The Ultimate Hunter: The First Nexarri

The Cubs

The direwolf stood several meters away, breathing heavily now. Its glowing eyes remained locked onto Kelvin as cold wind moved quietly through the trees around them.

For a brief moment, neither moved.

Kelvin slowly forced himself back onto his feet.

“Hah… hah…”

Everything hurt.

His shoulder burned from the claw wounds, and his side ached every time he breathed. His clothes were stained with dirt and blood, while exhaustion weighed heavily on his body.

But the direwolf looked worse.

Its injured shoulder trembled slightly, and its breathing had become rougher than before.

Still, the beast lowered itself again.

Ready to attack.

“You really just don’t give up…”

The direwolf vanished.

Kelvin’s heart tightened immediately.

Right side.

The beast burst from the darkness beside him.

Kelvin moved instantly.

Instead of retreating, he stepped forward and grabbed the sword lodged in the direwolf’s shoulder with both hands.

“AHHH!”

He pulled downward with everything he had left.

The direwolf roared loudly as the blade tore deeper through the wound.

At the same time, the beast slammed into Kelvin.

Both crashed heavily onto the forest floor.

“UGH!”

Pain shot through Kelvin’s back as air escaped his lungs.

The direwolf struggled wildly beside him while dirt and leaves scattered around them.

Kelvin forced himself backward quickly before the beast could pin him beneath its weight.

“Hah… hah…”

His vision blurred slightly.

Everything felt heavier now.

The direwolf staggered back onto its feet.

Its movements had changed. Slower.

Less steady. But still dangerous.

Kelvin slowly stood again while gripping the sword tightly.

His arms trembled badly from exhaustion.

The direwolf growled deeply one final time.

Then charged. Kelvin inhaled sharply.

At the last possible moment, he stepped aside and swung upward with everything left in him.

“AHHH!”

The blade cut across the direwolf’s neck.

The beast stumbled past him violently before collapsing hard onto the forest floor several meters away.

Silence filled the forest.

Kelvin stood there breathing heavily.

“Hah… hah…”

The direwolf tried to rise once.

Its claws scraped weakly against the dirt.

Then stopped.

The glow in its eyes slowly faded away.

It was over. Finally.

Kelvin’s legs nearly gave out beneath him.

He dropped onto one knee while trying to steady his breathing.

Everything hurt. His chest burned. His arms felt numb.

Even holding the sword had become difficult. But somehow…

He was still alive. Again.

Kelvin lowered his gaze toward his shaking hands.

“How am I even still standing…” he muttered weakly.

Then something caught his attention.

A faint yellow glow.

Kelvin frowned slightly and looked toward the dead direwolf.

The light was coming from inside the beast’s chest.

Soft.

Pulsing faintly beneath blood-covered fur.

“What is that…?”

Kelvin remained still for a moment, staring at the faint yellow glow coming from the direwolf’s chest.

The light pulsed slowly beneath the fur, almost like a heartbeat.

“What is that…?” he muttered again.

Even from where he stood, he could feel something strange from it.

Warm. Heavy.

His body reacted to it instinctively, though he did not understand why.

Kelvin slowly approached the dead direwolf, gripping the sword carefully.

The closer he got, the stronger the feeling became.

His violet eyes flickered faintly for a brief second before returning to normal.

Kelvin frowned.

“Not again…”

Ever since waking up after Ashvale’s destruction, strange things kept happening to him.

His senses had sharpened.

His body healed unnaturally fast.

His eyes changed color when his emotions

rose.

And now this.

Nothing about him felt normal anymore.

Kelvin crouched beside the direwolf carefully.

The yellow glow was coming from deep inside the beast’s chest.

For a moment, he hesitated.

Then he slowly pushed the fur aside and reached deeper until his fingers touched something solid.

Warm.

Smooth.

Kelvin pulled it out slowly.

A crystal.

Golden light moved faintly inside it like flowing energy.

Kelvin stared at it silently.

“So this is… the source of its strength?”

The crystal was smaller than his palm, yet he could feel energy flowing from it continuously.

Part of him wanted to keep staring at it.

Another part of him felt uneasy holding it.

Kelvin wrapped the crystal carefully in a piece of cloth from his bag before attaching it to his belt.

He would figure it out later.

Right now, he needed rest.

His entire body felt close to collapsing.

Kelvin looked back toward the dead direwolf once more.

Up close, the beast looked different now.

Less terrifying.

Just tired. Wounded. Protective.

Kelvin frowned slightly at that last thought.

Protective?

His eyes narrowed.

The direwolf had attacked immediately when he entered this part of the forest.

Not because it was hunting.

Because it was defending something.

Kelvin slowly stood again.

Then he heard it.

A faint sound nearby.

Small.

Weak.

“...?”

Kelvin turned his head slightly.

There it was again. Soft whining.

Coming from deeper between the trees.

His grip tightened around the sword instinctively as he followed the sound carefully.

Step by step, he moved through the forest until he reached a large cluster of roots near a broken stone formation.

The sound came from inside.

Kelvin slowly pushed aside a few branches.

Then froze.

Two tiny direwolf cubs stared back at him from inside the hidden den.

Small. Weak.

Curled tightly against each other.

Their glowing golden eyes looked frightened. Kelvin remained silent.

The cubs whined softly again and pressed themselves deeper into the corner of the den.

That was when the truth hit him.

The direwolf had not been trying to hunt him.

It had been protecting them.

Kelvin’s chest tightened slightly.

For a long moment, he said nothing.

Then he slowly lowered the sword.

The two direwolf cubs remained pressed against each other inside the den, their small golden eyes fixed on Kelvin cautiously.

They looked nothing like the massive beast that had nearly killed him.

They were tiny.

Weak.

Barely larger than hunting dogs.

Kelvin stayed silent for a moment while staring at them.

His grip around the sword slowly loosened.

“So that’s why…” he murmured quietly.

The mother direwolf had not attacked him out of cruelty.

She had been protecting her cubs.

A heavy feeling settled in Kelvin’s chest.

For the first time since Ashvale, the anger inside him weakened slightly.

Only slightly.

But enough for guilt to creep in.

The cubs whined softly again.

Hungry. Cold. Alone.

Kelvin looked away briefly and exhaled slowly.

“I can’t just leave you here…”

The words came out quietly, almost reluctant.

At first, part of him considered walking away.

The forest was dangerous enough already.

Taking care of two magical beasts would only make survival harder.

Another darker thought crossed his mind briefly.

End their suffering now.

Quickly.

Before something worse found them.

But the moment that thought appeared, images of Ashvale surfaced in his mind again.

The burning village.

His parents lying motionless.

The silence afterward.

Kelvin clenched his jaw tightly.

“No…”

He could not do it.

Not after losing everything himself.

Slowly, he crouched down and carefully reached toward the cubs.

They flinched immediately and growled weakly.

Kelvin stopped moving.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said quietly.

After a few moments, he wrapped both cubs gently inside a spare fur cloth from his bag and lifted them carefully.

They were warm.

Small.

And trembling slightly.

Kelvin looked around before finding a safer spot beneath a large tree nearby. Using broken branches and loose cloth, he made a small shelter to block some of the cold night wind.

Afterward, he gathered dry wood and started a small fire.

The orange light flickered softly against the dark forest around him.

Kelvin sat beside the flames while roasting meat from the small animal he had hunted earlier that day.

The cubs stayed close together beside him, watching carefully.

One of them sniffed the air cautiously.

Kelvin tore off a small piece of meat and lowered it slowly toward them.

At first they hesitated.

Then one suddenly grabbed it and began eating quickly.

The other followed immediately after.

A faint smile almost appeared on Kelvin’s face before fading again.

“Huh…”

Watching them somehow made the forest feel less empty.

For a while, only the crackling fire and soft night wind filled the silence.

Kelvin leaned back against the tree slowly, exhaustion finally catching up to him.

His body still hurt badly from the fight.

But the wounds already felt different.

Less painful than before.

Healing faster.

Kelvin lowered his gaze toward his hands again.

“What exactly am I now…?”

No answer came.

Only silence.

His silver hair moved slightly with the night breeze while the firelight reflected faintly in his violet-tinted eyes.

Why had he survived?

Why had his body changed?

Why did he feel less human with every passing day?

And why…

Did part of him feel connected to those strange yellow crystals?

Kelvin stared into the fire for a long time while the direwolf cubs slowly curled up beside him.

Eventually, exhaustion became too much.

His eyes slowly closed.

The last thing he heard before sleep claimed him was the soft breathing of the cubs resting near his side.