Arthur surged after the rabbit, and despite his superiority in Rank he faced difficulty keeping pace with it for it was very fast and agile.

’Shit, my speed is not enough.’ Realizing that he had no other choice, he gritted his fangs, and activated the Primal Predator bloodline, and as usual coldness took control of him the moment its effects appeared.

His focus increased, and because of that time seemed to slow down a little in his eyes, his response speed increased. The obstacles and the rabbit’s sudden turns no longer posed a big problem for him.

Little by little he closed the gap between them, and when he reached the rabbit, and was about to pounce on it, the rabbit changed its course at a ninety degree angle, and darted into a small burrow located at the base of a tree.

’No, you will not escape.’ Without any hesitation, Arthur jumped after the rabbit, and slammed into the tree with great force that made it lean to the other side, he quickly shoved his paw into the burrow, and drove his claws into its back before it could escape deeper.

Screech!

The rabbit cried out in terror, it struggled desperately to escape, but to no avail, the claws gripped it firmly and did not budge at all, and slowly Arthur pulled it outside, then finished it off.

[ +2XP ]

He deactivated the Primal Predator bloodline, and let out an exhausted breath. ’That was much harder than I expected, my injuries are still affecting my body, I am unable to use my abilities to their full potential.’

Had he been in full health, he would not have had such a hard time hunting a mere unranked rabbit.

’It is better that I leave hunting for another time, currently I still need more rest, well, despite the small size of this rabbit, I think it will be a sufficient meal to settle my hunger for two more days.’

He placed his prey inside the Dimensional Storage then headed back toward his den, but the moment he took a few steps the Primal Predator bloodline displayed strange activity.

"What’s happening?" He froze in place surprised, and felt great confusion, for this was the first time his bloodline had reacted in this incomprehensible way.

He turned his head, and looked to the south with a frowning face. "Something in this direction is attracting my bloodline, and whatever it is it must be something special or perhaps dangerous."

Several concerns came over him, and at the same time excitement rose within him, he was aware that the Primal Predator was a legendary bloodline, and anything capable of making it display even a slight reaction must be of very great value.

But despite his intense curiosity, hesitation took hold of him, and he could not push himself to take the risk and head toward the source of this reaction, not out of cowardice, well he was a little cowardly, but truly who knows what kind of dangers he might encounter. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

After a short period of careful thinking, he finally made his decision. ’As they say, a wise man must know when to advance and when to retreat, fear of the unknown is a very good thing, yet I cannot let it restrain me, there are gains that can only be obtained by taking risks.’

He took a deep breath, cleared his mind of all useless thoughts, then walked forward with steady steps. His sharp eyes and the Evaluation skill examined everything in his surroundings.

The further he advanced, the calm around him increased, and the numbers of birds and insects he saw decreased, as for the large monsters they were nearly nonexistent, and all he encountered on his way were a few rabbits and a small snake that tried to bite him.

[ +1XP ]

He killed the weak snake with a mere swipe of his paw, and did the same to all the insects that bothered him, especially the mosquitoes which always attacked him out of greed for his blood.

Even though large insects provided nothing but a meager trickle of XP ranging between 0.1 and 0.3 XP, Arthur hunted them whenever the opportunity arose.

The reason was simple, their relatively large numbers, and the ease of killing them, made them suitable targets in his current situation.

Every source of XP mattered, this trickle that most would ignore, if accumulated over weeks and months would eventually become of great value.

Of course Arthur was aware that this insect hunting strategy would only benefit him at F-Rank alone.

After about thirty minutes, he spotted something suspicious in the distance ahead of him, the thing was like a large white mound that reflected a little sunlight.

"What is this?" He wondered, and with extreme caution approached the mound, and the moment it became very clear and he realized what it was, all the fur on his body stood on end from sheer fear.

The white mound, was not a mound at all, but a vast and towering spider web that extended for an unknown distance, it was like a white mountain of silk woven together.

The web had no presence and emitted no scent or sound, and had it not been for the fact that he was certain of its existence before him he would have thought his eyes were deceiving him.

As for the most terrifying thing, which nearly made his heart stop, was that the outer part of the web was packed with bones and decomposing carcasses. Which also emitted no scent.

Caw!

Suddenly Arthur heard a loud cawing sound that snapped him out of his shock, he quickly looked at the sky and saw a large black crow flying directly toward the spider web and slamming into it.

The crow got caught between the tight silk threads, yet it did not struggle to break free, but rather stayed still in its place, letting out a happy cawing sound as though it did not mind the matter at all.

’Has this crow lost its mind?’ Arthur could not comprehend what he was seeing.

Then in the next moment, the crow’s body began to wither, and its feathers fell off, and after just a few seconds it turned into a dry sack containing nothing but bone and hardened skin.

The silk threads around the crow pulsed for a moment, as though they were a living creature, then regained their unsettling stillness, as though nothing had happened.

’Damn, what have I done, I should not have followed my curiosity. I cannot stay here.’ Arthur swallowed hard, and took a stumbling step backwards, while his eyes remained fixed on the spider web.

When he retreated a few meters, he felt a strange dizziness, his senses became numb, and he was no longer able to think clearly, he stopped in his place, and stared at the web completely entranced by it.

With an incomprehensible eagerness, he walked toward the web, like the crow from earlier, as though he had become enchanted by an invisible force.