[Common: Wolf — Level 1.]
Dimitri charged headfirst into the swirling chaos where gray wolves circled like whispers in a storm. His boots barely touched the earth before the pack scattered, splitting apart as if repelled by an unseen force. The air behind them split with ripples, trails of movement so sharp they bent the grass.
"Come at me, my friends."
No hesitation. Four shadows blinked forward, barely visible—more like flickers of motion than solid beasts. They closed the distance in a heartbeat, silent and terrifying.
Dimitri stood tall, planting his shield down with the steadiness of a mountain. Claws scraped wood. Teeth sank into nothing. His shield took the brunt, steady as a wall. In the same breath, he swung his sword in a wide arc, not to strike, but to throw their formation into disarray.
"Now, Noah!"
Noah burst out from the thick undergrowth, his flintlock already raised. A quick pull of the trigger and blue-glowing bullets hissed through the air, streaking like angry fireflies under moonlight.
The wolves scattered instantly. Three of them vanished in a blur, their paws skimming the grass so fast they left behind soft ribbons of wind.
One, though, wasn't fast enough.
A high-pitched yelp rang out as the bullets struck. The creature stumbled mid-stride, its limbs trembling with sudden weakness. It turned, attempting to escape with a burst of desperate speed—but Dimitri lunged forward like a crashing wall and brought his shield down with brutal timing.
"Finish this one off, Noah."
Noah didn't hesitate. He charged forward, eyes locked on the downed beast. His flintlock was already reloaded. Two flashes lit up the scene.
The wolf's head hit the earth with a dull thud. Blood seeped into the soil, spreading slowly beneath its still form.
"That was easier than I expected."
Dimitri stepped beside him, hands relaxed, posture too calm for a battlefield. The breeze around him seemed to lean in, as if waiting for his approval.
"My friend, this... this was just the trailer. The real show is about to begin."
Ahead of them, the last three wolves didn't charge, didn't snarl. They stood still, watching. Not with fear—no, with eerie precision. As though they'd memorized every move, every trick, every flaw.
One let out a low, breathy growl that seemed to pass through the others like a signal. Then, in a blink, their forms shimmered—bodies unraveling like mist caught in motion—and vanished into the wind.
But the wind didn't scatter. It circled. It stalked. And in its soundless spiral, danger whispered from every angle.
Without warning, something sliced through the air beside Noah—a glint of ivory flashing too close to his throat. The sunlight caught on it for a single second. Fangs, unnervingly long, gone as quickly as they appeared.
Dimitri's shield roared forward, wood and muscle moving as one. It should've crushed the wolf's ribs. Instead, the creature unraveled—its body breaking apart into wisps of air, vanishing like breath in a breeze.
Noah barely had a second to process before two more figures blinked into view, sudden as a thought. No footprints. No shadows. Just movement.
One lunged.
He twisted, slipped just under its reach, heart slamming against his ribs.
The second didn't miss.
A snarl. A flash of pain. Teeth clamped down on his shoulder, pressure burning through fabric and flesh.
Noah didn't hesitate. He jammed the flintlock close and pulled the trigger.
A spark. A thundercrack. And the wolf scattered—its shape peeling into the wind, as though it had never been anything more than a trick of light.
Noah clutched his shoulder, fingers pressing into the torn fabric and sticky warmth seeping through.
The pain wasn't sharp—it pulsed, hot and rhythmic, like a warning bell sounding through his bones. Crimson trickled down his arm in uneven lines, each drop tracing the path carved by a mouthful of jagged teeth.
"Why is it always the shoulder?"
[Because that's where it hurts the most and makes you useless. Smart mutts.]
A low growl rolled through the air like a thundercloud crawling over gravel. The grass shivered. Branches stirred without wind. Then came the crunch of something heavy.
"Incoming."
Dimitri swung his shield with a force that echoed like thunder, catching the lunging wolf in the center of its leap. The creature slammed against it, momentum crushed, paws scrambling before it thudded to the ground with a whimper and skidded away, dazed.
From the side, two more wolves shot into view, eyes glinting, teeth bared like broken glass. They moved like shadows, fast and fluid, flanking Noah in perfect coordination.
Noah kicked backward, boots sliding against the dirt as he raised his flintlock with one hand.
Muzzle flashes lit the air in rapid bursts—one, two, three, four. The first wolf's skull snapped back with each impact until the final shot punched straight through. It collapsed mid-air, still snarling as it fell.
But the second didn't slow.
It lunged low, ducking past the barrel, and sank its fangs deep into Noah's arm—the same one gripping the gun.
A sharp crunch followed, the sudden jolt forcing him to drop the flintlock. His teeth clenched as pain spiked up to his shoulder, red dripping onto the ground in fast splatters.
Before he could even curse, the wolf released him.
Its form shimmered—edges blurring—and then it scattered, wind pulling it apart like dust vanishing into a breeze.
Noah's chest heaved, each breath scraping through his throat like sandpaper. Blood trickled from his shoulder, trailing down in a messy smear.
His right arm dangled at his side, barely responding. The ground beneath him was stained in uneven patches—some still wet, some already drying to a rusty brown.
[HP: 10/30]
"Two wolves down. Two more."
Across from him, the last two wolves lingered in tense silence. They didn't growl. They didn't pace. Their sharp eyes flicked between Noah and Dimitri.
One of them took a half-step forward, then stopped. Its ears twitched.
The other tilted its head, lips parting just enough to show teeth—but not enough to bite.
They weren't rushing in. Not yet.
They were thinking.
[Be careful, these remaining two wolves have learned from your and Dimitri's battle style. They're way more dangerous than when there were four.]
Noah didn't even flinch. His hand moved to the leather pouch at his waist, popping it open.
From the pouch, he fished out a vial of crimson liquid that shimmered faintly.
"I already figured that out. They went from dumb brutes to murder interns with a grudge."
The glass clinked against his teeth as he tipped the potion back, the bitter flavor punching his taste buds.
A soft warmth spread through his chest as the potion got to work, knitting torn skin and nudging pain into the background. His pulse steadied. The sting in his shoulder faded.
A flicker of green digits floated briefly in the corner of his vision.
[HP restored: +7.5]
[HP: 18/30]
Dimitri raised his shield with quiet precision, the edge angled just enough to catch the light.
His sword hovered by his side, steady as his breath. The wolves before him shifted on their paws, muscles taut, their eyes like coals smoldering in the underbrush.
"We push a little more, my friend. The finish line? It's right there, waiting for us to walk through with heads high and tails unbitten."
Noah arched his back, and a chorus of satisfying cracks followed. He stretched like someone waking from a thousand-year nap, shaking out the last hints of hesitation from his limbs.
"Those things might be snack-sized, but they've got the bite radius of a freaking shark. If I'd gone all solo hero, I'd be human sushi by now. Alright—let's go full send."
"That's more like it, my friend. Now we show them who writes the ending."