Chapter 68- Wolfy

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After recovering from another stomach upset, he placed his hand on an ash covered rock and pushed himself up.

“Same planet,” he stated, looking at the three moons and turquoise sun. It seemed to be night, but the three moons blasted an array of colours creating perplexing shadows. All around him were tall circular rock formations that went hundreds of metres up in the air. He was at the bottom of them, along winding corridors.

“What was the monster again?” Lucia asked.

“Night Prowler,” Sol replied, looking around.

“Seems like a hunting ground,” she replied.

“How?” Sol asked.

“The claw masks on the rock in front of you. It marked its territory and probably hunts solo,” Lucia explained.

Sol eyes locked on the five claw marks on the rock. They were about three inches deep.

“It’s gonna fuck you up,” Lucia remarked.

“It might, but if it’s a wolf type then I should be able to kill it. Unless it doesn’t run away.”

“A prowler is not a wolf type, more a werewolf,” Lucia explained.

“What? It was a wolf before,” Sol said.

“You are really stupid, do I know more about your own class than you?”

“Um- no?”

“Transformation, remember? You transformed it into a native or whatever of the Euclid Dimension. What if there are no wolves here you big dummy.”

“Can you-”

Sol turned and stopped on a dime as a few rocks fell next to him.

“Dun, dun… dun, dun,” Lucia teased.

“Shut up.” Sol said quietly, he was genuinely scared. For an immortal man, he rarely felt intimidated.

Time starts now: 54:02

Sol looked up to the top of the rock formation where two iridescent eyes were staring at him from a giant black figure.

“You’re gonna die… At least 14 times.”

“Lucia. Concentrate.”

He felt his fingers shake slightly as the stare down with the creature started.

“Bring it!” Sol shouted but it didn’t move it.

Sol picked up a rock and threw it as hard as he could up to the top. It still didn’t move it.

“What’s it doing?” Sol asked.

“It’s a lot smarter than you think,” Lucia stated.

“Then it should know that I’m fair game.”

“It wants to instill fear, force you to come out of shock after a while, then pounce when you are relaxed. Didn’t you learn this? It’s like monster lore 101.”

“What, so I have to sit here and twiddled my fucking thumbs.” Sol said.

“Pretty much. Or go for a walk and keep your back turned. It may feel like you don’t notice it anymore.”

Sol cracked his neck. “Well I’m not sitting down and waiting.”

He looked up at it before turning his back, a shiver ran down his spine. He started walking along the twisting corridors made from stone.

“You really are scared,” Lucia teased.

“Can you watch my back?” Sol asked, ignoring her.

“If I tell you when it's coming then it will realise that you noticed and retreat,” Lucia said. She was surprisingly full of information and cunning.

“So I just need to keep walking until it bites my head off,” Sol remarked with fake enthusiasm.

“Wow, you caught on. You really are smart,” Lucia sarcastically said.

They didn’t speak for another few minutes and Sol was beginning to worry about the time remaining.

“Boo!” Lucia shouted and Sol almost dropped his daggers.

He took a deep breath in and carried on walking. Just then, he heard a rock slip behind him. He turned around to see the creature only five metres away from him. He felt his ass tighten as he gulped.

Level 47 Night Prowler

It was the same size as before but it had a hunched back and more flexible legs for climbing. Its fur was pitch black like the stone around it. Instead of paws it had monkey-like hands with huge claws extending out.

The sigh alone terrified Sol but the fact that it was completely still scared him more. He couldn’t even hear it breathe- it was like a statue.

“Psss,” Lucia whispered. “It’s right there.”

Sol didn’t respond as he gripped his black steel daggers.

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“Easy boy. Easy boy-”

The prowler moved incredibly fast and went for an attack with its right hand. A claw caught Sol’s side but he could still move. He barrel rolled forwards and went to stab the stomach. The prowler's back leg grabbed him while digging all of its claws into his body. It threw him into a nearby wall and proceeded to rip his head off with its mouth.

“That’s one!” Lucia said.

Sol regenerated and teleported on its back and started to rapidly stab into its spine. The hide was extremely tough so Sol had to use even more power to pierce it. The prowler began to knock into the side of the rock formations sending small fragments crashing down on its back. That didn’t seem to injure but it definitely hit Sol hard.

A rock crushed his leg and then dragged him off of the back. He landed on his neck and the rock fell into his head killing him again.

“That’s 2!”

The prowler turned and grabbed him with two hands. It literally pulled his head apart from his shoulders like a nut and bolt.

“3!”

“Shut up!” Sol shouted. “Can’t you fucking help!”

Again, he teleported on top of its head and started to widely stab at its eyes and head. Sol didn’t expect the prowler to reach its head but it pulled him off and killed him again.

“It’s not a dog,” Lucia said.

“I fucking figured, Lucia!” Sol shouted.

The battle ensued as one would expect. Sol being ripped apart again and again without barely getting a few ticks of damage in.

“How much health does this thing have?” Sol questioned with ragged breath.

Thankfully, the prowler was looking tired. It’s breathing was heavy like Sol’s and its blood reflected with iridescence on its fur coat.

“You’ve caused a large wound on its left hand and an equally large one on the back,” Lucia explained.

“Just tell me its fucking health.” Sol remarked.

“I don’t know- 15%.”

Sol looked at the timer.

Time remaining: 9:42

He teleported on top of the prowler's head but didn’t attack. He rolled over to the wound on its back and stuck his two daggers in. He pushed himself while holding them and caused a 3 metre long wound on its rib cage.

He rolled underneath another attack from the prowler and exited out from underneath it. He sliced its balls for good measure before getting some distance.

“Nice hit!” Lucia cheered. “You’re causing massive bleeding damage.

Then the prowler did something so unexpected- it started to run away.

“What’s it doing?” Sol asked.

“What do you think?!” Lucia shouted. “Get after it!”

She vibrated in his sheath, pulling him forwards, he started running with the newfound moment.

The prowler was running on all fours down the tight corridors of ash covered stone.

“Why is it not just going up?” Sol asked.

“It can't- look at its front,” Lucia said.

Sol noticed the limping and then glanced at the timer.

Time remaining: 4:31

“Hey Sol, you’re really going to have to do something,” Lucia said.

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. Just kill it.”

Sol ran on with a disgruntled face, he followed the prowler along twisting turns and loose rock. Even if he was feeling tired, he would fall behind if he killed himself so he carried on.

Time was running out and he needed to do something.

“The rock ahead!” Lucia shouted.

Sol looked up to see a rock that was hanging over the edge, the problem was- he was going to struggle getting up there. If he managed to knock it off, when the prowler turned the corner it would fall onto it.

He pushed his muscles to the max as he sped up, it was his only chance. He jumped up onto a heightened flat on the side and picked up speed again to keep up. It was coming up faster than expected. He activated Iridescent Blink and teleported up to the ledge.

He used as much force as possible to jam his dagger in. He pressed so hard that the handle snapped off yet the blade remained in there. He loved his daggers so much and he had just ruined them.

He grabbed the blade with his own bare hand and pulled on it with everything he had. He felt the weight of the rock shift and began to fall.

“You did it!” Lucia exclaimed, “Oh, this is about to hurt.”

Sol felt himself free fall, joined by the large rock he was underneath. Its trajectory wasn’t the best but it would be sure to hit the prowler. He put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes.

Sol fell onto the floor in front of the Prowler and then the rock landed on its back- crushing the spine and eventually killing it. Sol’s body was practically mush and bone but nonetheless, he woke up again.

“Nice thinking,” Sol said.

“You’re ah- welcome,” Lucia said, tucking her imaginary hair behind her imaginary ears.

Sol glanced down to the broken dagger in his hand, the entire blade had snapped off. It was supposedly super durable but any idiot bending it against rock would break it.

“It’s ok! You can use me!” Lucia exclaimed.

Sol carefully put the broken dagger into the pouch, he would ask Ozark to fix it but a broken blade usually meant that was it for any weapon. Black Steel was notoriously hard to fix. He was instantly in a bad mood.

“Awww, c’mon.” Lucia comforted, “You just need to fatten me up.”

“Maybe,” Sol said as he bent down to look at the dead prowler's face. He was glad he had done it and with a minute to spare. He hated to think how hard Ozark would be to tame.

Congratulations! You have completed the task with 5:23 minutes remaining.

Level 47 Night Prowlercan now be brought back to life as one of your summons.

It will remain in this location until you call upon it.

Level 47 Night Prowler has been tamed and is now one of your summons.

Would you like to bring the designated entity back to life? Yes/No?

This process will not cost you anything.

Sol rubbed his hands together greedily and selected yes. The prowler’s body started clicking and regrowing back into place. The rock was pushed off its body

The influx of information came to him, it still wasn’t easy or nice to experience. It’s life involved killing, lots of it.

Level 47 Night Prowler.

Summoning Cost: 2,349

That was it, no skills, titles or unique features. Regardless, it was still absolutely terrifying.

“Name?” Sol asked Lucia.

“Wolfy,” Lucia said.

“C’mon, just Wolfy? Wolfy and Fluffy?”

“Hey, you asked,” Lucia remarked.

Sol sighed. “Ok, your name is now Wolfy.”

He placed a hand on its soft fur and started stroking it.

“Let’s go for a ride,” Sol said.

Two minutes later, Wolfy was covering 100s of metres within a few seconds.

“Holyyy fuckkkkk!” Sol screamed as Wolfy leapt across a huge gap.

The night prowler made for excellent transport, it easily held him on its back as it moved around the rock formations. It could climb, jump and even hang upside down. It was terrifying but all the more thrilling. He forgot about his dagger breaking for a moment.

The timer ticked down to zero and Sol was whisked back to Gaia.