Finding my way out of this musty, dark castle takes forever—the place is one big labyrinth. But eventually, I spot an exit. The moment I step outside, I see that the summoner kid was telling the truth. This damned castle is nestled deep in the forest, surrounded by endless stretches of trees fading into the horizon.
I leave the castle behind and descend into the vast forest. From the castle's height, I couldn't tell where civilization might be, so I'll just trust my gut. It says go west—so that's where I'm headed. I'm bound to bump into someone on my trek, I'd hope.
This forest is rather big and infected; it's almost infuriating. I rarely ever had strong emotions about anything, but one thing I've always despised was bugs. I keep swatting at the mosquitoes that keep trying to get a piece of me. These little fuckers are relentless.
I've been walking for about an hour when I hear it—a growl, deep and close. While I am a bit hungry, it certainly wasn't my stomach. Shit, maybe it's another wolf. Every one of my senses is on high alert, and I start moving carefully, eyes darting for any sign of movement.
I lean out from behind the corner and finally see where the growl came from. A wolf. A huge one—easily ten feet tall. It's tearing into a deer like it's nothing. I've seen worse, but something about the way it moves... it's definitely smarter than your average beast. I shouldn't be surprised given what I've already seen, yet part of me is.
I should sneak around it. I'm confident in my skills, but I've never faced anything this big. Stealth was never my specialty; I was a blunt instrument when it came to my past contracts, blasting my way through targets. In a dense forest like this, with dead branches and pebbles that can easily give away my position with the slightest mistake, slipping past a ten-foot wolf won't be easy.
Much as I hate to admit it, I almost wish Silvers from The Delivery was here. The man was insane—always smiling while he killed, like it was a game. But his stealth was unmatched. You wouldn't know he was behind you until you felt steel on your neck. He even wore a flamboyantly colored pink suit just to taunt the idea of being caught. Arrogant prick he was, but not without being able to back it up. He'd get us past this thing easily.
Then again, he always unnerved me. Absolute psycho freak that guy was. Maybe it's better this way. Actually, yeah, I prefer him not being here. What am I even thinking?
I split my focus between the wolf and the terrain in front of me, every step deliberate and precise. If I can get past this thing without a fight, all the better. But things never work out that way, do they?
Despite my best efforts, the wolf spots me after barely a minute of sneaking. It lets out a low, vicious growl, those enraged-looking eyes locking straight onto me. Seems I'll have to fight the bastard after all. This might prove tough; I can't afford to die here, not when freedom to live the life I want to live has never been closer. I've seen plenty of magical bullshit today; who knows, maybe it can talk?
"You wouldn't happen to be a magical talking wolf, would you? Because if so, maybe we could… talk this out?" I say, trying—and failing—to sound friendly.
Not my best performance. Acting's never been my most reliable skill in my repertoire, and neither is pretending to have normal human emotions, I suppose. Wow. That's kind of depressing to admit… or think, I guess.
Welp, in any case, it would appear this isn't some sort of magical talking wolf, because the only real reaction the beast gave was another growl before it went on the move as it tried leaping right at me.
I jump backward just in time; the beast hits the ground where I stood. Knife out of my sleeve, I set my grip and prepare to slice. It won't be easy—the animal's size and speed make a clean strike unlikely. I try running circles around the beast, trying to find an opening. Luckily for me, the dense forest makes it hard for the mammoth-sized wolf to move around freely, giving me at least some form of advantage.
I dodge a swipe from its claws, but I don't see the tail coming. It slams into me and sends me flying a few meters back, straight into a tree. The hit knocks the wind out of me—just a bit, I'll admit. The wolf very much knows it has got me, as when its eyes lock on, it begins running towards me, bearing its fangs.
I'm able to roll out of the way just in time, thankfully. I see, however, that the sheer power from the beast's bite was enough to chomp through that entire tree and send it crashing. Thank god I dodged; that shit would've been agonizing.
This wolf's giving me a god-awful time. Running circles around it isn't getting me anywhere—it just feels like I'm delaying the inevitable: becoming this son of a bitch's next snack. No. Not happening. Not when I'm the closest I've ever been to a shot at a new life. I'm not going to run or try to outmaneuver it. If I want a chance at starting over, to have what I've only dreamed of for all these years under the thumb of The Delivery, I've got to take this oversized puppy head-on.
The wolf and I lock eyes. My grip on the blade is firm—steady.
"Bring it on, fucker."
I charge straight at the beast. No plan, no strategy—just instinct. We sprint toward each other, ready to collide.
I throw everything I've got into my legs, leaping high and landing on the beast's massive head. In one motion, I drive my blade straight into its eye socket. The wolf lets out a deafening howl that rattles my bones and sends a shiver down my spine, but I don't budge, only plunging it deeper and deeper until the beast, through jolting its head, is able to push me off.
The knife is gone—still lodged in its eye—as I hit the ground hard. Looks like all that's left is to wait it out. The thing's bleeding badly and barely keeping its balance. Now seems more of the time to run and buy time.
The beast runs after me, trying to get a bite out of me, but it can't get anywhere close, its movements becoming more sloppy and its vision far more obscured due to the gaping hole in its right eye socket, and the blood loss isn't doing the beast any favors either.
After a few more moments, the wolf collapses to its knees. Seeing how it has no energy, I approach it, heading for the head.
"I'll admit, Wolfie, not many people have gotten me as good as you did back there with that tail whip. That's at least something you can be proud of, if you know... wolves could feel such emotions."
Those are my last words to the beast for grabbing my blade from its eye socket and stabbing it in the head repeatedly to put the dangerous beast down. I stab until I see no more sign of life in the beast. Its blood absolutely splatters all over me.
The endeavor is over, it appears. Now that it's over... I can finally react to that tail whip. I probably cracked a rib or something; good fuck, does that hurt. I slowly crawl towards the now dead beast's stomach and lie against it. It's rather comfortable, I'll say that. I think I'll just take a moment to rest.
"You have leveled up," says a disembodied, feminine voice that echoes through my head.
What in the hell was that? My head looks around the area, but not a soul is nearby. I have no idea where that voice came from. You know what, with all the crazy shit I've endured today, I don't even care. I'll figure it out later. After all this... I'm hungry, but I don't have anything to eat on me.
The sun looks like it's about to set in the sky above, and it looks like I have a hell of a lot more forest to trek through. I suppose while the sun is up, I should try to make a camp while I'm still able to see my surroundings.
After a quick rest, of course. Wow, that's the first time since my teens I'd been so hurt in a fight. In fact, yeah, the last time I was this hurt was when that psychopath Silvers and I had ourselves a little sparring match. God, my back absolutely ached for weeks after that beating. But whatever, why am I thinking of dumb shit from the past? I have my present to worry about.
I know a thing or two about wilderness survival. I can probably make myself a bonfire and try to make some sort of makeshift shelter. Now as for what I'm going to eat... I wonder if wolf meat tastes any good?