The wolf raised its muzzle to the sky and howled thunderously. The red horror swirling around it burst in all directions, paralyzing minds and washing them with surreal images of a swinging world.

Having executed its attack, the alpha made a single leap toward the nearest warmaster, who happened to be the unfortunate Mei.

It's a mystery how much it took for the girl to raise her sword to meet the beast's fangs, but she managed to do it. Still, the colossal weight of the monster and the strength of its attack were inescapable.

Mei's body was blasted like a cannonball, rolling on the ground, carving out small craters and tearing up a layer of grass. She disappeared into the bushes, and from the place of her final stop came a crack and a desperate scream.

"Water Jet!" Eiji's frightened voice shattered the momentary silence. The lad, visibly shaking, clenched his teeth and attacked the dreadful monster.

The water, obeying the half-blood's will, hit right into the alpha's gaping maw, causing it to choke on its next howl. The red energy that had surged forth flailed and harmlessly dispersed.

The wolf covered its mouth, and the water splashed into its eyes. It did no harm but hindered its orientation.

From somewhere to the side, several knives flew, sticking into or merely scratching the monster's skin. The toxin-laden steel abundantly dispensed its heavily layered poison.

Ordyntsev circled the monster from the side, taking advantage of its temporary blindness.

But the alpha wasn't about to wait to be killed.

Bursting straight through the water, it nearly reached Eiji with its enormous fangs before the lad miraculously dodged.

The naginata, describing a circle, slid off the toughest fur and inflicted only a light scratch.

Meanwhile, the lad himself had to beat a hasty retreat to avoid becoming dinner. He was saved only by the superhuman speed given by prana and the water stream that sporadically burst from his hand.

However, this couldn't last long. Their levels of power were too disparate.

Eiji screamed in pain when a paw strike hit his extended arm. If not for the armor, the injury would have been much more severe. As it was, he got away with just a fracture.

Suddenly, the alpha roared furiously and turned, falling on its hind leg.

Stas quickly jumped back to avoid the counterattack. The earthling chose the exact moment when the heated beast exposed itself, anticipating victory.

The spear plunged with force into the beast's leg, completely breaking the bone and tearing muscles. The tip even emerged on the other side, such was the force of the blow.

But it was too early to rejoice at the surprisingly accurate and successful hit, as now all of the enraged monster's attention was focused on Ordyntsev.

Stas didn't even try to fight the beast, immediately resorting to the hundred and first karate technique – retreat.

This was aided by the fact that the poisons with which he had filled the wolf, like stuffing a chicken with apples, although they could not kill the monster instantly, still sapped its health.

The wolf's heart pumped rotten blood through its veins and muscles, gradually infecting the entire body.

And there was a whole bouquet of poisons. The man had not skimped, using the most potent and expensive mixtures. Now was not the time to economize.

Heartbreaking, mind-fogging, muscle-cramping – such a combination of poisons could penetrate even warmasters.

Besides, Stas took full advantage of his far more modest size and tried to weave among the trees.

The only problem was that the trees were no significant obstacles for the monster pursuing him.

Another thick trunk shattered into splinters, hardly even slowing the alpha.

Leviathan's spit from ambush only singed the wolf's fur again and hardly caused any damage. The snake desperately wanted to help her master, but the order was strict.

Ordyntsev vividly imagined how the wolf's snout could easily bite his pet in half, so he forbade her from approaching the fight with such a dangerous monster.

Another tree met its end, but that's where Stas's luck ran out. A hefty chunk of wood crushed against his leather armor, robbing him of breath.

The man fell to the ground with a dull groan. An attempt to get up led nowhere. His legs refused to obey.

Stas lifted his head and, with some strange calm, watched as a huge muzzle reached out to him.

Somewhere to the side hung the panicked hissing of Leviathan rushing to the rescue, but not fast enough.

"Earth Technique. Stone Pillar!" The cylinder that burst from the ground delivered a sharp jab to the wolf's jaw.

Ordyntsev could even smell the foul breath and saw pieces of rotten meat between the teeth as the beast's snout passed by his shoulder.

It was at that moment Mei, having come for aid and awaiting her opportunity, struck with her yatagan.

Unfortunately, the blow was off-mark, and the alpha, though losing an eye, did not lose its life.

'All or nothing!' Stas rolled under the monster's paws, barely avoiding the claws in time, and from a lying position, struck the spear directly into the beast's belly.

The painful squeal was his best reward. The monster's underbelly didn't have such a thick layer of armored fur.

Having struck, Stas immediately released his weapon and, fueling his legs with prana to the limit, pushed off with all his might, shooting himself away.

Flight quickly turned into frantic tumbling, but at the spot where he had been just a second ago, a heavy paw struck, mixing the grass with the soil.

The alpha, biting the shaft, jerked it out of its belly and, clenching its fangs, snapped it in two.

Limping on its hind leg, looking around with its only eye, and bleeding from numerous wounds, even so, it was deadly dangerous.

Mei, Stas, and Eiji exchanged grim looks.

Each of them was injured and seriously tired. The half-blood's and the girl's prana reserves were almost depleted. Due to the severity of the situation, they each time spent a little more prana than necessary.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Stas pulled out his last two knives, readjusting them for throwing.

Mei leaned on one leg, trying to stand so it wouldn't hurt so much. After the alpha's first hit, she crashed into a tree and damaged her knee. Only a prana boost allowed her to stand and not scream in pain.

Eiji was pale and bit his lip to focus. He held his injured limb to his chest, but his remaining hand firmly gripped the naginata, and he had no intention of running.

Whatever kind of person he was, he couldn't be called a coward.

An intense silence descended on the clearing.

The alpha whimpered as it inhaled air through its slit nose, then took a slow step back. At the same time, it never took its single eye off the tense warmasters.

The next step back was even easier for it, as was the following second one.

The wolf was retreating, and, by the Kami, the exhausted warmasters were not opposed.

Finally, the once-mighty forest king hobbled away, occasionally looking back at those who had killed its pack. Eye too intelligent for a mere beast seemed to memorize the faces of those who had dealt it an irreparable blow.

Only when the wolf finally disappeared into the forest, and a couple of minutes had passed, did the team finally relax.

Canceling the prana strengthening, Mei collapsed to the ground with a groan, clutching her leg. Eiji, sticking his naginata into the ground, allowed his battered arms to hang like whips.

But while his comrades could indulge in rest, Stas was not afforded such an opportunity.

Cursing through his teeth, Ordyntsev, wincing and staggering, approached Mei. The entire way, he clutched his hand to his side. He had the distinct feeling that if he removed his hand, his innards would spill out.

Why did he choose Mei? For one simple reason – as bad as they all were, only Mei couldn't run away if it came to that. That's why her leg had to be dealt with first.

"Take off your armor and remove the pant leg," Stas grunted, assessing his prana reserves. It didn't look very good.

There was no choice.

Ordyntsev reached into a secret pocket and, pulling out a small pill, quickly bit into it.

'And he didn't lie. It really has a very pleasant raspberry taste.'

As soon as the stimulant was in his stomach, Ordyntsev felt a slight twist in his gut, followed by a warm wave that began to spread. His heart started to beat faster every second, and his body felt hotter than ever.

The man expected the girl to tell him to go to hell with such offers, but apparently, the pain was surprisingly convincing. So, while she was struggling to remove her pant leg, Ordyntsev watched as his prana reserves quickly replenished.

One look at the leg and the subsequent palpation was enough to understand that there was an anterior dislocation, or in other words, a displacement of the tibia relative to the femur. The knee unpleasantly swelled to the side, confirming his conclusions.

How the girl managed to stand and even move with such an injury was a huge question. The pain must have been hellish.

In any case, Ordyntsev knew what to do.

First, Stas made the nerve endings shut down with his Healing Palm. Such action didn't require too much prana.

Then he carefully but firmly grabbed the tibia and, with a precise movement, followed by a soft crunch, put it back in place in the joint capsule.

"Damn," Eiji winced in admiration, peeking over. His eyes burned with unhealthy enthusiasm.

But something told Stas that it wasn't the sight of the bare leg that thrilled him, but the swollen, twisted limb.

Mei, lying down, shuddered all over, but still held back a scream. Ordyntsev frowned; apparently, he hadn't fully completed the anesthesia.

On the other hand, this was his first time using Healing Palm on people. Until now, his maximum had been dogs and pigs.

Having secured the leg in the correct position, Stas touched the glowing palm to the places where the damaged ligaments were located.

Knowing exactly what he wanted to heal greatly helped save prana, but even so, his reserve was rapidly depleting.

The man had to wait again for at least part of the charge to be restored to more or less complete the job.

Mei hurriedly pulled her pant leg back in place, then carefully stood up and winced. The leg still hurt, but she could walk.

"My family will be grateful to you," she nodded to Stas, trying to maintain composure. It was evident that she was not used to thanking. Especially someone she considered beneath her in rank.

Stas just nodded silently.

"At last! I thought I was forgotten," Eiji now extended his hand, but stopped short under the earthling's gaze.

Stas turned away and, struggling to remove his breastplate, began to treat his own injuries.

The wood piece that had jabbed into his side had caused a crack in one of his ribs and a huge bruise on his entire side.

And again, after the treatment, the earthling's reserve hit rock bottom.

Such frequent depletion of the prana could not go without consequences. And though the third batch of prana was already filling his reserve, Ordyntsev felt sick, nauseous.

The healthiest of them all, Mei, fetched the barrel and slung it over her shoulder. Fortunately, it had woven handles.

Stas, wandering around, found only four knives; the fifth, apparently, the alpha managed to carry away with it.

The invalid corps slowly and dejectedly moved towards the burnt tree. Staying at the scene of the battle was a bad idea. When local monsters overcome their fear of wolves, a new slaughter for ownerless meat will unfold here.

No one wanted to talk. They had come so close to death so often that day that Ordyntsev's comrades were clearly reevaluating their lives a bit.

The tall figure waited until the silhouettes had moved far enough away, then leisurely rose from the ground as if from water.

Master Jun shook off the tiniest particles of dust.

The man carefully examined the abandoned battlefield, then nodded.

Whatever he told his students, but to lose his team on the very first day of their apprenticeship would have been too severe even by his standards.

After all, it's one thing to bear the title "Main Thorn in the Council's Backside" and another to be "The Most Clueless Sensei in the World."

That's why Jun was ready to intervene at any moment when his students were in danger. More precisely, mortal danger.

Broken bones, torn skin, and muscles were considered by the harsh sensei to be a perfectly normal part of training.

After all, they had their own healer. A weak one, of course, but still!

This alone made Jun rub his hands in anticipation. Because with Serpentface present, even the few limitations that the beastly sensei could impose on himself were cast off.

Of course, Jun was a little disappointed that his kids let the alpha go. In his opinion, if they had pushed themselves a bit, they could have taken it down.

But even so, they performed tolerably. He expected worse.

The master did not kill the wolf. After all, it had fought honorably and earned the right to live. It would have been awkward to end its life after such a battle.

But even so, they managed to surprise him a little. About half a fingernail's worth.

As for the task, the sensei had no doubt that his puny students would be able to deliver the booze on time.

And then the real training would begin, not this frolicking in the fresh air.

For some reason, at that very moment, the walking team flinched and began to look around quickly – they all felt a threat coming from somewhere.

*****

"Thank you for that pillar," Stas expressed his gratitude to Mei, stroking the sprawled Leviathan. The snake took the sight of teeth flashing so close to her master hard. "You saved my life."

"It's nothing," the heiress brushed it off, but it was clear she was pleased. "If I hadn't done it, that monster could have eaten both of us."

"Tell me, has either of you ever encountered magical beasts before?" Stas inquired. He needed to stir his teammates so they would finally start trusting each other a little. And telling about their past was a great way to achieve that.

"Of course," Mei nodded. "I've been taken hunting several times. But before, my father's bodyguards protected me, and I never faced anything so... powerful."

All eyes focused on Eiji.

"Just once," he muttered reluctantly, looking down. "Father showed me how to hunt and set traps. We were attacked by a few weak magical monsters. I was only capable of a little then, but managed to turn the earth under their paws into mud, slowing them down a bit. Father killed them all."

Silence followed.

"Tell me," Mei asked without much thought, "what about your mother? Why did only your father raise you?"

'Damt it! What's the rush?' Stas cursed inwardly. 'We've only known each other for a day. It's too early for such questions!'

"Oh, the curious princess wants to peer into my soul," Eiji smiled unpleasantly, losing his previous bits of normality. "I recognize the cursed female curiosity. But you know what, I'll tell you. Listen carefully."

Eiji nervously sat on a branch, not knowing where to put his hands.

"My father took my mother captive in one of the wars between the Mizuno and Sumada. At first, he wanted to make her his concubine, but at some point, he fell so deeply in love that he married her. He gave her everything. A home, his heart, and finally me. But it was never enough for her."

He nearly hissed the last part.

"She was always cold to me. I thought something was wrong with me. I tried, by the Kami I tried, to make her proud of me. And just when I succeeded, and she smiled at me for the first time, the next day she wounded my father and ran away! He barely survived that time! Have you ever held a dying, bleeding father in your arms, not knowing what to do or who to call?"

A spasm crossed the lad's face.

"My father was healed, but by then, I understood that you women are nothing but vessels of sin and nothing more. Your words are poison that intoxicates and muddles the mind. You are not prepared for war, yet you still thrust yourselves into it, wreaking havoc on your own destinies and those of everyone around you."

"Have you ever thought about why she did it?" Mei asked softly.

"I'm not interested," Eiji cut her off. "And if I ever meet her, I'll kill her without hesitation. Believe me, my hand will not falter."

That put an end to the conversation for good.