I don't know how long we walked for but the sun is starting to set. I'd say we have about an hour, maybe two before dark. We've stopped next to the large river to the South that seems to go on forever. We're all thirsty and hungry, but we think the water probably isn't safe to drink. There could be monsters lurking inside of it, too, so we set up camp a good distance away from it. Well, set up what we can. We don't have anything other than the clothes on our backs, a few weapons and a few scars. I need a patch to cover my left eye. It probably looks gross.

I'm still pissed about the stat limit but I'm sure there's a way for me to increase either my stats or my rank further. Everyone feels terrible, but we rest for the night. One of us stays awake as lookouts, changing shifts every hour, or what we think is an hour. I stay as lookout for 4 hours, feeling less tired due to my stats, I think. That was a mistake. I'll live.

I wake up the next morning, the sun starting to rise. My head aches and my stomach growls, my throat dry and itchy. No one speaks much, standing up and making our way towards the forest, our weapons in hand.

The sun is high in the sky by the time we make it to the forest. We don't find anything for what feels like an hour. I'm so fucking bored. I hate this. I feel like screaming my lungs out, but before I can, a noise catches the attention of my group. A stick cracks behind us, and we all turn. There, 5 wolves stare us down.

WHAT THE FUCK. Are you fucking kidding me? We didn't see or hear a single one of them until now? Do they have skills too? Fuck, fuck fuck fuck. This is terrible. Irritation fills my chest and fear grasps my limbs. The wolves stand in a V formation with the largest wolf in the front. It has a patchy dark grey coat, riddled with scars. The wolves start advancing toward us. My group stands in fear, our last experience with a single fucking wolf clearly instilling fear into them. Are you kidding me? I'M the one that almost DIED. Fuck, I hate this so much. With a short shout, I make my way towards the wolves, standing between them and the rest of my group. A quick bolt of mana shoots past my head, striking the largest wolf in the middle. It pierces the left eye of the wolf. Fuck, Sophia's got a nice shot. My fear is quickly replaced with a deep, raw fury. I hate this stupid fucking world. I swear I'll kill every single monster that gets in my way. Our group moves back into formation, giving me another small inkling of hope.

[Wolf, level 3, G Rank]

[Wolf, level 3, G Rank]

[Wolf, level 4, G Rank]

[Wolf, level 5, G Rank]

[Dire Wolf, level 8, F Rank]

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The Dire Wolf rushes me first, leaving its pack behind in favor of an attack fueled by bloodlust and anger. My senses quickly kick in to overdrive, adrenaline pumping through my veins as I prepare to fight. I feel an intense excitement fill my heart. I feel a deeper focus than I ever have, the details of the world filling my mind as I analyze the Dire Wolf in front of me. A thin smile grabs my lips.

The wolf jumps at me, opening its mouth to bite me while holding its legs out to pounce on me and scratch me. In an instant, I feel the effects of both [Reinforce] and [Enhance] on my body. I lower my body below the wolf and shove my right shoulder into its chest, quickly forcing my left arm below its head to stop it from biting me. Using its moment, I twist and slam it into the ground with an unfamiliar but enthralling dexterity. I quickly swing my scimitar down towards the wolf, holding its head with my left hand. It scratches me with its claws, filling me with an unusual anger. The moment before I strike it, the wolf rips its head out of my grasp and bites the blade of the scimitar. A terrifying crack sounds out as I watch my scimitar split in half. I don't let it faze me. shoving my left hand into its right eye, completely blinding it before I get up and take a few quick steps away from the wolf. The rest of the wolves are already encroaching. They're not as motivated as the dire wolf, but there's only a few seconds before we'll be surrounded and mauled. James and Eric are standing between me and the wolves, holding out their weapons. I run over to them and grab their shoulders, pulling them away from the Dire Wolf as it stands up and begins thrashing around. One of the wolves sees this as an opportunity and jumps at James, who is to my left. He quickly and fiercely swings his shortsword at the neck of the wolf, cutting halfway through it. The weight of the wolf pushes James over. It weakly struggles before dying, but James is nearly unscratched. The other three wolves quickly follow behind, two biting at me and one lunging at Eric.

I point at the wolf to my left and lunge towards the wolf on my right, kneeing its jaw before it can react. A satisfying crack fills my ears, the wolf stumbling back in immense pain. The other wolf lunges at me but is interrupted by a well-timed mana bullet that lands on its right leg, causing it to slip for a brief moment and lose its balance. I take a short step back and slam my palm on top of the head of the wolf, following through with the hit until I smash its head into the ground. I grab its jaw and wrench it downwards, using my body for leverage as I slowly rip it off. The satisfying tearing of flesh fills me with an intense vigor. However, I don't notice the other wolf already lunging towards me, having been given enough time to recover. It bites into my left forearm, its jagged and cracked teeth piercing cleanly through my flesh, stopping at my bone.

Reflexively, I jam my index and middle fingers into its left eye. The disgusting sound of its eye and brain squelching before my fingers is vile, dampening my anger for a brief moment. The wolf bites down harder for a short moment before its grip releases. I push it off of me, letting it die a slow death next to the other wolf. I look over to Eric and see him on the ground, his shortsword lying a few feet to his side with a crack along its blade. The wolf is biting into Eric's shoulder, threatening to rip it out. A quick bolt of mana strikes the neck of the wolf, and I see James lunge forward with his shortsword, piercing through the neck of the wolf. I take a few heavy breaths and turn around, putting the two mutilated wolves out of their misery with two rough stomps. I look for the Dire Wolf, my eyes landing on its lifeless corpse. Its left eye is nothing more than a gaping hole. I guess Sophia finished it off.

My adrenaline slowly fades, accompanied by heavy, labored breaths. We did it. We killed all of the wolves. We're alive.