Four Gloomfang Hounds were gathered in the same spot.
Upon closer look, Eren found they were eating the rotten corpse of an ox-looking monster, tearing its flesh and bones apart.
'Two passive skills, and one active skill…'
Eren perfectly gauged their strength and decided to make his move immediately.
Gathering all the strength in his legs, he pushed against the wind and burst forward at extreme speed, not giving the four hounds any time to react.
"Kkh—rrrk!"
"Grrk—!"
"Kkh—rrrk!"
"Hrrgh—!"
The violent blue light covering Eren's claws intensified as his spiritual sense poured even more spiritual power into them.
He directly aimed for their throats and ripped them apart with ease.
The four monsters didn't even have time to resist.
[You have slain Level 6 Gloomfang Hound…]
[Gained 18 Life Essence…]
[Random Reward Multiplier triggered…]
[Random number: 9949…]
[You gained 179,082 Life Essence…]
[You have slain Level 6 Gloomfang Hound…]
[Gained 18 Life Essence…]
[Random Reward Multiplier triggered…]
[Random number: 699…]
[You gained 12,582 Life Essence…]
[You have slain Level 6 Gloomfang Hound…]
[Gained 18 Life Essence and Gloomfang Claw ×1…]
[Random Reward Multiplier triggered…]
[Random number: 2008…]
[You gained 36,144 Life Essence and Gloomfang Claw ×2008…]
[You have slain Level 6 Gloomfang Hound…]
[Gained 18 Life Essence and Gloomfang Claw ×1…]
[Random Reward Multiplier triggered…]
[Random number: 28…]
[You gained 504 Life Essence and Gloomfang Claw ×28…]
'Two drops already?!'
Eren widened his eyes in surprise.
According to the information he had gathered, the drop rate for these items should be less than 15%, yet after slaying only four, two had already dropped items.
Delighted, he immediately spread his senses to search for other nearby presences.
Within moments, he found another group of four.
Just like before, he moved instantly, appearing beside them and beginning the slaughter with his [Moonrend Claw] skill.
The blue light intensified once again as his [Spiritual Sense] triggered maximum spirit output into his attacks.
Just like yesterday when he met the girl, his spiritual energy surged wildly through the skill, but this time, Eren was doing it intentionally.
Rrrrip!
The moment his claws made contact with their flesh, it was torn apart directly, like a knife cutting through butter.
"Kkh—rrrk!"
"Grrk—!"
"Hrrgh—!"
Three of the four died instantly, while the last one managed to leap backward.
"AAWWWOOOOOOO—!"
It immediately activated its active skill.
Eren felt a wave of spiritual energy infused within the howl, but it scattered into nothing the moment it touched his skin.
"Awo—ghk!"
Eren smashed the last one's head with a heavy strike.
Crack!
Its skull shattered, and it died instantly.
[You have slain Level 6 Gloomfang Hound…]
[Gained 18 Life Essence…]
[Random Reward Multiplier triggered…]
[Random number: 954…]
[You gained 17,172 Life Essence…]
[You have slain Level 6 Gloomfang Hound…]
[Gained 18 Life Essence…]
[Random Reward Multiplier triggered…]
[Random number: 9638…]
[You gained 173,484 Life Essence…]
[You have slain Level 6 Gloomfang Hound…]
[Gained 18 Life Essence…]
[Random Reward Multiplier triggered…]
[Random number: 1475…]
[You gained 26,550 Life Essence…]
[You have slain Level 6 Gloomfang Hound…]
[Gained 18 Life Essence…]
[Random Reward Multiplier triggered…]
[Random number: 148…]
[You gained 2,664 Life Essence…]
This time, no items were dropped.
Eren's wolf form stared with cold, beastly blue eyes at the monsters' remains as they disappeared into nothingness.
The battle felt too easy for him.
He almost felt bored.
It couldn't be helped.
While the Gloomfang Hounds' average stats were around 8 points in Strength and Constitution, and 9 points in Agility, their attributes were without a doubt comparable to an average Level 8 combat profession holder.
Combined with their group tactics, they could easily overwhelm opponents even at Level 10.
But Eren's current overall stats were already equal to those of a Level 22 combat profession holder.
Once he transformed into his beast form, those stats immediately doubled, resulting in all of his attributes exceeding or equal to 74 points.
Additionally, with the double damage inflicted by his faction effect, the damage he dealt was equivalent to having 144 points in Strength.
On top of that, his spiritual sense allowed him to pour more spiritual energy into his [Moonrend Claw], which currently consumed 0.8 Spirit per attack.
More than doubling the consumption also amplified the effect of the skill, dealing soul damage that ignored physical defense, with an additional, more than 30% bonus damage, which was also doubled by the faction effect.
In other words, every single attack Eren unleashed dealt damage equivalent to more than 200 points of Strength, more than twenty times what a Gloomfang Hound could withstand.
'Mm…!'
As Eren spread his senses to search for more groups, he detected a large number of monsters rushing in his direction. It immediately clicked in his mind.
'So, that last howl wasn't just for attack… it was also to alert the others, huh?'
Even after realizing this, Eren didn't fluster.
Instead, the grin on his wolf face widened.
He moved toward a narrow tunnel with a dead end and calmly stood in front of the wall, waiting for the monsters to gather before him.
The beasts sniffed around the tunnel before several of them spotted him.
Instead of attacking on sight,
"Grrrraaaah…"
They let out a roar that echoed through the narrow tunnel.
Instantly, at the other end, more than twenty hounds gathered.
Among them, Eren noticed a wolf-like creature different from the rest, leaner and taller than the other hounds.
Its nose constantly exhaled strands of black mist as it breathed, and short, bone-like spikes ran along its spine.
A text panel appeared before Eren.
[Duskmire Tracker Lv.7
Strength: 10
Agility: 11
Spirit: 6
Constitution: 11
Beast Skills: [Dreadful Howl Lv.7] [Rotfang Bite Lv.7] [Shadowrend Claws Lv.5] [Pack Control Lv.3]]
[Pack Control Lv.3: Possesses a certain degree of control over all hound-type beasts within its territory. Hounds under its command gain minor resistance to fear effects.]
'Pack Control… So the hounds I killed were its minions, huh? These monsters seem far more organized compared to those from the beginner dungeon.'
If other awakeners were stuck in his situation, they would use their escape talisman without hesitation and teleport outside immediately.
But Eren felt no danger from their presence at all.
'I can handle this…'
It wasn't just confidence, the beastly instinct within him urged him to kill more.
Unknowingly, his tail wagged wildly in excitement.
"KHRAAA!"
The Duskmire Tracker roared, signaling its minions to attack.
"Grrrraaaah…"
"Rrrrhhh—!"
"Khrrr—rrr—!"
The pack obeyed instantly.
All twenty of them lunged at once, but the narrow tunnel allowed only three to advance at the same time, giving Eren the perfect opportunity to begin his slaughter.
His [Moonrend Claw] flared with intense spirit output.
"Khrrr—"
Rrrip!
The first hound that opened its mouth was instantly struck down, its face torn apart.
The next two followed, one crushed with a clawed smash to the head.
Another managed to get too close, but Eren instinctively snapped his jaws shut around its neck.
Crack!
"Rrrrhhh—!"
Its neck broke instantly, and it died on the spot.
System notifications rang in his ears, but Eren's slaughter did not stop.
It had only just begun.