Chapter 154: The Little Wolf is Fierce

After the Angry Water River pierced through the dark jungle, it made a wide detour across the savanna in the southern part of the forest, shifting its course from north-to-south to east-to-west. From there, it rushed onward, cutting through the steep, rolling ridges of the Nightfall Mountain Range, and surging straight toward the sea.

The region stretching from the savanna to the Nightfall Mountain Range was a high-level map densely populated by monsters. Various ferocious beasts and creatures coexisted in this open expanse. Rumor had it that savage chimeras had even been spotted in the mountains, though the truth of the tale remained unverified.

It was twilight. Beneath a completely withered, dead tree, three Orcs had gathered around a roaring campfire, gazing with greedy eyes at the deer legs roasting over the flames.

"Roar-ha!"

One of the Orcs, whose head was wrapped in a red cloth and whose physique was the most robust, let out a fierce, low growl and violently shoved the other two companions aside. The two scrawny Orcs obediently scurried off to a nearby spot, not daring to challenge the authority of their leader.

The red-clothed Orc raised his chin arrogantly, grunted a few times, and directly reached out to tear off a chunk of roasted venison, ripping into it with huge, ravenous bites.

At that moment, the bushes beside them rustled slightly, emitting a faint whispering sound. The Orcs instantly grew alert, and the two slender fellows immediately grabbed their weapons, stepping cautiously toward the direction of the thicket.

"Puff!"

"-240!"

Just as the two wretches took a few steps, an arrow silently whistled in from another direction, striking dead center in the red-clothed Orc's chest!

The red-clothed Orc let out a miserable howl, instantly flinging the venison from his hand as he swept his gaze across the surroundings, desperate to locate his attacker. However, the area was entirely filled with waist-high withered grass. Before he could spot his target, a second feathered arrow arrived soundlessly.

"Crack!"

Due to the distance, the red-clothed Orc managed to raise his wooden club and deflect the second arrow, while also locking onto the direction of the attacker. With a furious roar, he prepared to charge forward.

The two Orcs in the rear also moved to provide support. Right at that moment, the bushes abruptly parted with a rustling "swish!", and a dark shadow leaped out, its cavernous maw clamping fiercely onto the back of an Orc's neck!

It was Demi, who had been lying in ambush for a long time!

"-90!"

"-11!"

"-11!"

...

Red damage numbers and spurts of fresh blood erupted like an underground geyser. Demi moved with lightning speed, striking once and immediately retreating to spring toward the next opponent. Because the Orc's neck had suffered catastrophic damage, the bleeding ticks alone were enough to claim its life.

Seeing one of his subordinates heavily injured and the other entangled with a bizarrely shaped black wolf, the red-clothed Orc roared in absolute rage, spinning around to hurl himself at Demi.

Yet, he had forgotten the far more lethal threat at his back.

"Swish! Swish! Swish!"

Accompanied by a series of piercing whistles, a flurry of feathered arrows trailed gorgeous blue light, piercing through the red-clothed Orc's back like beautiful shooting stars. The impact stumbled the beast, driving it instantly to one knee on the ground.

On the other side, as if sharing a telepathic link with Lu Kuan, Demi immediately abandoned the other Orc. With a few bounds, moving like a flash of black lightning, the wolf leaped onto the red-clothed Orc's shoulder and bit down hard.

"-120!"

A critical hit damage figure leaped aggressively from atop the red-clothed Orc's head. This sturdy warrior, who had galloped across the savanna for years, collapsed limply to the ground without even managing to graze the hem of his enemy's clothing.

The remaining Orc saw that the situation was unsalvageable and bolted, turning tail to run. But how could it possibly outpace Lu Kuan's arrows?

After being brought down by two of Lu Kuan's arrows, Demi charged in once more, snapping the Orc's neck with a single bite. The wolf then pressed its front paws onto the still-twitching head of the Orc, scanning its surroundings with sharp vigilance.

At this moment, Demi was noticeably a size larger than before. Its frame had grown sleeker, and its body was nearly entirely covered in long, black fur. A tuft of exceptionally long mane was beginning to grow around its neck, swaying without wind amidst the flowing black luminescence shimmering across its hide.

Seeing Demi standing there with an air of proud defiance, Lu Kuan felt a profound sense of satisfaction.

How could he not be satisfied? After braving solo battles for so long, he finally possessed an animal companion with explosive combat capability and an online intellect. Was there anything more blissful than this?

Today marked the fifth day since his departure from White Water Village. The man and the wolf had spent five full days finally fighting their way out of the dark jungle and arriving at the vast expanses of the savanna. The hardships endured along the way were truly too arduous to recount to outsiders.

Because Demi's level was relatively low at the beginning, Lu Kuan had proceeded with extreme caution, hand-picking monsters with low attack power for Demi to gradually familiarize itself with combat. If Demi were to perish and ruin the mission completion rate, the loss would be catastrophic.

However, Demi's battle instincts quickly forced Lu Kuan to look at the creature in a whole new light. By the second day, the little wolf dared to lurk in stealth on its own, executing simple tactical coordination with Lu Kuan—a pleasant surprise that deeply impressed him.

Over the course of five days, Demi's level had risen to 13, while Lu Kuan remained at level 15—because he had allocated 100% of the gained experience points directly to Demi.

And the little wolf had not failed Lu Kuan's expectations. Its combat proficiency far exceeded Lu Kuan's initial projections. In his past life, those B+-tier pets Lu Kuan had commanded, even upon reaching level fifty or sixty, barely matched Demi's current level of battlefield reaction and agility.

The three Orcs before them were all level 17+ monsters with formidable combat prowess, but they suffered from a fatal flaw: severely low intelligence. If they hadn't employed a diversionary tactic and instead gone toe-to-toe with these three brutes head-on, it would have cost them an immense amount of effort.

Demi was capable of confronting two level 17 ordinary monsters head-on right now! Though securing a victory would be difficult, this performance was already defying the heavens—considering it was only level 13! Would you dare believe it?

While Lu Kuan was lost in a wave of deep emotion, the three Orcs had completely breathed their last. Demi lowered its head to scout around the vicinity, quickly locating a dozen copper coins along with a piece of equipment radiating a faint green glow, before trotting gracefully back to Lu Kuan's side.

"Well done, little guy~"

Lu Kuan picked up the items, patted Demi on the head, and retrieved a bright red apple from his backpack, holding it out in his palm. Upon seeing this, Demi immediately leaped up joyfully. With Lu Kuan's permission, it gently clamped the apple in its jaws.

"System Prompt: Your intimacy with Demi has increased by 1. Current level is 3."

Seeing the system notification, Lu Kuan couldn't help but smile. Through their days together, another major discovery he made was that Demi harbored a particular fondness for apples and roasted fish. Thus, he had purchased several bundles at the previous supply outpost, feeding it every so often to steadily raise their intimacy.

Since Demi had not hatched from a pet egg, an intimacy metric existed on its profile. Still, it posed no major issue; Lu Kuan estimated that after a little more time, their intimacy would reach the maximum cap of Level 5.

The Orcs had dropped a green-tier belt of a suitable level. Lu Kuan equipped it immediately.

"Orc's Tattered Sash (Superior Leather Armor, Bound)
Waist
Equipment Requirement: Level 15
Weight: 5
Armor +10
Defense Level +2"

Demi crouched down to the side, vigilantly keeping watch over the surroundings while Lu Kuan unfolded the map.

"This should be the right place... Tsk tsk, it's probably only a two or three days' journey away from the Kandal Dam now~"

Lu Kuan thought to himself while studying the map. When he habitually reached out to pet Demi's head, he noticed the little wolf staring intently behind him, flattening its body and letting out a low growl as the muscles along its spine grew taut.