In the Orc's settlement, inside the shaman cave, two orcs, a shaman, and a hunter were sitting on the ground, their attention wholly focused on the campfire between them. 

The two were silent, neither moving nor blinking, looking almost enthralled by what they were looking at. If anyone were to see them, they would certainly find such behavior curious as that campfire didn't look anything special. Then, why were the two proud orc's tribesmen gazing at those flames with such intensity?

While the flames swaying in front of the two were indeed beautiful, they weren't beautiful enough to warrant such attention from them. 

To be honest, it would be wrong to say they were looking at the said fire. Their whole attention was focused not on the fire but on a scene they were seeing through it. Indeed, they were using the shaman magic to watch something happening in a distant land.

A little bit of phosphorus tree ash here, an unfortunate falcon's eye there, some drop of blood, and an annoyingly long and weird sounding incantation was all it took. 

Thanks to magic, they could turn a simple fire into the most advanced HD display on earth. 

Leo would certainly praise himself for his wiseness and sue them for breach of privacy if he was here and saw what they were looking at. Indeed, the scene that had the whole attention of the two was none other than the fight between Leo and the wolves. 

"Are you sure this is the same shadow beast?" Jor'hum asked with shock and confusion all over his face. 

How could he keep his calm when the shaman told him that the winged lion who was brutalizing the wolf's pack was the helpless cat he caught a few days ago? 

"...... It is, gru-gru. His mana signature is the same, gru-gru." The shaman answered with a frown on his face. He too was surprised by the current situation.

"But, how…." Jor'hum said as he looked at the shaman, hoping to get an answer. 

The more he thought about it, the more confused he got. No matter how smart he was, he was unable to understand how such a thing could happen. So he was left with no choice but to turn toward the shaman, who guided him since his childhood and always had answers for any of his troubles.

"It should be an evolution. I can't think of anything else that would explain its new look and power." The shaman said after pondering for a few seconds.

"Evolution?? How could it be, gru-gru? In just two days, gru-gru!?" Jor'hum asked, getting even more confused. He caught the damned cat a few days ago and he knew perfectly well how weak it was.

Not even talking about evolution, it would have already been impressive if the thing bloodline was pure and it could rank up.

The thing could barely qualify as a wild beast. 

But now, the shaman was saying that it evolved!! Wasn't evolution something hard to attain? Wasn't evolution something extremely hard to succeed? 

"I'm not sure how it managed to do it."

"Then, gru-gru, maybe it was the one behind that mana storm, gru-gru. Maybe there is no treasure at all, gru-gru." Jor'hum.

"No, gru-gru, I don't think so, gru-gru. Someone his rank can't create such a big commotion…..." The shaman was going to deny the idea that Leo was the one behind the mana storm. 

How could he be? The shaman had once witnessed the evolution of the previous forest sovereign, a peak rank C, and even then, there wasn't such a commotion. However, when he thought of what he saw, he couldn't help but doubt himself.

"The same way someone of his rank shouldn't have that much power, gru-gru..." He whispered as he felt powerless in front of the veil of mystery shrouding Leo.

"Alright, let's just say a treasure appeared and that he was the one who got it, gru-gru. What should we do now? The chief too wants that treasure, gru-gru." Jor'hum said drawing the most logical conclusion he could think of and reminding the shaman of their chief's desire.

"It must be the reason….. If he swallowed the treasure such change could be explained, gru-gru." The shaman said as he stroked the scar left on his face. His anger surging and the air billowing as he recalled the impudence of Leo.

"That beast is but a lucky ant. And no matter how lucky, he is still an ant, gru-gru. Let's talk to the chief and gather the warriors, gru-gru. We are going to have some Lion's meat tonight." The shaman smiled viciously as the fire died down. Now that he found a plausible explanation for Leo's power, his previous wariness was gone and he couldn't wait to find him and have his revenge.

"What if the wolf king kill it before us?" Jor'um asked. While he was awed by Leo's power, he knew that it was up against the wolf king. Such a title, only those with enough power deserve it. 

No matter how powerful Leo may seem to be, Jor'um wouldn't dare to say it could best the wolf king. 

However, unlike his acolyte, the shaman didn't seem to share such a concern.

"Don't worry, the beast is more cunning than you think. Those wolves are too dumb to kill it. And even if they manage to, his flesh would still belong to us." The shaman smiled confidently as he walked out of his above.

***

'Phew, things are looking pretty good.' Leo muttered as he took a quick peak at his status window. He hadn't sustained a single injury, his mana was at 80 or so percent and his stamina was around the 70. 

Also, they already defeated a good part of the enemy troops. If things went on that way, they should be able to win this fight.

[Yes, but you still need to deal with the big one.] Luxia reminded him.

'I know.' Leo glanced at the wolf king who was still standing in the same position. As he looked at him, Leo couldn't help but wonder about its thought process. Even till now, the wolf king never moved from its position and just sent his minions to death.  

"Celia, how are you doing?" Leo asked Celia, his gruff voice resounding through the clearing.

"Pretty good. I am ready for another round. And it looks like it is the case for you too." Celia said as she looked at Leo with even a glint in her pretty eyes. 

She already knew that Leo was special but what she just witnessed was something else. A rank D able to fight a peak rank D was already good. Being able to easily dispatch one the way he did? Rare. But still understandable.

However, fighting a group of peak rank D and screwing them with such ease, that was straight nonsense. 

In the past, if someone ever said to Celia that such a thing was possible, she would certainly laugh at them, call them dumb and curse them for wasting her time. However, now that she was witnessing it personally, she could only sigh in wonder. 

'Fufu, it would be pretty interesting to stay around him.' Celia chuckled lightly, her eyes gleaming with intense light.

"Let's get it over with then." Leo said and engaged in a staring contest with the wolf king. 

AWOOOO. The deafening howl of the wolf king once again filled the clearing as he, surprisingly, walked alone toward Leo.

'Huh, why is he coming alone?' Leo muttered as he looked at the wolf that was marching toward him.

[Pride.] Lucia said.

'Pride, uh. He is foolish then. Sacrificing so much of his subordinates for his pride.' Leo said.

[You don't understand. From its point of view, any member of its pack should have been enough to take care of you. Its main concern should have been Celia. After all, from your aura, you are merely a new rank D. That's why it didn't act first and only sent his pack after you.]

'Yeah, a mere rank D.' Leo couldn't help but roll his eyes when he heard Luxia's comment.

[However, you completely exceeded his expectations. Not only did you manage to survive, you even slaughtered a large part of his pack and left him with no choice but to join the fray. 

However, no matter how much power you have, as a king and rank C, he would never ask for help to fight a rank D. Adding to the fact his pack disappointed him, it isn't surprising for him to choose to fight you alone. Or it could be that he wants to reduce his loss.]

'Hmm, guess the beasts here are different from those on Earth!'. Leo thought as he laughed at how obvious his statement was.

'Here he is.'  He said as he saw the wolf king speed up toward, his speed so great that it almost looked like he vanished.

'Man, this is going to be tough.' Leo said as he immediately put his guard up, ready to dodge at any moment.