"No way... Right?"
"Have I been transmigrated?" As soon as he uttered those words
His previous fear and confusion shattered, and he started laughing hysterically.
"Hahahaha" He started tearing up at his own conjecture.
'I'm sure there's probably a perfectly reasonable explanation to this. There's no way something so fantastical can happen in real life, maybe this is probably some forest in Africa or something"
He wiped the blood from the dagger on his trousers, then slipped it into his back pocket. Scanning the forest for any way out, he spotted a huge rock and scrambled up for a better view.
"Ugh." After pulling himself to the top, he steadied himself, but all he could see were branches. Then he looked up.
Just as long as there's no second sun or something... As if reassuring himself, he glanced skyward, blinking in the bright light. But then a chill breeze swept through, a cloud drifted over the sun, dimming the forest. And that's when he saw it.
He breathing stiffened as his eyes caught a glimpse of a tower piercing through the mist and clouds towards the sky. It looked ancient and dark. It had moss growing on the thick stone slabs that supported it. Its silhouette looked menacing.
*Gulp*
It looks so weird, I feel like I'm getting pulled towards it. He felt a weird attraction from it; it felt like his legs were getting pulled towards it— like a weak magnet.
No wait. His eyes widened, he removed the bloodied dagger from his back-pocket and realized that it was like a magnet. It felt like the dagger wanted to escape from his hands and go towards the tower. The dagger hummed and tugged towards the tower.
He pointed it at the tower, and he felt the magnet-like force getting stronger with each passing second. As he did that, he caught a glimpse of the bottom of the hilt; It was a tower with a beast-like scratch mark on top, it was etched onto the metal.
It looked almost the same as the tower in the distance.
A chill swept over him; he could feel goosebumps. He slipped the dagger back into the back-pocket of his pants and looked towards where he was resting before.
He scanned the area around him and saw—-
A cave with a glowing red light.
"Huh? Is that red light… getting closer?" he mumbled to himself while rubbing his eyes trying to check if what he saw was just an illusion. As if the light saw him, It disappeared.
'What in the….?" Before he could say or do anything else, the light flared back and sprinted towards him, as the glowing light came near the entrance of the cave, he could make out the shape of the figure coming towards him.
"Fuck. It's… a wolf." He said with a grim voice and trembling voice.
"Did it smell my blood?"
He saw the haggard, skeletal-like thin wolf. It was almost 8 feet tall and was huge. It's right eye had a scar on it and the left eye was a flame-like shade of red. The wolf's ribs protrude out from its light gray and brownish skin, it looked thin but the blood-thirsty and hungry look it had could never be mistaken. It had some sort of green and moldy meat in its mouth, and it was salivating looking at Theo.
Theo, frozen atop the rock, forced himself to stay calm. He wasn't a fighter; He had never been in a life-threatening situation before. But he had to keep it together. Gritting his teeth, he clutched the dagger, sweat dropping from his trembling hands.
Theo stared at the abnormal wolf and slipped his hand into his back-pocket. He took out the dagger and waited for the wolf. As if on cue, The wolf dropped the moldy meat and ran towards him. Theo stays on top of the rock and waits for the wolf to get closer.
Theo knew that he couldn't do anything but wait. He has no other weapons other than a short dagger. He's on top of a rock. How could he attack the wolf? And charging towards it would be nothing short of suicide.
The wolf got closer, It looked like each step it took hurt the wolf due to the spine poking out of its body.
*Grrrrrrrr* It growed at Theo while looking up at him and bends its legs.
Theo was confused at the actions of the wolf but waited patiently with both of his trembling hands gipping the dagger that was pointed towards the wolf. His breathing was rugged, and he was sweating buckets.
"Go big or go home, right?" he muttered, his voice barely holding steady as he watched the wolf crouch lower.
Woosh! With a sudden burst of air hitting his face Theo blinked and saw that the wolf had suddenly jumped towards his rock!
His eyes widened in surprise and adrenaline hit him yet again. It was as if this was the last moment of his life, he felt time itself slowing down and saw the wolf pouncing on him from the sky in slow motion, the wolf got closer and fell on him. He fell down with him and the wolf facing each other.
The wolf's claws scratched Theo's arm and the wolf's drool fell on his face.
It suddenly opened its jaws wide to bite him, but he waved his dagger at its lower jaw and slashed its jaw. It howled in pain, its attacks were powerful, yet it was slow because it was starving.
*Dub* *Dub* *Dub*
His heartbeat wildly and with a sudden burst of adrenaline took out his dagger and stabbed the wolf in the side, it yelped in pain while howling at him, It opened its jaw trying to bite him but Theo held the jaw of the beast in one hand and stabbed the dagger at its eyes with another hand in one fell swoop.
The wolf let out a blood-curdling howl and rolled off of him.
It was beside him and tried to run away from the rock, blood was gushing from its already closed eyelids.
Thud
It fell down from the rock and landed on a few small branches, it had fallen on its back and the already protruding ribs stabbed deeper into the wolf.
How-woooooo
it howled and winced in pain, its legs were shaking wildly while its eye was bleeding, and its other eye already had a scar.
The pale and haggard Theo who was breathing abnormally and in short breaths saw this situation and knew it was his win and he knew that the wolf was thin and weak he just got lucky, but he suddenly looked at the cave.
Wait, what if there's more in there? His eyes widened in realization that there could be more in there, threw his dagger a little far and he immediately jumped down from the big rock in another direction that was away from the wolf that was wincing and howling in pain. He picked up the dagger and put it in his trouser and after that, without a shred of hesitation----
He ran.
He ran for hardly a minute or so and reached only a few hundred meters away, his breathing was rugged and he was having difficulty breathing. He felt like his heart would jump out of his chest.
"I… haahh….di-.haah…did not….consider this…" he said while gasping for air and clutching his knees.
His body was not very athletic. It was a clear fact.
"How-woooooo" An extremely loud howl just sounded at that moment. Theo's expression froze and his breathing stabilized. He immediately went to the closest tree that looked climbable and jumped and stuck his dagger onto the bark of the tree, despite the hardness of the tree the dagger easily sliced into it.
"The dagger is pretty sleek and strong… I guess there's a reason why I got murdered with it." he mumbled while trying to climb up. He used the dagger with one hand and held onto the branches in another hand. He was drenched with sweat as if he had gone through a 40km marathon. And
*thud*
He fell.
His arm was still scratched and was hurting, his body was not very athletic and he never had experience climbing. Thus, he fell down.
Even after he fell down on his butt he kept gasping for air.
"FUCK THIS!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, a few birds even flew away from the trees nearby. He was haggard, he was tired, he was overwhelmed and he couldn't run anymore.
'I could run more but the problem is, what if i meet another pack or different creatures. That wolf was definitely not ordinary, and my arm is killing me, I can't even fight properly.
He staggered back toward the massive rock, scooping up sticks and stones along the way. These might come in handy; he thought. I can throw them at any wolves I spot and run away, or I can use them to distract them.
He glanced down at his blood-stained clothes. With this weird smell, I might just smell like one of them. I hope they don't track me.
Stopping around fifty meters behind the rock, Theo took a quick check of the items he had. He was wearing a worn brown trench coat over a simple gray shirt, with his injured hand clutching the dagger. He crouched low, careful not to make any sudden sounds that might draw attention.
He used his injured hand, used the dagger to secure a place that could hold him in place and then he used his healthy hand to push himself upward.
He was on top of the rock again, he held the dagger warily and supported it with both of his hands. He saw the huge wolf with its ribs protruding outward, it had rolled and bled till death.
Theo frowned a little and looked around, as far as he could see, he did not see any other wolf around.
Theo heaved a sigh, removed his trench coat, slipped his hand into the pockets of the coat and put the sticks and stones near him.
Sighing in relief, he shrugged off his trench coat and pulled the sticks and stones from its pockets, placing them beside him. He checked the scratch on his arm; blood had oozed out, staining his shirt.
I have to patch it up, I thought it would regenerate like it did before, but I think it's just a onetime thing then.
After heaving a sigh, He removed his shirt and looked around warily again, He did not see any wolf or any…pervert staring at him.
He took out his dagger from his trousers' pocket and tore a strip from it, tying it tightly around his wound to stop the bleeding.
"Haha! Just like Mr. Cage did it!" He said in a jolly tone after he stopped bleeding. Although It still hurt a bit and he was a bit pale, but it was a small pain in comparison to being stabbed near the heart.
He then wore his shirt, trench coat and then he buttoned his trench coat. He looked around but didn't see any other wolves.
"That's weird, I got things to throw at the wolves but I haven't seen any, then what was that loud howl….." He was going to continue but his voice trailed off after seeing the body of the wolf on the ground.
As his gaze fell on the wolf's body below, realization dawned on him. Oh. It seems like he had been preparing for a fight that wasn't coming.
Oh wait, I can start a fire using them. He quickly tucked the sticks and stone back into the trench coat pocket and jumped down from the rock.
He crouched behind the wolf that was on the floor with the dagger in his hands.
He went near it's head and wanted to stab it...
But he just.... couldn't.
He was hesitating, His arms were refusing to listen to him, He still vividly remembers the moment in detail. That look of hunger it had, The desperation. it would never have spared him. If he were to hesitate now and if the wolf was only wounded, then he would be a goner.
Theo, Eat the food Or Become the food. he thought to himself.
Huff
He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and-------
His trembling hands stabbed the wolf in the head.