In the gentle light of the moon and the deep silence of the forest, Jai Veer was slowly moving forward.
"Hmmm… looks like I am not too deep into the forest. Otherwise, I would've already encountered some high-grade beast by now," he muttered to himself, glancing around cautiously.
Then suddenly—
"Growl… Growl…"
A terrifying sound came from behind. Jai Veer turned around and saw—a lone wolf. Its eyes were red, and its stance was purely aggressive.
Before he could even process what was happening, the wolf had already leapt toward him. At the very last moment, Jai Veer quickly dodged to his right, falling to the ground while narrowly avoiding the attack.
The wolf spun around and launched a magical attack from its paw. A sharp wave of energy sliced toward Jai Veer's neck.
"Ahh!" He clutched his neck—but to his relief, it was just a scratch. No serious wound.
"So it's just a Grade-1 beast equal to 3-star Jagruti (Awakening) stage…" he thought to himself, "And I'm already at 7-star Jagruti stage."
A faint smile formed on his lips—"Now it's my turn, filthy beast!"
Jai Veer pulled out his sword from his ring, which is made up of his Jiva Shakti to store things—the sword, which was given to him the very next day after his core had been activated.
He stood firmly in his well-practiced battle stance. Both he and the wolf charged toward each other.
The wolf once again launched a magical claw attack. Jai Veer ducked, dodging the strike, and continued sprinting forward.
Channeling all of his magical energy into his sword, he suddenly burst forward with speed—and with a single, clean strike, he sliced through the wolf's neck as if cutting through a cake.
"Tip... Tip... Tip…"
Drops of blood echoed in the surrounding silence. Then the wolf's head rolled off… followed by its body collapsing to the ground.
This had been his first real battle. Jai Veer sat beside the wolf's corpse and slowly began absorbing its Jiva Shakti (life force).
About an hour later, he had refined the entire life force and was ready to resume his search for an escape route out of the forest.
But then…
That same familiar presence again… A wolf? No—this time, three of them.
He immediately drew his sword, fully alert.
Three wolves approached him—one from the left, one from the right, and one straight ahead. This time, the fight was going to be even tougher.
All three wolves attacked in perfect coordination. Their synchronization left barely any room for Jai Veer to dodge or counterattack.
Still, with his composed mind and focused senses, Jai Veer managed to evade every strike, waiting and searching for an opening to deliver a fatal blow.
"Huff... I've got to come up with something. I need to take at least one of them down first," he mumbled to himself.
As he continued battling, his eyes darted around—looking for something, anything useful—and then he spotted a tree branch hanging at a reachable height.
"This may work," he thought, and without wasting a moment, he decided to act on his plan.
He sprinted toward the branch. One wolf chased directly behind him, while the other two flanked left and right to block his path.
"Just as I thought—you fell right into my trap," Jai Veer smirked internally.
Just two steps away from the branch, he leapt into the air, grabbed onto it, swung himself upside down—and then—
He yanked his sword and hurled it backward.
The wolf chasing him leapt too, trying to catch him mid-air—but it was too late. The sword pierced directly through the wolf's mouth, impaling it into the ground as it died with a silent, unheard scream.
"Double kill!" Jai Veer said with a confident grin, then pulled his sword from the lifeless body.
Now, with the coordination broken, it didn't take long for him to eliminate the remaining two wolves with ease.
He dragged all three corpses with him, searching for a safe place where he could absorb their life energy.
After a bit of wandering, he spotted a cave.
He sniffed the air deeply and sensed the aura inside—
"Alright… This place seems fine. Doesn't seem like any magical beast lives here."
He sighed in relief and settled down to rest.
---
The next morning, he resumed his journey to find an escape route. Wander through the forest, battle beasts, and return to the same cave at night.
Three days passed like this.
He hadn't found any way out—and now, Jai Veer was minorly injured all over his body, his body worn from fighting for three days.
"It's the fourth day today… and the sun's already set. Looks like no luck again today," he muttered to himself—
When suddenly—
"Is anyone nearby? Please help!"
A trembling, innocent, and sweet voice of a girl called out.
Jai Veer immediately became alert—"That voice… It's coming from up ahead!"
He sprinted in the direction of the sound and took cover behind a tree to take a look.
"A girl? And—again? A filthy wolf?" He was already sick of seeing wolves these past few days.
Dressed in blue stood a beautiful, delicate girl—around his age. From her appearance, she looked like a noble's daughter.
But she was fighting a wolf. Her hands had scratches and blood lightly trickling—but she was trying to do her best.
It was clear, though—she wouldn't last long. The wolf would eventually overpower her.