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Attibute Panel: Evolution from an Artic Wolf
40 - An unknown predator

Time passed very quickly.

After three days, Luke had not gone out hunting again and preferred to stay in the cave recovering.

His injury had largely healed.

As long as he wasn't in a fierce fight, his injury wouldn't affect his daily life at all.

With his passive talent, his wound, which should have taken more than a month to heal, had now almost completely healed in just a few days.

"Auuuuu!"

Luke, who had returned from inspecting the surroundings, stood at the entrance of the cave and let out a powerful howl from this side of the cave.

The howl of a wolf echoed in the darkness for a long time. With this, dangerous predators would think twice before approaching their cave. Luke made sure that the predators wouldn't attack the cave when he was gone.

But even so, the strength attributes of Ardad and Anie were also constantly improving.

Baxter was already getting closer to level five.

As for Ardad and Anie, they were the ones who reached level three.

During the last few days, Ardad had significantly raised his statistics.

As for little Ondina, she had grown a lot, showing off her beautiful white hair like snow, just like her brother.

During all the nights, especially in these extremely cold seasons, Ondina preferred to sleep next to her brother and Anie.

Ardad, on the other hand, slept next to Baxter, who had also increased the size of their bodies.

But now everyone's hair was very long and furry, perfectly protecting them from the waves of cold that could affect their bodies.

With this, the general strength of the pack had increased a lot, and although they were all still growing, they didn't differ much from other packs.

"But this is something never seen in other packs..." Luke watched as Ardad and Baxter started fighting again.

Baxter's thick claws brought down Ardad's attack, who received the blow directly and flew back.

Then, Baxter pressed him to the ground.

"Awawawawa!"

This made Ardad howl in the usual way, asking for mercy.

Ondina and Anie were lazily lounging, watching these two wolves put on a show.

Ondina occasionally howled to cheer on Ardad, who always lost.

In the cave, it could be said that the atmosphere was relaxed and harmonious.

...

But at that moment, in a completely different place about thirty kilometers from Luke's cave, an all-terrain vehicle stopped.

Rue and her team were trying to search the area where they had lost the drone last time with the help of another drone.

But they soon discovered that the female deaf bear who had recently given birth was not found.

Even Brad, with his group's insistence, manipulated the drone to enter the den of the female brown bear and try to observe, but there was nothing.

Everyone thought that the brown bear had taken the cubs out to eat, and while taking shots of some creatures that appeared from time to time, they also searched for the female brown bear's trail.

And finally, not far from the deaf bear's den, small traces of blood were found scattered on bushes and steep ice.

Although the ice had mostly covered any traces of blood, Brad and Caesar got out of the car and headed in that direction.

After scanning the area, it was found that the bloodstains were not only here, there were many traces of blood all around that point.

"I'm just the photographer, but if you ask me, I have to say that something really messed up happened here."

"Yes, everything seems to indicate that there was a fight here..." Caesar crouched down and began to clear the snow with a wooden stick.

Brad took advantage of the moment to show off and said, "Just look at this, what a spectacular shot... Wow!"

"The fight in this place was extremely fierce..."

"Brad, stop fooling around and show us the ground," Rue said, trying to draw her own conclusions.

"It's getting dark, you should go back and film everything with the drone," Finnick said as they watched the sky slowly darken.

Minutes later, Brad and Caesar returned to the car and shortly after, the drone arrived at the scene while scenes that could be considered for their documentary were being taken.

"Looking at the amount of blood, it cannot be from a single animal, and we also should not consider small animals..." Rue mentioned this special point.

"Do you think it's the female deaf bear?" Finnick asked as he took off his glasses.

"What are you talking about?"

"It makes sense, what other animal would be weak after a female brown bear gives birth?"

Caesar shook his head and pointed out, "I don't think any predator is that intelligent, and the female brown bear chose a good time to have a baby when predators and dangerous animals are not as active."

"But it makes sense, otherwise, where is the female brown bear? We haven't thought that finding a large refuge is now difficult, so that wouldn't come to the mind of a female brown bear considering her cubs."

...

Several hours later, everyone had finished their work for the day and decided to return since the day wasn't very good.

On the way, Rue remained thoughtful about it.

What kind of animal or group of animals could kill an adult female brown bear? If so, many others should have died and there would be visible traces at least.

However, when they looked around, there was absolutely no trace, as if every part of the brown bear and other animals had disappeared.

"This is very strange..."...

41 - Small details

The next day, Rue's group spent their time thinking about what could have actually happened to the female deaf bear, and after that, they set out on a trip to photograph polar bears.

There are now many polar bears in this area. Therefore, as their job requires it and from personal experience, there is nothing better than photographing polar bears, the supreme ruler of the Arctic continent.

Furthermore, no matter how much material they have for the documentary, it is always necessary to have extra in case of any mishaps.

Since it is impossible to capture footage of the female brown bear, having some material of a polar bear is something that can also be done with little light.

Soon, Rue's group set off. After mapping out a route, they all got in their vehicles and took the best path that led directly to a group of polar bears.

And everyone, without exception, was really excited to do this kind of work in the current weather. There weren't many people who wanted to do this kind of work on the Arctic continent, so they were really nervous.

Abrad was in the passenger seat checking the camera, and his eyes drifted to the drone that was in front of the seat.

"I can't believe it, my personal drone was smashed to pieces after losing control inexplicably. Should I report this? It's not like it was cheap to buy, it cost too much for my salary."

"Hahaha, I clearly told you that a miniature drone can't withstand the weather of this place, you should have used it in the dorms," Caesar said with irony.

"This time you're right, it's really unfortunate."

"At least you have the experience, hopefully someone can fix it. Does the warranty cover using the drone in the Arctic?"

"No..."

...

With the sound of conversations and some jokes, the group moved towards the place where they would try to find large polar bears.

Under the Arctic tundra, the points emitted by the car lights had also become bright lights in this place that was still in the night.

At that moment, Luke, the author of having hunted a female brown bear, was looking at Baxter, who was sleeping like a human after getting drunk, his tongue was out and he could swear that his tongue was frozen.

And underneath Baxter was the pillow called Ardad. Baxter's condition is good, his temperature is stable as he has a larger body than average.

Ardad was not harmed by having Baxter on his body as this wolf gave him a lot of heat.

Feeling that abnormal body heat, Ardad had awakened and his eyes looked around after falling asleep.

And Baxter, who was sleeping as if there were no worries in this world, was currently raising his basic stats by a lot.

Luke had thought that Baxter was in an evolutionary process, and upon seeing his basic attribute panel, he knew that Baxter was stabilizing his level 4.

After leveling up, it has to be stabilized with more basic points and that's what was happening to Baxter. It is true that his situation is very abnormal, as if his body was completely different from the rest.

Like an awakened beast, Luke immediately related it as a type of different animal. Bigger, stronger, smarter, and certainly its growth is far superior to any wolf. Of course, all of this is not even close to what Luke had achieved.

In normal animals, even if their level is the same as Luke's, these levels do not have the same statistics. Therefore, Luke could face a level 6 lynx that could be inferior to him, the only thing that varies this level from others is their life and size.

And now Baxter's power has increased greatly, but if compared to Luke, he still has a long way to go to match it.

But after this, Luke could consider leaving him alone in a little more time. However, when he remembers Baxter's naive and playful personality, he still needs to focus on limiting that through training.

"Rrrr!"

Luke let out a growl, letting everyone who was watching Baxter know that he was okay, and after that everyone went to sleep.

Then, Luke felt Ardad get up and take a piece of arctic fox fur and lie back down.

And Baxter, who was moving from side to side with his eyes closed, generated doubt in all the wolves in the cave. But then, he lay back down next to his pillow.

...

As an Arctic wolf, Luke had discovered that the polar night is a time of both challenge and opportunity. The darkness of the long winter night is intense and can last for months. During this time, the sun never rises above the horizon, leaving the landscape shrouded in perpetual twilight.

For him, the polar night means adapting to extreme cold and limited hours of light. He has to be strategic in his hunting, conserving energy during the day and seeking out small prey in the darkness. Snow and ice are also much more treacherous during the polar night, making movement more difficult and dangerous.

Fortunately, Luke has enough food in reserve.

Brown bear, Arctic reindeer, the lynx that was shared among all of them, and just when Luke had fully recovered, he had a huge appetite.

He alone, with his large body, managed to eat between fifteen to twenty kilos of meat.

It is very difficult for any adult wolf to eat that much food, let alone growing wolves inside the cave.

At present, it is all about opportunities and new prey to reach level 10.

Now, Luke's body has returned to its original vitality.

Baxter had also increased his basic attributes, and all of them had taken great strides.

And to test the true power that Baxter now has, Luke went hunting with him.

Mainly, Baxter took the lead.

As the polar night progresses, wolves must be vigilant to the dangers that come with it. Darkness can disorient us, making navigation difficult, and cold can be deadly if no one is prepared. But with Luke's acute senses and always hunting with him and Baxter, there was no need for the rest to succumb to the dark winter.

And in no time, Baxter's senses detected a lone lynx.

"Roar!"

At this moment, Baxter alone defeated a fierce lynx, and also plundered two arctic rabbits.

"Double prize after the victory!"

This time, Luke let him howl with joy.

The lynx is a natural hunter with extremely fast speed and strong concealment.

But its ability to fight head-on is not high.

Baxter's victory over the lynx was within Luke's expectations, so he did not intervene.

As a pack movement distribution, the strongest leader always goes behind any other, and ahead of another wolf. But this time, Luke took a position not so far in front but not too far behind, and with this, the duo would be safe back to the cave.