After leaving Atlas scoured the forest. Every cave he found he entered and headed deep inside. Each were dark and dreary, and not all held treasure, but those that did definitely made his exploration worth it.
[Swift Leather Boots FF-Grade]
He found these first. Simply wearing them made him feel lighter. His steps became quicker and he was sure that he could casually out run the Ogres now if he had to.
[Sturdy Breastplate FF-Grade]
This as the name suggested, was a simple leather breastplate. Atlas wasn't precisely sure of its defensive capabilities but any armour was better than nothing. Although it was possible that it wouldn't survive one hit if he happened to run into an Ogre.
[Amulet of Strength FF-Grade]
Last but not least, this was in Atlas' opinion his best find. This was simply a featureless bronze circle tied by a rope. Upon wearing it Atlas immediately felt his body fill with strength, almost as though he had shattered his physical limits simply by wearing it.
Grabbing a nearby palm sized stone, Atlas clutched it lightly. In less than a second the stone shattered into numerous pieces. "What in the...." Atlas mumbled to himself shocked by his own strength.
Although he was excited, Atlas didn't stop there. The feeling of hunting for and opening up chests had become almost addictive to him. Because of this he headed out once again in search of another cave.
'There's still 19 hours left in the tutorial, who knows what might happen. I need to gain more items.' The young man thought as he glided through the forest. His Swift Leather Boots more than showing their worth.
After about an hour of searching, he had come across at least 5 other caves. Unfortunately they were all empty. Another 20 minutes passed and finally Atlas stumbled upon yet another cave. 'Hopefully this one isn't empty this time.'
Entering the cave Atlas looked around. It was the same dark and damp cave as always. He then began heading deeper but before he could take more than 3 steps he heard a howl.
"Awoo!"
And then a claw slashed towards his face. Quickly Atlas awkwardly blocked the claw as quickly as he could with his sword.
"Clink!"
The young man stumbled back slightly from the impact. His eyes then focused on the being in front of him. It was a large grey wolf, the wolf's eyes glowed yellow in the dark cave. Atlas' only saving grace was that they weren't yet in the depths of the cave otherwise he'd be unable to see anything.
'What am I going to do? I can't run away especially from a wolf! Even with the boots I doubt I can get away in time.' Atlas tried to think up a plan as he stared down the wolf. Alas the wolf wasn't just going to sit still, and it immediately lunged towards the young man yet again swiping its claw forward.
A decisive light flashed in Atlas' eyes and immediately he stabbed his sword forward. He was naturally afraid, but that didn't mean he'd just lay down and die!
Sword and claw clashed once again, but this time with Atlas in a more steady position and putting his strength into the attack, the wolf's claw was pushed to the side. Seeing that he had a chance, Atlas changed the trajectory of the weightless sword slashing it towards the wolf's neck.
"AWOO!"
The sword managed to slice into its neck, but it wasn't enough to put it down for good. Pulling his arm along with the sword back, Atlas readjusted his stance. Now that the wolf was injured and bleeding he knew he held the advantage.
Now enraged the wolf snarled its hair standing on end. It then lunged at Atlas. 'This again?' Immediately the young man stabbed his sword forward. But unfortunately he underestimated the wolf. The lunge was merely a feint and it deviated its path to the side dodging the sword, and its claw slicing across Atlas' chest.
"Urgh!"
The attack pushed Atlas back fortunately the breastplate had blocked the blow meaning he suffered no actual injuries. But now he was off balance and the wolf had the advantage.
In an instant the canine pressed on now attempting to bite Atlas. Still off balance the young man took a few steps back the swift leather boots allowing him to traverse much further just about dodging the wolf's bite.
Steadying himself Atlas made a horizontal slash forcing the wolf to dodge backwards. He then stabbed lightly once again. In response the wolf jumped to the side but the young man simply changed the trajectory of the sword once again.
Due to its weightless nature as long as he didn't over commit to any one attack he could easily change its path, and that is what he did at this very moment. The sword curved towards the wolf finding itself in the previous cut Atlas had made and pushing even further.
Putting all his strength in the sword, and all the strength that the amulet could provide the sword cleaved through the wolf's neck, decapitating it. Blood spurted and covered Atlas' body.
"Thud."
As the wolf's head fell to the floor, Atlas tapped his own face lightly. Blood stained his hands and looking at it he couldn't help but gag. "W-What the fuck am I doing....." Feeling the sudden urge to throw up he couldn't believe what he'd been through during these past few hours.
People had died, he ran from man killing Ogres. he then left those other people to run into the forest and he then went treasure hunting. What was going on with him? Why was he unfazed at the death of his fellow human beings, and was now calmly fighting a wolf?
'Even now my mind.....instead of being in shock I can't help but wonder what lies within the depths of this cave.' As his eyes looked towards the depths, he stepped over the wolf's severed head and entered the unknown.