Many things were going on in Jack's mind. First, he thought of survival, how am I going to guarantee the great wolf's progenitor survival on this place if even his own was not a given. ''But if leave it here just to die, I would be cruel.'' And surprisingly that was something he had grown to despise in the modern world, needless cruelty. ''Plus, and again, Anna would hit me in the afterlife.''Also, if what the ancient wolf had told him was true, he would gain a companion who would stand side by side with him even in the battlefield. ''So it's decided... the problem is the two fallen level monsters I'll have to kill, even if on a lenient time limit.''The second thing he considered was actually something that he felt. That if he was to accept his hidden skill might not stand quiet. And that terrified Jack, but at the same time he thought about the unthinkable benefits he could attain.''Hurry on, pup. I feel the infection accelerating its spread. Either accept or scram!'' The wolf roa
Horror beyond compare was coursing through their veins. ''What have we just seen? This monster is capable of infecting other monsters with its spores?! What even is the level of that thing?!" Jack thought.Anna, like him, was convinced that this creature belonged on the fallen level. Not just that, it was of a pretty rare fungi type, this was for sure its main body, but even she was unsure if destroying it would kill all the others.She couldn't tell, but the forest had been plunged into a deadly silence, no monster sounds in the distance, no soft humming of the mushrooms around her. All life was holding its breath, and that included the pair, who had been doing so without even noticing. Only the tranquil, flowing sound of the great river besides them continued to pour over the environment as if in defiance of the horror in front of them.After what seemed like hours, the two monsters appeared to be having a private conversation.For a moment, Jack had the fleeting paranoia that the t
Back to the forest of mushrooms, Jack had just finished absorbing the blood and taking some meat off the bull's carcass, so they could later have something to eat, though he didn't know if it was edible. But it was better than risking it with the alternative that was the mushrooms themselves, still, he wanted to get some meat off the birds too as he didn't trust giving the fungi infected bull's meat to Laura. Who, noticing his movement, began doing the same with the bird carcass and absorbing as much blood as she could, this time with our hero as a lookout.Meanwhile, he took the chance to better scout their surroundings, as his instincts whispered to him that it was safe. He walked back to the battlefield of the beasts with extreme care, chancing upon their previous hiding space, still filled with blood. Since he was pretty fast in absorbing it, he went inside once more and stayed there for a few minutes, paying attention to the distance, the monster corpses were no more as he assume
Jack and Laura were both dumbfounded at how fast things had developed. An all out war between two species of beasts, which was a relatively rare occurrence, was happening right in front of them. The fungi-infected creatures left a trail of dead birds and blood on their path, yet, the birds were unrelenting and had a huge numerical advantage.They held on to each other firmly as several thoughts raced through each of their minds. ''How are we even going to get out of this hellhole? We could try and wait for the storm to pass, but that leaves us too vulnerable in here.'' He honed in on his instincts to get a clearer view. ''No, every second we spend in here is a risk we are taking to either be found out or get caught in the crossfire.''Meanwhile, more than ten birds were flying around the great spider monster and breaking its tough carapace relentlessly with their beaks. ''Thin Laura think! In the academy, they said that beasts of lower levels hardly have a capacity to think and strate
Into the dark cave system, the unlikely group had just passed where Jack's frenetic battle had taken place, thus venturing in unknown territory from then onwards. Of course, both were already on high alert and ready to take on any fight that presents itself. Our very hero was already walking around with both blades drawn and ready for action, while Laura, after spending some time fixing her bow, was also with it drawn and an arrow in hand ready to cover Jack from a longer range. Through the shifting stone pathways they found a couple of bifurcations, but after relatively quick deliberations they'd move on with no worries, as the combination of his powerful instincts and her non-hearing senses could more or less guess what was in the other path. Mainly, they tried to keep heading upward as their objective to return to human civilization hadn't changed and avoiding unnecessary fights as no one knew for how long the exploration would go. Lucky for Laura, the way was relatively well lit
Jack was, rightfully so, in a deep sleep, he had overcome massive disadvantages, used his ability not once or twice but four times in his first test. Thus, he lost a lot of blood in the process, anemia took away all of his energy, and this time, despite the tiredness, he dreamed. He dreamed he was back on that fateful shore training with his mother and father as he always would, and there Ed commented while they exchanged blows, both of them using the same pair of swords:''You are a really mad Casanova, aren't you? Ignoring your instincts to save a damsel in distress sounds like the kind of crap I'd do in my younger years!'' A wide smile was stamped on his face while Anne looked at him from the side, she was definitely not pleased with the comment.''Oh really? So that's the kind of life you led before meeting me, huh?'' A terrifying smile stamped on her face.A deep sense of feeling at home swelled in Jack, who couldn't help but let out a hearty laugh. ''Don't listen to him, Jack''
Of course, it didn't trigger his instinct, that which was falling on top of him was no threat. When Jack came to, he felt something really soft on top of him, I't was quite dazzling, a beautiful girl with brown hair dyed white on the tips around the same stature as him was laying on top of him unconscious. "I guess she fell from somewhere up above." Moving to the side he sighed. "As if my own survival wasn't enough worry." He thought in frustration, but he knew he couldn't just leave her there and go exploring, so he dragged her wounded body inside the cave and left her by the place where he himself had collapsed some time prior. "Well... guess I ain't leaving this cave anytime soon, so I might as well explore it" Jack had neglected doing so as his previous state was in no way prepared but now he was limited in it as to not endanger the passed out girl. At least she seemed to have a bow equipped on her back, so she wouldn't be a burden when she woke up, in addition to that she would m
It all happened so fast that Jack didn't even properly process it until he was about to crash to the floor and become mush, moreover he couldn't even tell if there was a floor in this damned place. Starting with the fact that he was so angry that when he opened the door of the wardrobe, ready for a fight to death (most likely his) with Hella, Jack found himself falling, not to the floor. But endlessly on an entirely new enviroment he had never seen before, a beutiful sky filled to the brim with stars and two moons shining light in his surroundings, grey towers of stone and cyclopian magnitude were all arround him, some had paths, other bridges interconnecting them and many other things which, as he aproached terminal velocity became increasingly dificult to pay attention to the details.Next the survival instinct kicked in. Jack had never been in a situation like this but his beast brain imediatly took action to somewhat increase the chances of his survival, he opened his arms and leg