A glowing window flashed at the edge of Zen's vision:
[Quest Alert!]
Objective: Fend off the wolves attacking you.
Reward: +5 all stats
But Zen had no time to read it properly. The wolves were already moving.
Zen faced the circling pack, his heart pounding against his ribs. Their low growls rumbled through the quiet night, a sound that made his skin crawl.
The sharpened boar tusk in his hand felt small, useless against so many gleaming teeth and hungry eyes. The first wolf lunged – a grey blur in the firelight.
Zen twisted sideways, barely avoiding snapping jaws. He stabbed out wildly with the tusk.
THUNK!
The blade sank deep into the wolf's shoulder. It yelped, a high-pitched sound of pain, and hot blood sprayed across the forest floor.
It stumbled back, but its fall only made the others snarl louder, pressing closer.
"Take that, you bastard!" Zen spat, but his voice shook.
The fight became a nightmare. Claws raked his arms, tearing through his shirt and leaving stinging, bloody lines. Fangs snapped at his legs. One wolf bit deep into his calf, locking on.
White-hot pain shot up his leg. "You fcking bitch!" Zen screamed, kicking wildly until it let go. He staggered back, breathing hard.
He felt slow. Heavy. Exhaustion and pain dragged at him like weights. His mana felt thin, like the last drops in a bottle. Using Empower barely helped. The wolves kept coming, relentless.
Another wolf darted around his blind side, snapping at his ankles. Zen spun, lashing out with a desperate kick. His boot connected solidly.
CRACK!
The wolf yelped and skidded away, whimpering. But the distraction cost him. Another wolf leaped at his chest.
Zen threw up the boar tusk just in time.
SHUNK!
The blade pierced the wolf's chest. Its full weight slammed into him, driving him to the ground. The air whooshed out of his lungs.
He struggled to shove the heavy, lifeless body off him, its fur sticky with blood. More wolves closed in, teeth bared.
"This isn't fair!" Zen shouted, swinging the bloodied tusk wildly to keep them back.
"Well, life isn't fair either," Iris commented dryly, trying to lighten the mood.
"You aren't helping!" Zen yelled back, his voice tight with panic and pain. He managed to stab at one wolf, forcing it to jump back. But another seized its chance. Its jaws clamped down hard on his shoulder.
"Aaaahhh!!" Zen screamed. Agony exploded through his shoulder. He could feel the teeth grinding against bone.
He punched the wolf's snout with his free hand, again and again, knuckles cracking against hard bone and wet fur. Finally, with a whimper, it let go.
One wolf circled him now, smarter than the others. Its yellow eyes watched him, calculating. Zen's chest heaved. He gripped the tusk tighter, his hands trembling. Blood dripped from his wounds onto the dirt.
The cautious wolf lunged. Zen sidestepped, driving the tusk deep into its ribs. The wolf howled, a terrible sound. It didn't die. It thrashed wildly, twisting on the blade.
Zen had to brace his foot against its body and yank the tusk free with a sickening tear.
Pain exploded in his other leg. Another wolf had sunk its teeth into his calf again! Zen cried out, his leg buckling. He twisted, stabbing down blindly with the tusk. He felt it hit bone.
The wolf yelped and released him, blood dripping from its mouth as it limped back.
"If this keeps up, I'm dead this time," Zen thought, his vision blurring. His body screamed for rest. The world tilted.
The pack hesitated. Maybe they saw the desperate fire still burning in his eyes. But the largest wolf, the Alpha, stepped forward. Its growl was a deep vibration Zen felt in his chest.
By the time he faced it, he was a mess. Blood covered his arms and legs. His clothes were torn rags. Every breath was a painful gasp. His body was a map of cuts and deep bruises.
The Alpha was huge. Its ash-grey fur seemed darker in the firelight. Its eyes burned with cruel intelligence. It didn't hesitate. It lunged, faster than Zen expected.
Its massive jaws snapped shut around his right hand – the hand holding the tusk.
CRUNCH!
Agony like nothing he'd ever felt tore through his hand and up his arm. He felt bones grind. He screamed, raw and primal.
With his free left arm, driven by pure survival instinct, he grabbed the wolf by the thick fur of its neck.
Ignoring the pain, ignoring the tearing teeth, he used every ounce of his Empower-boosted strength and slammed the Alpha's head down into the hard ground.
THUD!
Dirt flew.
THUD!
The wolf's body jerked.
THUD!
A final, sickening crunch.
The Alpha went limp. Its jaws relaxed. Zen pulled his mangled hand free. It was a bloody, misshapen mess. Pain threatened to drown him.
He collapsed to his knees, gasping like a broken bellows. Blood dripped steadily from his wounds onto the dark soil.
"Is there even one day," he rasped between painful breaths, "where I don't get hunted by monsters?!"
His voice cracked. He looked up at the uncaring stars. "I just want to go home! Why does this world seem hellbent on killing me when I'm trying to save it?!"
Trembling violently, Zen forced himself to crawl to the nearest dead wolf. He placed his good hand on its fur. Absorb. A faint, cool glow flowed into him.
+0.3 Speed
He moved to the next.
+0.3 Speed
The next.
+0.2 Speed
Finally, the Alpha.
+0.5 Speed
+0.4 Strength
[Quest Complete!]
Reward Unlocked: +5 all stats
A powerful surge of energy flooded his body, stronger than the absorption.
It felt like warm water filling him from the inside, washing away some of the pain and exhaustion, making him feel suddenly stronger, faster, tougher.
He pulled up his status panel with a shaky thought. The numbers brought a hollow, painful laugh. "Well, at least I got something out of this mess."
[PLAYER]
Name: Zen Nullis
Title: None
Core: Basic
Strength: 12.8
Speed: 12.3
Stamina: 15.1
Defense: 12.5
Mana: 15
[SKILL]
Empower (Basic)
Appraise (Unique)
Absorb (Unique)
Regeneration (Basic)
Mana Harvest (Basic)
Biting back another scream, Zen grabbed his dislocated right shoulder with his left hand. He took a deep breath, braced his foot against a tree root, and yanked.
POP!
White-hot agony blinded him for a second. He gasped, tears stinging his eyes. But the joint was back in place. He quickly activated Regeneration and Mana Harvest together.
A warm, tingling glow spread from his chest, focusing on his shattered hand, his bleeding leg, his bruised ribs. The deep wounds began to knit together slowly. The blinding pain faded to a deep, throbbing ache.
His stomach growled loudly, a cruel reminder. He limped back to his campfire. The rabbit meat was badly charred on one side, forgotten during the fight.
He didn't care. He grabbed a piece and bit into it. It tasted smoky, a little burnt, and utterly delicious. It tasted like survival. Like victory.
He ate in silence, the crackling fire the only sound besides his chewing. The warmth felt good on his battered skin.
"Please," he muttered, swallowing a tough piece of meat. "Let this be the last surprise for today."
But peace in this world was fragile. A stolen moment.
A low, rumbling growl shook the ground behind him. Not a wolf. Deeper. Louder. A sound he knew. A sound filled with ancient hunger.
Zen froze mid-chew. Ice-cold dread crawled up his spine. Slowly, ever so slowly, he turned his head.
Emerging from the deep shadows beyond the firelight was the Drakonis.
The same massive, lizard-like monster he'd encountered on his very first day. Firelight glinted off its obsidian-black scales, revealing powerful muscles rippling beneath.
Its huge, reptilian eyes glowed with predatory intent, fixed solely on Zen. Its mouth opened slightly, revealing rows of dagger-like teeth in a terrifying, silent grin.
The smell of damp scales and raw power washed over the camp.
Zen cursed under his breath, the half-eaten rabbit falling from his numb fingers. "Of course. Why not? Just pile it on."
He didn't hesitate. He turned and sprinted into the dark forest, abandoning the camp, the fire, everything.
ROOOAAAR.
Pure adrenaline burned through his exhaustion. Behind him, the Drakonis let out an earth-shaking ROAR.
Heavy, thunderous footsteps pounded the ground, shaking the trees, closing in fast.
"Iris!" Zen screamed as he ran, ducking under branches, his heart hammering against his ribs. "Why didn't you warn me this guy came looking for me?!"
"Sorry," Iris replied, her voice unsettlingly casual.
"SORRY?!" Zen roared back, pure fury mixing with his terror. He leaped over a fallen log. "Why is this happening?!" he yelled into the suffocating darkness. "I'm trying to save this world, and this is the thanks I get?!"
The Drakonis was gaining. He could feel the heat of its breath on the back of his neck, smell its hot, reptilian stink. Its massive shadow loomed over him, blocking out the moonlight.
Zen's mind raced, desperately searching for any way, any trick, any hope to survive the monstrous creature bearing down on him.