Eli forced the fox in his hands sideways and slammed it into the ground. He followed it down immediately, throwing his weight across its ribs before it could twist free. His fingers slipped once on coarse fur slick with sweat, then found the throat and locked in.
The second fox hit him a moment later.
Teeth sank into the side of his upper back, just below the shoulder blade. The pressure was not deep enough to tear muscle, but it was close. He felt the heat of its breath and the grind of its teeth as the impact snapped his focus in half.
Eli shouted and tightened his grip anyway.
The fox beneath him bucked violently, hind legs kicking and claws scraping the dirt. He flattened his chest over it and shifted his hips to pin its spine. He did not look back. If he let go now, he would lose both.
He held.
Forced it down.
Waited.
The animal's movements grew uneven, then weaker. Tension turned to twitch, twitch to stillness.
Eli stayed there a second longer, breath shaking, before finally letting go.
Then he rolled.
Half-blind with pain, he dragged himself across the ground just as the second fox lunged again.
Pain snapped Eli back into focus.
The fox came low, head angled for his neck. Eli jammed his forearm across its muzzle, turning the bite just enough so the teeth scraped along his skin instead of sinking deep. The impact drove him back, shoulder grinding into dirt and roots.
He could not overpower it.
So he did not try.
Eli twisted with the momentum, pulling instead of pushing. The fox's weight shifted forward too far, and its front paws skidded for half a step. That was all he needed.
He drove his knee up into its chest to break the rhythm, then turned into it and forced the body sideways. It was not clean. It was not controlled. It was enough.
His hands found the neck again.
The fur was coarse and the muscle beneath it dense and moving. The fox snapped and clawed, its head whipping side to side as Eli fought to keep a grip that was never meant to be held like this.
His fingers slipped.
He reset.
Pressed down harder, forearm across the jaw to keep the bite away from his throat.
The fox twisted and nearly broke free.
Eli dropped his weight.
Pinned.
Held.
The struggle stretched longer than he wanted. His arms burned and his grip trembled. The fox's claws caught his sleeve and his skin, leaving shallow lines that stung with every movement.
Then the strength went out of it.
Not all at once. Gradually.
A weakening he felt more than saw.
He did not release until it was completely still.
Eli rolled onto his back and stared up through the canopy, lungs dragging air in uneven pulls.
"…that was too close."
"Ding."
[You have killed: Common Fox][Experience Gained]
[Trial Progress: 22 / 25]
He closed his eyes for a moment and let the rush of adrenaline fade.
His shoulder throbbed where the bite had landed. His forearms stung where the teeth had scraped. His hands felt stiff from gripping too hard for too long.
The level-ups had helped. He could feel that.
But they had not made him safe.
Eli pushed himself upright and scanned the trees.
The forest had changed.
Not visually. The same trunks, the same brush, the same uneven ground. But the feeling was different. The quiet was not empty anymore. It felt like something was moving just out of sight, waiting for him to make a mistake.
"…they're not waiting anymore."
He moved.
Not quickly. Quick meant noise. But with purpose. He angled toward a nearby clearing, choosing open ground over cover. It was more dangerous if he misread it, but at least he would see them coming.
Control mattered more than comfort.
The next fox came alone.
He heard it before he saw it. A quick rustle, then the soft impact of paws hitting dirt. Eli turned toward the sound and shifted his stance, left foot forward, branch angled low.
This time, he moved first.
He stepped into the space where it would land instead of where it was. The fox broke through the brush and adjusted mid-lunge, but the branch was already moving.
The first hit caught it across the shoulder. Not enough to stop it, just enough to disrupt.
The second came down harder.
Wood struck bone with a dull crack, and the fox staggered sideways, paws scrambling for traction.
Eli followed.
He kept his swings tight. Short motions. Less room to miss.
The fox recovered faster than he liked and snapped at his leg. Eli pulled back just in time, the teeth closing on empty air where his calf had been a moment before.
Too close.
He pivoted and brought the branch down again. The impact staggered it just long enough for him to close the distance.
Close.
Messy.
He dropped the branch and went for the neck.
The fox twisted under him, claws catching his sleeve, but Eli kept his weight forward and his grip tight. He did not rush the finish. He held until the resistance drained out.
[Trial Progress: 23 / 25]
Eli stepped back, breathing hard but steady. His arms shook slightly as he flexed his fingers, working the stiffness out.
"…better."
Not easy.
Better.
He did not stay still.
Stillness got him jumped.
The next fox attacked from behind.
A rush of movement, then impact.
It slammed into his side and clipped his balance, sending him stumbling across uneven ground. Eli let himself fall into it, turning the stumble into a roll instead of fighting it.
The fox followed, snapping where his shoulder had been.
Eli came up on one knee, already turning. He kept the fox in front of him this time, forcing it into a straight approach.
It lunged.
He stepped off-line and struck down across its back, not to break it but to slow it. The hit landed, the fox dipped, and Eli moved in before it could recover.
The fight stayed close.
Closer than he wanted.
But controlled enough.
When it ended, he stayed crouched for a moment, listening for anything else moving in.
[Trial Progress: 24 / 25]
One left.
Eli stood still for a moment, listening.
No immediate sound.
No clear direction.
Just the sense that the last one was not rushing.
Waiting.
Eli tightened his grip on the branch. The wood was split now, fibers fraying where repeated impacts had weakened it.
"…hold together."
He moved toward the center of the area he had been circling, choosing ground he knew. Fewer roots. Fewer blind spots.
If the fox was hunting him, he needed space to react.
It came fast.
Straight through the brush, no hesitation.
Eli stepped into it.
The timing was not perfect, but it was deliberate. He swung as it closed. The branch connected across its flank.
Then snapped.
The wood split in his hands, the end breaking away and spinning into the undergrowth.
"…great."
No time to think.
The fox lunged again.
Eli did not retreat.
He closed the distance.
The shift surprised it for a fraction of a second.
He got inside its reach.
Hands on fur.
Weight forward.
They hit the ground together.
The fox snapped, teeth catching his sleeve and scraping the skin beneath. Eli jammed his forearm across its jaw again, forcing the bite off-line while his other hand searched for the throat.
He found it.
Not clean.
Good enough.
The fox twisted hard, trying to roll free. Eli went with it, keeping pressure through his chest and shoulder instead of trying to hold it still outright.
He did not rush.
Did not panic.
Just held.
Waited.
Felt the movement slow.
Then stop.
"Ding."
[You have killed: Common Fox][Experience Gained]
[Trial Progress: 25 / 25]
Eli stayed where he was for a moment, breathing hard, one hand still resting against the fox's neck as if confirming it would not move again.
Then he pushed himself up and sat back.
The forest did not answer.
No movement.
No sound.
Just stillness.
Then the world faded.
White.
The trees dissolved, the ground smoothing beneath him as the forest disappeared. The pain in his shoulder vanished with it, leaving only the memory of pressure and heat.
Eli blinked, adjusting to the empty space again.
A screen appeared.
[Stage 1 — Tutorial: Complete]
[Foxes killed: 25 / 25][Completion Reward: 500 Tutorial Points]
[Time Bonus Awarded]
[Skill Acquired]
[Tutorial Points may be exchanged in the system shop]
[Proceed to Stage 2?]
Eli read through it slowly.
"Ha...ha...," he huffed. Finally enjoying some rest.
No rush now.