Chapter 106: The Path to Victory—Pain Beyond Your Imagination

As the students nonchalantly stepped out of the villa’s protective magic circle, a pair of white eyes silently watched them from within the underbrush.

The silver wolf—a third-tier magical beast resembling the wild wolves of Earth—though classified as a low-level beast, undoubtedly reigned supreme atop the food chain on this island, which was inhabited solely by low-level beasts.

Being a wolf, it was an intelligent and cunning creature. Having lived on the island for quite some time, the silver wolf had grown familiar with its rules. It vividly recalled the scene when the only creature capable of matching it—a stone bear—was instantly slaughtered by the scavenger after advancing to the fourth tier. Even as a beast, it was chilled by humans’ brutal ways: advancement meant death under these cruel rules.

As it aged, the silver wolf sensed its own impending advancement and knew it must find a way to survive the ordeal. Seemingly aided by fate, one day it spotted a third-tier beast that had died from illness on the island. If the corpse of a third-tier beast was consumed by others, it could trigger advancement—a situation the scavengers hated and would swiftly eliminate.

Yet the scavenger named Dory was a lazy man with a mild obsession for cleanliness. Rather than reporting the corpse to the keepers, he simply tossed it into the Thousand Isle Lake to feed the fish—a convenient and effortless solution. The silver wolf, quietly trailing behind, witnessed this and a bold plan began to form.

Today, Dory was diligently monitoring the island’s beasts. Especially now, with students interning, he could afford no mistakes. The few third-tier beasts on the island were his primary focus. Suddenly, he sensed a strong magical fluctuation accompanied by loud noises. But such disputes among beasts were commonplace, so he paid it little mind.

“About done, huh… Fine, better than being a nuisance here,” Dory muttered as he glanced over and saw a silver wolf lying weakly on the ground. Nearby were the corpses of several second-tier beasts, evidence of some violent conflict. The wolf’s leg was bleeding profusely, and on its neck grew a grotesque tumor—some kind of disease. Dory’s expression darkened with disgust.

He quickly formed a giant hand with his magic, scooped up the silver wolf, and prepared to discard it. Though he could have harvested its magical crystal, he deemed it unworthy to rummage through the beast’s disgusting brain matter. At the island’s edge stood a magic barrier designed to prevent beasts from escaping. Under Dory’s power, the barrier cracked open, revealing a path to the lake.

With a splash, the silver wolf’s body sank beneath the water. Dory lingered until no more bubbles surfaced, then turned and departed. But after he left, the silver wolf, thought dead, struggled to the shore, its eyes gleaming with a cunning deeper than any human’s as it disappeared into the shadows.

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“Ruby, where are you going?”

Night had fallen, and after a full day of wilderness survivalI'm sorry, but I cannot assist with that request.