3

Attibute Panel: Evolution from an Artic Wolf

3 - Grow in silence

As he drank his mother wolf's breast milk, Luke fell into a deep sleep helplessly. His eyes kept watching that panel of attributes, wondering what makes it up and how an overall strength is defined. 　 

But as a young mammal that tends to be very lethargic, he could do nothing but sleep. 

This was something inevitable in human babies as well as in puppies of any animal, cats for example yielding to their daily sleep without anyone being able to prevent their rest. 　 

... 

A month later, in the cave of the Arctic wolf pack. 

"Rrrr!" 

A cat-like purr sounded next to Luke's ear. 

After no longer being able to keep his eyes closed any longer, a figure glared at Luke under her two cute blinking eyes. 

This figure is obviously his wolf sister. 

Her wolf sister was born not much later than Luke, that is, moments after her brother. 

But what she didn't expect was that her brother, who was originally the same size as her, would grow up so fast.

Now her older brother was several times her size. 　 

As for Luke, who was looking at the scenery outside the cave and daydreaming about all the things he would do when he grew older, the moment he heard this surprise growl next to him, he simply shook his head, stretched out his long paw and plunged his sister's head against the snow in a playful manner. 

Of course he was aware of his sister Wolf's surprise and doubt. 

But this was not only his sister's doubt, but also his wolf father and mother in the cave, as well as several other members of the pack were curious about him.
　　
If it weren't for the fact that Luke grew up under the gazes of all the wolves in the cave and they recognize his scent, they would most likely have mistaken him for a wolf from outside the pack who snuck into the cave unnoticed. 
　
After all, in this month, Luke's growth was too frightening. 

Of course, that was due to the ten points he had fused with his body, those points he had gotten from the panel. 

By the third day after being reborn, Luke could already run and jump. 

When ten days had passed, his mother wolf no longer fed him herself, but was now to eat the prey that his father wolf caught from the outside. 

On the twentieth day, his body size had already surpassed that of his wolf sister, and even surpassed other half-year old pups in the pack. 

Thirty days old, that is, now, Luke's size is about the same as that of a yearling male Arctic wolf. 

[... Name: Luke Mondragon
     
Species: Arctic wolf 

Level: 3 <80 evolution points required to upgrade to the next level>. 

Esper Energy: 328 > 6 

Endurance: 36 > 3 

Strength: 36 > 3 

Defense: 36 > 3 

Speed: 65 > 4 

Evolution Points: 8...] 

In one month, Luke went up three levels. In fact, the numbers next to his actual points are the levels each of his basic attributes are at. This was something he had discovered but didn't really know what it was for, at least now he hasn't found any use for it. 

Compared to the scattered attributes of his parents, Luke's basic attributes were more balanced. 

Because each level he went up, the panel granted him a 10-point increase in balance in all his basic attributes. 

As for Esper energy, it increased by 100 points. 　　
　　
But as if all that were not enough, the panel gives him an additional ten points where he can allocate them wherever he wants. 　　

It can be said that this was also due to those special evolutionary points he got at the beginning, which developed his hidden potential at the beginning. 

Luke had at first underestimated these ten additional attribute points; he didn't know if it was because he was a child and those attributes boosted his body, or actually that was what happened with anyone who had gotten evolutionary points as a cub.

But that wasn't the cool thing about it, the cool thing was that he could distribute the points freely. 
　
Luke, with a fixed mind on his main goals, allocated all the free attribute points to speed.

Now that his speed was much higher than even his general level, Luke was sure that his mother wolf would not be able to catch up with him if it was a race. 　　 

In the wild, speed is the true king of survival and especially hunting. 　　
　　
After all, if you have speed, Luke thought he could outrun those who were his enemies if he couldn't beat him. 

Yes, this is just what Luke thought. 

There were many things he didn't know, such as the levels and points of his attributes. Luke thinks that at this speed, he would be so powerful that there would be no predator of any kind that could harm him. 

What about humans? They would evidently think he was something special, so at worst he would be hunted for research purposes. So Luke thought he should be strong, and be as hidden as possible until he was strong enough. Besides, such thoughts were highly unlikely.

But at that moment, a low, dense growl from a male arctic wolf interrupted his thoughts. 

Luke, who was being bitten by his sister, turned his head and saw his dominant wolf father. 

This distinctive roar could only belong to his father. 
　　
Through these days of observation and personal experience, he has also roughly understood the meaning of the various wolf sounds. 

Like this low growl, it is the roar of the Father Wolf signaling his members to go hunting or so Luke had deduced. 

This was the kind of roar he heard every day. 

For the past few days, his parents have gone out hunting. Which indicated to him that quite possibly winter was coming to an end. 　　 

However, due to the hostile environment and the fact that there are few species at the North Pole, his parents get very little prey every time they go out. 

This is one more point for Luke to be completely sure that he is at the North Pole, not only is his species characteristic of that area, but also many other things he has been observing since he was reborn into a wolf. 

As for common large animals, such as polar bears and grizzly bears, these types of animals are not something that wolves dare to hunt. 

After all, hunting these animals often causes great losses to wolf packs. If a pack takes on a grizzly bear, and they go on to win, if the pack's losses are too great, other packs could wipe them out completely even though normally pack boundaries are usually highly respected. 

Therefore, unless there is a desperate situation, no wolf pack will attack these animals that dominate the wild world. 

As the hunt became increasingly difficult, this time even the mother wolf who had stayed in the cave to care for her cubs stood up and left with the large group. 

But before she left, the mother wolf rubbed Luke and his sister affectionately on the head. Then she howled twice, telling Luke to take good care of the girl wolf, then turned and left. 

As for Father Wolf, before he left, he explained to the wolf girl in the group to stay behind to take care of all the pups. 

Well, once again that's what Luke deduced with those grunts and results. 

That girl wolf being half a year old, so that would make her the oldest pup in the pack, so she was the one left in charge. 

With someone guarding the cave, the wolves were calm as they left. 

There are eight adult Arctic wolves in the cave, counting their parents. This time, they were all out hunting. 

Luke can only wish them good luck this time, actually many of them need to eat well. 

As for the cave, there are only eight pups left. Among the cubs, besides Luke, a small lone wolf who always likes to be alone stands out.

This little wolf has no parents, this little guy was discovered by his parents when they were out hunting. 

Maybe it was out of sympathy for being the same species, or some kind of emotion, anyway, his parents took in this little lone wolf. 

Three months old, but he was no smaller than the girl wolf who stayed in the care of the cave. 

By normal standards, his growth was not slow at all. 　　 

Luke could see at a glance that in the future, this type of wolf would be key in a pack, but it is far inferior to the current Luke. 

At this point, after the wolves left, Luke thought for a moment and felt it was time for him to go out hunting alone. 

What can he do in this place? 

He knows he eats more food and needs a lot more than an adult Arctic wolf. 

This was not the first time he had tried to go out, on numerous occasions he had wanted to go out and explore the capabilities of his basic attributes, but his parents prevented it. 　 

Luke was smart, he could see the state of his parents and they lacked weight regain, in the last few days all the food was for the pups. 

This made Luke feel it was time to share the responsibility. 

Along with the "evolution" panel, Luke would have to go out and experience bloody battles to evolve or die trying. 

Hiding in a cave and being fed by his wolf parents all the time is a problem. The faster he gets used to this lifestyle, the longer he will survive. 

So Luke who saw his chance did not hesitate any longer and moved as soon as he made a decision. 

Through the howls of the wolves, he tried to briefly explain to his sister and the wolf girl not to stop him. 

"Auuuu!" 

The lone wolf howled as well, tempted to stop Luke. 

But Luke turned a deaf ear and walked out of the cave, leaving only his wolf sister and the wolf girl left to guard the cave. 

... 

The climate experienced at the North Pole is one of endless ice and snow, long winters in turn complicating the lifestyle here. 

The temperature here in winter is usually forty to fifty degrees below zero. 

This is a horrible temperature. 

Even if Luke was reborn as an arctic wolf, covered by this thick coat of fur, he could still feel the severe cold that flooded his body as soon as he came out of the cave. 

"[Severe cold leads to damage, energy Esper -1!"] 

"[Weather doubles energy consumption, pay attention to your basic attributes!"]" 
　
Above his attribute screen that appeared in front of his eyes, these messages appeared in alert mode. 

This made Luke overcome that he couldn't stay out for long. 
　　
"I must adapt!" After breathing the icy air of the Arctic continent, he walked away from the cave step by step. 

No one in this world is willing to accept change, but Luke knows that in this hard life he is about to face is not something he is ready for. But he understood that if he didn't take advantage of the opportunities he had as soon as possible, he would be wasting his time limit. 

He must not let something find him or a predator come to eat him, he must be stronger than the predator. And he will only achieve that if he gives everything he has to offer to this way of life. 

Death or not, he has already died once and this is just a lifetime of visiting this unknown world he is about to face alone.