Arthur felt deeply satisfied when he realized he had finally obtained a powerful defensive skill. As for the mana consumption requirement, he didn’t think much about it.

  He had previously learned from the Spider Woman that the awakening of his Primal Core would begin during his Rank Up to D-Rank. At that point, he would become capable of storing mana, even if only in small amounts.

  Because of that, he was truly eager to Rank Up to the next Rank. At the same time, he remained cautious and patient. Any imperfect Rank Up could cause issues during the awakening of the Primal Core, which in turn could threaten his future Evolution Path.

  In truth, the time Arthur spent as a slave under the Spider Woman had not been mere humiliation or a waste. During that period, he extracted a great deal of fragmented information from her, and he even forced her to protect him twice from monsters that surpassed him in Rank.

  To some, these “privileges of slavery” might seem tempting—a valuable opportunity to stay alive in such a brutal forest. After all, who wouldn’t want the protection and guidance of a powerful being in exchange for service?

  As he reflected on the information he had learned from her, her beautiful and alluring face surfaced in his mind.

  Memories of their few conversations passed through his thoughts, and for a brief moment, he wondered about her condition. Even his emotions and instincts stirred slightly.

  But he quickly regained his composure and purged his mind of those strange thoughts.

  His brow furrowed in irritation, and he muttered in a low voice filled with suppressed anger:

  "Have I lost my mind? Why am I thinking about that savage whore? I’m not some sick person attracted to that kind of thing.

  She must have been influencing my mind the entire time with her seduction Skills, turning me into a puppet in her hands."

  A confident look appeared on his face, and he nodded in agreement with his own thoughts.

  "Yeah, yeah, that’s obviously what happened. To hell with her. Now that I’ve escaped, there’s no way I’ll let her capture me again."

  Honestly, even though he hated her a little and had no desire to see her again, he couldn’t deny the fact that he had developed some faint feelings toward her. Not because he was weak or foolish, but because of his nature and everything he had been through.

  A human cannot live their life alone, isolated from others. No matter how much someone loves solitude and quiet, if you place them in a desolate and lonely environment, they won’t be able to endure it. They’ll seek anything they can communicate with—to the point where they might even befriend a rock.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  And that was under normal circumstances.

  So what about Arthur, who had spent a long time completely alone in a different world, facing madness and death at every moment? It was only logical that some sense of familiarity—or even affection—would form toward the only being he had been able to communicate with.

  The confident look vanished from his face, and he let out a long Sigh!. He stopped thinking about it any further. He had already made his decision.

  He would flee as far as he possibly could.

  Although he hadn’t decided on his destination yet, two options were on his mind: heading toward the borders of the human empire, or going north, where the frozen lands lay.

  The second option seemed safer. Wolves were adapted to harsh environments. However, at the same time, his curiosity and longing for human life pushed him toward the east.

  Naturally, when he remembered what had happened the last time he followed his curiosity, he was no longer conflicted.

  It was clear that humans patrolled near the borders, exterminating monsters to prevent them from entering their territory. That alone was a convincing enough reason to avoid that place.

  "Anyway, there’s no need to get ahead of myself. First, I need to rank up. Only after that will I think about what to do next. And I also got carried away with my thoughts and forgot to try the 'Immortal Body' skill, even though its effectiveness will be very low due to my lack of mana."

  Without hesitation, he focused and activated the skill.

  He immediately felt his body grow heavier as his skin became thicker and harder, as if it had turned into metal armor. The same happened to his fur—it stiffened and was no longer soft.

  "This is good. Even though I got exhausted after just a few seconds, my skill arsenal has become more diverse now. Still, I’m lacking a mid-range or long-range attack skill. Let’s just hope that ranking up and awakening my core will bring some pleasant surprises."

  After he finally finished examining all the rewards he had obtained, he turned his attention to the loot he had nearly died for.

  He took out the damaged Primal Core and the mana stone ore, and examined them briefly.

  They were interesting and clearly valuable—especially the mana stone ore. However, he didn’t know how to make use of them yet, so he stored everything with the strange skeleton until needed.

  After that, there was nothing left for him to do.

  He spent most of his time lying down and recovering. He didn’t return to the tunnels, and the only notable thing that happened was that the next day, he discovered that a massive E-Rank rodent was lurking nearby.

  He didn't panic or get agitated. On the contrary, he felt a bit of joy because he had found a suitable target to test his "Overwhelming Presence".

  The moment he released his aura, the poor rodent began to tremble with intense fear before fleeing at its maximum speed.

  This sight left Arthur deeply satisfied; he had gained a very effective deterrent against monsters of the same rank, and perhaps even those stronger than him.

  By the third day, he had fully recovered. All his injuries had healed, leaving no scars on his body. Without any hesitation, he adjusted his mental state and strictly commanded the System:

  [Executing…]

  [Ranking up to Rank D…]

  [ Warning ]

  [ Rank up suspended ]

  [ Potential evolution paths detected. Please select the path you wish to follow ]

  His eyes widened in surprise; he hadn't expected to get the chance to evolve this quickly. Before he could even react to the shocking news, three screens of different colors appeared before him.

  — — — —

  [Giant Wolf – Heavy Physical Evolution Path]

  Type: Physical Evolution

  Focus: Amplifying body to unnatural limits, maximizing raw Strength and Endurance

  — Advantages —

  Grants immense physical Strength

  Extremely high Endurance, allowing the body to withstand massive damage

  Very effective in direct combat, especially against multiple enemies

  Strong resistance to Wood and Earth magic

  — Disadvantages —

  Greatly reduces Speed and Agility, making the user slow and less nimble

  Weak against highly mobile opponents and concentrated magical attacks

  Significantly limits Mana capacity and magical potential ]

  — — — —

  "A physical evolution path?" Arthur read the dark bronze screen with intense focus, analyzing its advantages and disadvantages. Then, he moved on to the next screen, which was a brilliant, shining silver.