11 Hooman Slave!
Ivan looked down at the wolf; the moonlight was reflecting from his fur, making it easier for Ivan to see it during the night.
"Naina, do you know any spell to illuminate the surroundings?" Ivan asked, knowing full well that she did know such a spell.
"I know. But a single illuminating light spell can only stay activated for ten minutes."
"That's more than enough. Do one thing, use that spell at the same time when I jump down. If you can release that spell and throw it down, then it would be even better. Can you do that, or do you need time to read the spell?" Ivan asked again.
"No, it's an instant spell. I can create a ball of light and throw it down as soon as you say the word." Naina replied truthfully.
'Alright, I can do this. It's just a wolf. You don't need to fear it, Ivan. You have read a lot about nature, the wolf, its strong points, and naturally, its weakness. You only need to target that point and Voila, the wolf will not be any threat to you, after that.' Ivan was bracing himself to get more confidence. Killing a small rat and killing a big wolf are two different things. Any hesitation or show of weakness might get him killed instead.
Ivan then summoned a bread loaf from his inventory to his right hand and held it in front of his chest, hiding it from Naina's eyes.
Ivan was going to use the bread as a bait. He was going to throw it on the ground in front of the wolf and let it eat it without spooking him. He will then throw another one and then another one after that until the wolf lowers his guard against the human who is giving him delicious food to eat.
That would be the moment he will jump down to attack the wolf with the sword and hack the back above its hind legs, which is one of its weaknesses, making him unable to move. But to make sure it doesn't see him coming, Ivan told Naina to use the illuminating spell so that the wolf would instinctively close its eyes upon seeing the blinding light, giving Ivan the much-needed opportunity to strike it down. After that, Ivan should be able to kill it quickly.
When Ivan threw down the first bread, the wolf didn't but looked at Ivan vigilantly. It stayed like that for quite some time. Just when Ivan was going to throw another one, the wolf moved and sniffed the bread but still looking at Ivan from time to time. After the wolf made it sure that the meal was good to eat, he placed a paw upon it and ripped a small piece with his mouth before swallowing it.
'This wolf is smart,' Ivan thought.
After the wolf finished eating the bread, he stared at Ivan without moving or blinking his eyes.
Ivan summoned another bread and threw it down again. Naina was confused; she wanted to know how can Ivan stuff so many loaves of bread in his clothes. She didn't feel them at all when she was leaning on him to rest. Naina regretted seeing that Ivan was wasting such a high-quality food that only Noble's and the Aristocrats ate.
Thankfully, it seemed that the wolf liked the bread very much and didn't bother waiting this time before pounced on the food once it touched the ground and swallowed it in a matter of seconds.
But just when Ivan was going to throw another one, the chime rang in his ears.
Chime!
<<You have lowered the hostility of the Grey Wolf.>>
<<Grey Wolf has changed your status from easy meal to hooman slave that feeds him me delicious bread.>>
Ivan faced twitched uncontrollably.
'What the fuck do you mean by a hooman slave?' Ivan could understand the easy meal apart, but the second status did not make him feel any good.
Ivan threw down the bread wishing he could lace it with poison.
The grey wolf jovially shook his tail like a dog and caught the bread before it could fall on the ground before eating it whole.
The wolf then looked up expectantly while licking his lips, and still shaking his tail as if it was saying 'Hooman slave, feed me another one of those, hurry, hurry!'
"Here, have another one." Ivan threw another bread down and prepared to jump down and end the motherfucker's life since it dared to call him a Hooman slave.
Chime!
<<You have extinguished the hostility of the Grey wolf>>
<< Congratulation. The Grey wolf changed your status from Hooman slave that feeds me delicious food to Hooman slave that earned my friendship>>
'That's not any better.' Ivan screamed internally. But his mind jolted just as he suddenly understood the meaning of these notifications.
'Do I need to kill the wolf to complete the mission? If these notification are right, then the wolf is not hostile to me anymore. Maybe the wolf won't attack me if I go down now.'
Ivan hesitated because he may be wrong; therefore, he chooses to recheck the mission to see if there's any loophole he had missed before.
<<
Side Missions:
1. Kill the Third Chief of Blacktooth Bandit to get revenge for almost killing you.
Time Limit: None
Mission Difficulty: C-
Reward: 100 Bonus Exp, 5000 Silver Coins, Whip based Battle skill.
Note: Reward may increase depending upon the final rating on mission completion.
2. Kill the Wild Wolf, who hurt Host ego by being more handsome than him.
Time Limit: None
Mission Difficulty: E+
Reward: 10 Bonus Exp, 1 silver coin, a Lucky Coin.
Note: Reward may increase depending upon the final rating on mission completion.
>>
"There's no change in the mission. What should I do?... Wait! Why do I even need to clear this mission and risk my life when the wolf is not hostile anymore? There's not even a penalty for not completing." Ivan thought. The only thing making him hesitate to drop the mission was the lucky coin. He wanted that, but not at the expense of risking his life unnecessarily.
Ivan started descending the tree while holding a loaf of bread in his hand. Naina almost screamed when she saw that.
Ivan slowly scaled-down the tree while having his eyes locked on the grey wolf. Fortunately, the wolf was still waving his tail jubilantly and even ran a circle on the same spot when Ivan's feet touched the ground.
Ivan had taken a great leap of faith and had decided to follow his instinct. His knowledge about wolves or commonly about all animals told him that this grey wolf wouldn't attack him; he deduced this from the shaking of the wolf's tail.
Animals usually show signs when they are hostile or when they are completely docile. Plus, the system's notification helped Ivan in taking that decision even more efficiently.
It was indeed a nerve-wracking situation for him when he extended his hand, holding the bread towards the wolf.
Ivan tried to look calm and confident but also friendly, but his back was sweating excessively.
The wolf was so big that its height reached Ivan's neck.
The wolf never showed any sign of attacking Ivan and came closer to him while wagging its tail from side to side before snapping at the bread in his hands.
It almost scared the shit out of Ivan; he thought the wolf was going to bite his hand too but only felt its mouth and nose brush against his palm.
Just when Ivan relaxed, the wolf that had just finished swallowing pounced on Ivan and pushed him to the ground before going for Ivan's head, giving him no chance to react.
"Kya~~!"
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