I continued to grip with my other hand before gently releasing my hand and reaching slightly above me gripping onto another ebony chunk and pulling myself up enough to take a step higher

This process had been repeating itself for well over an...

I had lost count of how long I had been climbing for a long time ago

Now all that was left was my goal and how close I had come to it

So I continued on no matter how much my muscles ached or how numb my fingers had become, I continued to climb with a single thought in mind

The ridge in which the stump flattened out

Reaching up my cut and mutilated hand gripped onto the wooden rim dragging my tired body upwards

When I got close enough I abandoned all safety and gripped with my other had as well letting me kick off any footholds in my path

Before long I rolled over onto the flat wood letting my body rest

As I panted with warm sweat rolling over my burning biceps and numb fingers I let my head fall to the side letting me gaze upon my surroundings

What laid before me seemed even more shocking than the forest I had been stumbling within

A large circular platform with a floor made of perfect onyx made it look like I laid upon an endless pit

While the look was ominous and made me afraid it was what sat on the other side of the platform which frightened me

A large wolf almost my size sat comfortably staring at me

I stumbled upwards trying to get to my feet due to the fear of such a large wolf but I continued to stumble and fall only making it to me knees as I continued to gaze at its figure

Its fur coat was a thick and lush gray making one think of both and old and young creature

Its bright yellow slit eyes held a calm intelligence as did its graceful sitting position as it watched me without moving a step maintaining a rulers radiance with its unbreakable silhouette

It seemed almost as if it was waiting

'Was it waiting. For me?'

We continued to stare at each other until my body had properly recovered from the extremely taxing climb

'I'm not tired?'

Usually I would need to sleep for a long time after even climbing halfway up the stump but for some reason I was already back in perfect condition

It wasn't just because I mutated, not even a tier 2 mutant could bounce back this fast

'Is it this places doing?'

Ever since I arrived in this weird wilderness my energy had never diminished, my body was always in top condition and even right now I recovered in less than a few minutes from what should have exhausted me for an hour at least

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Finally standing up I began to cautiously approach the center of the arena as the wolf maintained its watch over me

Everything seemed to be going well until I approached what seemed to be the middle of the platform

Once I did the wolf stood up on all four of its legs and stretched its body making sure it was no longer tired and groggy

Frightened by its sudden movements I froze and dared not to move even an inch from my spot, I only watched it

Once it finished stretching its body it lowered its stance into a prowling position and began walking

It didn't directly walk towards me but slowly came towards me by circling me just like the rim of the tree stump

It slowly moved closer and closer as I turned on my heel to watch it, too frightened to move and too worried to try to attack it before it made its own assault

After what felt like an hour it was standing only a few feet away in a lowered position ready to assault me if I even dared to move

I was scared every time I took a breath

I was worried when my sweat rolled down my back

I dared not to even think of anything as its intelligent eyes carefully scanned me

It stood like a statue waiting for the slightest opening it could find, and while there didn't seem to be one from how it waited I knew instinctively it had found many weaknesses, possibly before it even started coming towards me

To him I was just a play thing that was about to be used to pass the time

"Are you too scared to even run away child?"

A grizzled, intimidating and yet refined voice spoke to him

A voice that came from the wolfs mouth

I stared at him in disbelief as questions filled my head to the point of making it burst

'How could an animal speak? Why does he sound so refined? Why is he talking to me? What does he mean by 'child'?'

"Oh, you seem surprised. Don't you know what's going on?"

Swallowing my fear I decided to answer him

"N-no"

"The others always talk about how the humans attacked anyway though, were they lying?"

The wolf began to speak to itself as if trying to understand the situation itself

"O-others? Humans?"

"Hmm, yes. This is a trial grounds of sorts"

'A trial? What does that even mean?'

"W-what?"

"I am meant to test you and guide you in using your powers child"

"P-powers? Your going to show me how to use my mutation?"

"Is that what its called? An interesting theory, I would love to learn more about it from fellow scholars of your world"

He continued to speak about things I couldn't understand and use foreign words, and the way he specified it was 'my' world and not 'ours'

'Am I talking to an alien!?'

"Now's not the time to dally boy. Its time to start"

Confused I questioned his choice of words

"Start?"

"Understood"

With what looked like a mischievous grin from tricking me he launched forwards appearing just in front of me

Before I could even think of a way to react he tackled me onto the floor and engraved deep cuts into my flesh with his sharp talons before he launched backwards towards his original position

"Arrr"

A short scream pierced the forest as I rolled to the side clutching me fresh wounds

My blood felt like boiling water as it slipped between my fingers

Even as I clutched my chest and rolled side to side the wolf patiently waited for me to calm down enough to suppress the burning pain that caused my mind to cloud

Finally when I recovered enough to arrange my thoughts I screamed in anger as loud as I could after looking over towards the wolf that seemed as if it was growing bored of my suffering

"What the hell was that for!!"

"I am teaching?"

"You call this teaching?"

I directed him towards the thick slash he had left across my chest as a slow trickle of blood continued to stain my shirt

"Well I'm allowed to teach however I like, and I think this method produces quite good results"

His tone made him sound like he was almost... Pouting?

"Well I fucking don't! It hurts!"

"That's the motivation to learn"

At my objection he seemed to perk up as he complimented his own teaching method like a self righteous psychopath

Worried for what was going to happen next I pushed myself up off my ass and desperately tried to run off to the edge of the stump

Before I even made it a few steps I could feel a heavy force slamming down onto my back as I was thrown forwards onto my chest

"Oahh"

"Where do you think your going?"

Groaning I turned my face to the side and looked at his face before a weak smile formed on my lips

"To look for a better teacher"