How much time had passed?
[ Bite 2 → 3 ]
A few hours?
[ Bite 3 → 4 ]
A few days?
[ Bite 4 → 5 ]
I had already lost track of time; even so, my vitality and vigor were several levels above normal, still able to keep up with the pace.
However, my body was moving more and more on instinct, while my consciousness grew heavier and heavier.
[ Strike 4 → 5 ]
Even so, they never stopped coming. Every time I looked, there were more and more of them piling up in the corridors.
For the first time in my two lives, I understood the concept of a myriad.
This was the myriad of mutant wolves.
[ Pain Tolerance 3 → 4 ]
My body hurt; inevitably, several bites struck me, tearing pieces of my flesh and skin.
It was somewhat comical to me—I'd never had my own flesh torn with such force despite doing that to others all the time.
So this is how my prey felt…
My eyes felt heavy. I tried to resist with everything I had, but… but I blinked, and when I did, the distant enemies were already upon me again.
'Shit…'
My consciousness was at its absolute limit, and even then I tried to push just a little further.
Not to win, of course.
Only to have a dignified death.
[ Fainting Tolerance 3 → 5 ]
I had tried coming up with strategies at first, but honestly, I think I reached my limit and then broke through it just to give myself a little more time.
Then the limit came again, and I broke through it again. Each time more painful and exhausting.
But that was all I could do—buy just a few more moments before dying.
[ Circulation Technique 1 → 3 ]
Once again, I saw a wolf lunging at me, its wide mouth about to close around me.
I felt no fear.
Not even anger.
I just wondered what I should have done differently.
What the hell should I have noticed that I didn't?
How could I have won?
Yet, just as its teeth were about to close on me, I gritted my own teeth, dodged, and cut off its head.
I kicked off the walls and kept going again and again, killing as many as I could even if none of it meant anything anymore.
They could tear off my limbs, rip out my fangs and claws, but they could not destroy my will to win.
I kept fighting relentlessly. My enemies might as well have been infinite, and even then, I would destroy the infinite.
However, eventually…
The world seemed to grow faster and faster. My enemies no longer felt slow.
Their blows struck me more and more, cutting into my flesh.
Each hit grew heavier, pushing my consciousness to its brink.
And my attacks… no longer killed or even hurt them.
Blood dripped from my seven orifices, and even breathing burned like hell.
I laughed in amusement as I noticed this.
I didn't lose to them.
I lost to myself.
My mind gave out along with my body.
Both had reached their absolute limit.
At last, I closed my eyes with a sigh, knowing I had defeated the myriad of wolves.
The only one who defeated me… was me.
Hundreds of them jumped on me in the final moment, ready to tear me apart.
And no one intervened.
No one would intervene.
I closed my eyes knowing my life ended there.
It had been a good life.
I just wished I had bothered Agnes more and gotten to know my siblings better.
However, when I opened my eyes again, the scene had changed.
I was no longer in the castle surrounded by wolves.
I wasn't even a tiger anymore.
I was a normal person, my body stretched across a flowered carpet.
I took a deep breath—the air here was purer than anywhere else.
"It really was a good life." I rose slowly while contemplating the scenery around me.
I was in a flowered clearing in the middle of the forest. The whole scene felt familiar, and so I walked calmly.
In the forest, the birdsong soothed me, and the scent of the river filled me with nostalgia.
Eventually, I stopped beneath a familiar tree, one I knew I would visit many years in the future.
The same tree where I ate my first fish caught by myself. The warm sun heated my skin in a pleasure hard to describe.
[ Strike 5 → 6 ]
I kept walking, revisiting the old river where I had fished so many fish.
The clearings where I hunted rabbits.
The old fox dens…
It was brief, but they were good moments.
[ Bite 5 → 6 ]
Slowly, I walked toward the most nostalgic place of all. In a way, I felt a deep calling coming from there.
It was where everything began.
And where everything would end.
Calmly, I approached a familiar cave. Its entrance slightly stained with dried blood that should have filled my heart with terror.
But I knew that place well, and so I entered without fear.
Only to find a tall, strong tigress.
I had never seen her in such an intimidating pose, and yet, precisely because it was intimidating, it brought me peace.
[ Circulation Technique 3 → 5 ]
We stared at each other in silence for a few moments; thousands of words wanted and needed to be spoken between us.
But first.
[ Hi, mom! I hope I wasn't a bad son. ]
I greeted her with a gentle smile as she only snorted, ignoring my words.
[ We never spoke before and we have a lot to talk. ]
The tigress suddenly communicated just like I did with humans.
[ No, we were simply animals. How could we? ]
I laughed in amusement as she only growled irritably.
[ Humans speak with words; we tigers and all demonic species have our own ways.]
I frowned at that answer.
[ I didn't live long enough to teach you the demonic language. That is my fault. ]
For a moment, I had no words. All this time since reincarnation, I had thought of myself as a mere animal.
A new reality had unfolded before me, and instead of studying it with the curiosity and innocence of a child, I simplified it using my prior knowledge, which only proved more and more wrong.
[ Well… I wasn't a good son either. I should've tried to learn more from you. I always thought I knew more than others. ]
I said, scratching my neck, while she simply laughed softly.
[ A child being good or bad is always the consequence of their upbringing. Don't be arrogant and think you didn't depend on me. From the day you were born, you have been nothing but weak and foolish, even if talented. ]
I sat down and let her speak.
[ Do you know what talent is? ]
She asked me, her expression complicated.
[ No, I only know some people have it and others don't. ]
Again, I remembered my past life.
At times, I thought talent was just developing good habits from a young age, only for that to later be labeled as "talent."
If you were born into a family of musicians, you'd hardly be bad at music.
Yet… there are many cases of people from terrible families who still become great geniuses.
[ Everyone will always have a unique opinion on that, but in the end, I believe there are different kinds of talent. And a clear impact from one's personal history.]
She stared deeply into me, looking into the very depths of my soul.
[ Your mature mind will be called talent, but it is nothing more than accumulated experience. This is the cultivable kind of talent—anyone can have it, and its effects are not small. ]
[ You were born with many talents: for combat, for hunting, for independence. I saw it from the start and was surprised again and again. But you know something? This is as far as they brought you. ]
I swallowed hard, an obscure feeling curling inside my chest.
I was a legacy beast with pure roots who began his journey to power as a cub.
I made the hearts of thousands of nobles fill with greed, and even the king could only imagine my glorious future.
So many expectations. Such a glorious future.
And even though I could have been all that…
In the end, I am no different from anyone else.
So much talent—for nothing.
I failed.
[ But you still haven't lost. You can still get up, fight, and win. ]
My body shivered at those words.
[ How? There are thousands of them, all able to restrict my aura and drain my strength. ]
[ Simple. Now that you've finally killed your ego, accept my help and watch this battle unfold once more. ]
When I blinked, I was back there.
My body moved with agility, hunting wolf after wolf.
But it wasn't me controlling my body.
It was my legacy spirit—it took over when my consciousness faltered.
Once again, my mind could clearly observe the battlefield, and once again I realized something.
Their aura…
They were controlling it.
They were focusing it on me.
If aura can be focused to attack, couldn't it also be used to defend?
Immediately, while my body fought guided by the legacy spirit, my main consciousness focused on the aura.
Until now, I had only released it without restraint—but what if I controlled it?
Aura slowly leaked from my body in a circular shape, but this time I deformed it gradually as I mastered this new sensation.
Hours passed as I worked on guiding my aura.
Days passed.
My legacy spirit, as tenacious as myself, allowed me to focus on a single task ceaselessly.
And at last
[ Your feats have been recognized; you have gained the skill [Aura Control(Lv.1)] ]
I donned an armor of aura.
All opposing aura was suddenly negated.
My strength quickly returned to its peak, my eyes sharpened, and I finally regained control of my body.
Like a bolt of lightning, dozens of powerful wolves fell beneath my feet, their collective aura collapsing.
The leaders who had previously watched me with arrogance suddenly had to advance before I grew even stronger.
Several of them fell in succession; my body was stronger than even I expected.
My level had risen non-stop for days.
For the first time, I looked down at the wolves below and saw not brave hunters—but frightened prey.
The wolves began to flee.