That night he hears a sound, first from afar, barely waking him, but gradually getting louder until he can’t put it off as just part of a dream he might have had.

(Alright, what is that) He thinks while sitting up.

“Awoooo!”

(Ugh, it’s so quiet, must be far away, I should just get back to sleep)

Not even twenty minutes pass before he hears it again.

“AWOOO!”

His eyes that were just about to close, flew back open in a panic.

“Shit! That is way too close for comfort!” He says while grabbing his sword.

It is a very windy night, even though it is summer he had to sleep fully clothed to stay warm.

As he looks around he can see that a lot of trees are bent over in the raging wind, some of the smaller ones almost going parallel to the ground.

It is a very clear night and the moon is full and that combined with the still red-hot coals burning in his fireplace allow him to, somewhat, make out his surroundings.

Even with the deafening wind raging around him, the howl that he heard was as clear as day.

(Where are they! Do they know I’m here!) Terrified, he frantically grabs a stick and some leaves off the ground and attempts to make a makeshift torch, to no avail.

The wind is just putting out the fire the moment it catches, along with any hope of fighting with any kind of visibility.

(Maybe they didn’t notice me, the wind is blowing my scent out over the ocean and I don’t think they heard me) He says while calming down.

He goes right to the edge of the woods and lies down flat on his chest, just in case they go towards him.

He tries to go back to sleep but his heart won’t allow it. It somehow feels different from the other times he was scared, his instincts were screaming at him one thing “you are being hunted.”

The wind starts to die down a little and he hasn’t heard a howl in a while but the feeling does not go away.

(Come on, they must be gone now, why won’t this feeling go away?” He says while trying to reassure himself and to calm down.

“CRACK”

He hears a stick break not even 20 yards from him.

His senses instantly sharpen as his whole body goes into ‘prey mode.’

(Come on, you are stronger now, you have a weapon, YOU CAN FIGHT) He says to himself, stealing his resolve and pushing away the doubts in his mind.

He stands up, sword in hand, and goes down to the water, just barely on the edge of it, and waits.

It feels like an eternity for him, just waiting there, the wind howling and the cold biting at his face, the water splashing behind him, and the light russell of the bushes where something waits, sizing him up.

5 seconds… 10 seconds… 30… neither one of them makes a move.

(Come on! Show yourself!) He thinks but dares not say aloud.

After about a minute the leaves stop rustling but Ozborn dares not lower his guard for he knows how cunning these creatures can be, even if they are from a different world, that fact should be the same, as were his thoughts.

Suddenly, a shadowy object comes flying out onto the beach, followed by 4 others.

Ozborn tries to stay calm and starts to cast magic.

“Light orb!” He shouts while casting a low-level light spell.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

It illuminates a small area around him and floats through the air.

(I have a little over a minute before this spell runs out, I have to finish this before then.)

[These are shadow wolves, they can travel through shadows over short distances and are nearly impossible to see in the dark]

(That’s good to know, I’ll have to look out for that.)

The wolves make the first move, one of them attacks him from the right side- his strong side.

With two hands on his sword, he swings it into the wolf’s neck, slicing across it and slitting it’s throat.

(Nice! That’s a killing blow. I knew I was stronger wi-) His thought was interrupted by another wolf jumping at him when he was right at the apex of his swing.

The wolf’s mouth, wide and dripping with saliva, almost gets to his left arm but right as it’s about to close it, he uses a speed boost spell on his arm.

His mana wraps around his arm, causing his muscles to tighten and he pulls his arm out of its mouth with insanely fast speed.

So fast that it nearly causes him to do a full 180.

“Woahhh, too fast! Too fast!” He says, but then realizing he can use this to his advantage, readies his right arm and pivots onto his left foot.

As he is spinning he swings his right arm and hits the wolf in the neck with his sword.

(Haha, yes! Is what I would say if this was some stupid cartoon, I can’t put any weight behind this swing)

His prediction proves to be right and though he injures the wolf, it is far from dead, just barely managing to knock it off its feet.

(If someone was watching this, I would be so embarrassed, why did I even think that would work?)

Readying himself again, he braces to fight.

(Okay, just three left… wait three?) He realized much too late that one of the wolves, the biggest one, which was probably the leader, vanished into its shadow and appeared behind Ozborn, slashing at his back.

(Crap!) He spins to fight back but knows that he will be too late.

(I hate to use this much magic but, I have to.) “BARRIER!”

He flicks his left wrist towards the wolf’s claw and makes a barrier of magic in between him and the monster that is a quarter inch thick and roughly the size of a dinner plate that the beast’s claws slide off of.

He uses that to his advantage and attacks the wolf, only for another to slam into him at max speed, sending him flying.

“Ugh, ‘cough’ ‘cough’” he spits out some blood as he slowly stands up, while he is crouched over the pack charges him and just as one of their claws is about to reach his neck, time stops.

“Tch, to think they would send something of this level just to feel you out, I guess they just couldn’t overlook your presence on the island. I can’t have you dying just yet, here take this, you owe me.” Mana’s voice and Ozborn’s thoughts are the only things that do not seem to be stopped at the moment.

(Wai- ugh, what is… AHHH! IT BURNS!) Something is being carved into his soul, typically something like this would be too much for any normal person to handle and they would die from the pain alone.

But, as he is a hero sent by the gods, he just barely managed to stay awake.

[Skill gained- Limit Break, it allows you to push far past your limits for a short amount of time but once it is over, all of the exhaustion and pain you feel during the time that the skill is active will be multiplied 10-fold.]

Just after the explanation from appraisal, time begins to move again and the Limit Break skill activates, causing Ozborn’s senses to be heightened to a degree that should not be possible, as well as causing every muscle in his body to tighten, allowing for much stronger and explosive movements.

Just as the claw reaches his neck the wolf’s head is lopped off at breakneck speeds {Get it lol} and causes the air itself to shake- nearly causing a sonic boom.

(One down, three more to go) His thoughts are completely taken over by the instinct to kill and the only thing that he is thinking about is how to kill the enemies in front of him as quickly as possible.

The wolves, sensing a change, take a step back, the pure killing intent pouring off of Ozborn was nearly enough to scare them away.

“You're not getting away now.” He says in a cold, dark tone.

Thoughtlessly, he began to move.

He launches himself off to the right of the closest wolf so that he can see its broad-side.

Then he spins and flies right at it, the tip of his sword aimed right at its midsection.

The wolf didn’t even have enough time to react as the sword hit its center-mass, cleaving it apart and causing its innards to go all over the place, splattering Ozborn with blood.

Even though he guts deer and animals all the time, the sheer malice and ferocity in which he did this would have been enough to make him queasy, had his mind not been consumed by the thought of killing the creatures in front of him.

Continuing with his momentum, as if he never hit anything at all, he flies at the next wolf, this time with his sword aimed at its neck.

This wolf had the poor fortune to back up at the wrong moment, causing the tip of the sword to just barely graze its neck, effectively slitting its neck, and causing it to die by choking on its own blood.

The last wolf, the alpha of the pack, shadow travels to the edge of the woods.

Ozborn barely catches this at the corner of his eye and so the moment he touches the ground, he leans forward and jumps toward it with every muscle in his body.

Just as the wolf touches the bushes it erupts in an explosion of blood and gore.

(That makes 5 in total) Ozborn thinks, his thoughts slowly coming back to him.

Then, while standing under the moonlight, staring at the stars, covered in blood with an absolute masacre of a scene around him, one thing is heard: [Warning, ability ‘Limit Break’ is deactivating, you can feel exhaustion and pain again].

He couldn’t even think a single thought as he fell over, the world fading to black.