Adam was contemplating his failure to anticipate his current situation. The duke bought him to raise and protect his children. Obviously he would want to test his abilities to do both of those things. The duke knew he did not yet have the skills for raising children, but he also knew he could already protect them.

He just needed an example of that capability.

And so Adam found himself standing in the road alone, waiting for the guards to funnel some monsters his way.

He wasn't exactly alone, but he was some distance from the others. The duke had him stay away from the guards, but within bow and magic range. If he failed in his fight, the bowman could kill the monsters before they killed him.

Adam had wanted to beg for a sword, a spear, armor, anything really, that could be used to defend himself, but knew he wouldn't be able to use any of them. Not only did he have no idea how to use them, his class didn't allow him to. And neither of the skills he'd taken the night before would help him.

After speaking with the duke, Martin had led him to another quiet corner of their way station for an attempt at the mindscape. Multi Task worked wonders in accelerating his access, but it still took hours before he got in. Knowing he would be expected to be of some use in child care from the beginning, he took Instant Family, to claim the dukes children as family, and Mother Knows Best, the knowledge skill that would be his main path to completing his task of raising those same children.

That left him with one skill point, which Martin had suggested he save for emergencies. It was sound advice, but didn't take into account the fact that he would first need to spend hours accessing his mindscape again before he could spend the point. Emergencies, by their very nature, tended not to give much in the way of time, or calm environments to facilitate the required meditation. Emergencies like the duke sticking him in the path of rampaging monsters with zero notice.

His biggest concern at the moment was what he would be fighting, rather than how he would fight it. With the berserk status of his bear form, he wasn't worried about what he would do. His main concern was trolls. Adam was positive he could do a fair bit of damage, maybe even dismemberment with a side of beheading, but that wouldn't stop a troll, only slow it down. Bears were powerful, but trolls were near immortal without the right tools.

A sudden sharp whistle from ahead snapped his head up. That was his warning of incoming enemies, but it gave no specifics on type or numbers. Adam knew there were other signals flashing past him to the guards, but he didn't know the codes required to decipher them.

He mentally set to reviewing his viable skills for the fight. All one of them. His boons and bonuses would help, but he was relying on Mama Bear to pull him through. Martin claimed that he would someday be able to see his skills and their descriptions at any time, but it would be closer to Evolution.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Adam was beginning to wonder if he'd live that long.

Ok, Mama Bear can be triggered if I'm in danger, and basically makes me a bear, but better. Martin says I'll know how to activate it when it's time, and then I just let the berserker state carry the battle, Adam thought to himself. He was walking through his plan over and over because he had a terrible feeling he was forgetting something about using his bear form. It was nagging at him, and his frustration was growing. Not that it had long to grow, as he saw the monsters coming.

Had he been paying more attention to what he heard with his ears rather than the voice in his head, he would have already known what to expect. Every attack of dire wolves on the caravan was preceded by howls, and accompanied by the gibbering of their goblin riders. Exactly like those rushing towards him.

There were five wolves, and four goblins. Each of the wolves was as tall at the shoulder as Adam was, with the riderless one being another foot taller and the obvious leader. The goblins were armed with pointed sticks, bad breath, and nudity. All three of which were weapons of fear and destruction in the possession of the tiny, green psychos.

Goblins were widely regarded as more of a nuisance than a true threat, as long as their numbers were small. Attached to the dire wolves their threat level didn't really increase, but they did make the wolves more difficult to fight through the power of their distractingly chaotic presence.

Adam took a step back as the huge wolves, and their disgusting green growths loped towards him. Unused to combat, he turned his head, helplessly searching for help. He remembered being mesmerized by the way the guards fought, safe and unafraid in the knowledge that they would protect him. Now it was his turn, and he had no idea what to do.

The only real fight he'd ever been in had been against Harold, but that fight had been a surprise. He hadn't had time to think over his actions, he had to act. With the wolves charging directly at him, time seemed to slow, giving him more time to see, to think, to fear.

He saw their tongues lolling out of their mouths, drool already flowing as they anticipated the taste of his flesh. He saw the madness in the goblins' blood red eyes, the glee with which they approached their prey. The dirt flew from the wolves paws as their claws tore through the land like they would through his flesh. They came closer and closer, and his fear grew and grew.

He took more steps backwards, barely managing not to turn and run. He knew he couldn't do it, couldn't fight those monsters. He couldn't-

Suddenly there was a sharp pain in his leg. Surprised, he looked down to see an arrow quivering in the ground after having sliced across his leg. He blinked, confused before the howls brought his focus back to where it needed to be. On his enemies.

He wasn't suddenly stronger than he had been. Or faster, more knowledgeable, more experienced. No, all he gained in that moment when the arrow pulled his attention away from the wolves was reassurance. He didn't need to kill all of the enemies, or even fight them. The guards were there to back him up, and make sure the duke's property wasn't damaged. He didn't need to win, he just needed to do his best.

Finally, he was ready to fight, and not a moment too soon. The lead wolf lept at his throat with a snarl.