The moon's silver sheen illuminated the snow-covered expanse, the mountains standing tall and foreboding in the distance. Zayzal's breathing grew steadier as he felt the power within him surging.
The first of the transformed wolves burst from the shadows, its size almost twice that of a regular wolf, eyes glowing a menacing shade of amber. Its muscular form made its approach all the more terrifying.
Soon, a whole pack of eight wolves had made its way over to him, their bodies not quite as menacing as the first but still larger than a regular wolf.
They surrounded him quickly. Once all escape routes were closed off, they began walking toward him.
As Zayzal squared off against the looming threat, an overwhelming sense of clarity washed over him. The term "[Adaptability]" replayed in his mind, leaving him wondering if it was because of this he wasn’t so scared or if it was just his survival instincts kicking in.
He didn’t have time to ponder on this as one of the wolves behind him lunged forward.
Zayzal caught this out of the corner of his eye and swiftly dodged, but he used too much power and ended up crashing into the several-foot-high snow barrier next to him.
‘Dammit! Too much strength!’ He cursed and attempted to get up, but the wolves didn’t let this opportunity go.
Another one closed the distance almost instantly, leaping onto him and sinking its claws into his back.
“Ugh! Get off me!” Zayzal reached back and grabbed it by the scruff of its neck.
Slamming it into the ground, he heard a dense thud before the wolf cried out in pain.
He didn’t have time to focus on how strong he had become as two more wolves jumped at him.
With no time to think, Zayzal summoned all his newfound strength and agility. Twisting his body, he avoided one of the lunging wolves, using its momentum to send it crashing into its counterpart. They tumbled together, leaving him with a brief reprieve.
However, the break was momentary. The alpha wolf, the one considerably larger than the rest, bared its fangs, its eyes focused squarely on Zayzal. Without hesitation, it lunged.
Even with his enhanced reflexes, Zayzal felt time slow as he stared into the oncoming jaws of death. As if guided by instinct, he sidestepped and used the wolf's momentum against it, forcefully redirecting its trajectory into a nearby tree. The alpha hit the bark with a loud thud, disoriented but far from defeated.
Another wolf was coming straight for him. This time, Zayzal was ready. He reached out and, with all his might, punched the creature squarely on its nose. The blow was so forceful that the wolf was lifted off its feet, flying several feet before it landed in the snow.
Thanks to his Pankration training, a type of Greek Martial Art that combined wrestling and boxing, he knew how to fight. Albeit, not in this kind of setting.
The remaining wolves hesitated, sensing the shift in the tide of the confrontation. Their predatory instincts were conflicted by the sudden, inexplicable strength of their prey.
Zayzal, breathing heavily, tried to take stock of his situation. He realized that while he had managed to fend off the immediate threat, he couldn’t hold them off forever. He needed a plan.
Looking around, he noticed that the snow was too tall and light for him to run in. Thus, he was forced to stay in this little pocket, which was nothing more than a death trap.
‘I need to reduce their numbers.’ Zayzal glanced down at his knife, steeling his resolve. He has killed animals before whenever he’s gone hunting with his father, but it was never this… personal.
That’s when he saw his backpack lying on the ground. An idea suddenly came to him.
Without hesitation, Zayzal rushed toward it and hurriedly put it on.
By now, the Alpha had gotten up, its eyes glowing as it narrowed in on Zayzal.
“Awoooo!” It released a howl before charging at him.
Zayzal steadied his stance, his body adapting to the rapid changes that had taken place over the last few hours. He couldn’t allow for another slip-up.
With superhuman reflexes, Zayzal caught one of the Alpha’s legs mid-flight. Then, rotating slightly, he showed his back to the wolf who had lunged at him next.
The wolf landed on his backpack and sunk its teeth into it. Zayzal felt the fabric rip as the wolf violently mauled the backpack in an attempt to kill him.
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Using what little time he had left before it ripped off his neck, Zayzal stabbed the knife into the Alpha’s neck, dropping it to the ground with the knife still inside. Then, in one swift movement, he dropped the backpack, spun around, and jammed the knife in its skull.
Seeing their leader and companion drop dead like that, the other six wolves were enraged and charged at him as if they had lost their innate instinct to flee.
There were too many for him to dodge, so using the remaining power he had in his back and arms, he lifted the Alpha’s corpse and tossed it at one of the wolves before running to the next one and tackling it to the ground.
The two of them tumbled in a frenzy, with Zayzal using every ounce of his Pankration training to subdue the beast.
Driving his knee into its ribs, he knocked the wind out of it before delivering a swift blow to its temple with his knife. The wolf's body went limp beneath him, but there was no time to celebrate his victory.
From the corner of his eye, he noticed two wolves breaking off from the pack and circling around him, clearly aiming to flank him.
Zayzal rolled away, narrowly avoiding the lunging jaws of one while simultaneously swinging his knife towards the other.
The blade connected, leaving a deep gash across the wolf's face. The beast yelped and stumbled backward, momentarily stunned.
His heart was racing. The weight of the situation pressed on him, but his body moved fluidly, adapting to the chaos with every passing second.
Zayzal took a brief second to survey his surroundings, spotting a large tree branch hanging precariously overhead. He quickly formulated a plan.
As another wolf lunged, Zayzal sidestepped and gave a swift kick to its underbelly, sending it crashing into the base of the tree.
Using the momentary distraction, he trudged through the deep snow, scaled the trunk of the tree with impressive agility that he certainly didn’t have before, and reached the heavy branch.
As the wolves regrouped below him, Zayzal put all his strength into one monumental kick against the branch. The branch snapped off, tumbling directly onto two unsuspecting wolves below. They were pinned, struggling beneath the weight.
His leg ached from that kick on the branch, but he didn’t spare it a thought with his adrenaline pumping.
The remaining three wolves hesitated, gauging the situation. The odds had shifted in Zayzal's favor, and they seemed to sense it. But instead of retreating, they grew even more aggressive, desperate to avenge their fallen packmates.
Suddenly, a chilling howl echoed in the distance, unlike any Zayzal had ever heard before. The three wolves halted in their tracks, their ears perking up, listening intently.
The wolves turned around to where the booming howl came from and scurried off together as if they were 3 children being called back to their home.
Zayzal was stunned for a moment. While grateful that he survived the fight with the wolves, he can’t help but wonder if he would have been able to survive against the beast that called the remaining wolf pack back.
“...What the hell is happening?” He whispered to himself, trying to catch his breath.
Zayzal let out a long exhale, the weight of the night's events weighing heavily on his shoulders. He had survived this encounter, but it was evident that the world around him was changing.
Half an hour later, Zayzal, with bloodied hands and snow-matted hair, had managed to patch up the deeper wounds on his body with a first-aid kit he retrieved from the remnants of his backpack.
The cool breeze bit at the exposed skin of his injuries, making him wince every time. His entire body ached, but the worst of the pain was bearable now. He was adapting to it with every minute, surprising him greatly.
However, now wasn’t the time to ponder about his new ability. He could do that when he found a safe place to stay.
With the weight of his backpack considerably lessened, he strapped it on, glancing around. The bodies of the fallen wolves painted a grim scene of the confrontation, making him feel sick to his stomach. He may have killed animals before, but it was not like this. Not this bloody or gruesome.
Glancing at the dried blood on his hands, he shook his head.
‘...How did I even win?’ Now that he thought back on it, this whole scenario seemed almost impossible. Never in his life would he have believed he could take on a pack of wolves and actually win.
‘I guess it’s all thanks to my new strength.’ He clenched his fists, still reveling in the power contained within them. ‘Along with whatever this [Adaptability] is.’
As he stood up, trying to decide on a course of action, an unmistakable sharp cry broke the silence. Zayzal's eyes snapped upward, where he met the fierce gaze of a Golden Eagle circling above him.
The majestic creature seemed to be observing him and the dead wolves.
The eagle, with its broad wingspan and golden-brown plumage, descended and perched on a nearby tree. Zayzal glared cautiously at it, holding the knife in his hand tightly.
The eagle cocked its head, its piercing eyes fixed on him. Then, it glanced at the food and, without wasting another moment, dove in.
Zayzal jumped out of the way, but the eagle wasn’t going for him.
Landing on the Alpha wolf, the Eagle, with its sharp beak, plucked out a few organs, gulping them down before taking off.
“Haaa… I need to get out of here.” Zayzal muttered to himself, watching the eagle leave. Feeling the snowflakes touch his skin, he came to a realization that perhaps the night wasn’t over.
Taking a deep breath, he decided to trek through the Norwegian backcountry, hoping to find shelter from an approaching storm.
The vast expanse of snow-covered trees stretched out endlessly, and with the snow still falling and his compass malfunctioning, navigation proved challenging.
Hours seemed to pass. The cold was getting more intense, and fatigue began to weigh him down. Although his body was adapting, it wasn’t nearly as fast as he would have liked, and with the previous fight still weighing on him, he knew he’d be easy pickings to any unsuspecting predator.
As desperation threatened to take over, Zayzal spotted a faint light in the distance. Drawing closer, the outline of a small village nestled in the embrace of the mountains emerged from the blinding white snow.