealth" for 2 King Points?]
[Confirm]
[Yes/No]
After upgrading, he invested one point into Dexterity and another into Endurance.
About ten minutes later, he saw a rabbit. Crouching down, he silently approached and struck it quickly. The rabbit didn't have time to dodge and died instantly.
[Rabbit killed]
[Received 1 XP and 0.1 King Points]
"That's not much," Derek thought. Placing the rabbit in his inventory, he decided to return to the cave, taking a different path to find more herbs. After ten minutes, he encountered a huge 10-meter snake.
"Another snake?" Derek thought.
Not wanting to engage with the massive snake, he went around it. Along the way, he found a few more plants and earned 1.8 points from trading them.
As he neared the cave, he noticed some tracks by a tree. Derek wondered if he could gain a skill by trying to follow them.
[Skill learned: "Tracking"]
"Yes, it worked!" Derek thought happily.
Following the tracks for a short distance, he maxed out the skill's experience.
[Upgrade skill "Tracking" for 2 King Points?]
[Confirm]
[Yes/No]
Investing all points into Dexterity, Derek continued following the tracks. After twenty minutes, he saw a red, two-headed wolf cub, about one meter in size, sleeping by a tree.
Derek decided to kill it. He snuck up from behind and struck its side with a spear. The wolf noticed Derek when the spear was already at its side, and couldn't dodge.
The spear pierced its side and broke. Derek quickly drew another spear and struck the wolf's head.
["Two-Headed Fire Wolf" cub killed]
[Received 23 XP and 2.3 King Points]
"So it was just a cub... I need to get out of here quickly. Its parents might be nearby," Derek thought as he hurriedly placed the body into his inventory.
Back in the cave, Derek decided to trade the cub and rabbit, but first, he checked the cub's description.
[Corpse of a "Two-Headed Fire Wolf" cub
Type: Material
Description: The corpse of a wolf cub who reached the 1st stage of Body Tempering. Can be dismantled for materials and ingredients.]
"It reached the first stage of Body Tempering. Its parents must be much stronger. I need to improve my cultivation level quickly," Derek thought.
After trading, he gained 3.9 King Points. Derek opened the shop and started browsing skills. After a few minutes, he found something interesting.
[Skill: "Detection"
Type: Passive
Rarity: Rank 3
Cost: 5 King Points
Description: Allows detection of creatures within a certain radius.]
Derek bought the skill without hesitation—it would be very useful for hunting. Seeing his remaining points, he felt a little disappointed at how quickly they were spent.
Still, he decided to buy a mattress for 2 points to finally get some proper sleep.
He laid it over the hide and lay down. It was just a cheap, basic mattress, but as soon as he lay on it, Derek quickly fell asleep.