Chapter 7: Dire

With the sudden quick movement from Eluc, the wolf tilted its head to the side and stood up into a crouch, removing itself from the ground. Its muscles ready to explode at any time, it became wary in a moment,

“Quick reactions and a good sense of danger, as expected from a predator,” Eluc said, drawing his sword out, holding it out in front of himself as a barrier between the two. The wolf had experienced the blade a few times before and its scar even felt painful in response to the provocation. A snarl formed on its face as it realized a fight was unavoidable between the two and a low growl emerged deep from its throat. Shuffles in the surroundings as leaves and bushes on the ground displaced could be heard from the trees as various creatures removed themselves from the area as fast as possible.

Eluc had debriefed himself over the plan many times already, but it still didn’t stop his hands from shaking. However, they were the first affected by the spreading chill, easing within a few seconds. Compared to the White Room with its invasive easing, this frost-like feeling was true comfort that spread from within himself. Even if its source was external, it still felt like it was a part of him as it reached into the deepest corners of himself. Once it finally reached his mind, he let out a deep breath of condensation into the fall air as he took the first step.

Eluc wanted control in the battle with the wolf. Losing it meant a greater possibility of death, which he wanted to avoid. It also gave him priority in attacking while the wolf had to focus all its efforts on defense, which was both of their weak points. Thus, he began with the dark blue light of his hand, taking the advantage with a weapon that the wolf did not share with Eluc: magic.

From his hand, the light enveloped the rest of his body, focusing its efforts on his falling foot. Once he slammed his sole into the ground, [Elemental Wave] took its effect as the energy left his body and surged into the earth to spread directly in front of its caster. Soft rumbles sounded out from the ground and confusion was evident on the wolf’s face as it was faced with an enigma. Slight shaking turned into tremors, breaking the stability of those standing atop its surface, including the targeted wolf. It struggled to regain a foothold and was soon about to jump out of the affected area, but not before a congealed bolt of ice landed upon its left side.

With a look of betrayal, the wolf let out a whimper, using the kinetic energy from the impact to launch itself away from the area. Pain shook its body and its disheveled jump did it little favors as it failed to land on its feet and instead onto his side. After a quick pause from the collision, it then stood up to face Eluc once more, this time with a bark from its snapping maw. Spit mixed with blood flew from its mouth and onto the grass in front of it as it began to walk in a circular pattern around Eluc. This was no play fight in its deep, yellow eyes, but a wounded predator preparing to ensnare a weak prey.

From Eluc’s point of view, he could see where his [Ice Arrow] met with the wolf’s pelt. There was no longer any fur guarding that part of its skin, replaced by a gaping, bleeding would that revealed the muscle beneath. Eluc had expected a greater injury, but this was still within workable conditions. It only meant that he might come out with a couple more scratches after this.

Despite scoring the initial hit, Eluc didn’t land another spell and gave up after several more attempts. Any further casts would be fruitless as he knew the wolf would be able to avoid anything coming its way without much effort. The initial hit was already according to plan, so anything after that would count as a bonus. While the [Elemental Arrow] was quick, his opponent was a creature that acted on instinct, aided by its powerful muscles, enabling its ability to perform narrow dodges at precise moments. The wolf, in particular, was reactionary in its attacks and focused on surprise or exploiting holes in its opponent’s form, much like Eluc’s fighting style. The only difference was Eluc knew how to wait while the wolf did not.

After surveying its prey and analyzing the landscape, the wolf made its first step to begin its sprint forward. Eluc gulped with his dry mouth as he prepared himself. Yet, he was surprised again as the wolf was before his eyes in less than a moment, jaws wide for a bite. Every time they fought was another time that Eluc was caught off guard against the beast’s rush. If anything changed between last time, it was only the fact that Eluc was able to swing his sword in response.

Accurate in his swing, Eluc’s sword aimed towards the incoming wolf’s head and into its open mouth. He gave himself an internal cheer at his success but stopped soon after as the wolf bit down on his sword as if it was a large stick it could play with. Nearly losing his own sword, he put both hands onto the hilt in a show of strength, attempting to keep himself from fighting without a weapon. However, Eluc soon realized he had no chance of winning this bout of power. To compensate, his hands began to glow once more.

Intelligence shone in the wolf’s eye as it released the sword from its grip. Unprepared for the sudden change in force, Eluc was flung backward, falling on his back as the spell fizzled from his lack of focus. He saw stars as he hit the ground and his lungs lost their air. With a sharp intake of breath, he wished to have an extra moment to recover and stand back up, but he was now in the opponent's zone of control.

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The wolf jumped onto Eluc, placing its paws on his upper arms to pin him down. A mixture of blood, snot, and saliva dripped onto Eluc’s face as it brought its snout down to meet its prey eye to eye. It twisted its head to the side and gaped its mouth, preparing to clamp its jaws down on its prey’s neck.

Pinned to the ground, Eluc did not lose all hope, even while staring death in its eyes. Confidence was another weakness of most creatures. Overlooking a certain aspect of the situation would bring about a lethal mistake in a fight. Although he could not bring any force into his arms, he hardly needed to as the sharp tip of the sword smoothly guided itself into the revealed wound, breaching into the body cavity of the canine.

As if time itself halted, the wolf stopped all its movement, frozen from the puncture in its side. Compared to the slash it once received on its face, this injury was magnitudes more deadly and led to a shock through its whole body. Eluc managed to loosen his limbs out from under the claws of his foe with the release of pressure. With a push, the immobile wolf fell to its side as the sword exited its body. It began its weak flailing in pain on the ground and tried to let out noises, but it seemed the sword went deep enough to strike a lung. With clumsy movement, Eluc clambered to his feet, still readying his sword for a longer fight, but lowered it after seeing the state of his opponent.

Eluc watched as the wolf struggled to hold onto its life. Before even a minute passed, all fight left the wolf and its movement stilled, incapable of breathing in much air any more. Blood spurted from the wound at first, but soon only oozed out as its heart weakened. To Eluc, the fight seemed too quick to be over. It almost felt surreal. But wasn’t that life, capable of ending in a simple moment? A soldier could die with a hand on his sword or asleep in his own bed, but it will all lead to the same outcome: death. ‘Quite a dreary thought, isn’t it?’ Eluc said to himself.

From the moment the two met, they had been adversaries, fighting against each other time and time again for the purpose of killing the opponent. He even vividly remembered losing a finger or two in the same fight where the wolf lost its eye. The only difference was Eluc had the White Room, so he remained uninjured after each confrontation. Because of their history, Eluc started to feel an urge of guilt arise in his stomach and pondered the thought of bringing the wolf to the basement to try to save its life. However, the chill stunted that line of foolish thought, as did the fact that the wolf would most certainly bleed out before reaching there.

Eluc walked around to look at the wolf in his eyes before it passed. Its amber eyes were still wet as it lay on its deathbed. They gazed at Eluc, unfocused but still trying to see the man in front of them. The wolf tried to let out a sound from its opened mouth, but nothing came out.

[Kill your nemesis.]

Instead of the wolf, the voice from the system spoke to him, once more telling him to kill the wolf. Hadn’t he already brought it to the brink of death, so what was the point of the reminder? Did the system think he would try to save the wolf who was on the verge of passing? Even if he wanted to, that was all but impossible with the condition it was in.

“Maybe it wants me to end your suffering,” Eluc said aloud. No response came from the wolf besides a flick from its ears. ‘I guess it deserves that much,’ he thought with a sigh.

His blood-stained sword was still in his hands. Thankfully, he never let go of it the damned thing. If he had given it up in the contest of strength or when he flopped onto his back, he might be the one dying on the ground, his throat detached from his body. Regardless, he was still alive.

Eluc raised the blade above the dire wolf’s neck. Emotions kept sparking in his heart, but each time they would retreat under the chill. Perhaps through all of the fighting and the many times he would feed the other, he formed a bond between himself and the wolf. Although it was too late, maybe he was wrong to kill the wolf? Through all of their fights, the wolf never actually pursued to the end to kill him, even though it was possible a few times. As Eluc leveled higher and higher, they both stopped fighting completely and he even began to feed the wolf tributes of cooked meat. The wolf would always sit and wait for the meat every time, even if it tried to act aggressively by barking or growling. ‘Maybe, just maybe,’ he thought, ‘the wolf was becoming obedient to me?’

He shook his head, removing the pointless thoughts from his mind. Sure he could have misunderstood the wolf’s intentions, but all signs pointed to an inevitable fight at the end. The death of one of them had to be the only way. Eluc was sure of it as the sword was brought down onto the wolf’s neck.

Level Up!

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After ending the life of the wolf, Eluc placed his hand on his chest, which rose and fell from his labored breathing. Through his hand, he could feel the strong pumping of his heart, the source of the thumping in his ears. Although his heart was strong, it kept pace with the same tempo as when he would read a spellbook beside the river, rarely increasing its speed anymore. He tried to pin this change since his Awakening on his physical activity, but he felt like he knew the true reason behind this modification to his heart rate. He only didn’t want to admit it to himself.

But he couldn’t hide behind his ignorance anymore.

Ability Increase: The Brand [Lvl 0]

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