*& Aren't wolves considered one of the most loyal animals? Or is it a dog. Hmm... both? Nah, something's definetly not right here.&*
"HAHAHAHAHA! Hold on, let me catch my breath," I wheezed as I rolled on the ground crying in laughter.
"Oh, haha. It's not even that funny," Mr. Red grumbled, looking embarrassed at himself.
"In his defense, he was the first of us to walk on this planet, does that count as something ?" Murasaki asked, trying to stick up for his brother.
"Nope! Not even a little. Two weeks?! And you dared be cocky with me?! Oh this is priceless. Hahahahaha!"
After meeting up with the wolves, I could at least grasp the planet a little bit. Time here moved much slower than on earth, one day here was equivalent to one hour back at home.
The wolves explained that they have never actually entered the dungeon, just stayed near the outskirts of it hunting monsters that dared stepped out.
There's something powerful in there strong enough to scare Grade A beasts out of the dungeon. I appraised the wolves and sure enough, they had grown impeccably well over the time they've spent here.
Most of them had already reached Grade A tier beasts with others at the peak of Grade B. Murasaki was by far the most improved, at the peak of Grade A, a few levels away from evolving to a Centurion beast.
Red was in the middle stages of Centurion level so that's a bonus. They continued to explain their first days in the planet to me, which brings us back to the point where I was mocking Red.
"So let me get this straight, you guys haven't gone into the dungeon because of a some powerful beast?" I asked them.
"Pretty much yeah," they all looked down ashamed of their weakness.
"Well then, how have you all survived up to this point ? Where did you get the water, food even?"
"There's a lake over yonder filled with some type of water, and the beasts that rushed out were quite enough for us," Murasaki answered.
"Fine, I've got a few hours to spare at camp anyways. Might as well help you guys as much as I can. It might also be a good time to see what you lot are capable of,"
"Wha–really? Right now?" Red asked.
"You chickening out?" I answered and started making chicken noises.
"I have made it clear that I despise you, right? Guess we have no choice then. And we did improve more rapidly since the day we made the pact so I'll trust your judgement,"
***
We immediately encountered a horde of goblins near the entrance of the dungeon. No one said this would be easy.
I was firmly placed on top of Murasaki, my favorite wolf by the way, who knew this interesting trick about controlling his size. Red was beside us but otherwise the rest were ordered to attack.
I noticed immediately that two wolves always attacked as one, making the take down of beasts faster. Though an effective method, it still had many flaws. Others just outright used their speed to slash their victims with their claws, then retreat to safety.
How have they seriously managed to survive here?!
Maybe by just walking in this planet alone, they were able to level up cause its sure as hell ain't defeating monsters, I'll tell you that much.
I know the gravity is different and stuff, maybe the wolves were having challenges, maybe beasts here have already adapted to their environment but so what? They wanted power, I gave them the chance, but they can't unlock their full potential at this rate.
Guess I have a lot of work to do.
Once they had defeated the horde, I gathered them around in a neat circle.
"So... good job on the horde, though that took much longer than expected,"
"Wait, that's it?! You have no idea how much they've tried–"
"Red, shut up please," he bit his tongue when I gave the order, which effectively did its job. He tried talking again but couldn't.
I sat on top of Murasaki's head (Yeah yeah, I'm small. It's not like a fourteen year old would be big anyways. Leave me alone) and counted their numbers.
"Murasaki, were they always sixteen of them?" I asked while already guessing his answer.
"Well... no. We lost one during our first days. The poor guy couldn't move and inch as the goblins clobbered him to death in front of my eyes. He might have actually been my inspiration to walk on this planet, but the pathetic demons run away the second they sensed danger," he answered with a hint of anger in his voice.
I could feel the killing intent released by him and I honestly couldn't blame him.
"I–I see. But if you looked at it from a different perspective, it probably was my fault that he died. I was the one who sent you guys to this planet without considering the dangers of it. For that, I am sorry and ready to take on any punishment given to me," I said and lowered my head as a way of an apology.
I actually meant what I said. Maybe this leadership thing wasn't cut out for me. Let's be honest, a fourteen year old leading a pack of nearly immortal wolves? Delirious, I know.
All wolves looked quite taken aback by my words. Maybe they just realized that what I said was probably the truth and were probably considering how sweet my neck would taste.
If they chose to kill me to appease their anger, then so be it. I wouldn't have resisted anyways. But they did something even more surprising.
They all bowed their heads in respect to me!
"Wait, what?!" I panicked.
"Can't you see? They're all bowing at you,"
"I can see that! What I'm wondering is why?" I snapped back at Red.
"Do I have to tell you everything?" he mumbled as he rolled his eyes.
"The wolves already knew this would be a possibility and were already prepared for it. I hate to admit it, but they've all grown fond of you. They really wouldn't follow anyone else except you. Believe me, I tried,"
"What do you mean 'You've tried'?
"Nothing. Nothing at all. Carry on."
I think I better keep a close eye on this wolf.
"Anyways, just to clarify, you're all OK with me and what I did?"
"Master, I think I speak for all the wolves here when I say that we would give our lives to you if you so wished it," Murasaki declared.
I think I may have teared up a little. What did I ever do to deserve such beasts? I swear I'll protect this guys if it's the last thing I do in this universe.
"AWWW! You guys! Bring it in!" All the wolves surrounded me and we all did a large group hug, even Red joining in.
"OK then. If you guys would like, the next time we face a horde, follow my orders, okay?
All the wolves howled in answer and we were off.
We didn't have to wait long. It seemed like the closer we got to the entrance, the more the beasts came. This time though, they were even more in numbers.
"Time to see if this will work. Murasaki, Red, stay out of this fight," I told the stronger wolves who looked ready to jump into the fray.
"Listen up, pack. Everyone should find a target, and only one of you, not two. When you've already done that, use all your strength to defeat it. Now go!" I ordered.
"Huh? What are you–" Red began but I stopped him there.
"Be ready to jump in when I tell you, ok. Only when I tell you to, not a second earlier,"
He looked at me confused, but otherwise turned to the fight. I watched the goblins moving towards us. The didn't look the least bit affected by the gravity of the planet.
One thing to note was how muscular they were. I've seen my fair share of goblins and understood why they are considered one of the weakest monsters to ever exist. They mostly live in colonies and are continuesly attacked by random monsters and humans alike for the sake of acquiring slaves.
So color me surprised to see them attack individually and on the same level as one wolf. I took a look at a one wolf attacking. It pounced on one of the larger goblins and bit down hard on its neck. The goblin tried swatting it away but was unsuccessful.
Another one noticed its partner's predicament and lifted its club ready to deliver a fatal blow. The wolf seemed to be aware of this but bid its time on the neck. The second the goblin struck, it jumped clear of club which struck the injured goblin a mighty blow straight to its face.
With no movement from the first, it was confirmed that it was indeed dead. The killer lifted its club, surprised to see a squashed head but no wolf dead. Using it's confusion to its advantage, the same wolf dived into the goblins back legs and slashed with its claws.
Yup, that guy is so dead.
I scanned the field and saw a smaller wolf battling down three goblins the were quite larger than normal that they would have passed for hobgoblins. The wolf had a broken leg and a bloody snout but you should have seen the other guys.
Two of them had large scratch marks around their eyes and the third one had lost its leg. The looked really pissed by the outcome. The same case could be said all around where the wolves, as few as they were, were overpowering the goblins.
I turned to Red and saw his mouth wide open in shock.
"H–how?"
"Murasaki, care to explain to him?"
"Sorry master, even I have no idea of how they are doing this," he answered, displeased with himself.
"They now have no one limiting their options. I know your major weakness are your heads. The pack knows this so you always attack casually in twos knowing someone will always cover you,"
"Let me ask you guys a question. If you knew no one is going to help you, what would you have done?"
"Oh! Now I get it! The wolves are running on adrenaline. If you attack as a group, you won't take the fight seriously but if you're alone, you'll be forced to fight for your life," Murasaki answered.
"That's true but not the answer I wanted. Red?"
"They are learning to survive. And in the process, they acquire even more experience in battle together with new skills. Take the first guy for example. He would have have never thought of using the goblins strength against it if he had a partner cause he would have expected his partner to take care of it."
"The what?!" I exclaimed as I looked at the Red wolf in surprise.
"I'm not as dumb as you think, Max. I've been around for more that fifty years, I know a good strategy when I see one,"
"Yeah, yeah, gramps. I get it. You're a lot more smarter than I gave you credit for,"
The wolves were done with their targets. Most of them were battered beyond recognition, but were still able to walk. I knew they would eventually heal, as long as they took it easy for a while.
***
[Bradley, how much have they leveled up?]
[I don't think you understant this scale thing very much]
[But...but, you don't have a back]
<... I can't with you right now>
***
I think I may have caught him at a wrong time. Maybe he was sleeping? Wait, since when has a bacteria ever needed sleep? I'll just leave him for now.
"Well done you guys! Now that's how my pack should always fight. I can already tell that you guys can feel the power surging inside you. Keep it up, and all of you will be centurion grade in no time," I encouraged the pack.
They all looked really pleased with themselves. I ordered them to rest for a while cause they had expanded a lot more energy that on any average day.
"Now that that's settled, you two ready to fight?"
"WHAT?!" both wolves looked shocked.
"We can't leave the pack here to fend off for themselves, who will–" Murasaki was cut short when he felt the vibration.
"Who said anything about leaving the pack? After all, the powerful monster itself has chosen to grace us with its presence," I answered as we all stared towards the horizon.
A dark goblin the size of a hover craft materialized in front of us, with an ugly grin that would give monster babies a nightmare.
The beast had a huge club (what's with goblins and clubs?) and a large skin rug that only covered its waste downwards.
Unlike most goblins kings that I've heard about, where fat should have been, it was all muscle. Now I know the larger you are, the more Jupiter's gravity acts on you. The beast looked like it could lift ten trucks and not brake a sweat.
I know for a fact its a higher level than me, all I needed to know was how high.
*appraise*
***
<*Drax ---- LVL [20](centurion)*>
<*Title: King of the goblins*>
<*Race: Demon goblin*>
—————————
<*Strength: 190*>
<*Agility: 110*>
<*Defence: 180*>
<*Speed: 50*>
<*Mind: 60*>
***
"He's all yours, Saki!"
"WAIT, WHAT?!" Murasaki cried in suprise.