Snapping my eyes open, I quickly jumped from my bed before landing on the ground in a fighting stance while carefully observing my surroundings; however, once I realized where I was, I breathed a sigh of frustration while tightly clenching my hands.
'Dammit! Every time I experience that nightmare, I can never change the outcome!' Thought Alexander angrily with guilt as he attempted to slow his ragged breathing.
Inspecting myself, I find nothing out of the ordinary except my pounding heart and sweat-filled body, which happens every time I awaken after experiencing that dream. Sighing, I looked out the window only to see the night sky dimly illuminated by countless stars and the three colorful moons; Azul, Midori, and Coccineum.
Seeing how it was still deep into the night, and dawn didn't seem to be arriving any time soon, I sighed one more time before quietly opening my door and exiting my room, as I didn't wish to wake Master up as well. Sneakily walking through the house, I opted to leap through an open window instead of causing more noise by opening the front door.
Quietly landing on the soft ground, I approached the tree before resting my hand on it while asking to keep what I was doing a secret from Master, and considering this wasn't my first time, it agreed pretty quickly; it just said to return before dusk, or it'll tell Master.
"Thanks." Said Alexander with a small smile as he backed away from the tree and headed towards the pond in the distance to clean himself and his clothes.
While approaching the pond, I took this time to appreciate the forest that gave off a different atmosphere than during the day. I found it to be much more beautiful as well, though that could also be because I'm rarely outside of the house during the night since Master forbids me from doing so, as she said that is when the most dangerous beasts are usually active.
'Well, I don't doubt her, but I'm sure it's fine as long as I stay within the clearing and don't venture into the forest; for the five years I've lived here, I haven't seen a single beast approach this forest out of their own accord.' Pondered Alexander as he began undressing once he neared the pond that looked even more gorgeous at night while reflecting the night sky.
Once I was in the nude, I threw my two pieces of clothing into the pond before jumping in, causing a small splash before the pond calmed down. Surfacing back to the top, I grabbed the soap and first began cleaning my clothes, which didn't take too long; when I finished that, I exited the pond and placed my clothes on the rock to dry before jumping back into the water so I may now clean myself.
When I finished cleaning myself, I stayed in the pond while lifelessly floating atop the water as I gazed at the beautiful sky.
'I'd say other than the concept of the Status panel, living on a planet that has three moons is probably the most shocking thing I've come to learn about this world after being reincarnated. Actually, I take that back; learning that this world has different intelligent species other than humans is probably the most shocking thing.' Thought Alexander with a peaceful smile as he gazed at the sky, which caused him to slowly forget about his nightmare while enjoying the tranquility, though unfortunately, it didn't last long.
After peacefully floating atop the water for several minutes, I eventually decided to exit the pond and return home; I didn't wish to possibly get caught by Master; I'm sure the punishment would be pretty rough. However, while I was putting on my clothes, I heard loud thumping emanating from the forest, along with the occasional roar, and as time went on, I noticed it was getting louder quickly.
'I don't know what is happening in the forest; however, It sounds like it's my cue to return to the house.' Thought Alexander, with furrowed brows as he stared in the direction of the noise before quickly leaving the area, though unluckily for Alexander, he was a tad bit too slow.
The moment I took my third step, I heard a thunderous noise which caused me to turn around, and when I did, I spotted a large wolf bleeding and covered in wounds, standing not too far away from the pond while an even more giant bear was standing next to several destroyed trees just at the perimeter of the clearing.
'Hmm, it seems like the bear must've been hunting it, and it accidentally chased it into the clearing, though it appears too scared to take a step out of the forest, and I don't blame him, considering Master lives here.' Pondered Alexander as he eyed the bear and wolf before using his skill [Heroes Gaze] out of sheer curiosity.
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Name: ______
Species: Runebear (Rare)
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Age: 22
Tier: 1
Level: 73
Experience: [34%]
Title(s):
Lifeforce: [100%]
Mana: 423/500
Vigor: 300
Endurance: 374.5
Agility: 65
Dexterity: 55
Intelligence: 50
Perception: 101
Traits: Tough fur(Uncommon), Experienced hunter(Uncommon), Night vision(Common)
Skills: Claw strike(Common), Ground pound(Common), Charge(Uncommon)
Condition:
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Name: ________
Species: Direwolf (Uncommon)
Age: 7
Tier: 0
Level: 45
Experience: [56%]
Title(s):
Lifeforce: [43%]
Mana: 82/240 (82/320)
Vigor: 27(35)
Endurance: 23(39)
Agility: 71(85)
Dexterity: 43(57)
Intelligence: 24(32)
Perception: 34(45)
Traits: Night vision(Common)
Skills: Claw strike(Common), Dash(Common), Wind blade(Common)
Condition: Bleeding, Exhausted
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'Other than Intelligence, they completely surpass me in stats, though the gap isn't as big as expected. Either way, they're both out of my league, so I should quickly leave.' Thought Alexander in surprise, though before he could turn around, both animals simultaneously eyed him, causing him to instinctively halt his actions.
'Fuck, they noticed me! Okay, I shouldn't have to worry about the Runebear; he is far too scared to step foot within the clearing; on the other hand, I can't say the same for the Direwolf. Ugh, why did I have to appease my curiosity and use my skill on them!?' Thought Alexander in frustration as he reprimanded himself while not breaking eye contact with either the Runebear or Direwolf.
"I advise that you both leave; I'm sure neither of you wants to confront the one who rules this territory." Said Alexander while eyeing the two beasts, though while the Runebear ignored him, the wolf growled back as he carefully turned his back toward the Runebear and faced Alexander.
'Damit! I figured my words wouldn't work, but why did the Direwolf turn around and face me!?' Thought Alexander with an increased heart rate while slowly backing up, and although he was scared, he never once lost his cool.
"Hmph, that's a stupid reason; you believe she isn't here just because she hasn't arrived yet to protect her territory? That's a shallow thought process, though I shouldn't expect too much from beasts." Said Alexander with a frown as he replied to the approaching Direwolf, who growled again.
'Tch, he's not listening; you stubborn beasts always make reasoning with you so unnecessarily difficult.' Pondered Alexander as he blinked, and the moment he laid eyes on the Direwolf again, he was already closing in on him with incredible speed.
With how fast the Direwolf was, I probably had less than two seconds before he reached my location, and with that little amount of time; I was forced to devise a survival plan against this Direwolf until Master arrived.
'Shit! What do I do!? I can't run away; with his agility, which is roughly seven times mine, that would be suicide; however, I also can't fight back; he is just too powerful, and attacking him without any type of weapon would be futile. Whatever, my only option is to fight back, I won't survive, but at least I'll last longer.' Thought Alexander while gritting his teeth as he eyed the wolf that was less than a second from reaching him.
When the Direwolf was about eight meters away from me, he jumped towards me, and the sudden burst of speed almost caught me off guard; luckily, I had some knowledge of how predators from Earth hunted, so the possibility of him pouncing on me was present. While he was in the air, I waited as long as possible for him to approach me before suddenly ducking down, causing him just barely to miss me.
Feeling the ground slightly shake from his landing, I quickly turned around, and while the wolf was in the process of turning around as well, I jumped on top of his back, which was the only place I could think of that would be safe from him, and started violently attacking his head.
Unfortunately, my attacks seemed to hardly phase him, not to mention I was quickly forced to stop attacking and tightly hug him as he started violently shaking, nearly causing me to fall off of him.
"I would love some assistance right about now, Master!" Yelled Alexander as he tightly held onto the Direwolf and occasionally attacked him when he got the chance.
When the Direwolf suddenly stopped shaking, I released a sigh of relief, though my relief didn't last for long, as the next thing I knew, I, along with Direwolf, was upside down in the air, and it didn't take long for me to realize what he was trying to do.
'Are you joking me right now!?' Thought Alexander in disbelief while tightening his grip on the Direwolf and bracing for impact, as he knew the only reason he was still alive was because he was on the back of the Direwolf.
Thankfully because of my super strong child body, when I hit the ground, it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected, even with the weight of the Direwolf; however, it's not like it felt good; I would prefer if I didn't have to experience that again.
When the Direwolf stood back up and realized I was still attached to his back, he let out an angry growl before suddenly howling, which caused me to suddenly sense something, I'd only felt once before.
'Death?' Thought Alexander as he rapidly searched for the source that caused him to feel the threat of death.
While I was almost frantically looking around, I noticed a large blade of wind above me, and when I saw it, I knew I had found the reason why I sensed death.
'Dammit! He's using Mana! I can't defend against that! Don't tell me I will have to test out my skill [Rebirth] in this situation!?' Thought Alexander as he started bombarding the Direwolf with attacks, hoping to interrupt the process, though he was too late.
While attacking the Direwolf, I kept an eye on the wind blade, and when I noticed it speedily heading toward me, I wasn't even given enough time to react from the sheer speed it possessed; luckily, I heard a familiar voice.
"Water Shield."
When Master said that, a thin water dome surrounded my body almost instantly, just in time to protect me from the wind blade that threatened to slice my body in half.
'Haa, well, I'm glad I'm saved; however, my situation just went from bad to worse.' Thought Alexander with an unnatural smile as he let himself fall off the back of the Direwolf, whose feet were buried by the ground.