"HOOOWWWLLLL!"
The deafening cry split the night like a thunderclap, forcing Jabari and the others to flinch as the sound reverberated through their bones. It was so loud, so piercing, that it seemed to bypass their ears entirely and shake the very air around them.
All heads snapped toward the source.
Perched atop a building thirty metres away stood a wolf – if it could even still be called that.
It resembled a horse more than a hound, its towering seven-foot frame massive even on all fours. Glistening silver fur shimmered in the moonlight like rippling mercury, and from the centre of its forehead jutted a single crystalline horn that gleamed with ominous light.
It didn't snarl or charge. It simply watched them.
Its frost-bitten silver eyes cut through the darkness with terrifying clarity, and in that moment, even the wind seemed to hold its breath.
Malia and the two boys behind her – the former slum dwellers Joseph and Keaun – shuddered beneath its gaze. The fear that gripped them was deeper than instinct. It was primal. The bear from earlier had been terrifying, yes – but this?
This was something else entirely.
"…Crystal Wolf," August muttered, his eyes narrowing.
"You recognise that thing?" Jabari asked, never letting his gaze drift from the monstrous creature.
"It's a Magical Beast," August replied, his tone heavy with rare solemnity.
"A Magical Beast?!" Joseph echoed, his voice cracking as the words caught in his throat. "What's a Magical Beast doing this far from the Anwansi Mountain Range?!"
Malia's jaw tightened. "My Master told me the Western Branch was built near the edge of the continent specifically to take the brunt of Beast Tides…
So the smaller tribes nearby don't have to suffer more than necessary. Maybe this is just a fiercer tide than usual…"
"None of that matters right now," Jabari snapped. "What does matter is getting out of this alive."
He scanned their surroundings – over a dozen wolves prowling, circling, waiting for the order to pounce. Then his eyes flicked to Malia and the two she was guarding, before finally landing on August.
"Can you clear a path on your own while protecting them?"
August didn't hesitate. He met Jabari's stare and nodded.
"Wait!" Malia asked, panic creeping into her voice. "What about you?!"
Jabari didn't answer. Not with words, anyway. The look in his eyes said enough.
"We'd be better off sticking together!" Keaun shouted, panic rising.
"He's right, we-"
"When I say go," Jabari interrupted sharply, "you three stick close to August. Follow him exactly. Don't stop. Don't look back."
"You're seriously going to let him go off on his own?!" Malia turned to August, pleading for logic – but he was already shifting his grip on his axe, his expression unshaken.
"Don't fall behind," August said simply, his body lowering into a runner's stance.
"GO!" Jabari roared.
He launched himself forward like a bolt of lightning, cutting through the line of wolves on the right flank.
At the same time, August thundered in the opposite direction. For someone so massive, he moved with shocking speed, the ground trembling beneath each step.
Joseph and Keaun sprinted after him with everything they had, and Malia followed just behind, casting one final glance at Jabari's retreating back before focusing forward.
Five wolves blocked August's path.
They bared their fangs and growled, eager to feast.
The nearest lunged for his throat – fangs open wide.
August didn't slow. He raised his twin-headed battle axe high and brought it down with earth-shattering force.
*CRACK! THUNK!*
The wolf was cleaved in two before it even realised what had happened, its blood splattering across August's frame in a crimson spray. But he didn't blink. Didn't falter.
"Keep running!" He barked, already surging toward the next wolf.
He was a moving avalanche. And nothing was going to stand in his way.
While August carved a path toward the training centre, Jabari cut in the opposite direction, his eyes set on a single destination – his Master's residence.
Unfortunately, standing between him and that goal was the last thing he wanted to deal with: the Crystal Wolf.
It hadn't moved. Perched atop the roof like a statue carved from moonlight and steel, it watched him with unsettling stillness. Its silver fur shimmered beneath the night sky, and the crystalline horn at its brow caught the moonlight like a blade. But what unnerved Jabari most was the expression on its face – serene, amused.
'Is this just a game to it?' Jabari thought, narrowing his eyes as he charged ahead.
He kept it in his peripheral vision, unwilling to turn his back fully on the beast, but his immediate attention was on the five wolves sprinting straight at him.
Thanks to his bloodline ability, his perception was heightened – so much so that the wolves appeared to be moving in slow motion. He could track every muscle twitch, every paw placement, every lunge. His body couldn't move quite as fast as his mind, but this state gave him something almost as good: control.
Focus.
Clarity.
The three wolves in the lead leapt toward him, jaws wide, fangs glinting under the moonlight. One went high, the others low, seeking to tear into him from multiple angles.
Jabari didn't panic.
He crossed his arms over his chest, right hand gripping the base of his glaive's shaft – his stance eerily reminiscent of Elder Zaire's during the spear demonstrations.
As the first wolf entered his range-
*Whssshk!*
His glaive tore through the air with a sharp whistle and cut cleanly through the first beast, continuing into the second and lodging inside it. Without missing a beat, Jabari twisted with the embedded carcass, using its weight to knock the third attacker aside like a sack of flour.
Before he could even catch his breath, his instincts screamed at him – he threw his head back just in time to dodge another wolf launching itself from behind.
Blood dripped down his cheek where its claws had grazed him.
He grunted, kicked the dying wolf off his blade, and wiped the blood from his face with the back of his free hand. His breathing was already growing ragged.
It had only been a few seconds.
But it felt like minutes.
'That exchange…
It took more out of me than my entire fight with Gichinga.' Jabari thought to himself as he glanced at the two fallen wolves – one dead, the other writhing and whimpering.
Three remained.
Still, the Crystal Wolf still hadn't moved.
But Jabari was already reviewing the last [Sweep] in his mind.
'That wasn't right,' he thought, frowning. 'Even with my strength, if my form was clean…
If I was as precise as Elder Zaire, I could've killed all three with that one attack.'
The remaining wolves began circling. One of them stepped forward, baring its fangs.
Jabari met its challenge with a step of his own, glaive lashing out toward its skull in a precise [Thrust]. The wolf flinched just enough to avoid it, retreating with a growl.
Before Jabari could follow up, another came at him from behind.
He spun just in time, raising his glaive horizontally. The wolf's teeth clamped down on the wooden shaft, snapping with enough force to crack bone.
Jabari didn't flinch. He twisted to the side, narrowly avoiding two more bites from the circling pair before slamming a foot into the wolf gnawing at his weapon, sending it flying.
Each breath was fire in his lungs. Sweat beaded on his forehead. His muscles screamed with tension.
'Training didn't prepare me for this,' he realised.
He'd fought hard these last six days – hours of drills, repetitions, and feedback from Zaire. He'd improved faster than he ever could have imagined. Unfortunately, training was one thing, but real battle was something else entirely.
Every second here was heavy. Every action dragged against the weight of fear, adrenaline, and consequence. There were no pauses. No corrections. No "reset." The wolves didn't care if his footwork was off. They'd eat his throat if it was.
And still-
He was smiling.
Not out of madness. Not from bloodlust.
But because, even amidst the chaos and danger…
He felt alive.
He parried a bite and countered with a clean sweep – one that connected, finally, with brutal precision.
The wolf's head rolled across the dirt before the body followed it down.
Two left.
His movements were smoother now. His arms less rigid. His footwork more balanced. Jabari could feel it – the gap between training and reality narrowing.
This wasn't like with Gichinga, where he won with a sheer difference in power and skill. This was earned – strike by strike, mistake by mistake.
He wasn't just surviving now.
He was adapting.
He was evolving.
And as his glaive carved another arc through the air, cleaving the next wolf's spine, Jabari's grin widened.
Not because he enjoyed the killing.
But because, in that moment, he finally understood what it meant to grow stronger through battle.
Unfortunately, the thrill of battle – the momentum he had built, the flow he had found – was shattered in an instant. A flash of silver light streaked across the darkness.
*CRACK! SHLNK!*
A beam of searing energy tore through Jabari's left shoulder, cutting through flesh and muscle with ruthless precision. The impact spun him halfway, his glaive slipping from his fingers as his feet stumbled beneath him.
Even with his bloodline-enhanced perception, the attack had been too fast.
Far too fast.
The pain didn't come immediately.
At first, all he felt was numbness. He stared at the hole through his shoulder, blinking, trying to comprehend what had just happened. Blood spilled freely, staining the fabric around the wound in deep crimson.
The wolf he'd been moments away from finishing let out a whimper and bolted, tail tucked between its legs. It vanished into the night, unwilling to risk its life now that its alpha had entered the field.
"I can't believe…" Jabari whispered, a bitter smile forming on his lips as he fought to suppress the pain, "I forgot about you."
His eyes rose slowly to meet the cold, glinting gaze of the Crystal Wolf.
It was descending from the rooftop now, every step poised and deliberate. It had merely been observed until now, but finally, it was ready to intervene.
Its silver fur gleamed like polished steel, and its glowing horn pulsed with ethereal light – still faintly smoking from the shot it had just fired.
Its expression was unreadable, but its eyes… its eyes smirked.
There was no mistaking it.
That wasn't the face of a beast.
That was the face of a predator who knew it had the advantage.
Of a creature that understood cruelty.
And it was enjoying every moment of it!
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