A topless, scarred, average looking young man was sitting alone crosslegged in the dark cave, with eyes closed.

His motionless figure perfectly blended with the silent surroundings, which was only disturbed by quiet crawling sounds.

Suddenly the young man opened his eyes, red glow flashing past his black pupils.

''For a sealed space, the air's strangely not stale. The subtle airflow...I can feel it...it's moving to the south, so the source must be located in the north. There has to be an opening somewhere, otherwise, the air wouldn't be this fresh. The exit is near...''

Fake stood up and walked slowly, blending into the darkness. In less than 2 minutes, he reached a fairly concealed shelter, where he left Celine and her pet.

His heart ached, seeing her unconscious. Their life was miserable in the last few days. There was nothing edible for them, so they were forced to eat some pond weeds and raw snail monster's jelly flesh, in order to not starve.

Being more tenacious himself, he barely stomached the disgusting meal, unlike Celine, who fell ill. Now he had to carry her on his back while fending the monsters, but he didn't complain. The harsh lifestyle, where he had to fight for survival wasn't anything new.

Feeling subtle energy movement closeby, he frowned while staring unkindly at Celine's pet, the bat.

'Quit it, damn bird. You're exposing our location.' He whispered unhappily.

To be blunt, he found the bat useless. It was really weak. As for the aura skill it had, which was somewhat similar to his wasn't all that useful. While it drove the weaker monsters away, it exposed their location. Despite there being many weak monsters, he couldn't afford to not be cautious.

However, it wasn't like it was completely useless. At least it could do the guard duty well while he went out of the shelter for brief periods of time. In case of danger, it was instructed to give a screech, to which he would respond to.

The shelter he found was a small cavity in the cave wall, with a small entrance, where he had to crawl in. Before going out, he didn't forget to seal the entrance with rocks but left some space for a breather.

Feeling slight vibrations from down below, he knelt on the ground and put his air on the cold ground. His frown deepened even more.

''The ant colony in the east has returned. They shouldn't have smelled my bloody scent, right? I took a shower not long ago, while Celine wasn't in the condition to fight in the first place.''

They had no option, but to delay their travel once more.

He lightly caressed Celine's jet black, glossy hair, ignoring the unfriendly gaze from her pet.

After several hours time, the danger passed, so he carried Celine on his back while going north.

His high perception allowed him to feel the slight changes in the airflow.

''It's near. Soon, we'll reach an exit.'' Hope and anticipation couldn't help but sprout in his heart.

Hours later, he could finally feel exceedingly fresh air entering his lungs.

''Finally, we can get out of this hellhole.'' Unconsciously he let his guard down and hurried his pace, not paying any attention to the screeching bat by his side.

His hopeful expression however soon crumbled as despair took over his heart.

There really was an opening...but it was high up, on the 'ceiling.'

The cold moonlight poured from the slight opening above his head, shining down on the creature napping under its shine. Luminous luster reflected off its silver fur.

The humanoid figure's wolfish ears perked up upon grasping the slight movement.

Its eyelids quickly disappeared, replaced by cold blue eyes, which were staring right back at him.

The furry, humanoid figure slowly rose up on its feet and growled in a low sound, while revealing a dangerous set of white teeth and elongated canines. Drool fell off its jaws, while greedy light shone in its silver eyes.

*Hoooooowl~

A long, cold howl echoed across the cave. The chilling night seemed to turn even colder.

Nether Lycan Realm 3 Level 9 HP: 315/315

''Third realm?!'' His expression turned ghastly as he took a step back.

There wasn't even time to regret his carelessness. For the first time, he felt the death threat, but...he couldn't escape.

He couldn't abandon her!

*Roar

The robust Lycan standing 3 meters tall went down on four and dashed in his direction at alarming speed.

His expression turned tranquil as he put down Celine on the ground and charged at the enemy without hesitation.

* * *

Fool! Why did you not heed my warning screeches? I should have clawed your damn face.

Shit, how's he going to win against that monster? I feel like the big snake from the last time was just a joke compared to this thing.

Grabbing a nearby rock, I flew high up in the air while nervously looking at the unfolding battle.

Fake was losing badly...Barely five seconds into the battle and he got injured twice and not so lightly.

For the past few days, he was acting like a decent human being, but it's not like I grew attached to him, but he couldn't die here.

I positioned myself above Nether Lycan and dropped the stone...which he crushed with ease.

*Howl!

The cave shook as it let out a loud howl, followed by the sonic shockwave.

< -1.8 Status update: Stunned

My HP depleted almost fully.

Due to being sensitive to sound, I received quite a bit of mental damage too. I fell into confusion, not realizing how the resulting shockwave hurled my body out of the cave opening, from where I dropped off, bouncing off the rocks and losing even more HP.

Before I realized what was happening, I lost consciousness.