Gasping dry death rattles left Dante with every breath he took, he had been running on fumes for a while now and he didn't know how much longer he could keep going.

Dante had lost track of how long he had been fighting, events seemed to blur together and the night dragged on. The pain of persevering against such overwhelming odds was justified by every moment that passed by, every second he continued to live.

He felt as though he had gone well beyond what he thought he could endure, pushing through his limits and finding new strength within himself. He was a man that continued to struggle for survival, refusing the accept his fate. “I’m not giving up! I’m not giving up!” The mantra left his lips every time he took a breath. The mantra was supposed to be an affirmation of his desire to live and continue fighting, even though he already felt like he was knocking on death's door.

Around Dante were several dead Grey wolves The corpses were disfigured with broken skulls, protruding ribs and jaws ripped open. He had fought tooth and nail and made them earn every drop of blood they tried to take away from him.

Dante still had his back to the tree, the wolves had managed to drag him out several times. Every time he was exposed in the open, he had to erratically swing his limbs, throw wild punches and kicks, using everything at his disposal. He fought desperately to fend off the wolves.

Once they backed away to lick their wounds, he had the opportunity to get back to the safety that the tree hole offered. He was fortunate to have found this shelter, the hole in the tree meant living, it was like a pocket of oxygen to a person trapped in a cave with rising floodwaters. If he left the tree for too long, he would inevitably get surrounded and die.

The latest wolf that intended to test his defences cautiously approached him, it looked at Dante angrily. Its eyes appeared to speak to him, saying ‘This is no longer about survival, this is revenge for my fallen brothers and sisters’.

Dante scoffed, he didn’t care about this wolf’s thoughts. Between heavy gasping breaths he shouted at the wary wolf “Fu...Fuck…fuck you too!”

‘I desperately need a weapon!’ Dante thought, ‘If I had a weapon I could keep them away, or at least kill them faster.’ He began to appreciate the ‘Natural-born killer’ Title bonus, but without a weapon, he was unable to fend off the wolf's attack, he was now covered in bite marks. His calves and ankles were bleeding, both forearms were torn open with sharp teeth that had bitten into him, the wolves refused to let go until they were beaten to death.

Every wolf sapped more of what little energy he had left, they were successfully grinding him down. Dante could no longer form proper fists to strike his enemies with. His tendons, muscles and nerves were torn, trapped or seizing. Leaving his hands in claw shapes where he could only use them to gouge and rake at his enemies.

‘I need something sharp, I need a weapon!’ Dante stared at his clawed hands for a brief moment, Imagining that he had something sharp.

His muddled brain started to fantasize his way out of his situation, he thought of a superhero who had metal claws that extended from between their knuckles, but that was just hopeful thinking. He then thought of another fictional Hero from his old life who had sharp claws extending from their fingers, he chuckled to himself ‘Yeah, claws for fingers would be very appropriate. Especially consider how fucked my hands are right now, actually...’

He had a sudden epiphany, he concentrated on the idea of pointed claws extending from his fingers and how much it would improve his chances of survival. The more he thought about it, picturing sharp claws on each finger that he could use to rip and tear at his opponent's.

His desperation to live, his strong desire for weapons seemed to act as key to a barrier that was slowly being torn down. He was like a prisoner that had found a loose stone in the wall, he excitedly began to pull at the wall, each stone came away easily. One stone at a time was removed, a pathway to freedom began to reveal itself.

His brow wrinkled as he felt a faint connection to a sense he had never felt before. He felt it circulating in his body, untapped energy that previously couldn't be used. He envisioned pushing that energy towards his fingers, it just felt like the natural thing to do.

Thin silk-like strands of white light began to emerge from his chest, they extended outwards, winding their way up biceps, then his forearms. Threads of light traced under the veins of his skin, they rushed towards his hands. The light threads painlessly pushed their way out of his skin and began to pool into his palms like puddles of light. They then weaved their way out from his palm towards his fingers, they seemed to be responding to his mental instructions. Using his imagination as the framework for what they were going to become.

‘Wait what... is this happening right now?’ Dante watched in amazement as his vision for claws began to manifest themselves into reality. The silk-like threads of light began to weave amongst each other, they wound tighter and tighter around themselves. Sharp points on the tips of his fingers began to emerge, they extended an inch long. More and more of the thin threads of light began to thread and weave, they continued to bind together creating an intricate mesh. They packed themselves tightly together, making the claws more substantial as every second passed by.

The Wolves that were hunting him were angry at how much this hideless had humiliated them. Seeing the strange events play out before them, they began to whimper and shiver at the sight of their prey. They watched shivering as the prey was now manifesting claws similar to their own, no these claws were sharper... more dangerous, radiating a feeling of cutting and tearing.

The claws were almost completely solid, no longer a bright light but a clear crystalline structure began to form on the tips of his fingers, they had formed into incredibly sharp claws.

[ 600 experience converted to 6 Ascension points]

[ Skill created - Mana claws - 6 Ascension points spent]

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[Unlocked ‘Mana Mastery’ Attribute]

[Mana Mastery: 1]

‘My experience points!’ Dante caught between the excitement at the changes occurring and the sudden feeling of loss, as the experience that could have been used to make him stronger was being used to create this skill instead.

He looked down at both hands, he was greeted with the sight that awed him, each finger now had a claw. Each claw that extended from the tips of his fingers was an inch long. Inspecting his claws, he saw that they were clear and crystalline with a blood-red appearance. They were undoubtedly sharp, his body screamed danger if they got too close to his skin. He somehow willed these claws into existence, successfully creating a skill in the process.

Dante looked out of the tree at the agitated wolves, they had come closer while he was distracted but they were all too scared to be the first to charge at him. Seeing their dead and injured companions lying around the entrance to the tree, they didn’t dare go nearer to him.

‘Enough hiding' he thought to himself. With a stoic face, he stepped out from the hole in the tree, ready to take on whatever challenge these wolves could throw at him.

****

“Maikoh, what’s the hideless doing?” Waya asked while staring at the bright lights coming from the hole in the tree.

“It… It can’t be! Waya...it looks like old magic!” Maikoh replied in disbelief.

“Old magic? Like the stories Dad used to tell us. I thought his tales of when the hideless and Dire pack used to hunt and live together were made up.” Waya was also in disbelief at what her eyes showed to be true.

Maikoh was getting excited “I think so, I thought Dad was telling fantastical tales, but he spoke of the hideless using thin threads of light to create all sorts of wondrous magic. He said they even used to teach the Dire pack to use it too!”

Waya looked at her brother excitedly, then thought back to her actions, attacking this hideless. They had made a terrible mistake. Maikoh looked back at his sister, their eyes made contact, they seemed to be thinking the same thing.

“This could change everything Waya, we have to be careful with what we decide to do next”

“Yes brother, let’s be careful”

They watched on at the battle as the hideless stepped out of the tree, he no longer showed any fear to the pack of Grey wolves. The lights that were emanating from this person had disappeared, in their place on the hideless's hands were crystalline claws that glinted moonlight from each of the tips of his fingers. Even from this distance, they both could tell that the claws could cleave through them with no resistance. They both shivered in excitement, knowing they were in for a show.

The grey wolves grew more restless, the hideless was out of safety, they had to take the chance. The wolves began to surround this hideless who was supposed to be their prey, now he seemed to be challenging them on their turf.

A grey wolf to the rear of the pack grew impatient and dashed towards the hideless, seeing that the hideless appeared to be ignoring it, it launched an attack at him. A sudden sharp pain could be felt by the wolf as it passed by the hideless, then the wolf collapsed to the floor. To any outside observer, it was as though nothing unusual had happened. The wolf had leapt towards him, passed him by, then collapsed to the floor as though it fell into a deep sleep. The only other indication that anything was wrong, was when the other wolves noticed a fine mist of blood had spattered onto the ground before them.

The other wolves looked to the one who had just thrown itself, it was now a crumpled heap on the floor of the woods, five long claws marks were drawn across the wolf's stomach. The defeated wolf’s steaming viscera was slowly sliding out of the corpse.

Scared and confused, but not willing to back down. They were supposed to be the hunters, not this hideless! Several wolves made a well-coordinated attack, they all leapt at once.

The hideless swung his arms around. There was no beauty or control to the hideless's action, not a controlled dance of pre-planned moves. It was just pure savage moves, brutal and uncaring to the damage of its own body. It was a wild and uncaring display of power, this hideless was like an animal that was willing to chew off its own leg to escape a trap.

The wolves continued to throw themselves at their supposed prey, he kept taking damage from them. For every successful attack they made, he retaliated with strikes that severely injured or killed the attacking wolves.

Waya and Maikoh looked on disbelieving, they watched each of the members of the Grey pack throw themselves at this man.

They were either brave or stupid enough to attack the hideless who refused to back down, either way, they all met similar fates. The wolves were dismembered, disembowelled or partially beheaded.

They both looked at each other with building excitement, they were sure they were witnesses to the beginning of the change of everything.

****

Dante was now collapsed on the floor, he had persevered against the odds. Looking around himself in a daze, he noticed he was surrounded by dismembered grey wolves with torn throats, missing legs, viscera spilling out and other nameless chunks of flesh and fur.

He couldn't tell the difference between his blood and the blood of the wolves that had been trying to take his life all night.

His breathing was now a constant wheeze, long constricted breaths that made him feel like he was suffocating.

He raised his hands in front of himself, his fingers which earlier had 10 gleaming blood-red crystalline claws that were now all chipped. Some claws were missing from his fingertips completely, with small patches of crystal sticking to his fingertips. He let himself smile, there was a sort of beauty to his new weapons, the chipped and damaged claws now looked like hoar frost on a cold winter's morning.

The remnant pieces of crystalized mana were the only signs to indicate that a moment before they were home to his newly acquired claw-like weapons.

With his consciousness slowly fading, Dante thought to himself 'I guess this is it… I did everything I could to survive'. He had reached his breaking point, no amount of struggling could help him now. His tank was beyond empty and his vision was starting to blur.

Dante’s eyelids remained open, with his eyes staring off into the sky. Darkness shrouded the edges of his vision, narrowing his field of view to pinpricks, his breathing slowed, until finally, he had passed out.

The sun had started to rise in the distance, pushing away the darkness. The remaining wolves howled as they greeted the dawn of a new day. What remained of the pack was too scared to approach the hideless, the same creature that was laying on its back with its hands reaching towards the sky. A gesture of defiance against them.

After watching their family, siblings and friends getting dismembered by the thrashing arms of the hideless, the images of death and destruction had indelibly seared the thought that this was a being that couldn't be touched by them. It would be madness to still try and get revenge or hunt him.

They then turned away from the hideless, with their tails between their legs, they slunk away into what was left of the dark.