The Sage Against the Hunter Wolf

Just as I thought, it wouldn't be quite easy to follow around using magic to conceal yourself. It tires you out easily especially when you move always. Well, this is what I expect from my body for now. Other than that, father and the townsmen haven't found the hunter wolf yet. And from here, I already sense that there is a huge percentage of mortality once they encounter it.

The most normal size of one hunter wolf is as close to a human being standing with both legs. Un. They're quite big and difficult to handle especially when they become quite agile just to put you down. For now, I'll stay in the shadows deactivating my concealment. It tires me out too much.

Finally, within minutes, I heard a growl in front of father's group. I already knew it was there. It came out hungry, rabid, and eyes that traced the air with its fearsome gaze. The beast's fur, luxurious and gray. One of the townsman backed away slowly with fear in his face. "What are you doing?! Don't back out, you coward!" One of the townsman said, but because of the noise the wolf got a little aggravated with this and started prowling cautiously around them.

The wolf launched its claws hitting one of the townsmen tearing apart his steel chainmail, rendering the man unable to move due to shock. Father stabbed the wolf's hind leg but his sword didn't pierce through the flesh. Due to this, father was sent flying by another claw attack that was unexpected. It seemed it has hit the chainmail of father.

I concentrated an area with magic where father landed, cushioning his fall. By that time, I had to activate my concealment magic again, he might find me after I pulled off an unexpected 『Gravity Placement Magic』on the ground right where he landed. Father stood up still facing the wolf. Huh, I thought he would actually notice that. But one must not look away from an enemy. Mhmm. The wolf scared off the other men away and it attempts to chase them. But before any of that happened, father caught the attention of the wolf when he shouted.

"OVER HERE YOU BASTARD!"

Bold move, but quite a good one. Now I am currently charging up my mana in my hands hoping that I would be on time. The wolf was slowly speeding up its pace towards father whilst it breathed heavily with rage. Father looked quite tired and irritated, this time he doesn't have his shield up. It seems like it broke when the wolf sent him flying. This is bad, if he keeps this up, he might surely die. The wolf started running towards him. Approximately 『6.0 Seconds』towards father.

『5.0 Seconds』

『4.0 Seconds』

『3.5 Seconds』

Father won't survive this but I will surely do. The 『Gravity Placement Magic』was actually rigged with 『Placement Magic』giving me the ability to switch with father in a blink of an eye. I switched with him as fast as I could. The reaction of the wolf suddenly changed once I switched places, but this did not stop the killing intention of the hunter wolf. This is what I needed after all. I held unto my wooden sword and enchanted it with magic. Usually, enchanting is done within hours or days to perfect its usage and to avoid breaking instantly. But when enchanted, even if you're in the production magic class, it will still break within its limits. Within a rough three seconds… I might be able to enchant this sword with multiple 『Enchantment Magic』. It's approaching. And Quick.

『2.0 Seconds』Now the sword is lightening up as the mana conditioned by its natural acclimatization. Here comes, 『Iron Break』.

『1.5 Seconds』Time encloses once more. As the first enchantment engulfed the sword, unstable, but still useful for a brief time of four seconds. Next enchantment was 『True Strike』.

『1.0 Seconds』The beast is imminent and it could reach me. It raised its claws ready to strike me. And by that time, my father noticed me and had nothing to do but shout...

"Haruki!!"

『0 Seconds』The beast swiped my body clean with its claws but blood didn't come out. I faded to the air and appeared behind the wolf. My plan worked quite well. Before I placed the 『Gravity Placement Magic』I made sure that I cast another one in between my father and the wolf before I switched places with father. However, the 『Placement Magic』I used was special in most cases. It had a mix of 『False Damage』and『Placement Magic』. Making the damage null in its first attack.

Now that is settled with and the beast isn't aware of my presence after "dying." I placed another enchantment to my sword. Last but not least『Crystal Sword』, an enchantment not used by any sword-users unless the sword has to be destroyed in exchange of a forceful blow. In this case, a wooden sword may not suffice, but given this magic will surely cut the wolf in half. My sword's life-span froze in time as if it looked like it was about to shatter. The hunter wolf felt the potent magic essence around it and directed its gaze towards me.

"You're done!" I shouted as I went across the wolf before hearing my sword turning to dust on my hands. "Huh? It didn't even graze the beast?!" My father, in panic, tried to help me escape before the beast notices. Heh. That's what father thought. Within seconds, the wolf's head including its chest, were cut clean as it slid off the body before falling to the ground. My skills are quite useful, I am happy that I am able to use it this far. But before I tried to celebrate silently, father before me was petrified by the sight of the dead hunter wolf.

"That's… Impossible. An enemy like that…" Hmm. I don't know what's impossible about that. I didn't say anything, as I stood staring at father and the corpse.

"What did you do? Tell me?!" W-Woah. Am I in serious trouble now?!

"I-I just enchanted and enhanced the wooden sword I was carrying to the point of its breaking limit. S-so I'll be able to defeat the enemy."

"B-breaking limits?! Enchantment? How come?!" I feel scared now. More scared than how I went head-to-head with the wolf a while ago.

"『Iron Break, True Strike, and Crystal Sword』, those are the enchantments I did. Now please don't hurt me."

"W-what? Why would I hurt you? The thing here is, I am amazed at those names. Not much people can do it here you know. Heck, I don't even know if those existed in the first place. No one can do that, more likely an eight year old kid!" Father looked quite mad but rather amused.

"Also… What you meant by 'breaking limits'? I'm guessing you… enchanted it… to the point that it was unstable enough to be used, am I right?"

Father followed up some more words. Amazing, he sure knows how to analyze pretty damn fine.

"Yes. You're quite right." I replied.

"I see. This knowledge pays off then."

"Don't say this to anyone." I cut him off whilst looking relieved.

"I don't want to draw attention to this family or anybody in this town."

"What…" Father seemed shocked after I said that.

"For the betterment of my own development or of our family. It would be best not to let anyone know that an eight year old kid beat a 'hunter wolf'." Un. This is for the best. Judging by how word comes quick around humans… it's honestly terrifying and with utmost annoyance. I felt like fainting whilst explaining… my body is not accustomed to magic fatigue yet especially when one does not practice that much.

"A-Are you okay?" Before father can even reach me, the group that ran away slightly increased and more geared than a while ago.

"What? A-Are you guys okay?!" The men, looking at the beast with awe, ran towards us. "It's—"

"It's father who did that. I'm sorry, I lost my way in the woods. I thought I was going to die!" I, once again, abruptly spoke ahead of father. I looked at him with a gaze of agreement, hoping that he wouldn't break our accord a while ago.

"Y-yes. I fear that I have to take my son in for discipline. Sorry, men, for being a burden."

"Huh? No! It's not a problem! You saved the village's neck after all. It's nothing to be worried about. At least you came here and your son didn't get hurt. We owe you our gratitude."

Yeah, it's going my way. I didn't want fame in the first place. As long as I remain a low-profile in this place, I'll be able to seek out the secrets in every corner without prying eyes. The men hauled upon the corpse, of what used to be the hunter wolf, towards the village for trading purposes. My father and I walked back home after greeting an unexpected visitor. The mayor was quite pleased with our job and gave us remittance before leaving us. As we arrived home, my father still seemed troubled about what I did against the hunter wolf a while ago.

"Forgive me. I hope I didn't make that much trouble for you." I said.

"There was not a single troubling thing about what happened a while ago. I was just perplexed at how you were able to manage against the monster. And I never heard about your skills… where did you learn them?"

Books? Quite strange as well, if there were… magic would've been able to extend further than what I can do. I couldn't think of any… as an excuse.

"Hah. Don't worry. Maybe it's just the power of protection coming from our god sage, Dante." Father said. More importantly… 'god sage'? That sounds familiar.

But more of that…

"Who's Dante?"

"The god sage who made this world peaceful after defeating a powerful demon… but I am afraid it's quite an old tale and no one considers that anymore. They believe that the magic of Dante is long gone and there's nothing left with that anymore. No one has evidences of Dante except there was one book that contradicted everyone's belief that the god sage truly existed and saved us. Or so we believe. It is quite hard to know if he truly existed. There are churches related to him… and above that, no one has a clue if it was just man-made fantasy."

"Hmm. Interesting." I murmured as I walked side by side with father.

"Either way… Don't plan on getting yourself in trouble."

"I couldn't say the same." I smiled at father making him sigh. We got home and saw mother looking at us. She looked really anxious.

"H-Honey! What happened to Haruki?!" Huh? Oh… now she mentioned… I am covered in blood.

"I checked his bedroom and it turns out he was missing… and now he is right there with you?! DID YOU TAKE HIM ALONG?"

"N-NO!" Father, disempowered, fearfully ran inside the house.

"Mother…"

"Don't! Don't say anything and get inside!" Ur...urgh… well… I guess I have to follow her demands before I get killed.