'Phew, that was hot. But worth it..' Leo muttered as he looked at the dead body of the wolf king. The sweet ring of his system ascertaining the death of his foe.

He was dying to open the system and check his loot but he knew it wasn't time for that, yet. While the main threat was dead, he still had to face the remaining of his pack and what was to come.

'Okay, now, what should I do with y'all?' He continued as he focused his attention on the remaining of the frozen pack that was looking at their felled Alpha with disbelief and fear. Their brains, unable to understand how Leo could have brought the demise of their mighty leader.

'Sigh, it would be good if I could subdue them, but..' Leo muttered as he looked at wolves who managed to regain their bearing and escaped without a second thought.

'I can't waste that exp now, can I?' He grinned as he started raining various kinds of attacks on the escaping wolf. However, as he was still wary of an attack of another of the king he didn't senselessly pursue and just focused on those who didn't escape too far. 

Still, before he had to stop attacking, he managed to kill a good amount of the remaining wolves and earned a decent amount of experience.

'I should be content with this for the time. Now let's rest a little.' Leo muttered as he watched the surviving wolf disappear in the thick of the dark forest.

***

'What kind of monster is this?' Bel muttered his heart beating wildly as he was unable to understand what he just witnessed.

He had reached the place just in time to be able to witness the fight between Leo and the wolf king in its entirety. 

Bel thought it was just an overconfident beast who dared to fight against the wolf king for the so-called treasure his partners were after.

However, after watching for some time he was left completely speechless. 

'What kind of beast is that? Where did it come from? What is it doing here? Is it related to the treasure?' Countless questions filled his head as he stared at the monster who killed one of the kings of the forest so effortlessly. 

Bel who was already wary about the whole thing was even more sure that he should avoid getting involved. 

The beast's origins were mysterious and despite having an aura belonging to a rank D was able to kill a rank C beast king. Albeit a weak one. 

'Shit, even if I try to warn those dumbasses, I am sure they wouldn't listen to me.' Bel cursed as he remembered his teammates.

'Well, the best I can do is to continue watching and get a better understanding of its powers.' Bel muttered as he continued to spy on Leo while waiting for his companions.

****

'Sss, An anomaly has appeared and wind got killed.' A white scaled snake muttered as it narrowed its eyes and looked at Leo from its hiding spot. 

The snake was tens of meters long, its powerful body covered in diamond-shaped scales and surrounded by a light fog giving it an ethereal feeling.

The snake was another of the Kings of this forest. A snake who wasn't only more powerful but also more experienced than the Wolf King.

'Sss, that feeling. Even if it wasn't an anomaly I would kill it.' The snake muttered as it continued to observe Leo.

The snake could feel its blood boil and his whole being craving for something on Leo. 

From this feeling, the snake was sure that by consuming Leo, it could take another step forward and become more powerful. Maybe it could reach the peak of rank C.

If it wasn't for the sake of caution it would have already tried to strike Leo and gobble it. Also, after witnessing the fate of Wind, it knew better than to underestimate it. 

'Maybe I ssshould work with my old friend.' The snake muttered as it looked at another beast looking at Leo from within the shadow.

Not wanting to give the anomaly too much time to recuperate, the snake started to make its way toward its potential ally.

'What do you want?' A soft voice asked as the snake approached an abnormally shaped shadow on the ground.

'You already know why, we don't have time to pretend. What about working together?' The snake said straightforwardly as he looked at the shadow.

'Could it be that the mighty Fog demon is so afraid of a mere rank D that it needs help to kill it?' The shadow flickered and a beautiful black panther emerged outside. Unlike the titan-sized snake, the panther was a lot smaller, looking very inconspicuous. However, underestimating it would be a mistake as its small and lean body held an amount of power that was in no way inferior to the snake.

'I am more afraid of someone backstabbing me while I'm busy fighting against it.' The snake glared at the panther.

'Oh, I'm so honored that a great demon like you is wary of me.'

'Umbra, can you be sssserious a ssssecond?' The snake said seemingly losing his patience.'

'Alright, you want to cooperate and kill the anomaly, and then what? How are we going to share it? You should know how important that beast is for the two of us.' The panther asked seriously. 

'Don't you think it'll be better if we talk about it once we are done with it?' The snake said clearly unwilling to talk about such a thing right now.

'....' The panther stayed silent and seemed to be pondering about something as she  gazed at the snake.

'So....' The snake asked impatiently.

'I'm in.' The panther simply said.

****

'Say, Luxia. Did you think another one would come?' Leo said as he scanned his surroundings. 

[What do you think? You can feel it right?]

'Yeah, those bastards are looking at me as if I am a piece of meat. And here I was hoping to scare them away.' Leo said with a frown.

[Well, in their eyes you are a treasure that could help them advance. Also, the wolf shouldn't be the strongest. There is no reason for them to back off and give up on such an opportunity just because you killed him.]

'I want to see who will be the other evolution materials.' Leo scoffed as he glared at various spots in the forest. 

[Anyway, with them coming your way like this you can quickly grow.]

'I know. Still, I don't like being in a defensive position like this. I would have preferred going after them once I felt ready. ' Leo growled as he continued to survey the forest.

[Things can't always go your way. In this world or any other, adaptability is one of the most important traits. Unless you possess absolute strength you can never be ready for every situation.]

'True.' Leo could only agree with Luxia. More often than not, the capacity to adapt to unforeseen circumstances is what separates the strong from the weak.

As for absolute strength, that was a far-off goal. It would take a long time to achieve such a height. It wasn't something he had to concern himself with for now.

'Well, that aside, since they aren't coming out, let me see what I got from that wolf. I can't just sit there without doing anything.' Leo thought as a window appeared in front of him.

Without dropping his guard, he began to look through each of them curiously.

[Ding……… you have killed the Violent wind wolf king. You have received 8000 Exp and 3000 SC]

[Ding………you have killed a rank C beast for the first time. You have received 15000 Exp and 10000 SC]

[Ding………you have leveled up. Congratulations you have achieved level 6. You have received 10 AP and 4 SP]

[Ding………you have leveled up. Congratulations you have achieved level 8. You have received 10 AP and 4 SP]

[Ding…… Violent wind wolf king bloodline detected. Do you wish to absorb it? Yes/No]

'Yes.'

[Ding…… you have successfully absorbed the Violent wind wolf king bloodline.]

[You have received 70 CONS, 80 STR, 95 AGI, 40 INT, 20 SPI, 25 CHA.]

[You have acquired the Wind elemental affinity.]

[You have acquired the following skill:

-Basic wind manipulation

-Wind steps

You have acquired the following talent:

-Swift]

'Sweet and here comes another element. With that, I should have a little more chance at survival..' Leo nodded in satisfaction as he looked at the reward from killing the wolf king. 

Circulating his mana inside his body, he was able to feel the addition of another element and the fact that he was once again stronger 

'Sigh, I hope we can get done with this shit quickly. To say that I have all those weapons but I can't even use them properly.' Leo complained a little as he continued to feel the various powers in his body.

The elusive and dark shadow. 

The robust and unshakeable earth.

The insidious and deadly poison. 

The formless and free wind. 

The boundless sand.

Each of those elements presented countless possibilities and he couldn't wait to explore each of them. While he could easily make use of those powers thanks to the system he wasn't satisfied with only that. What he wanted was to truly grasp and make them his.

It was going to be hard but he would eventually make it.

"Hey, Leo…" A sweet voice sounded beside him and disturbed his train of thought.

"Oh, Celia. You're alright." Leo asked. He remembered that during his fight with the wolf king some wolves tried to sneak attack her. Fortunately, he managed to hold her own. 

'She is truly stronger than I expected.' Leo muttered as he looked at Celia who was pretty much unscathed. 

He didn't know how the fight went as he was too focused on his own. But the fact that she was uninjured was really impressive.

"Ah, that! Don't worry it wasn't that much. Compared to you I did nothing impressive. You are truly a monster. " Celia smiled as she stopped beside Leo. However, despite her smile, Leo was able to feel that he was a little worried about something.

"Hehe, I just did what I had to. And you did the same."

"Can you continue? I sensed some uninvited guests lurking around." Celia's smile vanished and her face became serious as she asked the question that was on her mind.

It was already impressive that Leo was able to fight above his level as he did. However, Celia wasn't sure if he could maintain that kind of performance.

'Hum looks like she is worried.' Leo chuckled as he looked at the tense expression.

"Relax. I may not be able to fight like this indefinitely but I can go for another round or two." Leo said with a grin.

"I am relieved then. I am sure everything will be alright with you around." Celia said looking more relaxed than before. 

'I should be crazy to trust him that much.' Celia thought as she looked at the confident figure of Leo.

Since the death of her parents, Celia has always been the one taking care of her sister. 

She always relied on herself to ensure the survival of her and her sister. Not once did she back down in front of a challenge or complain despite all she had to bear for the sake of her beloved.

It wasn't that she never had the opportunity to do so. Without sounding arrogant, Celia would dare to consider herself as one of the most beautiful women of this region. She has the kind of look that could trigger any functional male most primal side. Simply said, a look that could kill. 

As long as she was willing to, she could grab herself a strong man and live off him. However, she never did so and walked her own way.

It was a first for her to so readily stand back and trust her destiny in the hand of someone else.

Maybe it was because he gave her a different feeling from anyone she ever met. She just felt that she wouldn't regret staying with him.

'Stay focused Celia. You shouldn't get distracted at such times.' Celia shook her head and put her worries aside.  

"Celia.." Leo called slowly as he suddenly took a fighting stance. His gaze sharpened and warily looked at the darkness around them.

"Yes, is there something wrong?" Alerted by Leo's behavior, Celia immediately readied herself for a fight. Her dainty finger tightened around her staff as she too scanned the forest looking for their foe.

"Do you know of any of the Kings who would use poison to fight?" Leo asked seriously, his aura slowly surging.

"Yes. I heard of him. It is a snake. The fog demon, they call him." She answered quickly.

[It seems we got a tough one coming] Luxia said with some anxiety.

'Yup, a tough and sneaky one.' Leo scowled as his eyes that were constantly scanning the forest finally stopped on a spot.

"Celia, step back now. Move back as far as you can. The bastard is already here, he is spreading his poison around us as we speak." Leo said sternly.

"How…."

"Don't waste any time. Unless you are confident in your poison resistance you have to go. Now." 

"But, what about you… " Celia asked, still unwilling to back off.

"I said NOW." Leo said, almost roaring at her. He could never understand why people would choose to argue at such times. Was he able to say, he would have said nothing. 

However, he couldn't take any risk, not when he had to deal with the poison of such a monster.

"Alright.." Celia sighed and silently ran toward the mountain back.