Goblin Dependency

Vibration.

Tiny specks of dirt fell from the dome of the underground den, dusting Xia Nan’s fluffy and soft fur.

Beside him, also awakened by the beastly roar coming from outside the den, the wolf cubs whimpered and huddled together, as if this could somehow bring them more safety.

Possessing normal human cognitive abilities, Xia Nan naturally wouldn’t be as panicked and helpless as his siblings were. Instead, he maintained basic calmness, contemplating the current situation.

Judging from the low growls of a wolf beast coming from outside the den, and the disappearance of the adult coyotes from the cave.

It was highly likely that a fierce and somewhat aggressive beast had intruded near the underground den.

So, should he continue to stay in the underground den?

The thought had barely arisen in his mind before Xia Nan immediately dismissed it.

On one hand, if the wolf pack really was attacked by some beast, the upcoming conclusion could roughly be one of two outcomes.

The beast would be driven away by the wolf pack, or the wolf pack would be defeated by the beast.

If it ended in the former, then needless to say, it would be a fright with no real danger;

But if the situation degenerated to the worst possible outcome, where a few adult coyotes were killed by the beast, then the wolf cubs hidden deep in the den would also become trapped.

Restrictions due to terrain, bodies small and weak, facing a fierce beast capable of defeating the wolf pack, they had almost no ability to resist, except for Xia Nan.

On the other hand, Xia Nan himself was not the type to remain indifferent in the face of impending danger, leaving his safety entirely to destiny.

Thoughts swirled in his mind, and he had already made a decision.

Stretching out his paw to push away the trembling little furball that had come close, he carefully crawled toward the outside.

Before long, at the entrance of the den, a round, fluffy head emerged.

His gray-blue wolf eyes looked in the direction from which the noise emanated.

It was the middle of the night, the only source of light being the silver-white moonlight filtering through the gaps in the tree canopies above.

But essentially a nocturnal creature, he naturally had a good night vision ability.

Thus, Xia Nan was able to clearly see everything happening in the scene.

It was an adult wild boar.

Its shoulder height was just under a meter, the coarse, hard bristles all over its body were covered with mud and pine resin, like wearing a natural armor that tightly enclosed the solid and firm muscles beneath its skin.

The relatively short tusks of the female wild boar only tilted slightly upwards, and with the boar’s characteristic shrill squeal, one could see the dwindling hot breath swirling around its opening and closing mouth.

It seemed to be in some sort of confrontation.

A total of six coyotes, at this moment, were distributed around the wild boar in a posture of encirclement, forelimbs bent, bodies low in attack mode, baring teeth and growling.

Xia Nan observed very carefully.

He could see in the bushes behind the wild boar, a few smaller, blurry figures.

"Is it bringing along a few piglets?"

The stench emitted by the wild boar flowed into his nostrils with each breath, his shiny, wet black nose twitching, and a thoughtful expression appeared on his furry face.

It must be made clear, the situation on the field was not optimistic.

Although there was an obvious advantage in numbers, it could almost be said to be "six to one."

But after all, they were just coyotes, facing a formidable beast like a wild boar that resembled a forest tank, not to mention hunting, they weren’t even sure if they could break its defense.

Under normal circumstances, when coyotes encountered an adult wild boar in the wild, they had only one option—escape.

But now, for the sake of territory, and for the pups in the den behind them, they were forced to fight, attempting to drive the opponent away.

Xia Nan didn’t know how the battle started.

For the coyotes, wild boars were entirely off their hunting list, and they couldn’t provoke them without reason;

And for wild boars, in this resource-rich forest, there was no reason to inexplicably attack a group of carnivores like this.

But in the wild, for wild animals that operate based on survival instincts, it often happened like that.

Very likely, this wild boar, accompanied by its piglets, did not even know of the coyotes’ existence prior, only attracted by the scent from a deer’s carcass, and thus intruded near the underground den at midnight.

Sensing a powerful enemy’s approach, the coyotes couldn’t remain indifferent but also inadvertently stirred the ferocity of this sow with cubs.

Thus, it gradually evolved into the current standoff situation.

Xia Nan was very aware that the six coyotes of his pack were not a match for that sow.

With the boar’s strength, a force to be reckoned with even among wild animals, it didn’t even require any elaborate tactics, just charging straight towards the enemy.

With the coyotes’ small stature, even just being sideswiped might result in severe injuries.

The only variable on the scene seemed to be himself.

Having fully tested the battle skills in daylight, Xia Nan now had a relatively clear understanding of the combat power in his current body.

Extremely high attack and low defense.

On one hand, with the "Heavy Tide" + "Teeth Hunting" + "Gravity Etching" combination of battle skills, even though the power was somewhat reduced due to an all-around decrease in six-dimensional attributes.

For wild animals, and even some demons with a lower challenge level, they could still be overwhelmingly crushed as if with a lowering of dimensional levels.

But on the other hand, paradoxically.

Xia Nan’s body was that of a one-month-old coyote pup, just recently weaned.

Fragile to the extreme.

Even with "Embers Resonance" as a trump card, the limitation for initiating the second stage was entering a near-death state, and it couldn’t bring back the dead.