He sprinted through the dense forest, stumbling over the thick tree roots and ramming through the thickets.

Scratches formed all over his body, blood dripped from his frail limbs.

A final tree root sent him crashing into the ground violently.

Zeph used his remaining strength to pick himself up and lean against a tree, sobbing quietly.

He had no more strength left in his body. The wolves could finally take their revenge, or maybe Verith will get what he wanted from him.

Yet, there was not a single beast in sight.

The forest was eerily quiet. He should have been swarmed with how much he had run, but not a single one showed up.

That was when he saw it. Zeph wiped away his tears before seeing the gray beast that towered over him.

An injured wolf king. The wolf that stood at the pinnacle of its species. Who would dare trespass onto the territory of a king?

They looked at each other with wary eyes, although they both couldn’t harm each other if they wanted to.

There were large gashes all over the wolf’s body, with blood pooling under its paws.

A mutual feeling of sympathy developed in both of them. No words needed to be exchanged, yet they both knew.

The wolf crawled over to Zeph with its remaining strength. Blood spilled out profusely, leaving a large trail across the forest.

It crouched down next to Zeph, almost like it was begging. A wordless cry asking for revenge.

“Haha…” He let out a dry laugh. “How can I possibly help you?”

The cruel reality was that neither of them could help themselves let alone each other.

The wolf pierced itself in the chest with its claw, revealing a blue crystal that was spherical in shape, the size of a golf ball.

“You’ll die!” Zeph was stunned. He knew from Lucan’s teachings that stronger monsters in this world eventually developed a core of condensed mana, changing in size and color as they went up in tiers.

This also meant that they would lose a majority of their mana once it was taken out. The body would be unable to provide for itself, effectively leading to the beast’s death.

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It looked at Zeph with an absolute calmness in its eyes. This was the wolf's resolve.

What else could Zeph do but match it? He took the core and swallowed it whole.

A wave of pain emerged from his insides as the mana unraveled itself from the core. Zeph’s body thrashed violently on the ground. All seven orifices bled profusely while Zeph cried out in agony. Behind the scream, a wolf’s howl could be heard, spreading throughout the forest.

The rage in his heart welled up.

Verith.

The pain swallowed him down to the very bone.

Revenge.

A low growl came from the depths of his heart. The torrent of mana suddenly went docile, as if it was scared of something. In an instant, all the mana surged into his bones at once. As if his inner body was constantly being ripped to shreds and healed every second, the pain Zeph felt was unbearable.

Zeph’s vision blurred. He clawed at the ground, kicking his feet sending dust into the air before finally blacking out.

“God damnit! How far can this thing run?”

Leaves crackled under the footsteps of several bloodied adventurers.

“Wait. Look right there.” The person at the front of the group pointed towards the bloodied carcass.

“It finally died!” The man at the rear ran towards the wolf holding his injured shoulder. “That’ll teach you to mess with us!”

“Yeah, we sure taught it something after it killed five of our men.” The leader followed him, looking at the surrounding bushes and trees. He walked towards the front of the wolf with a small knife, only to see that the core had been taken out. “Damn it! Who stole our prize?”

He stomped his feet before noticing a small bloodied hand in front of the wolf. On closer inspection, it seemed like a small child. “Looks like your luck ran out kid.”

He searched the kid for any items of value and pulled out a dagger. “Say, do you think Lord Verith would be okay with this thing?” He unsheathed the dagger and turned around to show his friends.

“What kind of dumbass noble tested his luck against this wolf? That thing must be worth at least a hundred cores!” The man holding his shoulder examined it.

“I know right.” The man turned around only for the dagger to be pushed through the front of his neck. Blood sprayed out from the man’s neck, covering Zeph in blood yet again.

Humans are not that much different from animals after all. Zeph pulled out the dagger and ran towards the injured lackey holding his shoulder.

“Don’t fuck with me!” The lackey sent out a kick, not having time to draw his blade. Unfortunately, the speed of an injured man wouldn’t be faster than a wolf pounce. Zeph slashed the man along his leg before ultimately also slicing him in the throat.

One more.

Zeph looked at the frightened mage who was currently backed up into a tree. Seeing his entire crew die today was too much for him to witness.

“Please! I-” His begging was cut short with a dagger through the head.

Zeph fell over on all fours. “Verith…” He muttered before fainting again.