Day Eight: First Battle

*lab-dub* *lab-dub* *lab-dub*

John's heart was pounding so hard that it's the only thing he could hear, his breathing was unstable and he was gasping for air as he held his chest tightly.

*Aah-oooooh!* *Aah-oooooh!* *Aah-oooooh!*

As John controlled his breathing, a howl was heard followed by countless howls, it was near the area he was.

And as John was about to peak his head from the tree, his face was suddenly covered by a ball of brown fur.

John immediately remove the ball of fur out of his face and looked at it. It was the same rabbit that he saw earlier and the one he was hunting and the same one that was not moving an inch moments ago.

Its face was covered in fear, its body was trembling as it struggled in its hands and its big blue round eyes were shaking intensely.

John immediately understood the situation, he hesitatingly peaked his head behind the tree and saw them, dozens of them, all of them was almost half the size of an average human, they are Seira forest's assassins, Night Wolves.

"Grrrrrrrrrrr"

The night wolves immediately growled at him after seeing him and run towards him. John's face became pale as he tried to move his body.

John's body was not able to move, it was the effect of a passive skill unique to dark types and higher types monsters called 'Fear' it lowers the morale of the target and restrained their movement for 3 seconds.

But John has the passive skill 'Grim Demeanor' which reduces the effects of some mental attacks and was immediately freed from the 'restrain' and 'lowered morale' effects. His Unique Passive Skill 'Quick Calculation' immediately took effect as he quickly judges the situation and immediately breaks into a run.

The wolves were behind him as he ran continuously while carrying the squirming potus rabbit in his embrace. The moment he took off, he didn't realize that he was still holding the potus rabbit in his hands and until now that he was still being chased by the night wolves.

Just like yesterday, he ran through the forest without any destination in mind, John tripped and fell over many times in the dark forest, he can't see much about it, and the moonlight was blocked by the tall trees, but despite falling and tripping over and over, the rabbit was still in his hands, he was not conscious that he was carrying and protecting the main reason that he was being chased by the wolves.

'Aaah!, what f*cking kind of forest is this!?' He screamed internally as he judged that screaming would just worsen the situation.

A moment later, John was met with a dead end. He slowly stopped, In front of him was a wall and behind him was Night wolves. He didn't know where to go, the night wolves immediately surrounded him, it was an act to cover all the escape routes.

"Grrrrrrrr...!"

His back was now against a wall, the wolves growled at him as they slowly approached him, as John opened his storage and tried to take out the Haki Reindeer Dagger and a sagra twig, the hands that were holding the rabbit let go, and the rabbit fell to the ground.

John was surprised as he saw the rabbit in front of him, the rabbit looked at his surprised face and quickly hop to a hole on the foot of the wall.

Pant... Pant... Pant...

"That F*cking Rabbit...!!" John screamed after he saw the rabbit hid.

John's body which was cold before due to fear and so much sweating immediately burned up, as anger filled him.

'You're the f*cking reason I'm in this situation you furry bastard!' as John kept cursing in his mind, his body moved, he quickly took the Dagger and a broken sagra twig from his dimension space.

After continuously using the skill 'dimension storage' he was able to quickly grasp the items he needed, even though he was just able to experience the skill window for only a day, it was like he was using it for more than it really was. It was greatly due to John's innate talent, his ability to memorize made him able to quickly open and took items he wants without looking.

John used 'Everyday Fire Magic' on the tip of the broken sagra twig and waved it forward, his other hand was gripping the dagger in reverse and he lowered his hips, it was the effect of 'Weapon Mastery' Rare passive skill that activated the moment his grip on the dagger became comfortable.

His use of 'dimension storage' as he took his Haki Reindeer Dagger, him taking out the sagra twig and igniting its top was made unconsciously, he didn't even realize that he was doing it himself, as his instinct and the skill 'Weapon Mastery' merged to make him do it unconsciously.

The wolves couldn't move forward due to the flame on the sagra twig, but it didn't mean they can't attack. As John waved the flaming sagra twig, he felt a sharp pain from his side, he was scratched by the claws of one of the wolves from the side.

"Aaargh!" John gritted his teeth as he felt the pain he never experienced before, tears can be seen from his eyes as he endured the pain.

John's anger quickly disappeared as it was transformed into pain, but he persevered judging that he would die the moment he made useless actions.

He was lucky that the attack he experienced wasn't fatal, though it still hurt and still bleeding, it wasn't as painful as he expected.

John gripped the dagger tightly and adjusted his body slightly, he was now pointing the dagger to the wolves as he points both the dagger and the burning sagra twig to them.

John became more aware, his teary eyes became sharper as he looked around. John grinned at the wolves as he provokes them to get near.

Pant... Pant... Pant...

"Come on! You enlarged dogs!" the night wolves became agitated as they were called dogs, their pride as one of the peak in the food chain in the forest they were in was stained.

The wolves growled at him more fiercely and attacked. John's mind quickly calculated the distance of the claw as the unique passive skill 'Quick Calculation' activated and his body moved to counterattack as the skill 'Weapon Mastery' enhanced his techniques, but his body was not able to cope with the process as his base stats were low and his experience in fighting was null.

A few attacks were able to reach him, and his thigh, shoulder, and back were now bleeding. He immediately judged that defending wouldn't change the situation and started to attack.

John threw the sagra twig towards the wolves and fired countless candle sized fireballs at it using 'Everyday Fire Magic' with more mana to increase the damage and temperature. The smarter wolves immediately dodge the attack as they judge that it will be dangerous around it.

The sagra twig was engulfed in flames and immediately exploded, and the wolves who weren't able to dodge in time were engulfed in flames and a few were sent a meter or two away, but none of them died.

John quickly took another item from his Storage and wrapped it around his left arm, it was a fera vine, but John wasn't able to cover his whole left arm and was only able to reach his elbow as a night wolf attacked him.

It was quicker than the former attack, John judged that he couldn't dodge it as he made a cross with his arms, his left arm with the fera vine in-front.

The pain was reduced greatly as the fera vine absorb some damage from the claws. John tried to counterattack, but was met with another claw, he immediately blocked the attack with the Haki Reindeer Dagger, he succeeded but his strength was lower compared to the wolf's and he was sent a few meters away.

John struggled as he stood up, he took another broken sagra twig from his storage and broke it in half, then he lit both up with 'Everyday Fire Magic' and threw it to the side of a night wolf, the wolf immediately back off but it was still near the light of the flame, John immediately use 'Enhanced Discerning Eyes' as he describes the characteristics of the night wolf.

'Black fur, long sharp claws, Saber teeth, sharp spikes on the back, and a fluffy black tail'

[Notification]

-Night Wolf- <Danger>

A prideful dark type wolf that can be found in the forest of Seira In the borderline of Memphis kingdom. This wolf has the ability to assimilate in the dark when hunting but the effect worn out whenever they move, they hunt in packs, the night wolves are the only wolf type monster who doesn't have any alpha in their pack as they only pick the strongest dark type monster in the forest as their leader. Capturing a night wolf is extremely difficult without the help of experts.

"Tch" John clicked his tongue after quickly reading the information.

'There's nothing helpful in it for my current situation... And the 'Danger' one didn't help at all!!' he was frustrated as he gripped the dagger in his hand, John quickly calmed his frustration, he quickly took a potus fruit from his storage and bit on it as he tried to recover his stamina.

Then he shot off and kicked a burning sagra twig that was lying on the ground to the other wolves, then he exploded it.

This time more wolves were caught on the fire as they were caught off guard. John immediately ran towards the nearest one who was blasted off and pointed his dagger towards its neck.

"Aaaaahhh!!!" John Screamed as he reached the wolf and shoved the dagger into its neck, the wolf struggled but John didn't budge as he shoved it deeper into its neck, A fading growled was let out and blood poured out from its neck as he removed the dagger from it

He didn't pay attention to the new notification as he turned around, his eyes were colder and sharper than before as he looked at the night wolves around him.

Pant... Pant... Pant...

"Round two! you f*ckers!!"

John declared as he points the dagger to the wolves.