Unknowingly, almost a year had passed since had passed since Di Tianming arrived in this world.
"Sigh~"
A sign escaped from his mouth. He couldn't believe how fast time flew by. It was like just yesterday that he was cruising on the ship when a wave hit him and he arrived here, to this world.
During this past year, he had encountered many beast while transporting beast corpse and he ran away every time, along with the three brothers.
Tianming always had a feeling that he would die if he fought those beasts, it was his survival instinct that told him not to.
...
Currently, though, he was carrying a deer's corpse, transporting it from the forest to the Butcher's house in Army base.
He and the three brothers were moving through the forest, towards the town.
"Hey, we are already nearing the town. Should we do it here?", 1413 asked.
"Yeah, I think this place is about right", 1411 said with a scrutinizing gaze as he turned to Tianming, "What do you think, 1591?".
"I should probably go and eat. I feel hungry".
1591 a.k.a Tianming snapped out of thoughts when he heard 1411's voice. He took a sec before answering.
"Ah, yes. I think this place will do."
"Great. 1412 it's all yours."
The four of them put down the deer corpse and 1412 took out a rusty knife from inside of his clothes and carefully started cutting off small pieces of meat from different parts of the deer.
Tianming was already acquainted or more exactly friends with the three brothers.
"Roar~."
Suddenly, a muffled roar was heard along with a rustling.
A wolf walked out from the bushes, baring its teeth with saliva dripping. It had black-green fur and appeared to be around two meters in size.
"Fuck! Its a Shadow Leaf Wolf! Run!", 1413 cried out loud in horror and started running.
1411 and 1412 also started running without a second thought with all their might.
Tianming, though, paused for a bit.
"I am not sacred of it. This one doesn't give same feeling like other beasts. Or is it that I have become stronger?"
"1591! What the fuck are you ding!? Run!", 1411 shouted when he saw Tianming not moving. He thought Tianming was scared shitless.
Hearing 1411, Tianming thought for a moment before giving up on the thought. He, too, turned around and started running. He didn't want to risk it.
However, the Shadow Leaf Wolf didn't seem to have any intentions of letting his four preys off the hook.
It started to chase after them and within no time the wolf caught up to them before surpassing them, blocking the way forward.
Seeing the wolf block their escape route, the bodies of the three brothers became jelly. Their heart sunk and their blood turned cold while their feet froze on the spot.
Deep down they knew that it was over for them.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, I, I, I don't want to die. No! Please leave me alone!", 1413 was the first to break, he started bellowing.
1411 and 1412 were silent. However, their faces were pale white due to fear and helplessness.
Di Tianming on the other hand, signed, he was a bit fearful but his instinct told him that there was no danger to him from the wolf.
There was nowhere to run. It was time to decide who will live and who will die.
The Shadow Leaf Wolf was moving towards them, slowly. They were famous for playing with their prey until it died. It was a kind of amusement for them. Due to them having black-green fur, they had an environmental advantage, giving them an edge in stealth and making them the best predators.
They were also very agile and fast.
Seeing the Shadow Leaf Wolf coming towards them, Di Tianming threw away the baggy, tattered sacks he was wearing, revealing his lean and muscular body which was honed by months of hunting and determination.
He bent down and picked 1412's rusty knife before proceeding forward for the the battle.
The three brothers were shocked when they saw 1591 move towards the wolf instead of running away. They were even more shocked to see his body, doubting if he was a beggar or not.
But when they saw the Slave seal on his left shoulder, the doubt vanished.
"Brother 1591, run", 1411 warned him. His voice was especially low as he was barely able to utter any words. He was just that much scared.
However, Di Tianming turned a deaf ear to their persuasion and continued moving forwards, faster with each step.
The wolf started also started speeding and so did he.
When they both were close, the wolf lunged towards him , using its momentum. He quickly glided under the wolf and used this opportunity to plunge the knife into its stomach.
"Awoo!!"
Shadow Leaf Wolf howled in pain. It quickly landed on the ground before turning its body towards him, its expression extremely ferocious.
The wolf, again, lunged onto him, this time with more force and power.
Di Tianming, on the other hand, was also very vigilant. This was the first time he was fighting a Mortal Level Beast and he could lose his life if he dazed even a little bit. He was doing his best to remain calm.
Thankfully, for him, the Mortal Level Beasts of this world were very similar to the animals of Earth except for their strength and size.
This also meant that their weakness were also same, and wolves' weakness were their abdomen area.
The Shadow Leaf Wolf opened its mouth to bite off his neck but couldn't, because Di Tianming grabbed its jaws and started attempting to tear them apart.
"AHHH!!"
"GRRR!!"
The man and the wolf roared as they both used all their strength to kill each other.
Di Tianming was using all his strength to pull apart the wolf's jaws. His expression was extremely ferocious, the wolf's teeth had already dug a bit in his fingers.
"HAHHH!!"
Suddenly, Tianming tapped into some undiscovered power as he started to overwhelm the Shadow Leaf Wolf. This was the power of Level-7 Mortal Warrior.
"Grrr~."
Shadow Leaf Wolf, suddenly found itself struggling. It was shocked, wondering how could a weak creature like humans possess such strength?
In its life, the Shadow Leaf Wolf had hunted many humans and not once did it encounter a human of such strength. The wolf, in the face of life and death, struggled frantically.
At one point, its body started to twitch.
"HAHH!!"
"Crack!"
Di Tianming, with all his strength tore apart the wolf's jaws, ending its life once for all.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host, on your first kill. +1 point.]
[Ding! +1 for killing a Level-6 Mortal Beast.]
The moment he killed the Shadow Leaf Wolf, two notifications popped in front of him.
"Ahhh! Ah! Ah! It hurts! F*ck! It hurts so bad."
At this moment, his body also collapsed on the ground. Their were many claw wounds on his body and his palm had holes in them caused by the wolf's teeth.
Previously, due to his high adrenaline, he didn't feel anything but now it all came crashing on to him which was quite overwhelming.
However, instead of pain, there was a smile on his face. He had found a new way to get stronger!
He had found another hope in his life. It was like giving a lifetime worth of food to a beggar.
Di Tianming looked at 1411, 1412 and 1413, whose face was full of tears and snot.
"Hey! We should run away while we still have the chance. I have heard that wolves travel in group. So, its companions might come here ...and help me get up. F*ck!"
Hearing 1591, the three of them, who had been overwhelmed by shock and astonishment snapped out of it and looked at him before getting up and helping him get up.
When they looked at the wolf's corpse, their were filled with horror. The three still couldn't believe that he killed such a powerful beast all by himself.
They had numerous questions popping in their heads but first, the four had to escape the forest.
The four beggars were moving through the forest quickly. Di Tianming, despite being in pain, endured it and ran. It was at this time, when they heard a howl.
"Awoo~"
The three brothers were again stricken with fear and they paced faster.
"Don't worry. The wolves are very far away depending of the sound and we are almost out of the forest", he said to reassure and calm them.
"Brother 1591, are you a fallen?", 1412, who rarely spoke, surprisingly was the first one to ask Tianming.
In truth, Tianming had already noticed that the three were wary of him but he couldn't do anything about it.
Now that one of them asked him, Tianming answered, "Yes."
He knew what a fallen was or more exactly who the fallens were. They were people who were punished for their crime by reducing their and their family's status to slaves.
In other words, fallen are those who are forcefully reduced into slaves.