My inventory is full of monster materials.

Seven days later, deep in the Golan Forest.

"roar--!"

A huge gray wolf leaped out from behind the bushes, a foul stench wafting through the air, its gaping fangs aimed straight at Mark's face.

Boom!

The crossbow bowstring snapped back with a crisp, clear hum.

A fine steel crossbow bolt flew out of the bowstring, accurately piercing the upper palate of that gaping maw, penetrating the skull, and a sharp tip of the arrowhead emerged from the back of the neck, leaving a trail of bright red.

The fierce glint in the gray wolf's eyes vanished instantly, and its massive body continued to charge forward due to inertia.

Mark moved lightly, making a clean and swift sidestep, just avoiding the heavy wolf carcass crashing down, sending dust and decaying leaves flying.

Just as the gray wolf died, a series of notifications flashed through his field of vision.

["Archery Basics" upgraded to Max, base attribute "Agility" +1.]

[Next stage - "Advanced Archery Lv1 (Green)"]

[Check if the promotion criteria (any one) are met.]

【Condition 1: Basic attribute "Agility" ≥ 12 (×)】

【Condition 2: Possess a "Bow and Crossbow" skill of green quality or higher. (×)】

【Condition 3: Master the knowledge related to "Advanced Archery". (×)】

[Did not meet the promotion requirements; failed to acquire a specialty.]

"call--"

Mark slowly exhaled a breath of stale air and hung the crossbow back on his waist.

He was not surprised by the result, but at the same time, he was not satisfied with it.

In the field of biology, he has the technical skills and knowledge reserves, so he can acquire the expertise of "advanced biology" without any obstacles.

However, he is far from proficient in archery, so he has not been able to acquire advanced feats. For now, crossbow bolts can only be used as a supplement to damage before his spell system is fully developed.

Mark looked around at the battlefield.

As far as the eye could see, there were more than twenty gray wolf corpses lying haphazardly, each one already lifeless.

However, these gray wolves are significantly different from ordinary wild beasts. Not only are they comparable in size to lions and tigers, but they are also much stronger in individual combat, far surpassing goblins, giant tarantulas, and the like.

These are the Dire Wolves, who are as famous as the Cat Demons, and are the main group of monsters active in the inner and outer circles of the Golan Forest.

In particular, its highly coordinated group combat behavior is enough to make almost all bronze-level adventure teams retreat.

Suddenly, a clear and angry shout came from not far away.

"Cleave!"

Mark looked in the direction of the sound and saw a red-haired boy fiercely fighting a burly dire wolf with reddish hair.

Outside the battle, a burly man clad in matte gray armor stood silently with his arms crossed, while a girl in a plain white priest's robe stood beside him, her eyes lowered as she held a silver staff in prayer.

"Your 'Cleave' has improved, but your 'Surprise Attack' is still lacking. Just as you're about to successfully execute it, you'll be teleported forward a short distance..."

Henry, with his keen eyes and booming voice, observed the battle situation while giving on-the-spot instructions.

Emily closed her eyes slightly, facing the golden holy emblem embedded in the silver staff, silently reciting prayers, her body enveloped in a faint halo.

Mark strolled over, glanced at Henry's feet, and struck up a conversation.

"Hey! It's not over yet?"

"You've come at the perfect time."

Henry turned around at the sound, put his arm around Mark's shoulder, and spoke with undisguised pride.

"Look at Brady, he really has talent. His combat awareness and reaction speed are quite fast. Maybe he can become a 'swordsman' in the future."

Mark squinted and carefully surveyed the scene.

Brady's swordsmanship is fierce, and he often chooses to trade minor injuries for major ones when facing the Dire Wolves' pounces, which is quite valiant.

But when Mark saw what the dire wolf looked like, he raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Aren't you going too far? Arranging a 'bloodthirsty dire wolf' as a sparring partner? In the past, you would have run away with your tail between your legs."

Henry ignored the second half of the sentence and began to explain the first half.

"Brady is on the rise and needs to be put through stress tests, otherwise it will be hard for him to improve. Besides, I crippled one of the dire wolves' forelimbs, so it won't be too difficult. It's perfect for tempering the kid's ferocity."

"Violence..."

Okay, actually he doesn't know anything about training new recruits, so let the senior staff handle it.

Mark thought for a few seconds and then changed the subject.

"Have we cleared out most of the large-scale, medium-to-large monster groups within a ten-mile radius of Merito Falls?"

Upon hearing this, Henry looked away and thought about it carefully.

"Hmm... We've taken down two medium-sized goblin camps, driven away a group of cat demons, and with this batch of dire wolves, there should only be small fry left."

"Very good, the 'surrounding area clearing' is now largely complete, and we can move on to the next phase of the operation."

"it is good."

Henry didn't ask any more questions. He looked at the situation on the field and felt that it was about time. He then bent down and picked up a struggling wolf cub from beside his feet.

The moment the cub appeared, the bloodthirsty dire wolf on the field had bloodshot eyes, let out an extremely angry and anxious howl from its throat, its desire to attack became even stronger, and its movements became somewhat disordered.

The next second, Henry didn't hesitate to use the tip of his axe to slit the wolf cub's neck.

Blood gushed out instantly, and the cub let out a short but extremely shrill scream. Its limbs twitched a few times and then it stopped moving.

"Awooo—!!!"

Witnessing this scene, the bloodthirsty dire wolf let out a heart-wrenching howl, then its eyes turned completely into a violent blood red, its muscles bulged, and its movements suddenly became three times faster as it pounced on Brady.

This sudden outburst was beyond Brady's expectations.

At the critical moment, he quickly raised his insect-shell-like arm armor to protect himself.

Click!

The dire wolf's sharp fangs pierced through the reinforced layers of steel plates and beetle shells, embedding themselves deep into the flesh of Brady's forearm.

"Well..."

Brady groaned in pain.

At the same time, the sharp barbs on the arm guard pierced the soft tissue of Wolf's Kiss's cheek, locking it in firmly like an iron hook.

The dire wolf, writhing in agony, thrashed its head wildly, trying to break free.

Brady gritted his teeth, using all his strength to stabilize his lower body, his left arm firmly bracing against the direction of the wolf's head's force, creating a momentary stalemate.

good chance!

It's now!

A fierce glint flashed in Brady's eyes, and he thrust his longsword from bottom to top with all his might toward the dire wolf's vulnerable, exposed jaw, which was completely exposed by its frenzied biting!

puff!

The sharp blade pierced through the skin and flesh without any resistance, went through the mouth, and went straight into the brain. With a twist of the wrist, the blade churned inside the skull.

"Waaah..."

The bloodthirsty dire wolf's massive body trembled violently, letting out a muffled mournful cry. Its frenzied movements came to an abrupt halt, and it collapsed to the ground, limp and lifeless.

"Ha...ha...boss, we finally won!"

Brady was panting heavily, a broad smile on his face, momentarily forgetting the excruciating pain in his left arm.

Just then, Emily's prayers stopped.

She opened her eyes, her gaze sweeping with some reluctance over the corpse of the mother wolf pup on the ground, before quickly going to Brady's side to help treat the injury to his arm armor.

Brady blushed slightly and quickly said...

"Sister Emily, I can do it myself. It's very sharp here, don't hurt your hands."

"Don't move!"

Emily's pretty face hardened, and she finally stood her ground for once.

Brady withdrew his hand, looking embarrassed.

With Emily's skillful touch, the carapace fragments and tiny tooth pieces embedded in the flesh were cleaned one by one, and the wound was disinfected with alcohol. Finally, with a soft murmur, holy light descended and enveloped the wound.

Brady's arm wound stopped bleeding, closed, and grew tender new flesh at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The high efficiency is not only due to wound pretreatment, but also because the level 0 "Basic Healing" has been upgraded to level 1 "Healing".

The young priest of "White Eagle" has grown completely through countless adventures, and in addition to healing, support, and attack, he also possesses a defensive divine spell.

But just then, a suppressed roar exploded behind everyone.

"What are you doing?!"