Unholy Player-Chapter 45: Energy Crystal (Lv.2)

After carefully inspecting the skeleton, Adyr found what he was looking for—a purple crystal, deeper and more vibrant in color than the ones he’d seen before.

According to what he’d learned from Vesha, ordinary animals didn’t carry energy crystals in their bodies. But this wolf was clearly different.

For one, it was far larger and stronger than any typical wild animal. Its presence in the forest was an anomaly on its own—strong evidence that it had been exposed to the influence of a Spark.

Just like the purple crystals found in the skeletons created by the Dawn Raven, these wolves, too, must have come under the direct or indirect effect of a Spark.

Adyr paused, considering whether to store the crystal with the other ten he had set aside earlier. But after a brief moment of thought, he changed his mind.

This one looked different. He wanted to know why.

Without hesitation, he tossed it into his mouth and swallowed it whole.

A familiar surge of energy flooded his body, but this time it was denser, stronger—just as he suspected.

[You have consumed an Energy Crystal (Lv.2). Your Energy has increased by 1]

[Energy]: 13.6 / 25 → 14.6 / 25

"Level 2, huh? No wonder it felt different going down. Gave me ten times more than the others," Adyr muttered, clearly satisfied.

If he could hunt six more wolves like this, he would finally gather enough energy to evolve. But with that thought, another question surfaced.

This wolf had been far stronger than any skeleton he’d faced, and the crystal it carried was a level higher than the others.

That raised a possibility—one he didn’t like.

What if the Spark in this forest wasn’t Rank 1, but Rank 2?

That would be trouble.

He knew a Rank 4 Spark had the power to destroy a kingdom, and the gap between each rank was massive. If that logic held, then he wasn’t sure he was anywhere near ready to catch this one.

Still, he chose to continue.

Even if he couldn’t face the Spark itself, hunting more wolves might give him the edge he needed. He didn’t know exactly how much power evolution would bring, but it would be something. And right now, something was enough.

Adyr kept walking, following the faint tracks left behind. At one point, a system notification appeared, informing him that his [Tracking] talent was ready to level up. He ignored it.

The 10 stat points it would grant were tempting, a serious boost. But spending 10 [Energy] right now wasn’t part of his plan.

Deeper into the forest, he finally came across fresh wolf tracks. They were clustered, recent, and told him one thing clearly: there was a nest nearby.

But there was a problem. These wolves weren’t alone. Judging by the prints, if he wasn’t mistaken, there were twelve of them.

The one he had killed earlier was likely the old alpha, driven out by the new leader. And now, facing not just that new alpha but eleven more alongside it? Nearly impossible.

Not to mention the possibility of a Rank 2 Spark among them.

"Should I give up?" Adyr paused and looked up at the sky.

The sun stood high. He still had hours before logoff. Wasting that time wasn’t something he enjoyed.

It was risky, but he chose to keep going. Even if he couldn’t act yet, he could observe, study their behavior, assess the situation, and build a strategy.

Soon, he arrived at the entrance of a cave. It was silent inside, but the tracks scattered around confirmed it—this was where the wolves nested. Their distinct claw-marking method gave them away; the area around the cave was covered in deep, deliberate scratches.

More importantly, when he examined the footprints, he noticed something else—there weren’t just twelve.

There were nineteen distinct sets of tracks.

Five of them were noticeably smaller, likely belonging to newborn pups. Two others had wider hind paw spacing and sluggish movement patterns—signs of pregnant females.

Adyr raised an eyebrow as he analyzed the scene. The new information was unexpected—valuable.

Rather than enter the cave, he found a nearby tree, climbed to its upper branches, and began observing the entrance from a distance.

Hours passed as he silently studied their behavior, gathering patterns and routines.

He tracked everything—when the pack’s hunting wolves left the cave, when they went scouting or hunting, and how often the pups and their mothers came out to bask in the sun. Every detail was carefully stored in his memory palace, ready to be used when the time came.

By the time night began to fall, he climbed down, retrieved the skeleton of the wolf he had killed earlier, and made his way back toward the village, heading for the underground shelter.

—

In the underground shelter, the women sat together in silence. A heavy air of despair hung over the room, broken only by the peaceful contrast of sleeping children nearby.

"It’s been too long since he left... do you think he’s still alive?" A voice whispered—soft, yet loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Keep your doubts to yourself," another voice snapped. "He went out there for us to protect the village. Just pray he returns safely."

Since Adyr had left, everyone had been waiting—hoping—for his return. But in this dim, sunless place, the passing of time began to eat away at them, pushing them deeper into unease.

"He is not even looking strong," another woman muttered, her voice trembling. She fell silent when met with harsh stares, but no one could bring themselves to openly deny her words.

Everyone was thinking the same thing.

The entire village’s men had failed to kill even one of those wolves. Could this young man really succeed where they had all fallen?

As they waited, imagining the worst, a noise echoed from the shelter’s entrance.

"Is it him?" Someone asked, breath catching in their throat.

They rushed to the door, cautious but eager. Peering through, they saw the one figure they had hoped for.

"You’re back," Vesha said, smiling with visible relief.

Adyr stepped inside slowly, his expression calm. But it wasn’t just his tired body that entered with him.

Behind him, dragging heavily across the ground like a hunter’s trophy, was the skeleton of a wolf.

"This..." Eyes widened. Jaws fell silent. The sight of it froze the room.

"Is this one of them?" Vesha asked, unable to hide the mixture of awe and disbelief in her voice.

Adyr dropped the skeleton in the center of the room and gave a single nod.

"So this is the beast... the one that brought us nightmares," the old woman said as she stepped forward, her gaze locked onto the bones.

Everyone followed her lead, staring down at the remains of the creature they blamed for the deaths of their loved ones. They hadn’t expected to see a corpse like this, but somehow, this was better.

Much better.

They didn’t know how the young man had killed it. But seeing it like this—stripped, broken, dragged in like a warning—brought them peace. It gave them the taste of revenge they had longed for.

Whatever had happened to the wolf before it died, it looked like it had already suffered. As if it had burned in its own private hell before reaching this end.

In that moment, every villager in the room shared the same unspoken thought: the God they had prayed to had finally delivered the justice this beast deserved.