26

Attibute Panel: Evolution from an Artic Wolf

26 - Time goes slow in cold weather

If anything is certain it would be that the weather in the arctic is constantly changing, and what Luke is referring to is that the cold has increased again. 　 

The days were getting shorter and shorter, knowing how close he was now to the north pole, Luke noticed that the night was much longer than before. 

So, thinking about all this sort of thing, he knew he was not far from the Polar night. 

Now animals in large groups have migrated to less cold areas of the Arctic. 

This has led to more brutal competition among hunters on the Arctic continent. 

"Roar!" 

In the darkness, Luke stood at the entrance to the cave, looking all over the vast terrain below the mountain  

And now, a loud roar echoed in the sky.

In the cave, Baxter, Anie, Ondina, and Ardad were curled up sleeping. Currently, Luke and Baxter were the only ones with hunting skills. As for Anie who was the oldest in age, she was only a level 3. 

After all, she didn't have that information to tell that she is an awakened beast and her strength is less than Baxter. 

But while she stays in the cave it is more than enough for her to take care of Ondina and Ardad. 　　 

Although there are not many wolves in the current wolf pack, relatively speaking, the atmosphere is very harmonious and everyone feels very related. 

... 

Time passed very quickly, and in a short time half a month flew by. 

The Polar night arrived completely in the surrounding area. 
　　
The area where Luke was staying was shrouded in darkness for the whole day, without any hint of light. 

The temperature also dropped to twice what it was. 

Luke felt that even in the cave, everyone would rather be huddled with each other to keep warm. 

Ardad and Baxter were hiding behind a rock, while Luke due to his large body and fur could provide many with a little more warmth. 

And now all the wolves were no less at level 3. Naturally, Luke doesn't mind sharing warmth with the others. And luckily there is plenty of food in the cave that he was gathering in a hurry over the past few days. 

But there were always a couple of abnormal wolves that put on a show for Luke, and these were Baxter and Ardad who had awakened due to one biting the other's tail while he slept. 

The growth of these two wolves, at least Ardad's, went up from level two to level three and this helped him a lot in resisting the severe cold. 

During this period of time, Luke had to go down the mountain numerous times to hunt and Baxter always accompanied him. 

But when Polar night comes, all is sunshine in the surrounding area. 

However, even if it is night there is still some prey that can be hunted. 

...

Howl!!! 

Several wolf howls echoed across the dark arctic terrain. 
　　
The unstoppable duo, Luke and Baxter, were moving at high speed for a long time but not having found large prey which were the ones he was interested in.
　　
But the diversity of prey acquisition also increased, so that creatures that were indifferent in Luke's eyes were hunted without exception. 

This has also provided in the recent period plenty of food to spare, and given Luke peace of mind that he could survive this white hell. 

And today's hunt was also a good one, successfully hunting an Arctic fox cub. 　　

Arguably, the Arctic fox is the most alert animal on the Arctic continent and they usually moved in pairs or groups.  

Therefore, it is difficult to be hunted by hungry predators. Besides, the speed of these animals is very high. 

But today I had to say that it was a coincidence that Luke found this fox den. 

The fox' nest was on a mountain right next to where Luke lived, and he discovered that it had also been very well built. And when Luke noticed this nest, he sent Baxter who was smaller than him and could fit perfectly in that nest. 
　　
Luke on his side was on guard waiting for the fox to come out, in case it got away from Baxter. 　　 

Rrrr! 

Hearing the commotion inside the arctic wolves' hideout, they all began to escape at high speed.

But faced with Luke who was already close to or over two meters in size, an arctic fox would have no chance in resisting and ran away avoiding this huge wolf. 

This group of arctic foxes has one adult strong, two females and five cubs about forty centimeters long. 　 

Among them, the male arctic fox is not bad, especially the escape speed is extremely fast. 

If they met other Arctic wolves, they would have already fled their hunt. 

But it is an unfortunate occasion because they met Luke, who immediately took the lead and hunted two cubs that did not run so fast. 

How many of the five were people and one was captured alive. 

As for the ones that escaped, both were female cubs. 

But Luke did not kill them all and left open the possibility of those foxes having cubs in the future. 

"[... Species: Arctic fox (Male/Dead) 

Level: Level 4. 　　
　　
Esper Energy: 439 

Endurance: 45 

Strength: 39 

Defense: 33 

Speed: 51...]" 

This Arctic fox that was much larger has pretty good strength and above average speed. 

Even Baxter couldn't keep up with it. 

The body length is less than a meter, only about seventy or eighty centimeters. 

But the body is slender, the waist is very thin and the weight is not even half that of animals of the same size. 

And if you compare the female foxes, the size is even smaller than the males. 

It must be said that the appearance of the Arctic fox is extremely high in the whole Arctic circle from Luke's point of view. 

It is a beautiful creature, so fine that after hunting them Luke had some bitterness about hunting such a beautiful creature. 

An arctic fox's eyes, its hair, its shape are incredibly noble. 
　　
Even the white fur of the arctic fox was similar to Luke's. 

There is also a layer of white fluff on the soles of the feet, which is convenient for walking on ice and snow. 

In addition, Luke had read long ago that the foxes' genetics allowed them to change their fur color. 

But even if they change, the color is still beautiful. 
　　
Luke, who had been reborn as a wolf and experienced this life for three months, had already become decisive. 

Tenderness and good looks versus survival are not worth mentioning. 

The current brood of Arctic foxes is a new prey hunted by Luke and Baxter.

Their value is unique and it's never good to let food get away. 

A unique prey that Luke had not tried, and seeing the situation getting worse and worse, he decided to use one of the potions to level up as soon as possible, increasing three times the value of his points earned over the next three days. 
　　
Luke estimates that he will be able to level up or borderline level 6. 

"Auuuu." 

With a long howl, Luke summoned Baxter to bring the arctic fox back to the cave. In all, they hunted three adult foxes and four cubs. 

It took Luke and Baxter two trips to climb up to the cave, they had to secure their climb safely and also not lose the food. 
　　
After repeated climbs, Baxter was now much more adept at scaling the mountain. 

... 

In the cave, Luke at first threw an arctic fox cub that had been captured alive to Anie and Ondina, so they could practice hunting. 
　
He then instructed Baxter to supervise that there was no mistake. 
　　
The strength of this little arctic fox is only level 1. 

It is good for the cubs to practice hunting no matter how bad it was seen, Luke needs his pack to be strong. Now next to the Arctic Reindeer, the food was enough for him to last for a long time. 

As for his food, it obviously must be adult Arctic foxes. When he reached his resting place, he opened his mouth and his sharp fangs pierced the stomach of the adult arctic fox. 

The arctic fox, which was originally very cute, suddenly staged a bloody scene. At this point Luke had used the potion to level up while eating. 
　　
After waiting for the potion's energy to flow through his body, he tore off a large chunk of meat and swallowed it.
　
"[12.7 Poins evolution points gained for eating arctic Fox!"] 　  

With the increase of that wonderful potion, the points increased greatly. 

So many evolution points! 

Going up to level 6 should be very close. 
　　
Thinking about this, Luke started eating faster and faster. 
　　
"[12.5 Poins evolution points gained for eating arctic Fox!"] 　  

"[12.3 Poins evolution points gained for eating arctic Fox!"] 　  

"[11.5 Poins evolution points gained for eating arctic Fox!"] 　  

"[11.3 Poins evolution points gained for eating arctic Fox!"]]