After lifting his spirits Arthur did not continue standing still, and began searching for another prey to hunt.

He followed his senses and moved through the forest with extreme caution, and made sure not to stray too far from the cave he had woken up in, for despite its small size it was safe and ideal to use as a temporary shelter until he found a better place.

While moving, he occupied his mind to its fullest capacity and memorized the path, and the terrain of the place, and also tried to gather and remember as much information as possible that he knew about animals and remote areas.

Like any ordinary person from the modern age Arthur had watched a fair number of documentaries and wilderness survival shows, and with the addition of this knowledge to his human intelligence, and his beastly senses, gradually he became able to notice many details he had overlooked at the beginning.

’After looking carefully, I think I am starting to develop some understanding of the nature of the traces that monsters leave when they pass, and if I focus on other things like scent, I think I will become able to gather a fair amount of information from just a glance at the ground, or a sniff of the air.’

He shook his head pleased with himself, and let out a muffled laugh. "Wolves are trackers by nature, and if I sharpen this ability well, who knows perhaps it will become a skill as well."

Arthur had no idea about the way creatures of this world acquired new Skills, but it was clear and logical that learning and rigorous training would improve his abilities, and increase his experience, and this in turn would raise his chances of staying alive.

The only unfortunate thing was that his new body did not allow him to do many things, such as building traps and cooking, and even performing simple human exercises, so his highest priority currently was to adapt and explore the limits of the wolf’s body.

After an hour and a half of wandering, Arthur heard a familiar sound that brought happiness to his heart. He quickly followed the source of the sound, and arrived at a small stream.

The fresh and pure water glistened under the sunlight, Arthur took a careful look at his surroundings, and after making sure they were free of dangers, he bent down, and began to drink.

When he quenched his thirst he felt refreshed and his energy renewed, he stared at the water for a moment, and sighed. ’Unfortunately this stream does not contain any fish for me to hunt, I must search for other water sources, always returning to the same place is not a good idea.’

"Wait, what is this?" He suddenly noticed some strange footprints on the other side of the stream, he headed toward them and sniffed them, like a bloodhound. This fact made him feel strange but there was no need for embarrassment.

’These prints are very recent, it is clear that their owner has not gone far.’ A serious expression appeared on his face, he did not know exactly what type of monster had left this print, yet his instincts told him it was not powerful.

He hesitated a little then followed the prints, and upon covering a distance of about a mile and a quarter to the north, he found his target, which was a wide-bodied monster, hunchbacked, with long hind legs like a grasshopper’s, in short its appearance was very strange.

[ Burrowing Squirrel — Common — F-Rank ]

’A squirrel? Is this deformed thing a squirrel?’ Arthur wondered inwardly, and although he did not accept the idea that what he was seeing was a type of squirrel, he bared his fangs.

Like the previous time, he followed the same hunting approach, activated the effects of the Primal Predator bloodline, and began creeping slowly against the direction of the wind, when he got close enough, he attacked the squirrel.

Screech!

The squirrel noticed his presence, and in a panicked state tried to flee, but it was slow, and had barely covered a few meters when he reached it and pounced on it, he dug his sharp claws into its back and gripped it firmly.

The squirrel cried out in pain, and without standing still waiting for death, it pushed its hind legs with great force and kicked him in the shoulder.

Arthur let out a muffled howl, and felt as though a car had slammed into him, he was thrown backwards from the sheer force of the blow.

He tried to stay gripped on but his claws slid across the squirrel’s back tearing its flesh before releasing it, he flew several meters backwards, then landed on his feet while gritting his fangs.

He had taken significant damage, yet he did not feel much pain, and was not bothered at all, for the Primal Predator bloodline had suppressed his reactions and emotions.

Without any hesitation he pounced on the squirrel again, and this time avoided the back part of its body and headed directly toward its head.

Without giving it the chance to defend itself he leapt on the squirrel and bit it by the throat.

Red blood splattered and a little of it entered his mouth, the metallic taste filled his taste buds, Arthur the human would have found this disgusting, but the ferocity was in control, and from the sheer coldness of his blood he didn’t even flinch, and continued strangling the squirrel which was struggling to break free until its strength gave out.

[ +4XP ]

The moment the squirrel lost its life, Arthur regained full control of himself, and his blood thirst disappeared, and at that moment an uncomfortable feeling of pain spread throughout his shoulder.

He quickly released the carcass, and stepped back, he opened his mouth and wanted to spit out the disgusting blood, but he changed his mind and swallowed it.

"What a very bad taste, as I expected despite turning into a wolf I am still human on the inside, this feeling of disharmony with my body makes me suspect that there is something that is not in its right place."

He took a deep breath, and stared at the prey he had hunted, he felt a little anxious, and most importantly he felt excited.

’I truly succeeded, well the credit is all due to the Primal Predator bloodline, its ability to suppress my emotions is very useful. The thing is, it controls me in a way, no rather it possesses me, that is not acceptable, so it is better that I use it with caution.’

He touched the carcass with his paw and placed it inside the Dimensional Storage, it was likely that the commotion he had caused and the smell of blood would attract other predators, so he wasted no time and headed directly toward his cave.

Relying on his memory he returned by the same path he had come from, and because he walked quickly and did not stop along the way at all, reaching the cave took only thirty minutes.

Upon looking at the cave from the outside, he noticed that it was a crack in a massive rock, surrounded by rocks and soil, with some shrubs growing around it.

’The entrance needs to be concealed, it is far too obvious.’ Using his claws as knives, he cut several dense shrubs and placed them in front of the entrance concealing it completely.

After that he arranged several stones on the ground for him to step on, so as not to leave any prints behind him.