"Wow, brother! You can use magic?!"
"That was so awesome. You caught that rabbit so easily…"
"Haha, this is nothing. Let's catch more and then eat at the riverbank."
"Brother Ain, we are going a bit deep now. We might encounter monsters."
Ainen smiled. "Even if we encounter monsters, nothing will happen to us."
'Unless it's something far above my level. Then I'll just take them and escape using Flight.'
Of course, Ainen didn't plan to go too deep. He just wanted to gather enough food before going to the riverbank, but there wasn't any in the outer area.
As they walked a hundred meters deep, they heard rustlings and low growls.
Ainen narrowed his eyes. Suddenly, he grabbed both kids' waists and used Flight.
Although it was sudden, Ron and Syl didn't make a sound despite being shocked that their brother could fly.
They knew that making a sound in the forest was dangerous.
Ainen put them on a large tree's branch and whispered. "Don't move, okay?"
"Brother, you can even fly?"
Ron and Syl were excited.
Ainen smiled. "Stay here and watch."
He descended to the ground.
Shortly, a wolf emerged from the bushes.
The wolf had sparks of fire on its fur with blazing patterns.
'Fire, huh?' Ainen's eyes glinted.
Naturally, this wolf wasn't alone.
It was a small pack of wolves, consisting of five wolves.
While the wolf was still eying him without moving, Ainen distributed his remaining 12 stat points, adding 3 in Vitality, 3 in Strength, 3 in Stamina, 2 in Arcane, and 1 in Agility.
"Come on," Ainen taunted the wolf as he conjured two flame knives and grabbed them.
With his high fire resistance from S-rank Fire Manipulation, he wasn't afraid of his own fire nor the fire from these lower-level wolves.
Four more wolves emerged from different directions, practically surrounding Ainen.
Ron and Syl got worried, their face turning pale upon seeing five wolves surrounding their elder brother.
However, what they saw next shocked them.
Ainen created a crescent Fire Wall behind, blocking the wolves' advance and vision before he dashed forward to attack the wolf.
The wolf obviously had better combat experience, but Ainen wasn't a total noob.
Even if he didn't have proper combat ability, he could still make simple plans based on his abilities.
Seeing Ainen rushing forward, the wolf pounced on him, its claw blazing with flames.
But Ainen suddenly used Flight, jerking backward before his Flame Knives left his hands and shot at the wolf.
They squarely pierced its belly and exploded.
[You have killed a level 5…]
Right then, the other wolves dashed past his Fire Wall.
Ainen had already turned around, ready to clash against them.
One wolf, the strongest of them, who was the pack leader at level 10, actually opened its mouth and released a stream of flame at him like a flame thrower, but fast and precise.
Ainen was startled and quickly dodged to the side, but his arm was caught in the range.
Ainen thought he would feel pain, but instead, all he felt was just gentle warmth.
'What the…my fire resistance is this high?'
The leader of the pack seemed to have commanded the wolves to attack him physically after seeing that the flame had no effect on Ainen.
The three wolves dashed at him, their speed fast.
Ainen's flaming eagle exploded, blasting one wolf several meters away.
[You have killed a level 7…] Follow current novᴇls on NoveI★Fire.net
The other two were a considerable distance away, so they weren't caught in the range, but Ainen was ready for them.
The snakes shot at them, wrapping around their limbs and burning them, cripping their movement.
Both wolves were struck by a single Flame Knife right in their heads, killing them directly.
Ainen had only looked away from the pack leader for a second, but that wolf pounced at him right in that gap, its speed and power higher than the others.
Ainen was wary of it, but the wolf was faster and stronger. Even though he used Flight to dodge, a swipe of that wolf's claw still tore his arm's flesh away, inflicting him with burning pain.
Ainen looked at the pack leader, who once again pounced at him.
But this time, he didn't fear the pounce and was already pointing his palm forward.
A giant fireball was conjured right when the wolf was one and a half meters away from him, causing a powerful explosion that blasted the wolf several meters high in the sky despite its big size, while Ainen was also blasted back.
[You have killed a level 10 Dire Flame Wolf.]
[You have reached level 10. You have acquired 5 stat points.]
[Congratulations on reaching level 10. You have acquired a level 10 Mystery Box.]
Ainen looked at his siblings, who had flabbergasted expressions and smiled. "Well, guess we found more than enough meat to eat."
The kids snapped out of their daze.
"B-brother, what about your arm?!"
"We should go back and treat it in the town."
Ainen looked at his arm. He had stopped bleeding by applying a mild burn using Fire Manipulation. It was painful, but manageable for him.
Moreover, Ainen wanted to test the power of his Innate Talent, and this was a perfect opportunity.
"No worries. I'll get better after eating."
Ainen stored all five wolves' corpses in his Inventory before picking up Ron and Syl.
"It's time to eat. Let's go."
Ron and Syl's stomachs rumbled in response.