As the sun rose and the morning broke, Jake dismantled the rock shelter and scattered the trace mana left in the ground. The fire runes and network of alert sigils were broken, dispersing the heat and sense of safety in the area around the sleeping space. Jake then packed away the jerky he’d made and placed a few pieces into an easily accessible pocket for later in the day. Any leftover meat was left behind. A waste, for sure, but it was excess anyways. For the first morning, he didn’t need to break into his rations and conserved an extra meal.
Jake performed his tasks all under the watchful eyes of the Fenris Wolf. An unruly companion who’d scowled at him harshly for a reason Jake had a theory about. When he awoke, she had snarled at him and threatened to tear out his throat if he didn’t answer her question of identity. After some prodding, it seemed she was capable of seeing his mana flow. On top of that, during the night his sheer presence had made her nauseous and triggered her natural instinct to flee. Helena had called his mana foul and now another creature had said the same.
The cause was hard to pinpoint but Jake had an idea. To start, his mana wasn’t natural. It was essentially injected into his body artificially by the Dragon Goddess. Then, after his encounter with the rana pool, his mana broke and was remade into Dragon’s Blood as a fix. Further, Jake’s mana source was now Chul’s- an Arachkin Guardian. Add in the curse from the Demon King he’d encountered in his sleep along with Crux’s meddling and Jake’s mana flow was probably some disgusting mixture compared to a normal being. The fact that Jake could still function with it was a miracle in itself, but he was making it work. Constant tempering, plenty of cultivating, and regular use had made it almost natural. If it was going to rip him apart or kill him because of its poisonous nature, he certainly would’ve been dead by now.
“I have every reason to disbelieve you,” she said with a powerful huff. Her tails flicked angrily at her back, the pair twirling in an almost threatening manner. “However, my eyes have not fooled me yet. To think there are creatures such as yourself in this world. It baffles me how the heavens meddle so freely, but who am I to complain?” After her muttering, she rolled her eyes and turned away as Jake began to walk. She fell in step at his side. “It is those same Gods who gave me and my children life. As much as I detest their making of you, you are but a passing wind.”
Jake raised an eyebrow and glanced her way. “You talk a lot for a monster.”
She snapped her tail at him. It didn’t impact but the motion was enough to show her irritation. “I am a Beast, not a monster. For all your knowledge, I would think you to be aware of the difference.”
“The line between Beast and Monster is thin.” Jake shrugged. “If it weren’t for your talking, I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.”
The female beast huffed and rolled her eyes again. “Typical human. Your generalizations of your own kin and others has always been a major fault of your Race. I see you are no different.”
Jake cinched down the straps of his back, shifting the weight higher to make it more comfortable. “It’s a thin line but not invisible. My interpretation is just less forgiving. Especially when something attacks me without cause.”
The female beast lowered her head closer to Jake, eyeing his body closely. “We have plenty of cause when it comes to hunting, Mr. Jake. It is not just our nature to hunt prey. It is also for the meat sticking to your bones. You may be thin but your corpse would feed a hungry pup for a day.”
For the first time, Jake recognized his experience. He should have been scared by such a threat. He should have felt a shiver down his spine at the visualization of becoming some dog’s meal, especially with her tone and the way she sniffed his delicious scent. However, he hardly flinched. He knew she couldn’t best him and that the threat of hers was baseless. If her pack tried to hunt him again, they’d all be killed without Jake breaking a sweat.
Yet, he didn’t dissuade her from trying. Nor did he try to counter her instincts, as she was not wrong. She was a beast and a mother. Her body would naturally react to the scent of fresh meat entering her territory. An easy looking meal for her hungry pups would be impossible to resist. Especially in this terrain where food was hard to come by. Beast, Monster, or otherwise- instinct was instinct.
“Sorry to hear that your pup will have to starve.” Jake brushed off her icy gaze and focused on his walk. Indeed, if he was to be the meal for her child then said child would go hungry. For now, at least.
The female beast huffed and turned her head away, finally giving Jake a moment of peace. For several hours, that peace lasted. Jake navigated the rocky landscape with relative ease, having adjusted to it after a day of it kicking his ass. Even so, his legs burned and his feet hurt from the rough terrain. The soles of his boots provided little cushion and he could feel hot spots developing. This rock was similar to that of the Ravine so he at first thought himself fine for the few days he’d spend crossing the pass. However, the terrain here was broken up. The rocks jutted outwards at awkward angles and there were no smooth surfaces to step on. Mud and dirt occupied the gaps, with flows of water here and there that eventually soaked through his boots. His feet were in dire straits by the mid-afternoon.
“I see your pace has slowed, Human. And your presence has drawn attention. They’ll catch us if you continue to lag behind your original pace.” The female beast had steadily moved ahead of Jake, creating a slight gap between them. It wasn’t much but it seemed his pace had slowed enough to annoy her.
“Fine.” Jake had been abstaining from using his magic to develop his physical abilities. However, it seemed they would have company if he didn’t rectify that. Thus, he promptly channeled his mana flow and triggered his recovery spells. He repaired his feet, dispersed the lactic build up in his muscles, and cleared the fatigue from his mind. He also sent mana into the sigil on his pack, lightening the strain on his shoulders. “Who is They?”
“Another pack of Fenris Wolves, but they’re much more numerous and less forgiving. They’ll certainly hunt you to the last, unlike my kin.” The female beast noticed the resurgence in Jake’s step and watched as he quickly caught up to her. When he passed by, she opened her stride to keep up.
“How many?” Jake couldn’t detect anything with his Sensory magic, which told him they were still far off. They might have been using their noses and other senses to track him.
“Uncertain but at least twenty. Their main hunting party is larger than ours, as their females aid in the hunts. They only leave their older packmates to watch the pups.”
“They sound friendly,” Jake muttered as he glanced towards the sky. The sun was beginning to dip beyond the mountain peaks. Another hour or so and it would start to get dark. “How is your night vision?”
The female beast opened her eyes slightly, peering towards him. “Fine. We can see very well at night, unlike your kind. Why do you ask?”
“Tired?” Jake glanced over at her.
She shook her head. “I can travel through the night with ease if that is what you are asking.”
“Good. Then we’ll push through.” Jake slowed his step for a moment just so he could reach into his pack to pull a few pieces of jerky from it. He stuffed a piece in his mouth and then carried four others. Mobile snacks. He drank some water to hydrate and then minimized his mana burn by focusing his recovery efforts on his legs. “How far are they? Any ahead of us?”
“I cannot determine their exact distance. I only caught a trace scent of them earlier this morning when the wind shifted, so they must be fairly close. If they’re rushing, I estimate they will overtake us early during the night to cut us off.”
A fight was inevitable then. Jake could run and use his magic to push him out of the bind but it sounded like this pack was stubborn. They would hunt him until he was out of the mountains and Jake wasn’t willing to expend excess energy rushing through just to avoid some bratty mutts. Even if he did so, it would take a full day to cross the remaining distance at full pace. That was an entire day’s worth of running and constantly channeling his mana flow. Even at his level, he would suffer strain and burn through his reserves again. He’d been able to traverse the desert so quickly because he took breaks and managed his output. Here, he would have to expend everything and it still might not be enough.
He’d be vulnerable and exhausted if he came up short.
A fight would be more efficient, but he wanted the pack to work for it. The more they worked, the more tired they would be at the eventual encounter. If they had night vision, then the timing wouldn’t matter. The difference would be how much they wanted their kill.
“Your heart is beating rather loudly. Is that excitement I sense?” The female beast leveled her head at Jake’s side, her eyes narrowing. Her fluffy ears twitched as they listened to the thumping in his chest.
Jake huffed and opened his stride. “It might be.”
Breaking their duet, a howl shattered the silence in the mountains. The pair turned and spotted a small silhouette in the distance. High up on the edge of the right mountain, the black furred Fenris Wolf’s snout tilted towards the heavens as it sounded an alarm. The prey had been spotted.
Now, the real hunt began.
“Let’s go.” With his heart raging in his chest as adrenaline tickled the edges of his face, Jake turned his back to that sound and hurried into the coming night.
Round two was upon them. This time, he wouldn’t leave any breathing to ask for mercy.
----------------------------------------
The night came stubbornly but right on time. The howls were drawing closer with every passing hour and Jake’s beast companion was able to clearly pick up their smell now. Jake’s sensory magic continued to fail him but as night fell, he began to pick apart the moving shadows with his night vision. Much like the first pack, the wolves were higher up on the edges of the mountains, racing along the ridges in an attempt to do just as expected; cut him off. The pack would encircle him to cut off any hope of escape, then descend from the heights to try and take his throat. With no way out and more numbers on their side, the fight would be a one-sided slaughter.
Except, Jake had no intention of letting that happen. If they wanted a fight, they would get it from the start. He would push them into a brawl, not a planned ambush.
“They’re pushing ahead of us.”
For the initial majority of the hunt, Jake had kept his quick walking pace and continued to move without alerting the pack of his awareness to their close proximity. It was only when he’d spotted the groups at their sides that he decided to start running. With the female beast at his side, Jake had no doubt they were aware of at least her abilities. If they had a plan, once they’d spotted her, it was likely changed. How, and if it was truly adjusted, Jake was unsure. Thus, he would need to move first lest he fall into their flow.
“How many?” Jake’s eyes shot around the valley, searching for the shadows. He counted five but the female beast’s original estimation had been twenty so he kept looking, and counting.
“I count ten, at least.”
“Ahead of us?”
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“Ahead of us.”
Jake nodded and grabbed his blades. “Go time.” The sheathes sang as Elvish metal tasted the night’s chilly air.
If the estimation was twenty, that put half of the hunting party at the front or at least positioned toward their sides, with the remaining half carrying the rear to close the door. This would be their most vulnerable point- stretched thin in all accounts.
Jake came to an abrupt stop and dropped his pack with a thud. Four fire runes surrounded it, lighting the ground with several burning red markers for Jake to find later. Next, he jerked a hand to the air and launched four massive orbs of light. The darkness of the night was immediately washed away, painting the terrain white as the four sun-like objects ascended. In the illumination, dozens of Wolves were suddenly exposed, their bodies casting heavy shadows on the rocks around them. Spotted, and in the open, Jake swept his eyes around and conjured dozens of Fire Spears with explosive tips.
“I see you,” he locked eyes with a wolf before scattering his spells in every direction. Explosions rocked the valley. The sounds of howls, barks, and yelps of pain carried along beside the booms. Shockwaves shook the rocks free and stones showered down into the lower valley from above as massive craters formed at the impact points. Corpses of wolves and those with broken or maimed legs all fell or rolled into the rain of fire as Jake blew the mountain sides apart.
The female beast at his side watched in awe as he decimated any threats he could see. Others maneuvered out of sight or slipped into hiding, concealing themselves from his attacks. Yet, it was too late. A handful were already dead and the holes in the net were started. Now, it was time to tear them open.
Exhaling a heated breath, Jake dumped mana into his legs and launched himself up towards the distant ridge along the left mountain. Wind magic burst at his heels, allowing him to scale the distance quickly as he accelerated along the contours of the earth. His eyes flared, his Sensory magic working in overdrive as he expanded his sphere of mana detection. In doing so, a handful of wolves came into his awareness.
Jake landed on a rock overtop one of his prey and the wolf immediately looked up towards the sound.
It barked and snarled, only for its eyes to be stabbed through by Elven mithril. The shimmering light blue blades glowed bright, thirsty for their evening meal. Jake pinned the corpse to the ground and stomped on its throat, yanking his weapons free. Fresh blood and brain matter dripped from their edges. Jake let out a huff of satisfaction as he stared at his first close-quarters kill of the battle. Yet, he could not admire his work for long. Another bark caught his attention and he snapped to his left. Just as the wolf stepped around a boulder, its face was shattered by a ball of flame. Smoke plumed from the impact point as the headless body slumped, motionless.
Moving to find more to kill, Jake hopped to the top of the rock he’d landed on. His eyes scanned, spotting four incoming. Spears appeared at his shoulders, twisted violently, then fired towards their targets. One struck home. It burrowed into the ribcage of a wolf before scattering bone and flesh as it detonated.
Another blew apart a massive boulder, causing shrapnel to scatter and impale a wolf in the face, side, and underbelly. Fire scorched its fur and face, burning one of its eyes and half of its snout. It staggered and flinched away from the flames, only for its heart to be pierced by a follow-up spear.
The other two wolves nimbly maneuvered around the spears targeting them, skirting through the explosions. Hardly singed, they charged on undeterred. Jake gripped his blades and met their enthusiastic charge with his own, kicking off the rock like a missile towards them.
“Human rat!” One of the wolves snapped, barking and biting at Jake.
Jake caught its razor teeth with his sword and then cleanly sliced through its front right leg. It yelped as it toppled over. Jake delivered a swift knee to its jaw, knocking the beast further off balance before twirling on his heels to avoid getting his back clawed open. He backstepped and parried away a set of jaws, then leapt further back to avoid getting tackled. The Wolf quickly adjusted its footing and charged again, trying to once more tackle Jake. Jake answered by skewering it in the stomach with several spikes of rock that shot up from underneath the beast.
The wolf’s face stopped mere inches from Jake’s as it coughed and whined, its entrails pouring out of its stomach. Jake spit in its face and then shoved his sword up into its skull, killing it with a powerful thrust. “Pathetic dogs.”
A pair of howls cut through the valley, along with several loud signaling barks. Their direction caught Jake’s attention and the hair on his neck stood on end. He jumped on top of a boulder, his eyes turning down into the valley towards his pack. There, the female beast wrestled with another wolf, trying to get to an advantageous position while two others were closing in on her. Across the valley on the other mountain side, several other members of the pack were moving in as well. Jake could also see the wolves entrusted with the rear racing forward to reinforce their kin.
“Brawl time,” Jake stifled a laugh as he contained himself and raised a hand, directing his magic flow for accuracy as several spears appeared at his shoulders again. Aiming down, Jake rained fire on those who dared attack a companion of his. The two wolves off her sides were struck, unaware, and both became mist and chunk. Several on the other mountain side were targeted as well but most moved out of the way of the spears after spotting the danger. Only two were injured from the attack, their injuries minor.
The female beast got the better of her foe and her massive jaws clamped around its neck. With a rip and tear, her powerful fangs easily removed the throat of her victim. The beast still tried to claw and bite at her in its final moments but its head was punctured by a swift moving sword. Jake stabbed its skull to the ground, pinning it in place as he defended his ally.
She spit the mouthful of meat from her jaws and snarled. “You fight like a barbarian, Human, but I respect it.”
“Eliminate the threat. That’s all that matters. I’ll fight in any way to achieve that goal.” Jake yanked his sword free and then reached skyward. He fired off several more illuminating balls of light to replace the ones he’d originally shot, keeping the valley bright and visible.
“I can see. It is almost beautiful, if not terrifying.” Her tails whipped at her back as she turned her attention to the rear pack members. “There are many more than I expected. Shall I assist you, Mr. Jake?”
“Just don’t get in the way.” Jake conjured several fire spears and launched them in both directions, targeting as many wolves as he could hit.
The female beast snarled and took that as enough permission. “I could say the same to you.”
Without another word, the two split. She to the rear, Jake to the mountain ridge.
Violence over hesitation. Merciless action to ensure efficiency. Lessons learned after fighting the Maedra once more came to the surface as Jake tore through the Wolves, hunting them in the rocks. He blew apart the stones and boulders they used to hide behind, shattering their bones and bodies with overwhelming firepower. Those who came too close, or those he found within reach and magic unnecessary to dispatch, he used his blades to end them. He bounded through the rocks like a wraith, listening for their barks, their sniffs, their howls. They barked and communicated in an attempt to organize some form of attack formation but he moved far too swift for them to get a bead on him.
They were far too slow. Far too lacking in numbers. Far too disadvantaged by the terrain. The large rocks, sloped mountain side, and loose terrain all provided poor angles of attack for the pups. Where Jake simply jumped overhead and kept to the tops of the boulders themselves. Jake had also learned his lesson from the prior fight. So long as he kept the wolves separated and took them on individually, he wouldn’t have to worry about his back being nipped at. To ensure they never could group up, Jake showered the area with fire spells, forcing them to seek protective cover.
“Annoying mage!” One of the wolves barked as her feet slipped out from beneath her. Jake caught the beast on a set of earth spikes, skewering it before jumping down to dissect its bowels with a broad swing. The beast wasn’t dead but Jake left it without delivering a killing blow. Its entrails poured out of its stomach and blood gushed out from the massive wound. As punishment for opening its mouth, Jake would let it die pitifully.
After dispatching a handful along the mountain side, he heard a familiar howl from below. The female beast was surrounded again. She stood atop a dead Wolf, her jaws and fur soaked in the blood of those she had been killing, but she wasn’t as quick as Jake was. Nor was she as strong. Some of that blood was likely hers.
“Dammit,” Jake cursed and adjusted his feet. He stomped onto a wolf’s face and used it like a spring board, kicking off and launching himself down the mountain, back into the valley. The beast under his foot crumbled to the ground, its skull cratered from the power of the wind gust.
Jake kicked off several boulders, using the steps to both accelerate and keep his aim true as he zipped towards his ally. She tangled with two others and found herself clawed in the hip by a third. As the fourth moved to try and bite one of her tails, Jake slammed his shoulder into its side, tackling it out of the way.
Unable to recover easily, Jake tumbled along the ground and bounced a few times before finally slamming into a rock that stopped his momentum. The instant he hit, Jake coughed as the wind was purged from his lungs. Pain seared through his right shoulder, left knee, and his right arm. Nothing was broken but fuck did that hurt.
The wolf he’d slammed into rolled a few times and whined as it tried to stand. Before it could, Jake blew off its hind legs and then its head.
“Fuckin’ mutt,” he spat as he recovered from the impact. Recovering from his tumble, he quickly got to his feet and then rushed to the female beast’s side. One of the other wolves had jumped onto her back and sank its fangs into her lower back, eliciting a loud howl from her throat. Jake cut off mana to the spell he was aiming at its face and instead jumped up to stab the beast between the brow, splitting its skull.
The female beast fell to the ground, and Jake flipped over her back to her other side. There, he stabbed one other Wolf through the throat and blew the head off another. “Can you stand?” He asked as he kicked his quarry off his sword. With a flick, he scattered the blood and brain matter onto the ground.
“You continue to annoy me with your questions of my strength, Human.” The female beast snarled at him as she bit the dead wolf’s head from her back, releasing herself from its jaws. However, when she tried to get to her feet, her hips wobbled. “I am not so fragile.”
Jake stared at her for a moment before another howl cut off his thoughts. A large wolf with a pair of horns jutting from its skull appeared along one of the mountain ridges. As its powerful, and obnoxiously loud howl rang through the valley, several other wolves also adorning horns appeared at its side. They all had twin tails, were all much larger than their counterparts, and all of them had black fur and yellow eyes.
“Aurin’toth,” the female beat snarled the name as her icy eyes narrowed.
Jake didn’t wait for an explanation. He didn’t care for one. He launched a dozen fire spears towards the new arrivals, blowing apart the rocks above them and below them in an attempt to either crush them or sweep out their feet. They scattered and rushed downwards to avoid the avalanche of stone, only to be met with additional fire and Stone Breaker spells. Jake shattered the mountain side and pummeled the beasts, bringing down the sky itself on their heads. Eight new wolves had appeared, nine counting Aurin’toth. By the time they reached the bottom, five were gone and two were injured.
“So much for reinforcements,” Jake spit on a wolf corpse at his side and scowled at the remaining untouched pair. “Shall I add your horns to my collection?” Jake stomped forward, intent on slaughtering them without pause.
“Coward! You fight with magic rather than fang and metal!” Aurin’toth’s voice boomed through the valley as he too stepped forward. “I’ll tear out your throat and use your body as a sleeve for my cock!”
… Jake paused.
“That’s a new one.” He blinked for a moment. Only to raise his hand and fire a spear at the wolf’s feet. Stone exploded in Aurin’toth’s face and the wolf charged through the dirt and scattered rock. Jake repeated the process, blasting apart the floor and forcing Aurin’toth to rush through the hail of stone and debris. The wolf snarled and barked, dodging and launching into the impacts without fear.
Mere meters away, Jake blew apart the ground once more and used magic to scatter the dirt directly upwards, blinding the wolf completely. It rushed forward anyways, lunging into the wall of dirt as it launched itself to try and attack. Except, Jake wasn’t on the far side.
Aurin’toth jumped straight into a massive wall of rock, smashing his snout and face against the stone. The lower portion of the wall cracked and crumbled to pieces, while the top half split into a massive slab. Jake, having jumped over the beast and the wall, used wind magic to kick the chunk over and then blasted it downwards. It fell like a hammer, smashing into the wolf’s midsection and hips. The impact slammed the wolf to the floor and pinned it in place beneath the weight of the thick rock.
Unable to move, Aurin’toth’s wiggled and clawed at the ground as Jake landed on the slab. Jake didn’t use his swords to finish him off. No, he once more utilized rock magic. A thin but sturdy spike of rock drove up through the wolf pack leader’s skull, killing it.
Jake glared down at the corpse, his eyes watching as the mana flow within the beast evaporated. It was dead. How uneventful. “No wonder the Maedra are such a threat to you all,” he mumbled, discontent with how things were going. If this was how tough beasts were on the surface, then the fear of the Maedra was very much justified. These beasts were pathetic.
“No, it is just that you are different, Mr. Jake.” The female beast lumbered to his side. Her hips gave out, the injury running its course. She winched and adjusted her butt to help with the pain. “I now understand how you survived their gluttony.”
Jake turned his eyes towards her and met her cold gaze. “I didn’t survive,” he spat. He raised a hand and, without looking, pierced the skull of the last horned wolf with a spear of raging fire. Its body blew apart a moment later.
“I conquered that disgusting pit.”