Evolution.
Ethan glanced at Chen, who had finally managed to stand on trembling legs. Blood continued to drip from his severed wrist, but survival instinct had overridden the shock.
Chen's thoughts raced as the victorious wolf turned toward him. His muscles had inexplicably regained their function now that the Mid-Iron Wolf lay dead. The bitter irony of finally being able to move when faced with a second predator was not lost on him.
But the wolf's gaze passed over him with surprising indifference. Instead, it walked toward its fallen opponent, displaying no interest in a second kill.
"He doesn't want to eat me," Chen realized, hope surging through his veins. Without waiting for the situation to change, he turned and ran in the direction Taylor had taken, his remaining hand clutching his wounded arm.
After confirming Chen's departure, Ethan approached the dead wolf. The devouring process would leave no visible changes to the corpse, making it safe to perform even if Chen had stayed.
Still, privacy allowed for proper analysis of the results.
The familiar surge of power coursed through him as he activated his ability. Then the notifications appeared:
Ethan transformed back to his human form, mind racing as he processed these developments. The implications were significant.
Not only had his Enhanced Speed Talent improved by a subgrade, jumping from F- to F, but his transformation had exceeded even the Mid-Iron Rank of his defeated opponent, reaching High-Iron Rank.
Ethan contemplated for a while before he reached a conclusion.
"So devouring a species three times means I could upgrade the talent and transformation by a subgrade. That's pretty powerful." Ethan muttered, as he dug out the Iron core inside the wolf's dead corpse.
Ethan devoured the iron core without hesitation.
Ethan raised his eyebrow softly. The amount of agility attributes he received after devouring the core and the body had decreased. It used to be five points and three points, but it dropped down to four points and two points respectively.
"It seems like I can't keep increasing my agility forever, it has diminishing returns. But logically, this should be resolved by devouring stronger Shadowfang wolves, or other agility-based ferocious beasts."
Ethan's eyes caught the red smoke rising above the tree line, its crimson colour shining against the morning sky. The emergency signal device, standard equipment for all teams, had finally been activated.
He recognized the location - close to the city walls.
"They used it," Ethan muttered.
Chen must have reached relative safety before deploying the signal. The standard protocol required all team members to converge at the signal's location, assuming they survived to do so.
The timing was problematic. Ethan had intended to search for more beasts, so that he could devour them, but Chen had ruined that plan.
Ethan examined his status window one final time before departing:
The attribute gains from devouring both the wolf and its core had significantly improved his capabilities. He had also reached a High-Iron rank, which proved to him that attributes above thirty made a person reach the High-Iron Rank.
However, the diminishing returns on the core absorption suggested a natural limitation, but one that could be overcome by hunting stronger specimens. Each beast of the same species would provide marginally less benefit, necessitating the pursuit of more powerful targets.
The red smoke continued to climb, dispersing in the light breeze.
"You've ruined my momentum, Chen,"