While Xen was lost in thought about all the possible skills he would gain, Gerald covered his mouth and suddenly coughed violently.

Bringing away his trembling hand, it was covered in scarlet blood that glistened under the dungeon's ever-present light.

"Ha... just my luck—internal bleeding." Gerald slowly looked up at Xen, "I know it's a lot to ask, but do you think you could take me to the surface? I don't think I have much time left. My vision is blurring, and I feel faint—"

"No." Xen snarled. The tunnels between here and the entrance are overflowing with wolves, and I worry that I will run into Sarah, who will return for Johnathan's body. Not to mention, I don't think this human would survive the trip in my mouth without the grey aura that had protected him before.

Gerald slumped against the wall and looked up at the ceiling, "I thought not, but it was worth a try." A tear streaked down the side of his face, "I guess I really will die down here."

Such weakness.

Xen had some lingering empathy regarding Gerald's dying state from absorbing the human and elf corpses, but these emotions felt disconnected while in his wolf form. It was hard to hold back from licking his lips and thinking about the EXP and skills he would gain from devouring this defenseless human.

No... not yet, at least. Gerald still has valuable information to give me. Xen was still slightly annoyed that he wouldn't learn magic yet, but it was only a matter of time. I must keep him alive until I have extracted all I can from him.

Xen began considering the options. When he was injured, he used biomass to repair his wounds. Maybe humans also heal when they eat? It's worth a try. Glancing around, his gaze settled on the half-eaten corpse left nearby that was slowly being absorbed by the dungeon.

"What are you doing?" Gerald asked as Xen dragged the corpse over to his side.

"Eat," Xen nudged the corpse closer with his nose, "You will get better."

"Are you trying to kill me faster? If so, this is a rather cruel way to do it." Gerald became visibly paler as he looked at the mangled corpse at his side.

Xen tilted his head, not understanding the problem. "I want you to heal. Eating is bad?"

"Yes, very bad." Gerald nodded, "Monster corpses need to be treated with skills like [Purification] or treated carefully on the surface. Their meat contains far too much mana for a human to survive eating it raw. It's like poison to us."

Xen didn't really get it, but if Gerald wouldn't heal from eating, then this wasn't a viable option. Not wanting to leave the corpse for the dungeon, Xen decided to devour the corpse while he continued contemplating.

[Devour Complete]

[Wolf] has leveled up: 4 -> 5

[Name: Xen]

[Level: 5 (E)]

[Race: Mind Slime (Rare Variant)]

[Current Form: Wolf Female (Level 5)]

[Biomass: 258]

[Class: Shapeshifter (Unique)]

[Strength: 5 (+25)]

[Vitality: 5 (+15)]

[Agility: 5 (+35)]

[Resistance: 5 (+10)]

[Magic: 5 (+5)]

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A soothing sensation washed over him, removing all the fatigue from his muscles and healing minor wounds he hadn't bothered using biomass to repair. As Xen enjoyed the sensation of the system empowering his body with more stat points, he suddenly realized there was a possible solution.

"Do humans heal when they level up, too?"

Gerald gave a weary smile, "Yeah, we do. Why?"

"Wait here, I have an idea." Xen spat out the fur between his teeth and walked down the tunnel. He wanted to be far enough away from Gerald that a monster wouldn't be able to sneak past him and kill the human without giving him time to react.

Xen decided on a good spot and assumed a confident posture. His freshly empowered muscles bulged under his blonde fur as he raised his head to the ceiling—mana swirled in his throat as he activated Pack Call. A mana-empowered howl so loud his ears flattened against his head to avoid going deaf reverberated through the dungeon as he unleashed his new skill.

Then everything went silent as he dropped his head low. All Xen could hear was Gerald groaning in pain while nursing his ears and his pounding heartbeat. Xen's ear twitched, and he kept his eyes peeled as he stared down the dark dungeon tunnel.

"What was that for—" Gerald protested.

"Quiet human," Xen hissed, "They are coming."

"Who..." Gerald whispered but fell silent at the sound of a distant howl.

Xen lowered his body further and arched his back. This was a potentially stupid idea, but he hoped that his boosted stats from reaching level five and the hundreds of stored biomass would be enough to survive the approaching slaughter.

To make things harder, I must leave a few alive to have Gerald kill them and level up. Xen barred his teeth as the sound of scraping claws in the distance grew louder. But I will kill a few myself as well.

Like small dots of blood red eyes appeared in the darkness, followed by curious snouts and sharpened claws prowling on stone. Three wolves emerged into the dim light and stared Xen down. There was a moment of confusion in their eyes as they stared him down—Xen took advantage. "Predatory Strike," Xen snarled as he leaped forward. Red mana wreathed his fangs, and he felt the system guide his bite toward the neck of the left-most wolf. Biting deep, he met bone and crushed it. He twisted his head and threw the limp wolf into another with surprising force due to his boosted strength stat.

The only still-standing wolf snarled once it realized he was a foe rather than a pack mate. Xen's lips pulled back into a sneer as yellow mana crackled between his teeth. "Holy Smite."

A spark shot through the air, smacking the wolf in the face and making it yelp in confusion. Xen dashed forward, smashing into the wolf head first to get it off its feet, and once on the ground, he planted a paw on the side of its head to keep it still. Once again, red mana coated his teeth, and he happily bit down, killing the wolf in one move.

Pain shot through Xen's body, and he felt a weight on his back. The wolf that had sprung on him and tried to bite at his neck reeled back in pain as one of the bone spikes around Xen's neck had pierced the roof of its mouth, dying its ivory fangs in blood.

"Weakling," Xen growled with amusement as he turned to butcher the dumb mob.

----------------------------------------

Gerald wondered if this was all a twisted nightmare. Surely, he would wake up any minute now and be greeted by his tiny apartment that his salary barely afforded. The white walls would be dyed black with mold, and that constant smell that always lingered would tickle his nose. It would be a shit place to wake up, but anything was better than this.

For what he estimated was half an hour, the blonde wolf bathed in slaughter. Every time the beast ran out of foes, Xen would howl to the heavens, and more foolish mutts would come running to their vicious deaths. The first dozen had died near instant deaths, their necks reduced to dust in Xens mouth that crackled with violent red mana.

Gerald finally thought Xen was done, but he raised his head to the ceiling for the fifth time and howled. Covering his ears wasn't enough to stop them from bleeding as the waves of mana shook his body to its core and made fear grip his heart, even though he knew the wolf was on his side.

This time, Xen approached the incoming wolves differently. Instead of pouncing before they knew what was happening and tearing into their necks, he went for their limbs. Tearing them off with ease and disabling the monsters as they struggled and flopped around like beached fish in a pool of their own blood.

Xen smacked them around a bit more, knocking them out or making them too dazed to continue fighting back. It was a frightening display of sheer brutality from an apex predator.

Finally, Xen didn't raise his head to call more foes; instead, he dragged the limp but still alive wolves over to Gerald, making his nose tickle from the thick iron scent.

"Kill these monsters to level up," Xen growled as he dumped a knocked-out one at his side as if it were a sack of potatoes instead of a still-alive estimated level-seven wolf that would kill him with ease if he wandered this dungeon alone.

"I-I can't," Gerald hung his head low in shame, "I don't have an ounce of mana left in me to cast a spell."

Xen snarled in annoyance. "What about claws?"

Gerald shook his head, "Humans don't have claws, but I have a pocket knife attached to my utility belt." Under his mage robe—that was more for the style than anything else—he had a belt with a torch, bandages, emergency food, and a pocket knife.

"I don't know what a pocket knife is," Xen grunted as he brought over another incapacitated wolf, "But if it's sharp like claws, use it."

Gerald tried to move his arm to retrieve his knife, but the pain was too great, "I can't move my body."

"Humans are truly pathetic," Xen growled. He used his claw to easily tear away his robe and began trying to find the knife.

"Owww," Gerald yelped in pain as a new wound opened on his belly from Xen's claw.

"This form is inconvenient. Great for killing, but human things are too fiddly," Xen stepped back, and after staring into space with his soulless eyes for a moment, his body began to bubble and dissolve into a sludge.

Gerald had no idea what was happening, as a terrible smell made him almost throw up. He desperately gripped his nose and breathed through his mouth. Somehow, the stench stung his throat, so he brought up his T-shirt and breathed through that. His eyes were on fire, and he couldn't stop them from watering. What the hell is happening?

"Sorry for that," a male voice he didn't recognize said. "Let me help you."

In his blurred vision, he saw the silhouette of a naked man standing over him.