I cursed as I noticed three red dots on the map up ahead. Pulling the information up on my scanner, I found they were Dire Wolves.

It had been a likely outcome for the area I was in, however, that didn’t mean that I had to like it. Wolves were some of the nastier Beasts that I had fought and if the weaker versions were present on the edge, then I suspected a Great Wolf would be at the rift.

Still, I was a far different person from the one who had battled the wolf pack at the lake, even if there was a Great Wolf, I was sure I could take it.

Bracing myself for the fight, I began cautiously approaching. My scanner had only picked them up about a hundred feet away, far lower than its usual range. I was beginning to suspect that strong background Psi energy was one thing that interfered with it.

That meant I had to be careful, as there could be more wolves deeper into the forest. While a few of them weren’t too much of a threat, drawing a massive pack could easily get me killed.

Growls echoed from the edge of the woods as I approached, signaling the imminent beginning of combat. Further into the forest, another red dot appeared, then a second.

Reinforcements were approaching.

Cursing again, I began charging an empowered shot on my Psi pistol. I had found that with practice I could charge a shot in advance and hold the charge until it was needed.

I used this to impressive effect as three wolves burst from the tree line seconds later. I instantly fired the empowered shot at the one on the right, taking it out in a purple explosion.

My empowered shots were enough to kill enemies of this level in a single shot as long as I hit them in the head or chest, while my normal shots took several hits to achieve the same result.

One percent per shot was still considerably cheaper than the five percent required for an empowered shot, however. Concerned about maintaining my energy over what could turn into a long fight, I opened fire with a volley of normal shots on the next wolf.

Three of the four shots struck true, blowing its chest away and sending it crashing to the ground.

That left a single wolf that lunged for my leg in an attempted trip. I reflexively activated Skin Hardening and barely budged as its teeth skittered across my hardened nano-weave armor.

Despite its name, Skin Hardening was more than capable of increasing the defenses of the armor I was wearing. I had a feeling this was something specific to the nano-weave material, as it had done nothing for my normal clothing before.

While I still felt the impact of the wolf hitting, I had seen this move dozens of times before. With time to prepare, and lacking the surprise factor, my six Brawn was enough to easily keep me on my feet.

With its movement halted, the wolf was an easy target for a double tap to the skull. The short range, combined with a critical target, took it out in two shots, leaving it to slump to the ground at my feet.

A glance at my watch showed two more at the edge of the forest, with more dots appearing by the second behind them.

“This is going to be a long fight,” I muttered with a sigh as I raised my pistol again.

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By the time I had finished the last of the twenty-four wolves, I was a gasping mess, covered in blood. While most of it was from a wolf I dispatched with my Psi blade, a considerable amount of it was my own.

Once three of them had engaged me in close combat at the same time, I took some damage. My method of flickering Skin Hardening on and off as needed might save a lot of energy, however, it left me vulnerable to attacks that I couldn’t see.

Luckily, my armor saved me from serious damage in most cases, leaving only minor injuries that continued to stack up. What was worse than the injuries, though, was my near-complete lack of Psi energy.

I was down to under ten percent and the migraine that had formed was pounding away in my head. While it wasn’t bad enough to knock me out this time, it was far from pleasant.

With a last check to confirm that no additional enemies were visible on my scanner, I sank to the ground with a groan. I would need a significant rest before I was ready to brave the rest of the forest.

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After a few deep breaths, I began pulling out my medical kit and treating my wounds. This was the one time that my nano-weave armor was inconvenient, as its self-healing nature covered my injuries almost immediately.

This meant I had to actually strip it off in order to treat myself, something that left me feeling awkward and exposed out in the open. So far I had avoided being attacked while nearly naked, however, some part of me feared it was nearly inevitable.

This time, at least, I avoided that fate and was able to pull my armor back on after treating all my wounds. After that, I settled in for a solid rest, planning on staying put until my Psi energy fully recovered.

The best thing about fighting Beasts was that they didn’t prepare for you, even if they knew you were coming. I wasn’t optimistic enough to believe that these wolves were the only threat in the trees, however, I also didn’t believe waiting would make it any worse.

That meant I could take the several hours required to regenerate my energy, I would just have to keep a careful eye out in case any more enemies approached.

Once I had gained enough energy back to clear my headache, I began harvesting the multitude of corpses around me. Twenty-four cores was a nice haul, more than I usually got in a day, and I couldn’t help but grin even during the grisly task of extracting them.

My savings were growing well, and I was approaching the point where I had enough money to fund a new expedition. I would be due back to the city for a resupply and meetup with Linnea in a couple of days, after that I felt it was time to make a bee-line for the next mountain.

While my back-and-forth exploring had been profitable, it was extremely slow. If I moved directly to the base of the mountain instead, I could be there in a few days. Once there, I could bring in reinforcements for just the last part, allowing me to reduce costs as much as possible.

I didn’t want to leave too much of a gap between going after each of them, as the last thing I wanted was to annoy the Duchess. She had been very reasonable so far, and I wanted to keep it that way.

Besides this, I wanted the next power-up that I expected to get there. The jump to Journeyman had been amazing, and I couldn’t wait to improve my ability even more.

With that in mind, I began scheduling the trip and seeing who was available. Elana responded almost immediately with an enthusiastic agreement to be ready. A short while later, I got a negative from Adam saying he would be busy.

Finally, I got a message from Linnea saying she could make it. That was a relief, as I probably would have had to cancel the trip without at least one combat character coming along.

While I had improved significantly, I wasn’t confident in my ability to keep two people safe on my own. Not against the greater dangers that could be found in the mountain, or against the AI that was almost certainly waiting for us.

By the time I had sorted that out, my energy reserves were full, and I was ready to head into the forest. I only had a few more hours before dark and I wanted to get in and use the rift before then.

I kept a close eye on my watch as I entered the forest, however, I didn’t see any enemies appear. It was just as eerily quiet inside as it had been outside, leading to a horror movie vibe that was hard to shake.

Trying to stay focused, I followed my Psi sense toward the top of the hill and the center of the forest. It was only a few hundred feet away and didn’t take long, however, I slowed even further as my scanner range hit the center and showed nothing.

I can’t be that lucky, right? I thought, hope and fear warring within me. There had been nothing special in the pack of wolves that had attacked me, I couldn’t see them holding the rift all on their own.

Still, I wasn’t going to back out now, instead, I crouched low and crept forward. I was far from stealthy, however, and winced at every broken stick and rustle of leaves.

Soon enough I was peering into a small clearing in the center, where my Psi Sense told me a rift sat in the middle. There, sitting cross-legged on either side of the rift, were two humanoid Great Wolves.

A glance at my watch showed nothing, either blocked by the dense Psi energy or by the wolves themselves. It almost looked like they were mediating by the rift, which was enough to send a thrill of fear through me.

That can’t be a good sign, I thought with a wince. Two Great Wolves would be a tough fight at the best of times. If they had gained some kind of power from the rift, it would be far worse.

I almost called it off and went back for help, however, in the end, I stayed. I was tired of always relying on others to fight for me, and I was tired of always paying them. While it wasn’t a certain thing, this was a fight that I felt like I could win.

So far, the wolves hadn’t reacted, allowing me to prepare a surprise attack. I slowly focused energy into my gun, trying to empower a shot slowly. Given how they were acting, I felt like there was a chance these wolves had Psi sense and I didn’t want to do anything that might break them from the trance they were in.

Seconds passed as I stood there, expecting to be attacked at any second. Nothing happened, however, and after what felt like an age, I had an empowered shot ready.

I raised my gun and took aim at the wolf on my right. After several seconds, I felt like I had the best shot possible and opened fire straight for its head. The shot burst forth, right on target, and flew into the clearing.

Then a purple shroud covered the Beast, and it blurred sideways, leaving the bolt to fly straight through where its head was. Turning toward me, it opened its mouth and howled deeply, revealing its fanged maw.

Oh, come on, I thought with a groan as I let fly with a series of normal shots. This time, I aimed at the one on the ground as it clambered to its feet. I sighed in relief as the shots struck true, burning deep holes into its hide.

Then my relief turned to ashes as the wounds began to close before my eyes. So one has super speed, and the other has regeneration? I might have bitten off a little more than I can chew here.

There was no way I could outrun them, however. They would be faster than me, even under normal circumstances, let alone with the kind of speed I had just seen.

Those abilities couldn’t be free, however, I would have to turn this into a fight of attrition and try to outlast them.