"Guo-"
Gorko coughed out a mouthful of blood as he proceeds to hold the wound on his neck. In a hurried fashion, he frantically moved his hands to reach for his robe and swallowed a peculiar crystallized pill and drink a green liquid like substance out of a small vial.
"You bastard.. Just wait.. till the beasts come flocking"
After he spat out those words, he proceed to leave and sprint in the direction to the exit of the forest with a spiteful expression.
"Well since this already happened, might as well stay right?"
Whoosh
I casually threw the dagger with accuracy to the ligaments on the crease of his left leg and a blood curdling shriek left his mouth.
"ARGHHHH"
He cried out in pain yet he still tried to leave. When he attempted to stand up however, he soon realized that his left leg could no longer move and howled in even more pain.
"You bastard!!! All of you will die today!"
Soon after, a large shadow crept up behind us, blocking the luster of the gentle sunset. As the shadow became more insidious and corporeal, a large figure emerged from the shadows behind the trees. A large wolf towering up to three meters tall slowly walked towards us with sharp, ferocious eyes. Each step it took caused the grounds to tremble and the birds to fly away in panic. The fur on its body looked demonically dark to the point that it absorbed the light surrounding it. With each step, the wolf's obsidian claws passed through the dirt as if it was soft clay.
Gurururu
It growled insidiously as it walked slowly towards me. In the corner of my eyes, I caught the silhouette of Reika slowly inching forward to sneak behind the large body of the wolf.
"Reika, don't bother. You won't be able to handle it"
"Don't tell me what to do"
Haa..
"If it wanted us dead, it would be as easy as breathing. I repeat, don't attempt what you're planning on doing"
At the very least, I'm not trying to look down on Reika. After half a day has passed, I can finally feel it. A slight fluctuation on the wind caused my body to tingle in a familiar matter. Although it felt incredibly faint, this nostalgic feeling was similar to flana. Since no one here present has flana, there's no chance of survival. But for some odd reason, it doesn't really feel like flana. The sensation on my skin is far more faint and foreign than the one I'm familiar with.
"Leon, no matter what, don't move and never stare into its eyes directly. Even the slightest hint of weakness will be seen through. When that happens, we won't even have the chance to run"
"Then.. What should we do..?"
This wolf.. Why is it here? Or am I mistaken.. Either way, if my gamble is correct then there's no problem.
Slowly, the wolf walked in front of me, only inches away to the point where I can feel it's foul breath, looking down towards me as if I was only an ant in its eyes. As it breaths, my skin feels almost as if it was burning in a corrosive solution. After staring at me, it howled loudly and bared it's fangs for me to see.
I stood my ground and look directly in its eyes, showing no weakness in the slightest. With a cold glare, I match the stare of the wolf.
AWOOOOOOOOO!
The wolf stomped on the ground and howled terrifyingly in front of me. Even so, I did not falter. However, my gaze became colder and colder to the point that the wolf started to inch back.
"Hehehe, I can't wait for the wolf to tear you from pieces to pieces and devour your bones. All of you shall die! Ahahahaha!"
Gorko mindlessly spat out as he laughed maniacally.
Several seconds passed by and the wolf did not move. Neither did I falter, I simply stood my ground while staring at it. The wolf finally moved and walked towards the unmoving body of Gorko.
"What the hell.. Why is it coming over here.."
Fear instantly struck the eyes of Gorko who lays down listlessly while blood kept flowing down his neck. His countenance was a sight to behold. One moment, his face paled ghostly white then turned red from anger. Hints of reluctance as well as regret followed through deep within his heart.
"No.. Stay away.."
Whoosh
The wolf immediately acted and opened its mouth to devour the defenseless Gorko.
"NOOOOOO! AHHHH-"
Gorko cried out in fear and pain before his screams was cut off after a single bite of the wolf's fang, directly severing his life. Afterwards, the wolf carried the corpse of Gorko's body in its mouth and left unhurriedly.
After witnessing this scene, I could only shake my head. The path that he took was basically akin to stepping on one's own trap. If he knew that the action he took in order to threaten us would ultimately be his own undoing, would have he still done it? Probably.
Phew.. Thank god my gamble paid off. But what is going on here? Although it was faint, a familiar aura gushed forth that somewhat resembles flana.
Plop
Leon who was standing behind me finally collapsed on the ground while beads of sweat profusely dripped down from his face. A look of shock and terror could be clearly seen in his face and he simply sat there in shock. Soon after, he finally spoke.
"We actually survived.. Hey Kazuo, is this the after life?"
I looked around to see if that old fart was around. Nope. Definitely not the afterlife.
As I look towards the corner of my eye, Reika simply sheathed back her sword into the silver scabbard. Her manner didn't change the moment she stepped into the forest and even so while facing this wolf. Her conviction is definitely not lacking and in the face of death, she simply stood there without wavering.
"Anyways we should probably leave the forest now"
Leon finally spoke as he stood up. As we traverse the forest bathing in the shimmering sunset, Reika followed behind us without speaking a word while Leon and I stood in the front.
"Oi Kazuo, you really surprised me today.. I never expected you to be so nimble and even in the face of the terrifying wolf king, you withstood your ground. Haha did you see the look in Gorko's face? It was priceless! You have to teach how to do that thing you did earlier"
"It was mere reflex ahaha.. But you said something about a wolf king?"
"Ah that's right, you've only arrived here recently. This forest is infamous due to the amounts of adventurers that die in here. The amount of monsters and beasts that lurk in this forest is quite impressive and on top of that, the wolf king resides here. That wolf king is a level 20 beast that accidentally roamed into this forest and decided to reside in here"
Hmm? I feel like the term wolf king is quite inappropriate considering the fact that those wolves were meant to be livestocks..
"But still, why didn't it attack you?"
"I'm somewhat familiar with those kind of wolves. Usually, they only ever move when they're hungry and they wouldn't go out of their way to attack someone. Therefore whenever it sees the weakness and fear in its prey, it would definitely attack. But if the wolf realize that the prey is desperate and wouldn't mind throwing their life away, it wouldn't bother due to the fact that they don't want to get hurt in the process"
"Damn.. I'm surprised you know that. From what I know, these kind of wolves usually roam alone and their numbers are in the low end of the spectrum"
I wonder how Leon would feel if I told him that these wolves usually hunt with a herd of their brethrens and would never hunt by themselves.
But still, there's far too much that I don't know about this world. The whole idea of magic, and the fact that i've heard the term 'level' far too much. There's also the fact that this wolf is very similar to the wolves back in my world as well as the fact that I can't feel flana. After I sleep for today, I should dedicate the day after for gathering information. Speaking of which.. Where should I sleep?
(*)
"Haa.. We're finally back! Ahaha I can't believe we managed to survive. Thank you Kazuo. If not for your bravery, the wolf king would have swiftly ended our lives"
"Don't think too much about it. For the most part, I didn't do much and it was Reika who did the heavy lifting"
"Nonetheless, I still want to thank you. Oh, and here's the pay"
Leon reached out for his pocket and handed both Reika and I a tattered brown pouch filled with coins.
After Reika received it, she simply left without saying a word.
"Hey Kazuo, what's your plan for today?"
"Hmm? I haven't thought about it yet"
"In that case, let's drink the night away! I know a good place that I found by accident not too long ago. Don't worry, it's my treat"
"Ehh.. You just paid me though.. You don't have to pay for me on top of giving me money"
"Don't be shy! If I say it's my treat then it's my treat! Come on, let's go. The place will become fairly busy once the moon rises"
"Ok then"
A warm smile broke out of my slender lips as I look at this young man in front of me. It looks like I really have been reincarnated into a different world. This warm feeling inside of my heart, this is all new to me.