5 Chapter 5: Wolf's Cub

In the middle of a dense forest, The Wolf sat at the bottom of a tree. He leaned his back against the trunk and took off his mask.

Streaks of blood were running down his cheeks. Dripping to the ground from his chin.

"The rebound… never again."

He looked upwards and closed his eyes as he recalled the events that just happened.

Zef was less than a second from cleanly cutting him in two. Sacrificing his life essence for power, he was able to cast [Paralysis] as well as [Teleport] in order to escape the situation.

"I probably could've killed him after [Paralysis]..."

After casting the spell, The Wolf hesitated for a second and decided to escape instead. Feeling the pressure of magic being built up again on top of the canyon as well as the presence of more adventurers running over, he may have taken out Zef, but he wouldn't be able to get out afterwards.

He sighed once more as he slowly got up. The place he teleported to was a forest near the edge of the continent. It was a fairly popular forest due to the amount of high ranking monsters and beasts residing within. However, with such living creatures within the forest, much of it was still undiscovered.

Deep within the forest is where he found it. A small dungeon that completely blended into its surroundings. When he started off on his own, he stumbled across the dungeon on accident. Living inside were a peculiar race of demons. He never came across them before. He was ready to fight with the intention to die at any moment and yet, though it was hard, it was much easier than he thought. The Lord residing in the dungeon had very little monsters under his control. With mostly those of the demon race in the dungeon, it surprised him that they were also quite weak. Demons he encountered before hand put up quite the fight, but not these.

As he was recalling the first time he encountered the dungeon, he already arrived at the entrance. The type of dungeon he found was an underground one. Having a staircase that led below, he started making his way down. But suddenly, he felt a strange presence.

(It's been over three years since I've been here so it wouldn't be strange for other monsters to have wandered in but…)

Something felt off. He couldn't pinpoint what the presence he felt exactly was which made him a bit concerned. In his current state, he was positive that he would be able to at least run but, there being a chance it would overwhelm him, he had to be cautious.

As he continued down the stairs he saw it. Corpses of monsters and beasts lay on the ground. Evidence of a fight. However, the corpses couldn't have been more than a few days old.

As he made his way to the opening room, a different corpse lay below him.

"Demon huh…"

The corpse of a male demon with half his face ripped apart lay before him. Looking at how the corpses in the room were all scattered about, the way they were facing, and what they were doing, he was pretty confident.

"Looks like the demons were not expecting this place to be the home of beasts. Were they maybe survivors of when I cleared this place out...no. They look to be of a different tribe from back then… survivors of other dungeons perhaps?"

The Wolf concluded that the only reasonable answer would be that these demons were survivors of the dungeon raids and ran here for shelter.

"Maybe that's why there was more information here about dungeons than in other ones. This was more of a shelter than a dungeon."

(Also explains why they didn't put up much of a fight)

The dungeon The Wolf found turned out to be a place where all Lords would gather to share information. It was also a place for them to fall back to should, in an unlikely event, they were pushed back. But that's something he'll find out later.

"Oh? That strange presence.. Keeps changing?"

As he continued through the dungeon, more and more bodies were laying dead. Men, women, and children of the demon race lay ripped apart and some even partially eaten. Less and less beasts were found as he went deeper and deeper.

"To think they lost so many. They couldn't have fought anything too strong.. though these demons aren't really fighters…"

Despite the demon race being known for its fierce warriors, it didn't mean that they all were. Looking at the builds of the demons who were still recognizable, he could tell that they were not of the fighting force. Yet, even despite that, each one would be stronger than the average human.

As he finally continued to the last area within the dungeon, he saw it.

Standing near the corner of the room, a wolf twice his size had it's back facing towards him. He seemed to be distracted by something in the corner where he was facing.

What a cruel joke.

A Ferox Wolf. It was no wonder he couldn't make out the presence he was feeling. A Ferox Wolf is part of the unique category of monsters and beasts within the adventurer guilds. Things in the unique category have unpredictable traits. One of the most common trait in this category is what is known as Survivors.

Survivors have one known trait, growth. These monsters and beasts get stronger through killing other things. Should the hunt of Survivors be done correctly, they will never become a real threat to the public. However, should one manage to slip by and continue to grow… the damage could be devastating.

Ferox Wolves were Survivors. Starting off as young cubs, they would average a range between D-Rank and B-Rank. The highest ranked Ferox Wolf recorded by the guild was A-Rank. It was noted that it worked together with another pack of wolves to attack a small village on the far outskirts of the Kingdom of Khajel. As soon as the attack over the village finished, it wiped out the pack it was in. It then proceeded to kill every monster, every beast, every living thing in its path growing rapidly.

It was recommended that in order to defeat a Ferox Wolf, to hunt in as small a party as possible or to have very competent members. If anyone were to get careless and die, the growth would be instantaneous. As it's easier to move in a smaller party, unless you're trying to completely overwhelm it, it's better to control the pace and slow the fight.

The A-Rank Ferox Wolf was brought down by an S-Rank adventurers party. With one S-Rank, two A-Ranks, and a B-Rank, they were able to defeat the wolf. Though that was quite the overkill, it wouldn't have been necessary for them to do such if it weren't for the fact that the Khajel Kingdom sent in their own forces to deal with the wolf only to lose over 30 men.

Backing the wolf into the corner, all it took was a mistake from one knight to die to instantly turn the tides of the fight. One knight turned into five. Eventually turning into the entire unit of 30.

Feeling the aura of the wolf before him, he knew it was higher than rank A. But to say it would cross into rank S… he wasn't sure. The mix of auras of everything he's killed made it even harder to tell.

"He probably killed the beasts living in here as well as the demons… it usually doesn't get this bad considering they don't grow much from killing humans or low ranking beasts but killing demons…"

The aura emanating from the wolf was terrifying. If one were to encounter the wolf for the first time, they would without a doubt be killed. Luckily, a Ferox Wolf's fighting ability wasn't actually that terrifying. It was the pure strength and speed they got. The most dangerous thing to do against a Ferox Wolf is to underestimate it's strength and speed and not give it your all. It's truly a battle of all or nothing. But, if it's a battle of strength…

"I guess this won't be too bad. It's not even looking at me let alone, has it even noticed me? What is in that corner?"

He pulled a dagger out of the air next to him. Including the hilt, the dagger was about one and a half kels long or the length of his forearm. The blade had a unique curve as well as being surrounded by a powerful magic aura. At the end of the hilt, a small wolf head was attached. It was quite eccentric.

The Wolf lowered himself closer to the ground as he slowly began to move towards the wolf in front of him.

It still didn't even turn around.

As he arrived at the hind legs of the wolf, he quickly lunged forward. With no hesitation he plunged the dagger into the side of the wolf's neck, twisted, and ran it across to pull the blade out.

Without even making any sound or movement, the wolf just collapsed to the ground.

"That… what just happened? Why didn't it do anything?"

The wolf lay dead, blood continuing to pour out of the wound on it's neck.

WIth the threat of the wolf confusingly dealt with, The Wolf looked at the corner of the room.

At the place the wolf was looking at before it was killed was a barrier. Completely covered in a black aura, the barrier was still holding strong.

"Atera magic including enchantments.. No wonder the Ferox Wolf wasn't moving… [Restrain]."

The barrier was covered in an aura of [Restrain]. If one were to carelessly touch it, the effect would be instant and brutal. Especially with the use of atera, they may not come out of the stasis for weeks even months.

Applying [Resistance] to himself, he placed his hand atop the barrier. It wouldn't be good for him to be locked into place on accident until either the magic ran it's course or he died. Closing his eyes, he took deep breaths to control his breathing. In order to break the barrier without accidentally destroying whatever it was protecting, it was safest to guide the atera into the atmosphere and have the barrier slowly thin out.

Atera could not be absorbed. In fact, if he were to absorb it, he would go through excruciating pain that may kill him. Atera was completely unique to every living thing. They all had it, but each one was different.

After about thirty minutes, the barrier finally disappeared.

Inside the barrier was a demon woman. She had long silver hair and a beautiful face. Her pale skin nearly glowing in the dim dungeon. Her clothes were torn in certain places and claw marks gouged out her flesh. Yet even despite all that, it was clear she was beautiful.

"To use atera, and looking at her condition, she was backed into a corner huh… quite literally too."

The demon woman was curled up with her back facing the outside.

"She must've been really scared."

Checking to see if there were any signs of life in her, he crouched down and reached his hand out. Right before he touched her, two small hands jumped out from underneath the demon. Grabbing onto his outreached hand, a small demon looked at him.

Looking straight into the demon's eyes, it was clouded with killing intent. The Wolf paused for a second. Then slowly tried to pull his hand back. The demon let go of his hand continuing to glare at him.

"She was desperate to protect this little girl I guess.."

The small demon was a young girl. With silver hair similar to the woman's, it was likely that she was the daughter of the demon woman. The only difference was one thing, her horns. She didn't have any.

(A Demon Val…)

Demon Vals were a race of Demons. While there were many different races of demons, ranging between draconic, vampiric, and many others, Vals were those with similar features as humans.

She kept glaring at him, watching his every movement. She looked to be no older than an 8 year old human girl. Maybe even younger. Her hair was messy, skin dirty, and clothes ragged. But the light in her eyes were shining with power. The look of preparing herself to throw her life away to protect her mother.

(Being a Val she should at least know human language I suppose. They're trained to blend in with human societies after all..)

"Hey, what's your name?"

Her eyes didn't waver. Continuing to glare at him as if to look directly at his soul, her dry, cracked lips moved slowly.

"Kaija…"

"Kaija… what happened here. Are you okay?"

"...Name."

"?"

"What is your name?"

A soft yet powerful voice. Gentle yet direct. One shouldn't be fooled by appearances. Even if it is that of a small child.

(My name huh?)

With a slight pause, he responded.

"Akylus. Akylus Fall."