Chapter 5

Aaah… This is refreshing… I thought as I washed my bloody fur using the water from a small lake. That’s right, after I had eaten, I then took a bath. It was even safe to say that this was my first bath since even in that dream, I couldn’t remember ever taking a bath. But well, I really went overboard huh?

Looking at the carcass of what was previously a Giant Frog, I couldn’t help but smile wryly. I didn’t know if it was because of the intense hunger and my natural instinct as a wolf, but when I felt that soft sensation of flesh inside my mouth, I was overcome by an intense desire to devour the entire thing. It was as if my Animal Instinct completely took over my mind.

That was dangerous… I should make sure to prevent that from ever happening again… I may be a Wolf now, but I’ll be damned if I completely give in to my instinct and become a mindless monster. As I promised to myself to never give in to my instinct, I gazed at my Status Screen.

I didn’t notice it that time, but when I detected the hostile presence of the Giant Frog, my Status Screen completely vanished from my sight. Then after my stomach had become satisfied, I noticed a new notification on the corner of my vision saying that I just leveled up. Maybe I can summon this thing if I focus enough? I asked internally while drying my newly washed fur. With that thought in mind, I experimented trying to turn the notification on and off.

Oh! I did it! It was a success. By focusing my mind, I was able to summon or make the status screen disappear. Nice! I thought while gazing at the level tab.

[Level: 7 – 8]

Two more levels before evolution huh? Man, this is hard. If I need two more levels, then that means that I need to kill more of that thing… Killing one is hard enough and now I need to kill more… Ah, what a pain…

While complaining to myself, I started moving towards the nearest boulder. Of course, after that fierce battle against the frog, my body was tired as hell. I may not be hungry now, but that doesn’t mean that my stamina was replenished. I wonder how many Giant Frogs I need to kill to reach level 10? I hope it isn’t that much, especially since killing just one of those was this taxing… Feeling drowsy, I laid down in the shadow of the boulder. Aaaahh… I wish I could just evolve quickly…

***

The young wolf ran and ran and ran. Turning his back to the anguished howl of his comrades, the young wolf followed the wish of his brother and ran for his life. Following the path that he and his comrades have traversed. The young wolf ran straight towards their hideout. On his way, the young stumbled countless times. But no matter how many times he fell, the young wolf always stood back up. Fueled by the burning desire to fulfill his brother’s wish and inform their father of his brother’s bravery, the young wolf managed to temporarily surpass his limits. And by the time the young wolf reached their hideout, his body had become badly battered and was covered in mud.

The next thing the young wolf knew, he was woken up by the sound of battle. Raising his still tired body, the young wolf looked around. The first thing he noticed was that he was inside his home. It was under the roots of a tree which was shaped like a dome. On that dome was a large hole which serves as both an entrance and exit, and outside that hole, the young wolf could clearly hear the sound of battle.

Curious, the young wolf walked outside. As the young wolf went out of the roots shaped dome, he saw that the wolves of his father’s pack were running around in panic. Near the roots shaped like a dome where he came from, was the other young wolves huddled together looking anxious and terrified. When the young wolf saw that scene, he had a bad premonition. And so, the young wolf ran towards where the other adult wolves were running to.

Probably because of all the commotion, the other adult wolves didn’t notice that the young wolf was following them. And then, the young wolf realized. The direction in which the adult wolves were running to was their hideout entrance. When the young wolf and the adult wolves reached the entrance, they were all greeted by the scene of battle.

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It was a total chaos. The usual peaceful scene that the young wolf was used to was now replaced by the scene of Dire Wolves and Great Wolves trying to kill each other. It was a brutal and bloody battlefield. Corpse of wolves whether an enemy or ally was littered all over the place. Every minute and every second, a wolf would fall to the ground and die accompanied by a dying howl.

Watching that scene just a little distance away, was the utterly confused young wolf. Even though he was watching that scene with his own eyes, he still couldn’t process it. And who could blame him? Just a little while ago, he was living a peaceful life. But just because of that sudden ambush, he was forced to leave behind his brother and run until he blacked out. Then after waking up, here he was, watching his home being invaded by an enemy pack.

While standing there in daze, the young wolf noticed a familiar presence descending on the battlefield. As the young wolf shook in terror, the other wolves who were in the midst of mortal combat also noticed that presence and stopped in their tracks. And then he appeared. The enemy alpha. The Tempest Wolf.

The Tempest Wolf walked on the bloody field as if he was just having a casual tour. But with each step, the Tempest Wolf excluded a suffocating aura that made his comrades gaze at him with awe and his enemy tremble in fear. After taking a few steps, the Tempest Wolf stopped and let out a deafening howl.

The young wolf’s comrade unconsciously took a step back after hearing that. But As if reassuring them, another alpha appeared. In contrast to the black and white fur of the Tempest Wolf, the other alpha has a fur with a color combination of blue and white. That wolf was the young wolf’s father. The alpha of their pack. The Frost Wolf.

Donned by a majestic aura, the Frost Wolf slowly walked at the field dyed in blood stopping only a few meters away from the Tempest Wolf. And then, the Frost Wolf let out an earth-shattering howl full of anger and majesty.

With the two-alpha facing each other on the center of the battlefield, each and every member of the two alpha’s pack rallied behind them. And like a calm before the storm, silence took over as the Frost Wolf and Tempest Wolf stared at each other. Amidst that deafening silence, the air shook. Then, a freezing wave and a raging wave of air clashed. Following that show of power, all the wolves behind the two alphas charged and collided at the center of that chaotic field.

Howls of anger, anguish and desperation echoed. Accompanying all of that was the sound of the crackling and whirling wind. And then, multiple explosions resounded. It was produced by the sharp spears of ice colliding with the raging blades of wind. When one wolf died, another followed. It was a vicious cycle of death. It was as if the Grim Reaper itself had descended and was dancing on that field.

While listening to the song of battle and symphony of war, the young wolf burned that scene of carnage into his soul. In front of his eyes, the young wolf saw the two-alpha gathering some kind of energy on their mouth. After a few seconds, the two alphas released that energy in the form of a raging and freezing blast of wind.

The air shook as the two-blasts traveled at terrifying speed. When the two blasts collided, it produced a huge explosion that blew away every single wolf fighting on the battlefield. Bracing himself from the explosion, the young wolf duck to the ground. Finally, after the resulting gale died down, the young wolf sneaked a peek at the battlefield.

Standing on the two sides of a crater were the two alphas which were both obviously exhausted. From the looks of it, the two alphas were just equal in power. But then, the Tempest Wolf made a weird gesture. And without any warning, a lone great wolf appeared in the shadows of the forest. That Great Wolf was carrying the head of another Great Wolf on his mouth, and that head belonged to the Frost Wolf's son.

Still standing a little distance away from the battle, was the young wolf. And that same young wolf watched that scene unfold before his eyes. With rounded eyes, the young wolf stared at the Great Wolf’s decapitated head. That head belonged to his brother, the very same brother that the young wolf left behind. In truth, the young wolf also had a suspicion that his brother might have already passed. But despite that, he still hoped that maybe. Just maybe. His brother was still alive. And now, the reality was thrust before his eyes.

Because of that scene, the young wolf’s mind went blank and he started running mindlessly towards the decapitated head. The next thing the young wolf knew, a raging blade of wind was flying towards him. As death loomed before his eyes, the young wolf froze. Time seemed to slow as the Scythe of Death flew towards his neck. But just before his life was snuffed out, a blur of white and blue jumped in front of him. Blood splattered on his face. And as the blur of white and blue fell, the young wolf saw a sinister smile plastered across the Tempest Wolf’s face.