The recoil of the gun, sent vibrations up his arm as he held still precariously on the branch. The bullet flew quickly leaving a short trail of flames behind as it left the barrel. As the bullet flew to its target unhindered, as if having predicted it, the Frost Wolf shifted its head.
While his aim was true, Andrew had forgotten to account for one thing. In the quiet forest during such a morning, when the forest itself was blanketed in comforting silence, the sound of the hunting rifle was truly deafening.
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"Shit!"
Andrew cursed under his breath, the wolf was able to react quickly, its head had shifted just enough such that bullet missed its target and hits the back leg. Due to the frost wolf's natural physique, the wound itself was shallow, and its effectiveness was minimal at best.
Immediately the wolf started to search its area, its head scanning the forest in order to find its assailant. Suddenly, its head was still, and the wolf's nose began to twitch as if picking up on something that it had initially missed. Slowly the wolf started stalking toward Andrew's general direction.
Quickly, Andrew prepared his next shot, controlling his breath once more as took the next shot. Steadying his breath, seeing the prowling figure of the wolf Andrew took his shot. Almost as if the frost wolf was predicting his actions, the wolf quickly increased his speed and broke to sprint, running towards the area where Andrew was located in.
Andrew's eyes widened as he saw this, even if this was supposed to be a low-rank frost wolf, the intelligence that it displayed was highly astounding. If it weren't for the fact its lack of abilities that high-rank frost wolves normally would have, one would have thought this was what a high-rank frost wolf is.
The Frost wolf now found itself just at the base of the tree which Andrew was perched upon. Andrew began to consider his options, the head of the wolf never once looked up, instead, it seemed to be waiting. If he tried to shoot the wolf, nothing would change the bullets and his hunting rifle are only able to deal with minor shallow injuries. A true damaging hit would require capitalizing on its already existing injury. To that, he had to get the frost wolf to look up. Without thinking too much, Andrew took action.
"Hey!" He shouted towards the prowling frost wolf from the top of the tree.
Immediately the beast stopped moving, its head moved upwards. Andrew was now staring straight into the eyes of the beast, as purple met grey it growled.
The wolf pounced, jumping higher than thought possible, leaping towards the top of the tree where Andrew was in a single bound. Andrew, eyes narrowed, as blood rushed to his, one last shot, he just needed one shot straight toward its injured eye.
Andrew steadied his rifle, as his heart began to pound through his chest. The figure of the wolf got larger as it got closer and closer to him.
He could feel the temperature around him drop further as the frost wolf got closer. The newfound cold made his hands stiffen up and the air harder to breathe. However, at that moment nothing else except for this single shot, nothing else mattered. Taking a breath and steadying himself, he aimed, and he fired.
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A whimper was heard along with the sound of the bullet knocking the frost wolf back. The frost wolf hit the ground with a thud, as the impact kicked up dirt. Andrew breathed out the air he had been holding in. The first step was over, now it was time to take advantage of this opportunity he had created.
As the wolf took time to recover, Andrew continued to fire his remaining bullets, in an attempt to disorientate the wolf. Normally, a normal shot toward the body of even a low-rank beast or monster would yield minimal effects, a minor wound. Not only that, the speed and agility of even a low-rank monster, make it tough for even the most skilled shots to take it down instantly.
However, if the monster is somehow disorientated and hasn't moved yet or is stuck in a position, then it is possible for all those minor wounds would aggregate.
Pelting the wolf with every bullet he brought, Andrew kept firing shot after shot, unwilling to give the frost wolf time to breathe. While the shots were shallow, the frost wolf was littered with so many that its snow-white fur began to be dyed red.
At this moment if one were to wander into the forest, all that could be heard would be the sound of gunshots resounding like a constant drumbeat. As each shot continued, its sound and smell drove away any of the surrounding wildlife. Again and again, he shot like a man possessed, as the muzzle of the rifle began to overheat.
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He didn't let up. No, he couldn't let up. He knew the dangers of being complacent, until it stopped moving he would keep firing, shot after shot. There was too much on the line for him.
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He was out.
Andrew had used up every last bit of ammunition he brought. Every last piece was fired straight into the body of the frost wolf, over and over again until it gave in. Perched on the branch of the tree Andrew gazed down upon the now lifeless body of the frost wolf. Its white coat was now a deep red as an ocean of red began to slowly pour out all of its wounds.
Breathing a sigh of relief Andrew took a deep breath. He closed his eyes waiting for the effects of "Aetheric Evolution", to finally become Blessed.
Until nothing.
Nothing happened.
No Aether entered his body.
No change in his physicality.
No, he remained the same, a human, a powerless human.
Cases where individuals even in extreme situations are not chosen by Aether and are unable to experience "Aetheric Evolution", aren't exactly uncommon. Not anyone can experience "Aetheric Evolution". The theories behind it are divided, while some believe there are set rules that we still are unclear about, others believe differently.
One of the more uncommon theories, suggests that "Aether" is more than just energy it itself is sentient to an extent. They believe that to be chosen by Aether and experience evolution then is not just about breaking limits, but is based on the "will" of Aether.
This made Andrew nervous, he suddenly realized that he never considered whether he would be chosen in this life like the last. Soon panic began to settle within him.
What did this mean for him?
Was coming back a waste?
Was he sent back as a joke?
Was history doomed to repeat itself?
As he opened his eyes, Andrew felt an emotion he hadn't felt before, hopelessness. Everything was empty, nothing would change. As despair started to creep in and consume him, Andrew began to laugh.
Whoever said that things would have been that easy, no one.
They wanted him to despair and give up. Then he'll have to break that despair and return them a hundred-fold. Even if he didn't become Blessed, he would still protect his family.
When thrown into the depths of despair and pain, there are only two things one could do. Let the waves take you and give into everything, or fight through it and swim against the current, even if you are almost taken out in the process.
In Andrew determination and strength of will, were what began to shine brighter than anything else, overpowering the despair and anger he felt.
As Andrew collected himself and began to make plans about the next steps to take in the future, his attention was drawn as he suddenly heard a rustle of movement. Looking around he tried to find where the movement was coming from, his body on high alert, ready to jump down and run when needed.
The rustle was heard again along with a low growl that reverberated in the forest.
Finally realizing where the sounds were coming from, Andrew looked down. His eyes widened as he gazed upon the bloodied figure of the frost wolf.
It was still alive.