Eric watched as the four monsters emerged from behind the trees and slowly approached him. Their growls grew louder with each step.

These hairless dogs are really persistent, can't they just leave me the hell alone?

He was tired of being chased and attacked from the moment he woke up in this damn forest. He never provoked these monsters, yet they kept chasing him, wanting a piece of him. Eric was sure that any sane person would be annoyed, but he didn't let his emotions get the better of him. Just because he found it annoying didn't mean he would charge recklessly at these beasts. He remained rational about his situation and knew his own limits.

There are too many of them for me to deal with alone, and I have no chance if I face them directly.

Not only did the monsters have an advantage in numbers, but they were also at a higher level than him. He would be killed before he could inflict any serious damage to them.

The best option is to use the terrain to my advantage.

The wolves advanced, and he backed up slowly, making sure not to make any sudden moves that would cause the creatures to attack. He retreated to the entrance of the ruin, but the monsters hadn't attacked him yet, instead, they started to surround him, leaving no other way out but the ruin.

So they weren't just mindless beasts that only knew how to attack. They could coordinate with each other!

He was a bit surprised. He thought they would fight among themselves to see who would get him, but his expectations were dashed when they cooperated instead. He felt lucky that he had only met one of them in the beginning and not a whole group. Had there been more, he would have been in a very dangerous situation.

Does the level affect these creatures and increase their intelligence?

He could see that the three Viper Wolves were following the lead of the strongest one, the level 21 monster that remained at the back of the pack. It was the monster that worried Eric the most, as he wasn't sure he could handle it after seeing its level.

Ducking under the broken pillar blocking the entrance, Eric entered the ruins.

Well, there's no use for that information right now, I should focus on dealing with them.

The monsters let out angry howls and ran after him.

Eric slid down, hitting some pointy rocks along the way. Luckily, he was wearing shoes, or he might have suffered injuries that would have slowed him down. The ViperWolves followed, their growls getting louder, showing a tendency to attack, but the narrow passage was only big enough for two of them to move at once. The two level-14 ViperWolves entered first, followed by the level-16s, and finally the level-21s.

As he descended, a cold shiver ran down Eric's spine, and warning bells rang in his head. His senses warned him of the upcoming danger. Quickly, he looked behind him and saw a monster leaping in his direction while another followed close behind on the ground.

Shit. Startled, his eyes widened as he saw the creature flying towards him, but he didn't let the surprise slow him down and reacted almost immediately. With a thought, a lifeless squirrel materialized in his hand before he threw it at the running beast, causing it to halt for a moment to bite the dead squirrel. This gave him enough time to deal with the flying monster.

Dagger in hand, he ducked just in time to avoid the monster's outstretched claws. And just as it passed over him, he plunged the dagger into its throat and shoved it all the way to its skull, the tip even appearing on top.

The viperwolf died almost instantly, but not before it latched its claws on him. Eric bit his lip as he felt the claws dig into his shoulder, but the pain was bearable and didn't affect his focus, thanks to the armor he was wearing.

After killing the monster, the wolf's lifeless body fell over him, its weight pressing against his chest. It wasn't too heavy, but because of his unstable stance, he slipped on the uneven ground.

"Ahh, shit!"

Before he fell, he threw the dagger behind him. Then, in a split second, he hugged the wolf with one arm, bringing his face closer to its chest while the other arm covered the back of his head. Then he twisted his body, just in time to hit the ground. Using the wolf's body to protect himself and lessen the impact, he spiraled downward.

His descent was chaotic, and some pointy rocks managed to scratch him. The wolf's body provided some cushioning, but he still felt some pain as the rocks scraped against his skin. They rolled down until they hit the ground with a thud, the impact partially absorbed by the wolf's lifeless body.

Eric's eyes tingled, and his vision shook violently. He felt dizzy, as if he were in a high-altitude flight, but the motion sickness soon subsided. Quickly, he rolled to the side, freeing himself from the dead monster.

Still dizzy, Eric gasped and shook his head. The cracked ribs sent jolts of pain through his body, causing him to grunt in pain. After his vision cleared a bit, he remembered that more monsters were heading his way, so he scrambled to his feet, adrenaline coursing through his veins. His head darted around as he surveyed his surroundings.

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

He found himself in a wide passage that ran in a straight line. The walls were made of hard stone, and the ceiling was studded with stones that emitted light at regular intervals. But overall, the light was too dim, and he could only see things about twenty feet ahead. Beyond that, there was only darkness.

He looked around the room frantically. Where is it? Where is it? After a few moments of searching, his eyes caught a glimmer of bright light reflecting off the object he was looking for. He approached it and retrieved the dagger he had thrown earlier. Clutching it tightly, he turned his attention to the approaching beasts.

The level 14 ViperWolf was descending through the narrow passage, its mouth dripping with black blood from devouring the squirrel. The level 16 monster followed close behind. As for the Alpha of the pack, it remained on the higher ground, right at the entrance of the cave. Its red eyes fixed on Eric as it growled, showing sharp teeth, but it didn't seem to have any intention of coming down. Maybe it didn't take its prey seriously because of the difference in levels, or maybe it was being cautious and waiting for the others to assess the situation for it.

Whatever the situation was, Eric was relieved that he didn't have to think about dealing with the Alpha Viperwolf for now. He was already struggling to deal with the two approaching ones, anything more would be far beyond his current abilities.

His thoughts raced as he considered his options to survive this dangerous situation.

I was only able to kill one of them because the space was too small for it to maneuver, but once they reached this wide ground floor, they would be able to surround me and attack me at the same time.

Even though he was stronger than before, he still wasn't confident in facing two monsters at the same time. He also didn't forget that there was still an Alpha lurking out there to deal with.

No matter how much he thought about a solution, his situation seemed to be nothing more than a hopeless and futile struggle, but he didn't give in to despair and continued to think of a way.

If I could somehow take them both down, maybe it would scare the Alpha away. He thought about it and found it quite plausible. Sounds like a plan then.

With a deep breath, he tightened the grip on the dagger, lowered his stance, and prepared to strike as soon as the wolves reached him.

The two monsters finally descended to the ground floor, but they didn't attack immediately. Instead, they divided, one on the left and the other on the right, encircling Eric.

He smiled as he saw them, "You're getting smarter, hairless bastards."

He took a step back to get a little more space while keeping a close eye on both creatures, but he failed to notice his leg crossing a thin red line. "Come at me, you little-"

Before he could finish his words, his senses tinged with impending danger from behind. Out of nowhere, an arrow shot through the darkness. He instinctively sidestepped just as an arrow brushed past his forearm. He felt a searing pain. His clothes were torn and blood splattered.

An arrow!

He snapped back to his senses. Eric frowned as he looked at the arrow embedded deep in the ground. The arrow had a wooden shaft and a steel tip, with fletching made of some kind of green feather he did not recognize. His arm would have been torn off if he had let the arrow hit him. If it had hit his head or abdomen, it would have been fatal.

Where did it come from? What the hell is going on?

In his momentary distracted state, a Viperwolf pounced on him. Startled, he kicked the ground and jumped back further into the passage, narrowly avoiding the monster's claws.

But just as he landed, he heard another whistling sound. Without seeing it, he knew exactly what it was—another arrow. He ducked just in time as an arrow passed over his head. A cold sweat broke out on his face and, he felt his body heating up.

His heart pounded, but he had no time to check his surroundings as several howls reached his ears. Both monsters broke into a sprint and came at him from two sides.

"Damn! Read the room!"

The wolves were fast, but not so fast that he could not keep up. He started to adapt to their speed, but they weren't the only trouble he was facing right now. He heard several whistling sounds coming from the darkness as the arrows cut through the air.

Putting all his strength into his legs, he kicked the ground and jumped to the side, avoiding the wolves' deadly claws.

Arrows flew at him one after the other, all coming from different directions. It was impossible to track them with the naked eye.

He crouched low and rolled to the side. Two arrows hit the ground after missing their targets, but the third managed to graze his leg as he rolled, but it didn't stop him until he hit the side wall.

He pulled himself up and checked his injuries. Luckily, the arrow hadn't hit him directly, so aside from a little pain, the injury didn't affect his mobility.

He slowly got up and straightened up, keeping his body against the wall. The place was too dark to see where the arrows were coming from, so the best he could do was reduce his physical exposure as much as possible.

He tried to move while his body stuck to the wall like glue, but unfortunately for him, some traps seemed to have been installed not only in the front but also in the side walls and other places. Before he knew it, the wall behind him shot him, and an arrow lodged deep in his arm before he could move.

"Motherfuc-" Before he could curse, his senses warned him of the impending danger from the wall opposite him. At that moment, he felt like he saw a spark right in front of his eyes.

Despite the terrible pain, he gritted his teeth and ducked as fast as he could, narrowly avoiding another arrow. The sudden movement caused the stuck arrow to be embedded deeper into his arm. He felt like his arm was being torn apart, and he couldn't breathe.

He clenched his teeth and held on to his consciousness. This pain was nothing compared to the attack he suffered from the Venomous bear.

He checked his condition to see if there were any dangerous injuries. His left arm throbbed with pain as the arrow dug deep. Blood trickled down his forearm, staining his clothing.

Just as he assessed his injuries, he was brought back from his thoughts after a sudden notification appeared in his vision.

[level up]