Klein didn't wait ceremoniously; he drew an arrow as well as his energy and aimed, multitasking with both the arrow and [Mana Bolt]. For obvious reasons, he shot the arrow first. It whispered through the air and pummeled into the neck of a wolf.

However, the wolf wasn't dead yet, as there was no ammo on the arrowhead. Still, it was critically injured with the arrow sticking out of its neck.

In no time, a couple of the wolves discovered his position and decided he would be a better meal than the tender flesh of the girl. Klein drew another arrow and shot at the one approaching. He was merely twenty paces away, so by the time he drew his third arrow, the other wolf came lunging at him, barely a few paces away.

Klein shot the [Mana Bolt] this time. Even though the nature of his mana was transforming, Klein didn't miss at such a short distance. The [Mana Bolt] plunged into the wolf's head, causing it to stagger back a couple of steps, crimson blood spraying out of its wound. The wolf was as good as dead.

[Essence Harvested.]

After Klein managed to draw the attention of three wolves, the girl was relatively free, merely having to deal with three more. She successfully killed her first, pummeling her sword into its head. She was seriously hurt in the process, though, with claw marks ripping through her clothes and plunging into her flesh. A nasty wound on her right thigh caused her to move awkwardly in the fight, but she was managing, pushing through her pain.

Unfortunately, she was on the brink of her physical endurance. So when a wolf came hurtling toward her, she missed her step and fell onto the ground, unable to defend herself.

Klein drew in more energy, swirling the dark sphere, ignoring the chilly feeling spreading all over his body. He decided to keep the arrows for security and attacked with his [Mana Bolt]. Double casting was terribly hard with his demoted capabilities, but he managed to form two bolts that plunged straight into the wolf that was about to take a bite of the girl's tender flesh.

Unwittingly, the girl had closed her eyes in resignation. But even after waiting a couple of seconds, the wolf didn't attack. The two bolts crashed into the savage creature, one after another, flinging it off the girl. It was dead when the girl opened her eyes, its lifeless body bloodied, as Klein didn't check how much energy he wasted.

[Essence Harvested.]

Klein ignored the notification. While he was receiving essence, he didn't feel his strength growing; there was likely some caveat to the new system the elixir had introduced.

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The girl screamed something in her native tongue and stood up. Seeing her savior not replying, she shouted again.

Klein let out a grunt. "I don't understand you," he yelled in his native tongue as well, hoping that much would be enough to explain he didn't speak her language.

Well, considering the two of them looked very much different—even though humanoid—it wouldn't be too hard to guess. Hopefully.

There were only three more wolves remaining. Leaving one for the injured girl to keep at bay, Klein shot the one approaching him with an arrow. With his display of strength, awakened beasts like these wolves should have run away on instinct. Instead, they leapt at him more savagely, as if his actions only fueled their hunger.

Klein's fingers were already stiff from shooting four arrows. The bow was something he scavenged from a defeated enemy. He reckoned he would need the strength of a Category-3 body enforcer to utilize it properly. He wasn't having that anytime soon.

Well, that didn't matter anymore, as Klein finished the remaining wolf with another mana bolt, leaving only one for the wounded girl to deal with.

[Essence Harvested.]

[...]

He thought of helping her off that burden as well, but instead, he found himself staring at her form.

The girl was fair, with wavy jet-black hair and blue eyes, contrasting his darker skin and non-existent black hair. She was beautiful too, with long ears, indicating her elven origin. But more than her beauty, Klein was appalled by her mastery of the sword.

She was intelligent, keeping the wolf at her left while bearing a terrible wound on her right thigh. No matter what the wolf did, she didn't let it have any chance of landing a blow, even in her weakened state. She noticed he had dealt with the rest of the wolves but didn't voice anything after he failed to help her with the last.

She was managing fine, as slowly and surely, she finished the wolf, her sword finding its mark on its neck. Still, all that fighting had made her breathless, gasping for air.

That made the two of them. Even though this battle was nothing but ordinary to Klein, he grunted. Something weird had happened to his body, as this sheer amount of distress wasn't normal for him.

[Essence Harvested.]

[You have defeated 5 copper rank creatures before advancing to Copper.]

[Achievement Unlocked!]

[Overachiever: Your aura grows stronger. +5 to all attributes.]

An electric current spasmed through his body, causing him to croak disgruntledly. His body warmed up as power surged throughout every fiber of his being. Unbeknownst to him, Klein was stronger than before.

Stupefied, he checked his figure to see if there was anything wrong with him. Finding nothing to worry about, he returned his attention to the alien girl.

The girl tried to say something to him again, but the foreign words eluded him. Then she collapsed onto the ground, almost losing consciousness.

Klein came to her rescue, bringing a bottle of potion out of his bag. He held her head up and noticed the elven ears again. The ears weren't that long, just unique enough to distinguish her origin. The universe was vast. Klein alone had traveled to five solar systems, but none of them had true elves.

He held the potion to her mouth as the elf girl looked at him hazily, probably not seeing his face. Well, that was for the best. Nobody would like to see a hairless freak in their distress, even if he had saved their life.

"Drink," he whispered.