Bitter Taste

There he was, right in front of him.

"Is that all you've got, runt?!"

The wolf just... stood there, at his feet.

Niall was dumbfounded. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He had absolutely no chance of winning this fight. Was running even an option?

"What's wrong, not looking for a fight anymore?" he said in a disheartening tone. "Well, you're out of luck. Let's finish this."

A prompt appeared right in his face, but Niall didn't have time to look at it!

The brute kicked Niall right in the gut, sending him flying across the room.

[Health] 14/36

[Stamina] 28/31

[Current Status - Discrepancy Detected]

Niall's eyes were all over the place. He couldn't understand what was happening. He got back on his feet and ran away. The man allowed him to leave, surprisingly.

"10."

'What's that?! A countdown?!'

Once Niall got far enough, he could hear him saying something in the distance.

"Ah, so you've managed to run away before. The spell's still active, heh."

'Spell? What's he talking about? Why did I even think it was a countdown?'

[Discrepancy Detected - Calculating Solution...]

[Clairvoyance Available in Skillforge.]

[Open?]

'Yes.'

[Skillforge]

[Soul Power] - (168/250) (250 Required To Upgrade)

[Searching for available combinations...]

[Clairvoyance] (An ability that does not cost anything to cast. It will show you what choice to make is best in difficult situations) [EVOLVABLE] (3 [INTELLIGENCE] required) (120 Soul Power)

[Strong Jaws] (The crushing power of your jaws is greatly increased.) (15 [STRENGTH] required) (80 Soul Power)

[Hit & Run] (A rush of adrenaline flows through you after ambushing an enemy.) (10 [AGILITY] required) (100 Soul Power)

________________

([EVOLVABLE] - once the required stats have been achieved, this ability will become stronger.)

'Evolvable? I could use this, probably. Might not hurt to up my intelligence, too.'

[Clairvoyance] acquired.

[New Skills Available In Skillforge]

'Alright. What's new?'

[Skillforge]

[Soul Power] - (48/250) (250 Required To Upgrade)

[Searching for available combinations...]

[Strong Jaws] (The crushing power of your jaws is greatly increased.) (15 [STRENGTH] required) (80 Soul Power)

[Hit & Run] (A rush of adrenaline flows through you after ambushing an enemy.) (10 [AGILITY] required) (100 Soul Power)

[Sure Strike] (Optimal attack directions are evidentiated) [EVOLVABLE] (7 [INTELLIGENCE] required) (230 Soul Power)

[Predator Instinct] (Calculates the chance of a successful ambush and will improve the tracking of prey) (5 [INTELLIGENCE] required) (140 Soul Power)

________________

Footsteps were approaching. It was clear that the man was right behind him. An echoing voice could be heard from far back.

"There's nowhere to go. You're stuck in a localized arena dimension. With me. Even if you escape by some miracle, you'll travel back in time and stand right before me."

[Clairvoyance Active]

Suddenly, a path lit up right before Niall! A powerful green light shone on the stones below his paws, leading into one of the many corridors.

'I've got no choice, fine!'

Niall trotted on the path, which led him into a room with a large hole in the wall.

[Clairvoyance Active]

He looked around and noticed the path led right into the hole. It was pretty high up on the right side of the wall. Although with his agility he shouldn't have a problem getting into it.

'What does it want me to do?'

Niall jumped into the hole, making as little noise as he could. The footsteps were getting closer.

[Clairvoyance Active - "Ambush Enemy"]

'It can talk?!'

[Clairvoyance Active - "Sidestep around the enemy kick, bite into the kidney."]

'What if he's not gonna do that?!'

His ability did not light up again. He must count on the information provided to even have a chance at winning!

The human was right around the corner.

"I know you're somewhere around here. I can feel you." said the man in a menacing tone.

'Does he ever shut up?'

[Clairvoyance Active - "No."]

Footsteps were approaching the room Niall was in. He was closely watching the entrance, expecting him to walk in any second now...

"I know you're in there. Come out and make this easy for yourself."

He stepped into the room and looked left and right to scan the area for the wolf. Niall was watching.

"You're behind those crates. I know you can understand me. Animals don't fight like that. You're one of the dungeon monsters."

Niall took a shallow breath, trying not to give himself away. He was hoping the enemy could get into a better position for a pounce...

'Just one more step forward...'

"Alright, the hard way, then." he said, confident that his opponent was cowering.

The man charged towards the crates, expecting to crush Niall after breaking through. Instead...

Niall jumped on his left shoulder. His [Ambusher] activated for the first time, and he immediately dug his claws into his flesh for grip and sunk his teeth into his shoulder. A furious scream echoed off the room's walls as the warrior was pushed off balance by the sudden attack. The sound of bones being crushed could be heard from several paces away.

Several heavy breaths left the man's lungs as he grabbed the wolf's nape with his right arm and tried as hard as he could to pull him off, ripping him off his back.

With fury in his eyes, he threw Niall at the wall. Niall, nimble as he is, landed on his rear paws, cushioning the impact.

Blood was dripping down the man's limping arm.

"9."

[Clairvoyance Active - "Do not let the countdown reach one."]

'Will I be sent back to the corridor if it reaches one?'

Niall took a dash towards his adversary's left side, exploiting the injured enemy's inability to defend himself from Niall's angle of attack.

"8."

The enemy was shocked at his quick thinking, he had to act! He kicked with his left foot at the wolf hoping it would hit.

"You're mine!" the warrior screamed.

'There it is! I can dodge it!'

He put much more effort into the kick, thinking it was a certain hit. If he missed now, surely he would be put off balance!

A chilling sensation was felt underneath his fur as the kick grazed his scalp. He successfully dodged the kick! His enemy, now recovering from the miss, was left wide open!

"7...!"

Niall leapt onto the enemy's side, pushing him to the ground, digging his fangs right into his kidney!

"AAAAARGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

A mighty, deafening scream of pain was left out of the warrior's lungs. He desperately tried to grab at the wolf but it was no good, he couldn't grab him off!

"You..!"

He tried to shake Niall off, hitting the wolf's head against the wall. All that did was drive the fangs in deeper!

"6!!"

[Clairvoyance Active - "Jump off the next time he slams you into the wall, bite into his neck. Shred it with your serrated teeth."]

The voice of the Clairvoyance skill talked to him in a monotone voice. Niall was completely unfocused on what the voice was saying, but for some reason, he knew exactly what he was told to do.

'He's gonna do it again! Now!'

Niall jumped off the body of the man, leaving two large holes in the side of the warrior. Bite marks could be seen around them, and he was bleeding heavily.

"5-"

Right before he could even finish saying the number out loud, he turned around and to his surprise, Niall leapt off the nearby wall and landed with his teeth right onto the neck. He contracted his jaws, and the only sounds that could be heard were gasps of air.

The wolf's head started to shake back and forth violently as if he were about to rip a large chunk of meat from the man's neck. Blood came gushing out rapidly as the man violently ripped Niall off his neck, revealing a large laceration, undoubtedly he would soon bleed out.

Niall kicked the man, prompting him to let go.

Ghack..!

The sound of him choking on his blood. There is no continuing the countdown now. He put his hand atop his neck, but it was useless. He tried one final charge, but his legs were much too weak. They felt heavy!

He turned around, hoping to get a chance to escape, and...

Thump.

He fell to the ground, unconscious from the blood loss. All he can be given now is a merciful end.

Niall checked his vitals.

[Health] 15/36

[Stamina] 17/31

It seems that Niall healed during the fight. Perhaps he was too panicked earlier because of the size, strength and speed of his enemy that he wasn't able to fight at full potential?

He walked over to the soon-to-be corpse. The walls started to whirl, this must mean that the pocket dimension is starting to break.

'It's... over. I did it.'

Niall kept his balance as the room was starting to shake. The world turned black, and he was returned to the corridor along with the defeated warrior. Niall wasn't sure if he was dead yet or if him going unconscious somehow caused the spell to break.

The wolf walked up to him and quickly finished him off with one strong bite to the nape.

[Vessel Filled]

This marked the death of the warrior. Niall opened his skill menu...

[Vessel At Capacity. Refunding skill points...]