The Eastern Forest of the Kingdom was unsettling, not because of the dense trees ahead, but because of the absolute silence.
No leaves rustled against the wind.
Neither did any of the birds chirped, nor any small animals scurried.
Literally nothing.
'Isn't this a bad sign?'
Seven walked deeper through the eerie silence, with Lythian following behind him.
Even the dirt made no sound with each step they took.
"By the way, do you know what lesser howlers are?"
Lythian asked casually, though his tone hinted that he already knew the answer.
Seven frowned.
He had accepted the request as Lythian handed him without knowing what a howler was.
It was because his attention was caught by the reward that offers 15 Sevtals per kill.
'Sounds doable? Fudge that…'
He recalled his exact words from earlier, where his blind confidence masked his lack of information.
He tried to recall if there had been any mention of such a creature in the novel, but none comes to his mind.
Howl.
A distant howl broke the silence.
The sound wasn't that far, and based from the loudness, it was somewhere within the vicinity.
"A wolf?"
"Fucker. You answered after the howl."
"..."
Seven didn't reply. Instead, he stepped deeper into the forest, resting his hand on the hilt of the sword the mercenary hall had lent him.
'Something feels… off.'
Silently, he let out a thread of aura, weaving it like a fine thread of yarn through the ground and scanned their surroundings.
Nothing suspicious.
'Clear…'
"By the way, about tomorrow's test."
"The hunt?"
"Yeah. The novel said it was done by pairs."
The third test was hunting a specific creature assigned. And since it was random, pairs were applied to ensure their safety.
Thinking about it, Seven looked around. The eastern forest was where the test was conducted, the one where they stood now.
He looked at Lythian.
But as he did, Lythian's pupils shrank.
"Fucker. Duck!"
Then, Lythian grabbed Seven's head and forced him to duck.
Clang!
Metal against bone.
Dagger against fang.
Lythian's dagger barely held back the snapping jaws of a black creature lunging from the shadows.
A wolf.
But not a wolf.
A howler.
Its pitch-black fur bristled, its fangs bared, saliva dripping onto the dirt.
Another one lunged.
Lythian barely had time to react.
The second howler crashed into him, knocking him off balance and forcing him backward.
Bite.
It sank its fangs into his right shoulder.
"Gah—!"
Lythian was thrown back, sliding across the ground before slamming into a tree.
Blood dripped down his arm as he clutched his shoulder.
"Fuck…"
Howl.
The second one took a step forward, its eyes locked onto the injured Lythian.
It lunged forward.
Step.
As it did, Seven moved and positioned himself in front of the pathetic state of Lythian.
The howler skidded to a halt, hesitating before stepping back toward its companion—the one still chewing.
Seven tightened his grip.
"...If only you didn't force me to duck."
Behind him, Lythian clicked his tongue.
"Then you'd be dead, fucker."
"..."
Lythian was right.
Seven didn't know the existence of the howler even after scouting the aura with aura thread. Even Lythian, an assassin with heightened senses, didn't notice until the last second.
Seven bore his gaze at the two howlers.
"Wolf? Fudge that."
Lythian gripped his dagger tight as he ignored the pain on his shoulder.
"That thing looks like a fucking monkey."
Seven didn't respond. His grip on the hilt tightened as he took a slow, measured breath.
"Hah…"
The two howlers circled them, their elongated limbs moving unnaturally, almost like rabid apes rather than wolves.
Their heads were wolf-like, but their mouths stretched too wide, revealing rows of jagged fangs. Their eyes glowed a sickly yellow fixed solely on them.
They weren't ordinary beasts.
But they weren't scared.
"Fifteen Sevtals per kill?"
Lythian pressed a hand against his bleeding shoulder.
"They should be paying us double."
Seven didn't disagree.
He could tell from the way the monsters moved.
These weren't mindless creatures.
The first howler that had been chewing on Lythian's arm suddenly stopped. Its entire body convulsed as if something had violently seized its throat.
"Grrk—"
It staggered back, its maw opening unnaturally wide.
A wet gag.
Splurt!
A half-chewed arm tumbled out of its mouth.
Seven frowned. He had seen a lot of grotesque things before, but watching a monster vomit out a limb it had just chewed on? That was a first.
The howler coughed, gagging violently. Its throat spasmed as thick, dark saliva dripped from its fangs.
Growl.
Another howler appeared, and there were now three of them.
Then, the arm moved.
Like ink dissolving in water, the blood pooled outward before the severed limb flowed like liquid and reshaped itself.
Seven's eyes widened as he watched the fingers curl, the tendons stretch, and the flesh reform into its original shape.
Then, it slithered straight back to Lythian.
"Ahh, shit. That was disgusting."
Lythian grumbled as the arm reattached itself, the skin knitting back together as if it had never been severed in the first place.
Seven could only stare.
He knew that Lythian had an 'immortality' gift, and that he cannot die. And though he also knew that the body regenerate, he didn't expect it to be like this.
"…The fudge."
Lythian flexed his fingers and rotated his shoulder with a small pop.
"Hurts like a bitch every time, but you get used to it."
The howlers, however, did not get used to it.
The one that had been chewing let out a distorted snarl, its entire body shivering violently. It let out a strangled growl, clearly unsettled by what it had just tried to digest.
The other two howlers remained unfazed as their slit-like pupils locked onto them.
Seven shifted his stance and gripped the hilt of his borrowed sword tightly. The blade was duller than he had thought.
'I need to buy my own sword…'
Lythian, meanwhile, cracked his neck and stretched his newly reattached arm.
"Howlers have a second set of fangs deeper in their throat."
Lythian shook the blood off his fingers.
"One bite isn't just a bite. It's meant to tear and drag."
It was the knowledge that surfaced into his mind naturally. He didn't know any of it, as it was more like the body of an assassin he possessed had fought a howler before.
As if on cue, one of the howlers lunged.
'Theia's Eye.'
Seven's eyes narrowed as his left eye lit up gold.
His feet shifted, and at the last second, he pivoted sideways. The howler's jagged fangs snapped shut just inches from his ribs.
But he could see the trajectory.
Without hesitation, he twisted his body and swung his sword in a tight arc toward the beast's exposed neck.
Clang!
Sparks flew as the blade met an unnaturally tough hide. The force of the impact sent a numbing jolt up his arm, and his attack had barely scratched the surface.
The howler didn't even flinch.
"Tch."
Before Seven could react, another howler leaped from behind as its claws raked through the air.
"Dodge!"
Lythian's voice rang out.
Seven barely managed to duck in time, feeling the rush of wind as claws swiped past his head. The beast landed and skidded across the dirt.
Lythian, on the other hand, didn't bother dodging. He met the third howler head-on, letting it sink its fangs into his side.
A sickening crunch.
"Ugh—!"
The creature ripped out a chunk of his flesh, but instead of falling, Lythian grabbed its head and forced its jaw open. His body, still bleeding, started repairing itself at an unnatural speed.
"You guys are so fucking annoying."
Lythian lifted his knee and drove it hard into the beast's jaw.
Clang!
The force of the blow sent the howler tumbling backward. It snarled, shaking its head to recover, but Lythian was already moving.
He reached for the dagger strapped to his waist and threw it with pinpoint accuracy.
Thud.
The dagger embedded itself deep into the howler's shoulder, causing it to let out a guttural-like snarl.
But instead of retreating, the pain only seemed to enrage it further.
"Aim for the shoulder, fucker."
Lythian cursed under his breath.
"..It's their fucking weakness."