The Karv collided with the wall and then bounced right off before crashing to the ground.
Fortunately, it didn't feel any pain.
With ease, he stood up from the ground, balancing his body with his spiky legs in order to make a break for it again.
Alas, he was too slow.
Not even a second after Keal lifted one leg from the ground, the wolf caught him with its sharp teeth.
'Ahhh!'
Keal panicked.
Since he was more on the squishy side, it became easy for the Cave Wolf to hold the Karv in its mouth without worry.
'Fuck, I am going to die! Why the hell are my flames not burning this bastard?!'
Keal wiggled his body as best as he could, but nothing worked; the bite force of the Cave Wolf was too strong for him.
[Answer: The flames surrounding your outer shell are to indicate your current state. They cause no physical damage to prey.]
'Ah hell no, I don't want to be a wolf's reason to sleep with a full belly!'
The Cave Wolf walked gently, most likely heading back to its hideout, where it could then feast on the Karv it caught.
'Can my Devour skill work on something this big?'
[Success rate is 78%. Failure might lead to fatigue.]
'Well, if I'm going to die anyway, then I'll take the damn chance. Devour!!!'
Immediately, Keal's entire body surged with flames.
At first, the flames moved toward the mouth of the wolf, shrouding the entire thing in its burning aura.
A loud cry escaped the Cave Wolf's mouth as it released Keal and began raging, trying to stop the pain that was spreading throughout its body.
Despite Keal being on the ground, the flames were still connected to him, now covering the monster's entire head.
Seeing this, Keal realized he did indeed have a chance to take down the Cave Wolf; there was no reason for him to waste it.
'Die, you bastard!'
Keal leaped into the air and landed on the wolf's back, using his legs to hold on to the fur to avoid falling.
'This is a good spot.'
He took a deep breath.
'Devour!'
This time, his body scattered into several locations and then closed in on the wolf's entire body.
It happened so fast that even Keal didn't expect it.
All of a sudden, he was dancing around the body, burning it to a crisp.
A few minutes later, the Karv was standing right in front of the Cave Wolf's arches; not a single part of its body remained.
'Damn, I really killed the dude. That looked nothing like a 78% success rate; he didn't even have a chance against my flames. Hm… maybe being a Karv isn't so bad.'
[You have gained a new Aspect skill.]
[Aspect skill: Wolf Bond]: You have the unique traits of a wolf; your smell has been heightened, your sight is extraordinary, and your voice can push down mountains.
'Oh…'
In that moment, Keal realized he could now see the colors of the world.
The ground and walls were brown and rocky, the water was blue and had traces of red magic running through it, and then there was him—his round, blue, burning self, who didn't look any different from a rock.
Hell, he could even see the dark ashes of the wolf plastered to the ground.
'Fuck yeah! I can see now!'
He laughed.
Who would have thought a single person would be that excited about having HD eye quality?
Then, another notification popped up.
[You have gained a new trait.]
[Wolf Claws]: You can cut through anything, including materials as hard as steel.
[Would you like to merge the two traits together?]
'Merge? Is this an effect of the evolved Devourer skill? Yes,' he replied.
[The traits "Spike Leg" and "Wolf Claw" have merged.]
[You have obtained a new trait.]
[Monster Claw]: You now have legs that can be used for multiple things: swimming, running, walking on walls, and even battling.
'Ah, so they merged to create an even better version. Sick, let's try 'em out.'
With ease, the Karv brought out its newly acquired legs.
From what he noticed, he could easily bring out three of the legs and put them into whatever shape or size he wanted.
On land, he chose to make them similar to spider legs. Once they were established, he moved toward the river and then turned them into tentacles.
'Okay, I'll just swim for a bit and head back. My flames aren't real, so I doubt I'll be affected by the water.'
[Your flames cannot survive in the water; they will be forced to go out. While you can survive if your flames don't burn, you will lose a huge amount of mana rapidly without the flames generating more for you.]
'So the flames around me are what generate my mana?'
[Correct.]
'I take it back; I hate being a Karv.'
He sighed. 'I don't think I have enough reserve mana to risk that, so I'll just stay put. And find a way out of this place.'
Using his new tentacles, he began to slither away from the river when, from nowhere, the river went into a frenzy.
It surged to the sky, so high up that its shadow covered Keal completely. Before he could react, he was swept into the water with force, unable to do anything but allow the rush of water to lead him.
[Warning: Mana is being debilitated rapidly.]
'Yeah, no shit!'
Turning his body around, Keal found he was somehow able to swim perfectly thanks to his tentacles.
With his current speed, he could probably get to the surface of the water and stay on dry land.
And so he did just that, flapping his legs in order to boost himself forward.
However, things did not go as planned.
The moment he pushed out of the water, joyful to somehow be alive, he was scooped from the air by a flying bird creature.