All dogs hate me.

I am jumping through the rainstorm covered in my own blood. It’s like every wolf in this forest is aggroed on me. A massive pack of [Black Wolves] is chasing right behind. I can hear them snarling after me, still hot on my heels. My blood is keeping them on my trail.

I kick off trees and dodge the wolves that get too close. One of them manages to pounce at me from the side, teeth bared.

I kick it in its throat, and it tumbles to the ground, yelping in pain. I make my way to the designated spot where all my tamed beasts are waiting.

The wolves think they are hunting some easy prey, and I keep up that illusion. A small clearing still covered by foliage opens up the forest. A feathered vine drops from above as I quickly grab it and swing up. I watch the wolves burst into the clearing and immediately fall into a massive hole.

I talk to the vine. “Just on time, Duchess.”

Duchess looks at me as she feels ashamed about her part of the plan.

I had Rob dig a giant trap, lining it with bony punji sticks. Why hunt through the forest like a beast when I can clean them up in one swoop. A good 20 wolves fall into this massive trap. Half the pack managed to stop themselves at the edge of the pitfall.

Howls of pain erupt from the bottom of the hole as the skewered wolves are finished off by Kahn. He takes advantage of the vulnerable wolves and goes into a frenzy. Ripped flesh and blood fly everywhere as his ever-increasing swarm feasts on the pack of wolves.

Rob was buried a few feet away from the trap. He silently emerges from the ground behind the wolves looking on in horror as their packmates get brutally killed by a swarm of fish. Dirt drops from his body as he sneaks and attacks one of them with a meaty blow to the back of the head with his trusty shovel.

The wolf’s surprised yelp as he gets put out of commission alerts the other beasts. They must have realized that they were tricked as they got into a defensive position... These [Black Wolves] are more intelligent than I thought.

I fling Flash Gordon as he is itching to get into another fight. He slams into the ribs of one of the wolves and instantly kills it. I quickly look back into the hole in disappointment.

Most of these wolves are around level 20, so they don’t net me much experience. In typical wolf packs, there is no such thing as an ‘Alpha.’ Wolves are social creatures and what people have seen as ‘alpha’ is just the parent of the pack.

I ponder about the wolves. Since these creatures have more intelligence, whether or not that deepens or weakens the bond between packmates. There could be a leader of the forest if they subjugated every other pack of wolves.

I look down at the leader of the wolves. It's still alive, but a single ray of light strikes their bloody head as they fall limp.

These [Black Wolves] are vulnerable to [Radiant Damage]. I wonder if that is the reason behind or the byproduct of their confirmed evolution to [Shadow Wolves]. Duchess starts gracefully flying around the tree tops, shooting beams of light in time with the lightning strikes.

In this dark forest, the light will be a beacon of attention. The rainstorm can hide most smells and sounds, but only lightning can cover up the rays. Rob is being ganged up on since Duchess can’t constantly spam her [Radiant] spells. Her mind magic only staggers the wolves. I leap from my branch and land heavily on a wolf.

*SNAP*

I break its spine as I roll over to Flash Gordon. He is a lazy fighter. I plunge my hand into the dead wolf and rip him out of it.

“Fetch doggy.”

I hurl him into the face of another wolf, ready to pounce on me. I expected the wolves to flee by now. Usually, predators know when to cut their losses and escape to live another day.

The eyes of the wolves are filled with rage and sadness, and the remaining wolves charge at me. Do they want to take me down by using suicidal tactics? Only about half of the hunting party fell into the hole for Khan to feed on. Around 15 wolves try to sink their teeth into me.

[Bolster Resistance]

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My resistance to piercing doubled as I quickly activated my skill. The wolves couldn’t even penetrate my skin.

They bite and claw, but they can’t do anything to me.

I kick them off me and throw a few of them into the hole for Khan. Lightning flashes as Duchess take down a few more wolves.

The bulkiest wolf left stares at me, their maw starts to froth as it fills with black energy before trying to chomp down on me again. I am curious about what it’s doing, so I take the blow.

-50

[Resistance: Necrotic 0 > 1]

Oh, cool. A new resistance type. I whistle and bring Flash Gordon into my hands. The wolf is still attached to my arm as I bring down Flash Gordon into its skull.

*squelch*

The wolf goes limp as I pry his jaw off my arm. Annoyingly, damage to my metal arm takes health away from me. I can’t even abuse the fact that it's a spare limb and sacrifice it in attacks. Not like I wouldn’t do that with my normal ones…

That wolf probably had the capabilities of evolving into a [Dark Wolf] instead of a [Shadow Wolf]. They are very similar since their elements are similar. [Necrotic] damage is the absence of life, cell death, decay, and erosion. It is the antithesis of [Healing] magic, just like [Shadow] and [Radiant] are at odds.

Rob and the rest finish off the remaining wolves.

We move quickly away from the crime scene before any scavengers come and reveal our positions. I make my way back to the cave.

~

On the first day inside the fracture, I just searched around to gather the lay of the land. I managed to find an abandoned cave. The cave is a safe and dry place where I can sleep and create an obscured fire in case I need it. The second day was when I planned and executed that pitfall trap.

The sun never rose. This fracture is always night, but some light comes from the perpetual rainstorm’s lightning flashes.

These wolves aren’t edible. Although they haven't unlocked their shadow element, their meat is still infused with that energy. It’s poisonous to the average person, but it only gives me indigestion.

Their fur isn’t worth much, and the natural resources in this place are scarce. The only materials worth gathering were small bones that I fashioned into a necklace for Rob. He was ecstatic, doing his happy dance and chattering routine when I gave it to him.

Finding a good spot to put the trap and helping rob dig the hole took a while. I had to carve some of the pungi sticks using branches, it wasn’t as good as sharpened bone, but it was better than nothing.

I didn’t sleep last ‘night,’ and I am ready to finally hit the sack. With my stats, I could power through needing to sleep every night. My body still has energy, but I want to be sharp and ready for what’s to come. I plan on wiping out as many wolves as possible but in more dangerous territories.

I rest my head on the cave floor as Rob takes a watch. Since there is no ‘morning,’ I just sleep for 8 hours.

~

When I took my time surveying, I found where the [Shadow Wolves] territory is. The fracture spawns me in the middle of an island surrounded by dark inky water. There are no beaches, just cliffs that steeply fall into the water below. The shadow wolves live away from the center due north. I didn’t have time to scout the other directions.

The weakest wolves probably live in the center and go out to the edges once they evolve into their subsequent form. I wonder if it's all shadow wolves around the rim or if the other variants take up a corner. I check my lexicon.

[Species: Lupine (Uncommon)

Variant: Black Wolf

Rank: D

Black Wolfs are in the [Lupine] family, having a common ancestor with all wolf creatures. These specific wolves have been infused with dark elements since their creation. The energy usually manifests in the form of [Shadow], but in rare cases have seen [Dark Wolves] who utilize [Necrotic] attacks.

They should not be confused with [Death Wolves] or [Skeletal Wolves]. Those variants are created with necromancy with the [Black Wolf]’s lineage. However, the [Black Wolf] family has a connection with [Hell Hounds] and other demonic beings.]

I wonder if these undead beasts are also on the island…

Grinding necrotic resistance would be convenient since I can’t really get [Shadow] resistance. [Shadow] magic manipulates shadows to create illusions and constructs out of dark energy. [Radiant] magic can create similar things by bending light with the added bonus of having powerful elemental attacks. [Shadow] offsets not having an elemental damage type by being a great conduit for other elemental energies. [Frost], [Necrotic], [Blood], etc.

On my way to [Shadow Wolf] territory, I decide to invest some stats into perception since the wolves have the natural advantage in this dark forest.

Unused: 40 > 20

Perception: 20 > 40

Suddenly I felt like a veil was removed from my brain. Subtle sounds and smells are more noticeable. The dark forest gets ever so brighter. I can feel my clothes and Duchess’ feathers in greater detail.

With my new perception, I noticed something lurking in the bushes. I prepare Flash Gordon as a rabbit the size of a person hops out of the foliage. When the rabbit sees me and all my beasts ready to pounce, it immediately flees farther into the forest.

[Giant Rabbits] also populate this forest. They are nothing more than a meal for the beasts in this forest. Now the wolves are only exp for my beasts.