Devestating Discovery(1)

As I bounded through the hollow blue trees, my mind was thrumming in chaos. 'OOOH! W-we practically made eye contact for 30 seconds!!! That's way too much staring' I shook my head, my stomach flip-flopping like hot cakes in a frying pan. Definitely not a delicious feeling haha!

' O-ok Yuiji, just think of it as making a new record in a video game, yep like a staring contest!! Yep, one step forward for Yuiji, another step for mankind…..' However, the prickling sensation of the woman's eyes caused a surmount of goosebumps to incite my skin.

'AAAGH, NONONONONO, BAD THOUGHTS SHOO SHOO' I swatted at the image of the woman's eyes. ' This is why I didn't want to get involved with humans!' Yep, let's just stick with our motto: "SAY NO TO HUMAN CONTACT" Say it with me!!!

Stay away from humans to keep the goosebumps away, an awesome plan!

' haha, you're a genius Yuiji!' Why thank you~

As old people on earth used to say, we make mistakes to simply learn from them! That's why I won't make the mistake of interacting with another stranger, it will just be me and papa! I nodded my head, applauding the sound of that.

[Mono 1]: That human boy Sorren wasn't so bad, you were actually having fun….

'...W-well…... it was just me helping out as a once fellow human being. I mean I couldn't leave a poor child alone there. A-anyway that's still enough human contact for today! Besides, when will I ever find myself involved with him again? Never! He'll be saving the world anyway!'

[Mono 1]: Riiiiiight…..

'H-HEY, I-IT'S TRUE!!'

' AAAGH whatever, I feel mentally exhausted, papa should be back at the shack now, I can smell his scent in the direction of our home!'

Aaaah home sweet home, a safe haven to deflect all the blades of society and the prickly gazes of people. I felt the creeping goosebumps fade away, and a sense of bliss began to overtake me.

Our shack was located on a large steep hill, thin trees lining each side like a passageway. At the top of the heel lay two large slanted trees that leaned in opposite directions forming a circular gateway.

'Finally, home sweet h-' I paused, my mind and body halting at the sight before me.

What was supposed to be the ecstatic image of a snug little shack still in place only revealed piles of debris. Broken wood and glass sprawled everywhere on the grassy floor. Old books and pictures shredded into pieces. My home, the first home I had since coming into this dark world, where all my memories good and bad were made here, was destroyed.

'H-huh….w-why is it…' I couldn't really register what I was seeing, I could only blankly stare.

At the center of that destruction, was an abnormally large wolf, almost 10 times my size. Hellacious red eyes scorched with odium. Pestilent fur streaked wildly in flaming red, scalpel-sharp claws protruded from its muscular paws, giving testament to the threat they pose to unsuspecting lifeforms. Red liquid oozed ominously from between its canines. Upon contact with the ground, a sizzling stream of smoke twirled like a snake in the air. The ground turned pitch black, grass dying instantly.

*GRRRRRRRRRR* its growl sounded like the groveling of stones across a hard surface,

The wolf's head twitched erratically as if having a seizure. Its body slowly turned and its blazing eyes made contact with mine.

My eyes quickly shifted to every ounce of the wolf's body. It was odd. This wolf wasn't like the normal Fire Wolves that roamed around here. Fire wolves had the affinity of fire, therefore they stayed in open field areas where the sun bathed the land. They were about the size of wolves on earth and always hunted in packs, some up to 10-20.

I frowned. This wolf was much much larger than normal, was it some sort of mutation? Another thing was the wolf's body, it was….decaying. Large chunks of flesh were peeling from the wolf's body, bits of its rib cage exposed. normally this would be life-threatening, if anything the wolf should be dead….but it was still alive.

A repugnant smell filtered through my nose, I lurched and covered my nose. I could feel my skin tingling….no wait...it was burning. I quickly looked down at my arms, a subtle tinge of black was slowly spreading.

'W-what is this, why does this…' however I didn't have the luxury of figuring this out, the large wolf suddenly lunged at me at a frightening speed.

"E-EH!?! Ah!" I didn't even have time to react because the wolf was already upon me, fangs bared and ready to chomp me in half. I sprung backward, narrowly escaping its jaws. However, it seemed to have anticipated that as it quickened its speed and repeated the same move, this time much faster.

'G-Geh!? HOLY COW! this thing is fast' I thought as I dodged another one of its fierce onslaughts.

The wolf growled and swung its long tail. My eyes widened and I tried to block, only to be slammed in a tree by the sheer force of that beast's strength.

"UUGH!!??"

'What the heck, arent tails supposed to be fluffy? that thing is as hard as iron!!' I thought through clenched teeth. Normally, an attack from a normal-sized fire wolf wouldn't hurt me in the slightest, but this...this was painful.

"Cough cough" Blood oozed down my lips. I quickly wiped it, but that cost me precious time. The wolf with its abnormal speed raised its large paws and slammed my body on the ground.

"AAAGH, THAT HURTS YOU STUPID WOLF" I cried. My body was entrapped in the wolf's stronghold, its claws digging into my flesh like serrated knives, slowly and painfully. Added with its muscular body, I could feel my ribs starting to cave in from the pressure.

"U-UGH" I coughed up more blood. My skin was practically on fire. Whatever this wolf was, it had something that made my skin burn. Was it its aura? or maybe it had some new type of affinity. Though its original affinity was fire, the beast had yet to shoot even a single fireball, or engulf its body in flames, instead, it was overpowering me with sheer strength.

*CRRRRAAACK* I could feel my ribs breaking. The wolf dug its hind leg claws and scratched my leg, I could feel liquid trickling down my leg, the pain was unbearable.

[Mono 3]: IIIIIIIIT HUUUUUURTS LIIIIIKE HEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLL!!!!!!

"HEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLL" I screamed and slammed my forehead into the beasts' cranium, A loud crack resounding. Blood spurted like a water fountain, the beast wailed and lifted its body from me, giving me ample space to move.

I created some distance from the beast. Blood began to soak my clothes from the wolf's claws. I slowly grabbed my wounded stomach. I looked at my leg, two long claw marks that surrounded my leg were bleeding profuriously.

" hah….hah….T-that was close, if only it wasn't for this burning pain, I would have let my guard down…. I need to finish this quickly or I might really die this time."

I immediately sprung into action. I sucked in a breath putting strength into my arms, and slammed my fist into the wolf's exposed ribcage, exploding upon impact. The wolf was sent flying into a row of trees, all breaking upon the wolf's weight.

"!!!" I winced in pain and looked at my fist, it was pitch-black, with bits of my skin peeling.

"O-ow ow ow, what is this? its flesh wasn't so strong, it felt like I was just punching a balloon." I cried. I looked at where the wolf had crashed. A myriad of broken trees and ripped tree stumps painted the forests in a reality of destruction.

'With this, It should be dead, I gave it a good punch after all' I thought.I wanted to immediately seek treatment, but it wasn't so simple.

"Grrrr-grrrooooh" The wolf rose, its body was bent and mangled, it wasn't even able to walk properly, yet it still got up. I almost shrieked at the sight "W-what the heck, is this some sort of zombie thriller!!" The wolf stumbled slowly, one of its eyes hung loosely from its eye socket, yet it paid no heed to it, its only focus was me.

"GRRRR-RRR-RAAAAH" The wolf howled in rage.

*FWOOOSH* A blazing inferno erupted, surrounding the wolf's body. Nearby trees and bushes were engulfed in flames. I manipulated my fingers, making them appear as claws, and bashed them in the ground, trying to get a good grip. The force of the fire wolf's aura was overwhelming, I was almost blown away.

*SIIIIIIZZZZ* My skin felt searing hot like someone poured boiling lava on me. tears stung my eyes, yet I still focused my sights on the wolf. NEVER LOOK AWAY FROM YOUR OPPONENT!!

It seemed like the wolf was preparing for its final attack. 'Well that's just fine with me, let's end this burning charade!!' I thought. I flexed my arms, and slowly breathed in. A large course of power channeled through my arms.

"O raging inferno, let your raging flames smite thy enemies before me!" As I chanted, my hands and arms were enveloped in azure blue flames.

" hee hee hee HAHAHAHAHAHA, WHAT BETTER WAY TO END THIS THAN FIGHTING FIRE WITH FIRE!!!!" I spread my arms out wide and assumed a stance. The wolf charged at me, twisting its body causing the fire to twirl like a twister.

"I HOPE YOU'RE READY WOOLFY HAHAHA"

'Take my impending rage for destroying my home! YUIJI INFERNAL PUUUNCH!!!!

I jumped in the air the same as when the wolf charged. As I fell down, I spun my body doing a multitude of somersaults, blue flames engulfing my entire body like a wheel.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOM.

The wolf's fire twister and my infernal punch collided, causing a massive explosion. A maelstrom of trees whizzed in various directions. The remnants of my home charred into dust, and the once gemstone bluegrass was now pitch black like tar.

" Hah...hah" I was breathing quite heavily, I had put a good amount of strength in that attack. Luckily, I still have magic to spare, but that was pretty close huh.

Small blue and red flames crawled on the remaining debris. I clutched my stomach in pain and searched for the wolf's body. A little ways away, the wolf was lying there, the body no longer recognizable. Most of it was charred black, it looked like charcoal. The smell of burnt flesh spread in the air.

" I don't know what you are, but I hope you are the only one" I mumbled to myself. My eyes then caught something red sticking from the wolf's head. I peered closer.

"??" 'A ruby?' A red jewel was sticking from the corpse, it gleamed a magma red, it reminded me of blood. I reached out to retrieve the jewel. But, when my hand touched the tip, I felt pain engulf my finger. "AGH!' I zipped my finger away from the jewel.

" I can't touch it….it must be cursed or something" I said blowing my finger, which had turned black. 'Could this be why my skin was burning during the fight?' I glanced at the wolf once more. 'Hmmm, a scar?' a red scar in the shape of a cross was on the left of the wolf's head. I didn't notice it during the battle, but now that everything calmed down, I was able to inspect it closer.

'Why does this remind me of…." I felt a sharp pain accent my head. Memories of the novel coursed through my head. 'D-didn't something like this happen in the novel? That scar…' In "The Last Standing," The main storyline started with Sorren's village being attacked by an abnormally large fire wolf with a red cross-shaped scar, it killed dozens if not almost all the villagers. Sorren's father faced the beast, while Sorren escaped the village. An ominous feeling slowly crept within me.

'B-but I killed it! So that means Sorren's village should be safe!' I tried to think positively, but that ominous feeling of foreboding didn't leave my stomach. I frowned, something isn't adding up. The wolf in the storyline had a cross-shaped scar on its right side in the novel, however, the one I faced had it on its left side.

*Gasp*

I quickly ran, ignoring the screaming pain of my wounds.

'This is bad, this is bad, this is bad' I thought this as I ran. 'If what I'm feeling was true then….'

I finally could see the entrance to the Moon forest. 'Please...please...please' However my pleas fell on death ears. Embers of flames tore away at the wooden houses, bodies of shredded corpses of villagers littered the ground. everywhere you looked, blood was splattered.

"Oh no…" My eyes widened in horror at the gruesome sight.

" AROOOOOOOO" the shimmering pale moon gazed down on the ruined village, its light shining on flaming red-streaked fur. A red cross-shaped scar was boldly revealed on the right side of the beast's face. It was another wolf, and it howled with cunning glee at its destruction.

'Twin wolves….that was the name of the chapter' my ominous feeling turned out to be true.

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Monster: Fire Wolf

Rank: C -B

Affinity: Fire

Magic core size: Small - Medium(Varies upon ranks)

Habitat: Fire wolves live in sparse open spaces or sometimes hill cliffsides with caves where they hide their young. They live towards the end of the Hollow Grove in the Moon forest.

Key Fact: Fire wolves love to bathe in the sun, as it helps their magic to stabilize.