He woke up with a startle when he heard howls from down below. The sun's light had barely broken the horizon and he couldn't help but look down below.

Six green humanoid monsters were approaching the wolf and they weren't playing nice. The wolf's fur was marred red where its hind leg was and next to it was a small earthen spike.

Thankfully the wolf had managed to dodge, but it was favoring its other leg and the fight hadn't started in earnest.

How it'd managed to avoid the earthen spike he had no idea. With its leg injured, however, there was no way it would be able to escape, let alone win. Now he wasn't about to join a losing fight... but the alternative irritated him to no end.

This was his home, his area, his forest!

There were five goblin warriors and a goblin standing in the back which he assumed was the mage. He also noticed it wasn't panting after a single spike, most likely because the spike was smaller, weaker.

He was already having second thoughts.

All five of them charged at once while the mage prepared another attack. He didn't think about what he was going to do, he acted. If he stopped to think, he would do something he might regret in the future. He had confidence in himself, or at least being able to run away. And he didn't want to give up before even trying.

At the very least... I need to get the mage.

Running along the length of a branch pointing in the mage's general direction, he jumped off at the very last second he could, all to land every bit closer to the mage goblin. He reached the ground the same moment the first goblin reached the wolf.

Crashing to the ground he grabbed their attention for a single moment. That moment was enough for the wolf to tear the goblin warrior near it to shreds. It closed its teeth around the goblin warrior's waist and shook its entire body once. That was enough to tear a huge wound on the goblin's abdomen while throwing it to the ground.

The rest of the goblins were half about to charge at the wolf for killing their fellow warrior, and the other half were unsure of what to do. Taking advantage of that moment of indecision while the mage goblin screamed at the warriors to fall back to protect it, the wolf ended the grounded goblin, taking another bite out of its throat.

That all happened in the span of three seconds, during which Kiel didn't look back once, running straight at the mage. Having those three seconds to his advantage and already on a running start, he got ahead of the goblins rushing towards him and the mage.

All four of the goblins turned to catch him, but he was faster. In the meanwhile he focused his attention towards his senses, because he knew what the mage was going to do in response to a threat.

His nose twitched, and he jumped to the side, evading an earthen spike that would have made his story meet an unfortunate end, instead the spike impaled the goblin directly behind him.

His heart beat a mile a minute, but he still didn't look back, focusing on the singular goal of reaching the goblin mage.

The wolf finding strength he honestly didn't know it still had, jumped after the running goblins, catching a second one by the leg before it got too far off him.

The impaled goblin was also out for the count, a point for friendly fire and stupidity. Imagine if the warrior was smart enough to not be directly behind him, or the mage hesitating to cast the spell for the same reason.

Still, the two rabid goblins chasing him didn't even register the two casualties, soon to be even more as the wolf dealt with the one it caught.

As he approached the goblin mage, he focused on the budding sense he had been developing. Attempting to sense the ether when he was alone was a challenge he hadn't expected. In turn, sensing the goblin manipulate the ether to create the spikes was fairly simple. It was a current of air that smelled like earth. When the first goblin mage created enormous stone spikes to kill the bear, that current was like an electric shock, which was likely the only reason he could feel it without a skill.

But trying to detect anything out of the ordinary, was a lot harder when running for your life. The warriors chasing him were getting too close for comfort, and there wasn't enough time to go for the mage. As he felt the essence in the air stir, however, he realized he had other problems to worry about.

He didn't need to be able to sense where the spell was going to cast, just change direction. Having tricked the goblin once, he had to make a drastic decision to avoid this spell. He knew the goblins were stupid, but he wasn't in the habit of underestimating his enemy.

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Which was why to avoid the spell he turned one-eighty degrees and ran back towards the warriors chasing him. The fur on his body rose as he felt the ether around him more clearly than ever, and he put even more strength on his legs.

The first goblin seeing the opportunity jumped towards him, only to be kicked to the side by the warrior next to him, saving both Kiel's life and the warrior's as an enormous spike broke through the ground only moments later and much closer than Kiel would have liked.

There was still one goblin able to react though, and that was the warrior that saved the other goblin from sharing the same fate as its companion.

That goblin was leaner, with more defined muscle across its body and its eyes shone with cunning that didn't exist in others. It pivoted with the tip of its toes as he tried to run past it, landing a kick square on his body.

He had no time to dodge, and the kick landed directly on his body with enough force to throw him back half a dozen meters.

When he landed back on the ground, he realized he could barely move from the blow, heck, he could barely breathe.

His mind blanked out. He was still alive after getting hit by that but he didn't want to know how many of his bones were still in one piece. If it weren't for the adrenaline rushing through his body, the pain would have claimed his consciousness already.

The goblin warrior was going to follow on the downed cat, only to notice a deep cut on the leg that kicked him and stumbled.

While he hadn't been able to dodge, a cat's reaction time was quite a bit higher than a goblin's, and that was probably true even before the system's help.

Though taking credit for that attack was a bit too much as he'd lashed out in surprise rather than planned an attack.

While his body couldn't move, he could think and he didn't entertain the idea of giving up even for a minute... It was in the middle of all that thinking that the wolf took care of the only remaining uninjured warrior, leaving a useless mage and a much too strong goblin even with the injury he caused it.

Just as he never stopped moving, the wolf hadn't either, and with all their focus on him, none of the goblins stood a chance. But the mage could recover, and letting it cast would be enough to change the fight.

Kiel didn't like this, but at the moment he had to trust the wolf with his life.

It seemed that the idea of running away didn't even cross the wolf as it charged at the warrior and the fight began in earnest.

The warrior couldn't move with the same grace it did when he kicked him, though the fact it was able to keep pace with the wolf was surprising all on its own. It clearly favored its injured leg, but the wolf's condition wasn't great either.

The wolf pounced on the goblin again and again as the goblin used its agility to remain in control. That was easier said than done, however, as the wolf managed to catch one of its arms in one of its lunges.

The wolf was panting heavily and it was forced to release the arm after a while, though not before having dealt significant damage to it.

For each wound it inflicted, the warrior scored one in return. The wolf relied mainly on its fangs, and while he would in no way say it was weak, it unfortunately put it in a rough spot. Wolves were pack animals back on earth. They didn't hunt alone for a reason, and while a few more level ups would most certainly invalidate those reasons, it was not at that point yet.

If it continued like that, the outcome of the fight wouldn't be good.

He tested his paws, seeing how his body responded to movement. He managed to stand up straight, but he was not in any shape to fight as pain racked his body. Honestly, his condition wasn't any better than five minutes ago when the fight started, but feeling had started to return to his limbs.

Even worse, it seemed like the goblin mage had recovered somewhat and was watching its warrior face off with the wolf.

Well, that suited him just fine.

The goblin was silently watching the fight like a spectator in a colosseum, and he vowed to turn that grin upside down. He only hoped the wolf lasted long enough.

Quietly, and making sure he was out of the line of sight of the goblin mage, he circled towards the green taint. It was funny, he imagined a mage holding sticks and staves, but so far only warriors did so, and not all of them.

He was almost halfway to the goblin mage when he heard the wolf howl in pain. Pushing his broken body even more, he hurried as much as he could. He got a decent pace on, a bit faster than walking, and soon he came upon the scene of the fight again.

The wolf was backed into a corner and it seemed like the warrior was now starting to take its sweet time, kicking at the wolf and backing off immediately. The wolf was too injured and tired to respond to those attacks, but it refused to give up.

The goblin mage, instead, looked almost ready to start eating popcorn. Kiel knew his stealth wasn't the greatest, but at this point even if he wasn't bothering to hide the goblin might not have noticed him.

So he didn't. Ignoring the piercing pain in his chest and the rapidly fading breath he was holding, he sprinted towards the goblin.

After this he probably wasn't going to be able to move for a while.

Neither the warrior, nor the mage saw him... but the wolf did.

When he reached the mage, taking it by surprise, he jumped on its back and used his claws to slash and tear at its flesh. He was aiming for its neck, but his jump had only landed him that far. It screamed like a pig to the slaughter which was painful to hear.

The screams of pain took the warrior by surprise, and that was the last surprise it was going to have because the wolf promptly put its mouth around its neck and bit down hard.

It didn't manage to cry out in pain before life left its eyes.

Unfortunately, that was all he managed to see before his eyes started to lose focus and the world went dark. The goblin screamed and the wolf approached.

Kiel woke up after the fight for a few seconds at a time. The pain made him cry out each time, but a white blanket comforted him immediately after. It was the weirdest dream he'd had in this world, but he was alive.

More than one system messages waited for him, but he was alive, and they could wait.

He slept dreaming of white, fluffy clouds cuddling his body.