Cheating Death

Fang was surrounded by nothingness as he floated in the endless void. This wasn't Fang's first time in this place as he's visited it once before in the distant past, but unlike before this time, there was something different about this place. Fang's body was cold and no matter how much he struggled he couldn't even lift a finger his eyes were open but he still couldn't see anything.

Fang screamed, yelled, laughed, cried, and many more things, but his body was still not responding causing him to feel as though he were no longer the master of his own body, he could also faintly feel something grasping at his soul as if it were trying to pull it out of his body. The creature's grasp was very cold and didn't possess a single pulse, nor warmth giving Fang the illusion that he was being bound by an evil spirit.

Although the creature's hand was ethereal it still gave Fang the feeling that his spirit was being stolen by a spirit with a boney hand that didn't possess even a single piece of flesh on it. When Fang thought this far his brain could think of one such spirit that could take or should I say collect souls from people. Although Fang could not see, nor move an inch of his body the spirit's unique body structure and habits were very famous back on earth as it was dubbed 'The God of Death also known as the Grim Reaper.

'fuck it's the grim reaper!! I'm so...screwed!' Fang's face was filled with rage towards the Chimaera that killed him, but more so at the spirit that had its hand inside his back as it slowly pulled on his soul to drag it out of his body. If Fang allowed the Spirit to successfully carry out its plans who knew what would happen to him, or what kind of absurd deeds the spirit had in-stored for him.

Even if the Grim Reaper has never been portrayed as an evil God there was no way of knowing if this spirit was the real deal or just some wicked spirit that's hoping to make a meal out of his soul, but even if it were the real deal who knew if the compassion it had towards wondering souls that it's famous for is even real since those legends were written by men and not the gods themselves, which made this problem more dangerous the more he thought about it.

Fang was helpless against the spirit since he couldn't even retaliate because he was bound to the ground by a dark mist that was emitted by the spirit. The spirit kept slowly but surely sending him closer to an early grave one step at a time. Fang panicked and got desperate as he tried, tried and tried again to move but it all amounted to nothing more than futile attempts. Just as he was about to reluctantly resign himself to his fate a familiar notification sound that he used to hear every time someone sent him a message rang in his mind as a light blue hollow graphic screen with white digital letters written on it appeared in his head out of thin air.

DING!...

[CONGRATULATIONS TO HOST FOR JOINING A CLAN]

Fang was shocked when he saw the hollow graphic screen that floated in the dark void, and questioned himself internally,' what's this strange thing and can it help me in my time of need?' Just as Fang was pondering in his mind multiple notifications showed up in front of his eyes one after the other.

[SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS HAVE ALL BEEN MET]

[SYSTEM SYNCHRONIZATION HAS BEEN INITIATED]

[SYSTEM SYNCHRONIZATION HAS BEGUN: PLEASE STAND BY]

[1%...5%...8%...12%...]

The strange hollow graphic screens Infront of Fang seemed to be activating and gave him hope that he might just survive this ordeal, but when he saw the loading screen that was climbing at its own pace he became frustrated as his heartbeat rose through the roof because he could fill that the spirit was almost done with dragging out his soul.

[45%...51%...56%...59%...]

'come on we're almost there just one more push please!' Fang kept his eyes glued to the light blue hollow graphic screen, and begged it to hurry because every second spent was another step closer to his grave.

[65%...73%...80%...81%...]

Fang was happy with the rate the numbers increased, but when he saw that the 'system' had an increase of 1% Fang almost blew a fuse because he felt as if the hollow graphic screen was making fun of him in his hour of need.

[89%...93%...98%...100%]

DING!...

[SYNCHRONIZATION HAS COMPLETED SUCCESSFULLY]

[HOST CAN NOW USE THE SYSTEM TO INCREASE HIS POWER AND ACHIEVE THE PEAK OF HIS LIFE]

DING! DING! DING!

[ERROR DETECTED]

[ERROR DETECTED]

[HOST'S SOUL IS CURRENTLY UNSTABLE]

[BEGIN AUTO SEARCH SEQUENCE]

[.....]

Fang was overjoyed when he saw that this 'system' thing did care about his well being especially since his soul was only hanging by a thin thread.

[SOURCE OF ERROR LOCATED: INITIATING SELF-DEFENCE PROTOCOLS]

Numerous chains protruded from inside his body and bound the fleeting soul before dragging it back to its original place. The spirit saw this surprising development before sighing softly as it's a boney figure which wore a black robe that was shrouded in a dark mist and gave off a mysterious aura. The dark aura reeked of the scent of death which suggested this spirit has killed many people or that it was the very embodiment of death itself.

DING!...

[SYSTEM HAS DETECTED THAT THE HOST HAS BEEN MORTALLY WOUNDED DURING BATTLE AND HIS LIFE IS HANGING ON A THIN THREAD]

[EMERGENCY HEALING PROTOCOLS HAS BEEN ACTIVATED]

[HEALING SEQUENCE HAS BEGUN]

[REVIVAL SEQUENCE HAS BEGUN]

[.....]

Fang waited in the void realm for the system to finish loading and entertained himself by counting the words of each text the system had sent to him because he had nothing better to do since he was still unable to move an inch.

DING!...

[ERROR DETECTED]

[ERROR DETECTED]

[HEALING SEQUENCE HAS FAILED: IMMEDIATELY ACTIVATING BACKUP PLAN]

[BACKUP PLAN HEALING SEQUENCE HAS BEGUN]

[....]

[BACKUP HEALING SEQUENCE HAS COMPLETED SUCCESSFULLY]

[REVIVAL SEQUENCE HAS COMPLETED SUCCESSFULLY]

[HOST HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY REVIVED]

After the last notification, the messages stopped coming in and Fang's consciousness faded a few seconds later.

....

Fang somewhat regained his consciousness but his eyes and mind were still a bit hazy as he slowly opened his eyelids. A faint dim light immediately greeted his eyes when he awoke from his near-death state, and felt a closed breeze brush through his abdomen causing his whole body to shiver uncontrollably. Fang first surveyed his surroundings since the last time he fell unconscious he woke up in a spider cocoon ready to be made breakfast.

Fang may not be smart but he does learn from his previous mistakes, so when he woke up in a strange environment the first thing his instincts told him to do was to survey his surroundings. The cave was cold and damp, while he didn't have any clothes on except for his torn pants that have turned into rags and the underwear he's been wearing since the day he got to this place.

Fang saw a bright light coming from the entrance of the cave that was approximately 15 meters away from where he currently was. The place where Fang was at was the very end of the cave to the extent that he could touch the walls just by extending his arm a little bit, but to reach the entrance, he didn't just have to bear the cold as he walked he also had to avoid the White Wolves that were sleeping in the cave.

The light outside suggested that it was daytime, so Fang concluded that these White Wolves were all female since the male wolves are the ones who take care of the hunting and other such labours, although that didn't make them any less dangerous towards the weak Fang.

One of the female Wolves heard the slightest commotion that was coming from the edge of the cave where they placed Fang's body that they believed would be dead before the next sunrise. She turned her head around to peek at Fang's location but instead got the surprise of her life as she saw the creature is believed to be dead standing up on its own two feet. She couldn't help but be amazed by the creature's tenacity, and as she saw that none of the other female White Wolves have noticed him. The leader and his son who brought Fang here were not in the cave available, so she had to give him the warmest welcome she could give him.

Fang was startled by the sudden movement of one of the White Wolves. The female wolf stood on all four and walked towards him. Seeing the female White Wolf approach him Fang instantly amused the worst as he instinctively put his hands into his pockets to grab the knives that reside within them, but to his surprise, he found nothing in his pocket. Fang had no choice but to face the female White Wolf using nothing but his bare hands, but what came out of the female White Wolf's mouth shocked him immensely.

When the female White Wolf noticed Fang's strange behaviour and the signs of fear that were written on his face she couldn't help but find him amusing, "Relax I'm not your enemy, my name is Maria and this is our home and also your new home, since the others are not around I'll take this opportunity to formally welcome you to the White Wolf Clan."

After the female White Wolf Maria's welcoming Fang's mind had long since stopped functioning, and not only because the Wolf did attack him, but when it spoke to him he was sure that it just growled at him but somehow he understood everything it said.