Lightning flashed above the forest canopy with a roar of thunder following after. The air was still damp, wet from the rainfall a while ago. Even with that, the gray clouds and sky looked to be more than ready for another downpour, almost as if a rain curse was in place in the area.

Mat sat under an oak tree, the giant roots sprouting from the ground shielding his body from the cold wind whizzing by with a ghostly hush. He curled to a ball, his entire body damp and freezing. He could hear his teeth rattle, his fingers losing senses with his entire body trembling to stay alive. If he didn't do anything, he was bound to freeze to death- bitten by frostbite.

Thoughts of worry raced inside Mat's head. Even if he was to survive this cold weather, he still needed to find for himself food to eat, water to drink, a place to sleep. He tried asking for help from the light floating beside him, but again and again, the light didn't have anything useful to give him.

Mat's eyes were heavy. They tempted to close, but he knew that if he succumbed to sleep, he may never wake up again. All he could do for now was wait for the sun to come out, and only God knows when that might happen.

A howl shook Mat wide awake.

He turned to where it came from, seeing a giant wolf through the thicket of the woods. Its silhouette towered over the shrubs and treelings, looking to be more than ten times Mat's size even with the distance. Its eyes pierced the shadows, gleaming red with ferocity, staring back at him.

Mat's heart started to race, his adrenaline pumped to maximum. He didn't take his eyes off the wolf, not even daring to blink. All he could do was look at it, observe it, find out what it came for- though it looked like that one was pretty obvious.

Sweat dripped down Mat's cheek.

He didn't know it, but he was in a standoff with the beast. Neither of them moved, only observed, as if any one of them could pull out a gun at any time.

The wolf howled again, raising its head just before falling over itself. It crashed into a tree, prompting branches and leaves to rustle and fall.

The wolf gave away a whimper.

Mat wanted to run. He wanted to put as much of a distance between himself and the wolf, now that it was in no shape to chase him. And yet, he didn't. Instead, he slowly started towards it.

"This is crazy." Mat muttered under his breath. It really was. Walking towards a giant monster was the last thing a sane person would do. But curiosity got the better of him. And if it really was dead, he could use the fur as a warm cover, keeping the cold from biting.

Mat stopped after just a few feet. He stared down at the wolf. It stared back at him, eyes still gleaming red.

"Not dead." He double-backed, turning away from the wolf. If it was still alive, he didn't want anything to do with it. One wrong move and the next thing he knew his head wouldn't be attached to his neck anymore.

The wolf let out another whimper.

"Don't give me that-"

It was dead.

When Mat turned again, he found its eyes already dead. Just moments ago they were gleaming red, now they were void of any color at all.

Mat's heart sank. Seeing something die would always tug something within him. Even though he was in a life or death situation with the animal just moments before, he couldn't help but feel sorry for it. It reminded him of his dog from years back.

Mat doubled back towards the wolf. "What wolf was this?"

The green light floating beside him zipped through the air in a set pattern before settling down, leaving the floating text in front of him.

Giant Direwolf (E-) [Beast]

Characterized by their giant size, black fur, and red eyes. Though wolves normally hunt in packs, giant direwolves are all solitary because of their size.

Mat looked over the wolf's body. There was a large wound cut to its side, as if a huge sword came down and carved into it, leaving the mark he sees now.

"I wonder what could leave a wound on such a thing."

Green tendrils of ominous light then seeped out from the wolf's wound, rising like smoke over its body before coalescing into a green orb floating above. The orb laid suspended in the air, unmoving even with the gush of cold wind rushing by.

Mat stumbled back in surprise. "What's that?"

Soulmancy [Magic]

Allows the user to see the soul of a recently dead beast or monster. A soul cannot be seen if the beast/monster is stronger than the user. This limitation can be voided if the beast/monster is willing to give its soul to the user. Consumes no mana. No cooldown. The soul can then be used to either:

Materialize - The soul is shaped into the form of its body, now made of mana instead of physical substance. The user has absolute control of the materialized soul. The materialized soul retains 67% of its original strength. Absorb - The soul is consumed to strengthen the body. The absorbed soul only retains 33% of its original strength.

Mat couldn't believe the text in front of him.

Magic. This was magic.

He then turned back towards the green orb floating above the wolf's body. With a sigh, he reached out his hand towards it. He was skeptical it would work, but at least he'd try.

At first, nothing happened. That one was expected. But then, slowly, like a river flowing towards Mat's outstretched hand, tendrils of light seeped out from the orb to seek his hand, almost as if his palm was a drain sucking in water. The orb then collapsed into thin air.

Mat's hand was now glowing an ominous green. Even though he didn't know how this happened, he had an instinctive feel as to what to do and the steps to take to achieve the results he wanted- like a hidden instinct.

Following that, he raised his other hand. He passed the light from his glowing hand to the other, forming a bridge made of light tendrils between them. After all the light then settled into his other hand, the light made one final journey from it towards an open area in front of him, coalescing into a vague shape strangely similar to the silhouette of the giant direwolf with even the same slash mark to its side.

There was another wolf in front of Mat, same in size but different in color to the dead one on the ground.

Mat couldn't believe it worked. Deep inside him he still felt like all of this was a sham, an illusion of some kind. That was until the new wolf opened its eyes and turned to him, moving like a living being. Green, translucent, and very much alive- it let out a piercing howl within the woods as it stretched its front legs.

Mat dropped down to his knees, feeling his entire body quiver- not with fear, but with excitement. He could feel the cold tingle his spine, but that wasn't from the weather. It was far from it.

Seeing the wolf in front of him resurrected, he could no longer deny it.

"I'm really not on Earth anymore."