Ascension from Dual Professions

Chapter 97: Chapter 96: The Reason the Wolf Pack Left the Territory, Perfect-Level Material

”BANG! BANG!”

Two dull, heavy thuds!

Jon hadn’t even aimed for them specifically. A light flick of the phantom dragon tail was enough to send them flying!

The two she-wolves howled miserably as the immense Power sent them hurtling away. The sound of their bones shattering was clearly audible as they crashed into the cold snow far away, their fate unknown.

And the very ”tip” of the dragon tail in Jon’s hand landed perfectly on the Wolf King!

”BAM—CHH!”

The force of the Impact, mixed with intense heat, made the behemoth shudder violently!

[-766! (Penetration! Fatal Strike!) -55! (Flame Damage!)]

The Wolf King’s body convulsed violently the moment the blow landed, its faint breathing ceasing entirely. A system notification popped up.

[Killed a higher-level monster, gained 3900 (1300 base x 3.0 reward multiplier) combat Experience Points]!

’Not even as strong as that Evil Mage. As expected, it hadn’t reached the Official Level.’

Jon’s gaze swept over the Wolf King’s mangled corpse, lingering for a moment on the wound on its abdomen before turning to the two she-wolves, which were now scrambling back to their feet and charging at him again.

Impact Aura plus a normal attack triggered the Saint Fire Mark, finishing them off with ease.

Meanwhile, the wolf pack behind him watched in a furious rage as their king was slaughtered by a human.

They charged recklessly into the torrent of steel sprayed by the two walkers, vowing to take revenge!

And Jon, of course, had no intention of indulging them. He had come here for the sole purpose of killing wolves.

Whatever desperate circumstances or other reasons had brought them to the outskirts of Shery Mountain, that was their business.

Humans shouldn’t empathize with beasts, unless those beasts possess the capacity and rationality for communication.

Unfortunately, these low-level monsters did not.

So, Jon turned back, his body erupting in blazing fire!

This terrain was perfect—a straight path in and out. How similar it was to the passageway he’d used to trap and kill the rock scorpions in the Abandoned Mine!

”Come. All of you, become my Power...”

...

It was a slaughter.

A slaughter carried out by one man against a pack of wolves.

Boosted by the expanded attack range of Dragon Flame Dance and covered by the ranged attacks of the two walkers, Jon charged wantonly back and forth through the wolf pack.

The combination of Impact Aura and the occasional Dragon Claw Swing or Dragon Tail Sweep annihilated huge swathes of the pack with every use.

In less than a quarter of an hour, all that remained of the hundred-strong pack were a few old, weak, and injured wolves, which fled with their tails between their legs, howling pitifully.

Jon didn’t bother to chase them.

Wolves were indeed vengeful creatures, but that was only a problem when they were in large numbers.

One or two could do little more than ambush lone villagers—like his unlucky predecessor, for example.

As for coming down the mountain into the village to secretly carry off a person or two, the probability was low, but not zero.

But what did that have to do with him, Jon?

’He wasn’t going to stay in Nomu Village anyway. He couldn’t care less whether those foolish villagers lived or died!’

He would just give Uncle Sutton a heads-up, reminding him to keep a hand on his hammer when he dozed off—not that these Ordinary wolves posed any threat to a Dwarf Professional who was likely at or above the Official Level.

As for [Wolf Shadow Mystery II], it was basically complete after this massacre.

—

[Wolf Shadow Mystery II (Ordinary - Regional Quest)]

[Current Phase Objective: Kill the wolf pack entrenched around Nomu Village (Progress 96/100)]

[Contribution Points: 96%, Reward Multiplier: 6.0]

—

For this kind of regional quest, you could turn it in once the progress reached 60%, and reaching 90% got you the highest tier of rewards, equivalent to an S-rank completion for an Ordinary quest.

Compared to this quest, which held no more suspense, Jon was more interested in the clues he had spotted on the Wolf King earlier.

He deactivated Dragon Flame Dance, sheathed his Blade of Equilibrium, which remained unstained by a single drop of blood, and turned to walk deeper into the valley.

By now, the elemental fire on the Wolf King’s body had died out, but its corpse was still mostly intact.

Jon grabbed its paw, flipped it over, and turned its belly skyward.

Here, one could see several lacerations clearly left by another monster’s attack. The scars looked somewhat old.

Considering the Recovery Power of a monster of this level, the wounds must have been even deeper in the past.

’Given its size, it should have had no trouble advancing to the Official Level. But this wound never healed, which caused its advancement to fail.’

’And these marks... they look like they’re from some kind of feline...’

As Jon pondered, he reached out and brushed his hand over the wound on the Wolf King’s flank.

His brows twitched slightly.

’It’s... ice?’

This wolf corpse, which he had just scorched with a Dragon Flame Dance-enhanced Dragon Tail Sweep, was still icy?

’So, a powerful feline monster from the depths of Shery Mountain injured this Wolf King, forcing it to migrate outward with its pack, eventually ending up on the outskirts of the mountain range?’

’Was it a Sad Claw Snow Leopard? Or an Ice Roar Lion? Why would they pick a fight with a wolf pack? That doesn’t seem right, does it?’

A few possible culprits ran through Jon’s mind, but he quickly dismissed them.

Solitary monsters like those were typically more powerful and had their own hunting grounds, which they rarely left.

And creatures like wolves wouldn’t easily make enemies with monsters stronger than their own pack.

The outlander’s thoughts churned as his eyes scanned the Wolf King’s body, searching for any overlooked clues.

Finally, his gaze returned to the gruesome, uncorrupted wound that emanated a strange chill.

’If this Wolf King was able to attempt advancement despite such a wound, could it be that it ate something it shouldn’t have, provoking an attack from a powerful monster?’

At this thought, Jon hesitated no longer. He drew his blade again and began to cut open the Wolf King’s stomach.

He started his incision right at the tear, and in just a few quick cuts, he had spilled the large beast’s guts and intestines out.

Thanks to the freezing weather and the fact that the Wolf King had been injured for a long time, its innards didn’t have much of a stench. Instead, they were cold to the touch.

This confirmed Jon’s suspicions, piquing his interest.

’Just as I thought. Something was keeping it alive.’

’Otherwise, with a wound like this, it would never have survived this long!’

He kept searching!

Starting with the stomach and intestines!

A moment later, as he sliced open the thick stomach pouch—which was nearly the size of a person—a wave of even more intense cold washed over him!

An Ice Crystal the size of a fist leaped into view!

Jon blinked. He didn’t reach for it immediately. Instead, he used his scabbard to pry it out, then removed some parts from one of the walkers to fashion a makeshift insulated glove before finally picking it up.

It was utterly freezing to the touch!

Even through a layer of iron gauntlet and another layer of improvised insulation, Jon could feel the Ice Crystal’s temperature was so low it was making his arm go numb!

He didn’t dare linger, only glancing at it quickly.

A cyan glow appeared—it was a Perfect Level material!

[Coagulated Blood (Perfect · Blood)]

[A strange mass of blood that has congealed into ice. There might be a way to harness its Power.]