10 An Encounter with Death

Inside a dense forest.

The tall trees and the vines made it hard for the sunlight to penetrate, casting a shade of dark inside the woods. The slippery moss, the verdant twisted vines, and tangled roots formed a hindrance to movement.

A young boy was rushing through this twisted forest with all his might as if he was chased by death herself, his eyes filled with terror and panic written all over his face.

*pant*

*pant*

He was gasping heavily for breath, his face all sweaty. There were traces of bruises and minor cuts on his body, showing his struggle with the surrounding forest.

"Faster, Faster. Just a little bit more!" The little boy encouraged himself with these words for the umpteenth time. His stamina was on the verge of exhaustion, all his morning walks proving inefficient in this time of need.

"Grrrraahhhh…"

A deafening howl from behind caused all the nearby animals to run away in fear. From the shades, a black wolf appeared, relentlessly chasing after the young boy.

"Damn it! Why doesn't it leave me alone?"

Gritting his teeth in frustration, the young boy put more strength into his already tired legs to get more push.

The feeling of death was enough to invoke desperation for survival in him. The scene of a wolf gnawing his claws on his body, the feeling of his skin being shredded to pieces by those vicious canine teeth terrified the young boy.

This young boy was naturally Vance, and in his hunt for a rabbit, he ventured into the territory of a wolf-like beast.

"I can't die. I can't die yet. I haven't done anything yet," Thinking how insignificant and meaningless his life had been so far, Vance gritted his teeth, drops of blood dripping from his lips. 'Panicking in the face of the crisis was not a good idea,' thinking like that, he tried to calm down his furiously beating heart.

'Death! Death! Everybody has to die someday. BUT I CAN'T DIE YET!!!' was the only thought in his mind.

After pushing aside the vines blocking the way, he moved forward stepping on the creaking branches.

"Damn it, if only I had listened to my father, I wouldn't be fighting for my life here…."

A long time had already passed as Vance ran ahead while a black wolf-like beast pursued him, to devour him.

After some time, his eyes flashed with light as the surroundings became a little bit sparser.

"I must be close now to the periphery. Just hang on a little more, Vance, just a little more," Vance encouraged himself when he saw the hope of making it out alive.

"I can do it, I can do it!"

The young boy continued to boost his morale.

"Howwwl~"

Another deafening howl resounded behind him, the wolf was closing in the distance. Doing his best to creep across the tree trunks, advancing ceaselessly - his eyes showed his resolve.

He quickly took out one of the make-shift spears and sent it flying towards the wolf with a quick aim to slow it down. The wooden spear penetrated the air and combined with the speed of the wolf coming from the opposite direction, it landed a hit with double strength.

"HOWWWL"

The wolf-like beast howled in pain as the wooden spear scratched his face, scarlet drops of blood dripping from there. The audacity of a little kid to harm the dire wolf, whom all the animals in the wood feared, enraged him even more as his blood-lust soared.

"Oh shit! He looks even angrier now," realizing that the spear had hurt the wolf-like beast, Vance was happy at first to delay it. But seeing the beast enraged, he cursed himself, "F..Father…Please save me."

Running for this long, Vance felt like he was already running out of stamina, and exhaustion was setting in. His legs were trying to give up, which was apparent from his occasional stumbles. Even a moment of negligence was enough to cost him his life.

"Howwwl'

The wolf's howl resounded loudly again as a black dire wolf continued its pursuit.

His chest was aching from rapid breathing, the rapid beating of pulse and lack of oxygen intake was creating slight waves of dizziness. Fear of imminent death, a meaningless and insignificant life, a sliver of hope of survival - were the only things keeping him sane in this situation.

Seeing time running out, the wolf leaped into the air from a distance to pounce on the boy. Vance suddenly noticed a tickling sensation on his back and his instinct kicked in. He reacted quickly and turned left as fast as he could, narrowly escaping by a hair's breadth.

The dire wolf, accompanied by its weight, crashed into a tree in front. This gave Vance a chance to increase the distance between them as much as he could - he knew he wouldn't be able to run much longer, and his legs would inevitably give in.

The dire wolf snarled at the young boy, baring its sharp teeth as it grew increasingly furious. He was outrun a second time, adding to his humiliation.

Vance kept on running for his dear life, turning his head from time to time to check if he was safe. The surroundings had become much sparser, which meant he was close to the periphery of the woods where his father was waiting for him.

'I just have to get out of the woods. Once father notices me, he will surely do something about this wolf. Just hang on for a little longer.'

His eyes were red, his face covered in tear stains. This was the first time he remembered crying and he was ashamed of himself for it, 'PATHETIC!'

Noticing a horizontal tree trunk ahead, he jumped over it. But to his surprise, his feet landed on the slippery moss that had covered the ground, sending him rolling on the ground and hitting a tree trunk.

*BAM*

The impact from the collision sent shivers of pain but he had no time. He quickly grabbed the last remaining spear and tried to stand up, but his legs were not responding to him.

"DAMN IT, MOVEEE!" He continuously hit his thighs, commanding his legs to move but to no avail. He tried again, and failed again, and again. "COME ON…MOVEEEEE!" His lips trembled as he tried but failed to stop the tears rolling down from his eyes, "PLEASEEEEE!"

When he looked up with his tearful eyes, he found that his face was already overshadowed by the wolf's body. He saw that the giant wolf had leaped through the air and was swooping down at him.

"Am I going to die?" Vance's will attempted to struggle, however, his body did not respond, he had already consumed all of his strength. As fear gripped his heart, unknowingly, bodily fluid started leaking from his lower body part.

At that moment, time seemed to slow down. The wolf's mouth was wide open, baring its malevolent fangs and even its drooling saliva. Having resigned to fate, he waited for the wolf's claws to come tearing at him, yet they never arrived.

A spear arrived in front of Vance, piercing the air into two, and penetrated the wolf's head, sending it flying in the distance.

Vance looked around toward where the spear came from and saw a figure standing in the distance. As his vision stabilized, the figure became clearer and appeared to be an old man with a white beard.

"Father!"

Realizing his father's presence, Vance was relieved but with relief, exhaustion set in and he collapsed.

* * *

{Morgan's PoV}

"Be careful, son," an inaudible whisper left my mouth, a worried and anxious expression appeared on my face. But was it my fault? No. It was the first time Vance was doing something dangerous and it is my right to be worried as a parent.

I saw Vance enter the woods as I decided to wait for him at the periphery. Since he had already decided, I might as well encourage him and see it to the end - at the end of the day, he needs to be able to do these things.

Some time had passed as I waited for him at the periphery, the sun was setting slowly.

'Will it be alright if I go and see how he hunts a rabbit? Hmphh, who cares,' thinking that, I decided to go and look for him, witnessing him hunting from a distance. I might be old, but I was a highly level knight which gave me good eyesight even at this old age.

"Huh. Where is he?" An ominous sensation started gripping my heart. Vance should have been somewhere here but he was not. 'Did he go deeper?' my face paled at that thought. Who knows what kind of animals resided deep into the woods?

'I should look for him before something bad happens,' Just as I thought so, the sound of a deafening howl reverberated to me.

"This howl…No way it's an animal. It's a…beast," when the realization set in, I felt like the world was ending.

"Vanceee!"

"O' Mother Goddess, please save my child."

'Damn it, my old age,' Cursing myself and my age, I hurried toward the sound. 'I must save him before it's too late' was the only thought in my mind.

The howls continued and my terror increased, but one thing was sure - I was getting closer.

"Activate Authority: Dimensional Pocket," Time was of the essence so I activated the authority I got on my class advancement.

[Authority: Dimensional Pocket activated]

A small window appeared in front of my eyes. Various items and stuff were displayed on it. I noticed a spear in a corner and willed my consciousness toward it. Soon enough, a portal appeared on the side, and a long spear became visible and I quickly pulled it out.

"Please…Please, Morgan, don't be late. Hurry," I tried to push myself to run faster.

As I ran, the woods became denser, blocking the rays of the sun making it difficult for a normal person to see. In some distance, I noticed someone on the ground.

It was Vance.

"Vanceee!" Seeing him safe, I felt relieved and joyed but the joy soon turned to terror.

A direwolf was about to pounce on the vulnerable Vance.

"Activate Skill: One-Shot Kill"

[Skill: One-Shot Kill activated]

With these words, I ran a few steps, put all my strength into my hand as I threw the spear towards the already in-air wolf with all my might.

The spear shot like a bolt, pierced the air with a firm, steel-like will to reach its destination, and struck the head of the dire wolf, penetrating through his skull. The dire wolf was sent flying from the impact.

[You have killed a level 5 direwolf. Soul Essence has been absorbed]

As these words filled my view, I saw Vance collapse on the ground.