---
[Quest (Kill the Alpha Dire Wolf) Initialized]
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My fears became actualized; Charlotte was brandishing a burning tree branch to keep a pack of monstrous beasts at bay. She was shaking and yelling at the beasts with raw terror in her voice while swinging around the burning branch.
"Stay back! Stay back!"
The beasts were as tall as Charlotte herself. Drool poured from their panting mouths down to their white-coated fur that shone like the snow on which they stepped. These powerful muscular canines were most definitely worthy of being called dire wolves.
---
[Species: Dire Wolf]
[Variant: Artic Beta]
[Lv: 3]
[Body: 20]
[Mental: 5]
[Senses: 30]
[Magic: 0]
[Skills: n/a]
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There were four white betas and a black one. Was that one the alpha?
---
[Species: Dire Wolf]
[Variant: Artic (Black) Omega]
[Lv: 3]
[Body: 18]
[Mental: 5]
[Senses: 30]
[Magic: 0]
[Skills: n/a]
---
It was surprising to see that the black wolf was actually the weakest; since that was the case, I'd save him for last.
Without any hesitation, I charged full-speed toward the beasts, angrily roaring, "Get the hell away from her, you bastards!"
The creatures were startled, jumping back to face me, but before they could evaluate the situation, I delivered a flying punch to the cranium of one of the white betas. It whined as it fell onto its side, trying keenly to recover from the blow.
The black dire wolf backed away to watch the ensuing events.
I ran, picking Charlotte up and throwing her over my shoulder, catching her off guard. The betas gave chase as I ran to the tent, yelling, "Charlotte, transform me!"
Without a word, she smacked her hand against my back, filling me with a sudden feeling of my body being encased in form-fitting stone. A bright pinkish-orange and cream color shell grew around my body like armor made of crab shell. It shredded and tore away my clothes as it expanded to full size.
I set Charlotte down, demanding, "Get a pistol from the grey bag."
The four betas slowly accosted me, growling with their heads hung low. They were nearly twice as strong as me and could easily overpower me if I wasn't careful.
The beta I had punched attacked first, jumping forward with vicious fury, clamping its fangs down on my crab shelled forearm. The momentum of its attack made me fall backward, leaving an opening for the other three to strike.
Using my free arm, I began pounding my shelled elbow down on the snout of the wolf with its fangs encasing my shelled forearm. The combination between its teeth and my shelled armor was like rock hammering ceramic into another rock. The dire wolf whined and tried to pull away, but it was locked-in by what little remained of the fangs that penetrated past the crab shell and burrowed deep into my soft, malleable flesh beneath. Despite the pain it caused, I endured it and unleashed my wrath on the ensnared dire wolf's solid forehead.
The other dire wolves began tearing at the shell encasing my legs, and I let them, instead solely focusing on the one caught on my forearm. Roaring bestially, a fire lit in my eyes as I grabbed the dire wolf and flipped over, head-locking it in the elbow of my free arm. Then summoning every ounce of power in my body, I pushed my clamped forearm forcefully, snapping its neck to the side.
I pried the now dead dire wolf's jaw out of my shattered shell-encased forearm, flipping back over to see the other three wolves still ravenously tearing at my armored legs. The shell cracked open, revealing the soft fleshy meat beneath. They eagerly began gnawing on it, sending shockwaves of pain rippling up my body. With a pained grimace, I slowly pushed my way forward to my feet, quickly wrapping my arms around the closest dire wolf's neck.
The dire wolves were still viscously tearing at the muscles and ligaments in my legs, making it quite hard to keep standing. Using my grip on the closest dire wolf's neck, I leaned in further, moving my grip from the beast's neck to its lower back. Once there, I hugged my arms around its waist and threw myself to the floor, letting the weight of gravity topple the wolf down atop me.
The other two dire wolves backed away with hesitation as they watched me wrap my now freed legs around the dire wolf's necks, pinning it with an iron grip. Then picking up a nearby rock, I repeatedly slammed it against the dire wolf's exposed belly with impeccable brutality. The pinned dire wolf howled in pain as I bludgeoned its stomach over and over until it fell silent.
The other two wolves hastily turned to run away, but before they could, Charlotte fired six shots into them—three rounds each. The two dire wolves fell to the ground dead as I pushed the third off to the side.
Looking over, I saw Charlotte trembling, pointing a wobbling nine-millimeter pistol toward the dead beasts. Her lip quivered, and her hands shook. In that moment, it became clear that she wasn't cut out for fighting—or at least not yet.
Trying to crawl back to my feet, I looked to Charlotte, benevolently grumbling, "Good job. You did well, Char—"
I fell to the ground, incapable of supporting the weight of my body under my mangled legs. Seeing this, Charlotte dropped the gun and rushed to my side, anxiously shouting, "Henry!"
She rested my head in her lap, frantically asking, "Are you okay?"
Looking down at the shattered shell around my legs, I saw the blood-soaked torn flesh ripped down to the bone.
I rested my head back into her soft, comforting lap, smiling and laughing, "As long as you're safe, I'm rosy."
Tears welled in Charlotte's eyes, and her lip quiver as she hooted, "You idiot, Henry. Don't say such stupid things."
She began petting my hair with her hand as I watched the vacant space in my legs fill with brand-new flesh. It was painful, but that didn't matter. Charlotte was safe, so I was happy.
I gave a satisfied smile as the adrenaline in my body quickly dissipated. With a sigh of relief, I closed my eyes, fully relaxed, and started to fade into a blissful comatose.
However, the sensation of a dangerous presence came back, causing me to remember:
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[Name: Henry Miller]
[Rank: 2,879,180,34th]
[Quests: Kill the Alpha Dire Wolf]
---
I opened my eyes and quickly sat forward, feeling like an idiot for having already forgotten about the quest. Punching myself in the jaw stunned Charlotte speechless. She raised her hand and worriedly inquired, "W-What's wrong."
---
[Quest Name: Kill the Alpha Dire Wolf]
[Requirements: Kill the Alpha male pack leader within the next thirty minutes]
[Reward: 20 coins]
[Penalty: Ability (Suicide Alternative)]
---
Painfully struggling back up to my feet, I handed Charlotte the gun she dropped, asking, "Did you get the dire wolf quest?"
She nodded, "Yes, I did, but it hasn't gone away yet."
I let out a pained laugh, proclaiming, "You were right. I am an idiot."
With furrowed brows, she tried explaining, "I didn't mean it like that—"
"The quest didn't go away because the fight hasn't finished. The alpha is coming. I can feel him," I cut Charlotte off with haste.
"O-Oh," she responded, grabbing the gun from my hand then with a determined look, declaring, "I want to help you."
"S—" I clasped my mouth before agreeing to her proposition. I felt death flags as I was about to say those words. If I accepted her help, one of us would be dying from this fight.
I vehemently demanded, "No, don't. Whatever happens, you need to stay hidden behind the tent. Don't come out until I give you the all-clear, no matter what… Please."
Confused and dejected, Charlotte whimpered, "O-O… okay."
Her eyes fell to the floor, filling me with guilt, but I didn't have the time to explain.
She did as I asked and hid behind the tent. Exasperatedly sighing at my ineptitude for explaining things, I scurried over to the grey hiking bag, pulling five fully loaded pistols out of it and holstering them in a crack between my chest and the chest-plate of the crab shell armor.
Preparing myself mentally, I waited for fast approaching dangerous sensation to arrive in the flesh.
"Come get some, you son of a bitch!"