Alger was pretty much aware of every species found in the forest. Broken deer, elk, bison, and the predator of the region... Inferno Awakened foxes.
Although they were called foxes, they were closer to wolves in size.
Alger had fought many over the last two years. And though he had managed to win each time... it always came at a cost. Burn marks on his arms, bruises blooming beneath his clothes, blisters seared into his skin—each victory left its mark. These days, Alger avoided them whenever he could. He didn't want a serious injury right before the Entrance exam....
The forest this morning felt strange—quieter than usual. Still, Alger didn't give it much thought.
He sat perched on a thick branch of a tree wedged between a dirt path and a narrow tributary, its waters winding lazily through the roots below. From his vantage point, he could see several kilometers in every direction.....
He looked at the sky to see that the sun was directly above him, it was around noon. He was drinking the last few drops of water from the canteen he carried around his side.
Up until now, Alger had noticed nothing unusual... apart from the eerie silence.
But that was unusual on its own.... he had noticed nothing. Not a single deer eating grass, not a single bird chirping, no quiet hum of insects..... nothing. Only the sound of water gushing.
"Damn it!"
I should return. There is nothing in the forest today....
but when he turned around... he saw something...
Something that didn't belong. Something that made the silence feel heavier. A figure... standing just at the edge of the path, as if it had been waiting. Watching.
The air felt colder suddenly. And Alger, for the first time in a while, hesitated.
On the dirt path below the tree, a beast was staring at Alger. It had fur as white as the snow, and even though it stood on all fours... it was still taller than Alger.
It resembled a wolf, but its jaw was built differently, broader, its fangs slightly protruding even when its mouth was closed. Its limbs were longer, and there was a subtle glow beneath its coat... faint lines of pale blue running along its body like streaks of lightning.
After seeing the creature's alluring fur and the bloodlust burning in its crimson eyes, the name of only one creature came to Alger's mind. A Tempest Conjuror Wolf.
Tempest wolves live in the Northern territory. They hunt in packs. But in front of him was a single Tempest wolf, in the middle of a small forest in the Eastern territory.
Impossible! What is one doing all the way here...
Alger was stuck on top of the tree. The only way to get down was blocked by the wolf
Alger had no choice but to fight it...
Alger slowly unsheathed his mundane katana as its sound echoed through the silent forest. He jumped down the branch, using the wind to soften his fall, but only managed to do it a little.
He was now standing a few meters away from the wolf.
He was scared. He had never faced a Conjuror before, and the idea of fighting a Conjuror was beyond him. And yet, here he was.
Before Alger could react. The wolf roared, something he had never expected a wolf to do... Its roar was very loud; if Alger hadn't controlled the wind near his eardrums, they would have no doubt burst... Alger heard the roar echo through the empty forest.
The wolf rushed towards him. It was fast... even though it wasn't using its tempest abilities, it was a lot faster than Alger, so he knew running away was not an option. The wolf swiftly ran straight at him.
Alger used his katana, aiming it at the jaw of the wolf. But the wolf bit his sword, and it ended up getting stuck in the mouth of the wolf.
The wolf tried to shake him off after grabbing hold of his sword, but Alger didn't let go. And before he knew it, the wolf threw him up in the sky....
Huh?! I didn't expect it to make me go up this high!
When Alger looked down, the wolf had its jaw opened and was preparing a charge of wind within its mouth...
The wolf unleashed the wind. Which was so fast that Alger couldn't even feel or sense it. Alger didn't even notice the charge until he realized his ear was bleeding a little. Alger had expected the wolf to be powerful. But to think it was to this extent....
The wind charge zipped right next to Alger's ears. If Alger had been even a few inches to his right. He might have died...
Alger used the wind to position himself right above the creature. He aimed his katana right at the skull of the wolf, while the wolf was preparing another wind charge in its mouth.
Alger's blade clashed directly with the wind charge the wolf conjured.
Alger ended up being thrown sideways due to the collision. His blade had snapped in half...
Alger slowly stood up. He checked to see if he had gotten any wounds. He had received a few bruises, but apart from that, he was okay.
The wolf, however... was unfazed.
Alger didn't have a weapon, which meant he had to run. He had to get onto a tree as quickly as he could.
The wolf roared at him again and came straight at him. But this time it was faster... too fast for Alger to react. The wind was swirling around the wolf's hind legs...
Alger was sure he had a small chance of defeating the Tempest wolf... but his assumption was wrong, very wrong. The Tempest wolf was many times stronger than him... too strong for him.
The wolf grabbed him with its jaw and slammed him straight into a tree.
The tree creaked a little, like it was about to fall down...
Alger coughed up a lot of blood; he was bleeding from everywhere. His side was being pierced by the large and sharp teeth of the wolf. But before he got split into two pieces, he jammed his broken katana into the mouth of the wolf.
Damn it! Damn it! Curse it all! This isn't how it was supposed to go!
Alger realised he was weak and far too overconfident....
Didn't I say I was going to explore Unknown!? Damn it! I have to live!
Alger was trapped in the maw of the beast...
He was helpless; he couldn't even move. He could feel the teeth of the beast inside his guts. The blade couldn't keep it up for long... eventually the jaw was going to snap and he was going to split in half...
The blade looked like it was about to crack; he was running out of time, his time to live.
But in the next moment, something unexpected happened....
A flying piece of blade landed straight at the skull of the beast.
The maw of the beast slowly loosened, and the beast fell to its side, dragging him with it....
He realised what had just happened. When his blade broke in half, one of the pieces went up in the sky, flying. And it just so happened to land right where the wolf was standing.
He was lucky, way too lucky.....
Alger had been saved by his own blade... but he had still lost far too much blood. His consciousness was slowly fading. His eyes started to flicker.