The flames on Orion's sword danced wildly as he increased the energy output on Velocity Burst. However, he forcefully condensed the flames around his sword, making it appear as though it were a real blade, shining with a golden gleam.
Only Orion knew how much power this sword held. Technically, this was one of the few times he had ever pushed his body to its limit. If he increased the energy output any further, his body would likely break down, just as it had last time in Aethelgard City.
'Let's kill this monster.'
Orion turned his head to the lightning wolf and saw that it was glaring at him cautiously. Its eyes were fixated on his sword as it slowly retreated.
'It's too late.'
Orion teleported in front of the monster, maintaining his stance, and swung his sword with all his strength.
The lightning wolf couldn't react in time and was caught off guard by Orion's attack. Its body was sliced cleanly in two, each half falling to either side with a low hum.
Seeing that he had finally killed it, Orion quickly deactivated all his curses and sighed in relief. Despite training for a few days, the side effects of Curse Transformation were still too much for him to control in such a short amount of time, especially when using four curses simultaneously.
He knew he would have to get used to it slowly and needed more training like what he had done over the past two days to master it.
Soon, his attention was drawn to the red particles of the lightning wolf as they disappeared into the air, leaving behind several items.
The first thing that caught his eye was a sword. He picked it up and inspected it, finding it somewhat decent. It was sharp enough to damage gold-rank experts but fell short against platinum-rank experts. The main reason he didn't like this sword was its weight—it was too light, like the other swords he had found from the drops of other wolves, and he didn't find it anything special.
Orion preferred heavy swords—the heavier, the better. There wasn't a particular reason behind his preference, but if he had to guess, it was due to their versatility. If there was an attack he couldn't dodge in time, he could use a heavy sword to defend himself. Heavy swords also had immense attack power, capable of delivering fatal blows in one move.
These two features—their defensive capability and powerful attacks—were the major selling points that made him favor heavy swords over lighter ones.
Setting the sword aside, he noticed two more weapons on the ground—a spear and a staff. Since they were useless to him, he stored them in his storage bracelet.
Aside from the weapons, there was a skill book and the core of the lightning wolf. After storing the skill book away, he took the core in his hand, and a notification appeared in his vision.
[Do you want to absorb the core?]
'Yes,' Orion replied, and almost instantly, he felt a slight sensation in his body—a feeling he recognized very well: the sensation of getting stronger. No matter how many times he went through this process, he would always crave more of it.
[Strength increase by 1]
[Agility increase by 1]
"Only two?" Orion frowned. "So it doesn't matter if the monster is the lowest gold rank or the peak gold rank, I will only get a max stat point of 2."
'I see... I understand now. If I absorb a core of the same rank, I will only get 1 stat point each. But if the core is one rank higher than mine, then there is a chance of getting some 2-point stats, though that chance isn't high. However, if the core is two ranks higher, the chance of getting 2 stat points is 100%.'
[Agility: 64]
[Perception: 57]
[Constitution: 62]
[Mana: Nil]
[Skills: Nil]
---
Orion calculated the increase in his stats and found a total increase of 122 stat points.
'122... 2 from the peak one and 120 from the weaker ones... so my assumptions are correct.'
He nodded to himself, feeling incredibly satisfied with the result.
Turning his attention to the tree covered in lightning leaves, Orion recalled seeing some lightning wolves eating these leaves.
As he approached the tree and inspected it, he noticed that while the tree itself looked like any other wild tree, its lightning-filled leaves made it truly unique.
'Is that the reason why the lightning wolves are so fast?'
Orion pondered. He had observed lightning wolves using lightning to attack, but it was their impressive speed that had caught his attention. He wondered if the wolves were born with lightning abilities or if they gained these powers by consuming the tree's leaves.
After contemplating this for a moment, he picked up a lightning leaf from the ground near the tree. To his surprise, a notification appeared in his vision.
[Do you want to absorb the Stormleaf?]
Orion found it strange that a leaf could be absorbed, but he quickly shook his head. If there was a system notification, it must be common knowledge. It was likely him who didn't know about this and had just stumbled upon it.
'Let's absorb it then.'
He agreed, and a moment later, he felt a peculiar yet slightly familiar sensation, similar to absorbing cores.
To his surprise, the lightning on the leaf disappeared, and the leaf itself turned to dust.
"So, what's the benefit? ...Lightning!"
He immediately activated the Curse of Thunder's Wraith and conjured lightning in his hands to see what changes absorbing the Stormleaf had brought.