That one howl started a cacophony of shrieks through the forest of stones. All it took was one single howl and they knew they were under attack. And to put the cherry on top Mag was in meditation. In a comatose state that meant he could not hear, see, or feel a thing.

He was resting. For how long? Only he could know for he didn't share what level his meditation skill was at.

"We are screwed." Arvion squeaked out loud.

Axel offered no reply as Arvion turned to him, his face a pale white.

"Th-They shouldn't have attacked so quickly!"

"All we can do is abandon the formation and hope Mag sees a difference with his mana drainage," Arvion replied

"A-And until then?!"

Arvion looked directly into the eyes of the young scared boy and for the second time in his current memory felt a need to protect who was in front of him.

"Until then, we fight."

"We fight as hard as we can. We fight until we bleed. We fight until we are on the verge of death. And we not once, not never do we give up!"

His strong words seemed to light a fire into young Axel as he nodded with a sense of determination looming in his eyes.

"I will fight!" Axel shouted in reply.

Another howl echoed in the distance. This time closer than before.

"We must prepare! Do you have any buffs?" Arvion asked Axel.

"Buffs? Do you mean enchantments?"

"Same thing."

"Um... no I don't. The only spell I currently know is Water Wall."

"Damnit! I don't have any either. I suppose that means we must set up traps if we can in time."

"Traps. I know those. I can do those fairly well. I've practiced a lot when hunting." Axel said shakily.

"Then let's get to it! We don't have much time. What do you think we should do?!"

"Perhaps we should set some bear traps up. Father has some inside that I used to use frequently. They are high quality and should be enough to deal with the local type of wolves we have here."

"What is the type of wolves in the local area?" Arvion asked with a sinking feeling in his stomach as a realization slowly overtook him.

"Mostly Stone Wolves with a few Steel Paws. They aren't too strong just a little... tough."

"Then hopefully a bear trap will work against them. Hurry up and go get them!" Arvion squeaked as Axel took off running into the house.

Arvion shook silently in the darkness of the early morning darkness, the moon still hanging gently on the horizon. His eyes darted between the dimly lit trees that covered the edge of the glade. Every slightest movement was captured by his eyes in this hyper-vigilant state.

The clanging of metal behind Arvion made him jump as he turned to find Axel tripping over four heavy iron bear traps. Arvion let out a sigh of relief as Axel quickly picked himself up and went about setting the traps up.

While Axel was busy Arvion busied himself mentally remembering his stats as the system was cordoned off from his use.

'If I remember correctly I had upgraded outbreak a few times in the two weeks of practice as well as leveled up Mana manipulation up to four or five.' Arvion thought to himself.

'I unlocked the ability to use things called spell forms when it reached its current level. Which is basically what I was doing beforehand. Physical manifestations of objects made of mana. But this time they are strengthened by the level of the skill. Making it viable to use these things.'

'This effectively doubles my combat output as I can now create daggers and similar things to attack my opponents without worrying it being as weak as without a skill helping it.'

'What else was there! Ugh, I can't remember!' Arvion thought to himself as his mental stability was slowly but surely cracking bit by bit. The wolves were getting closer and he knew it.

Tonight they were prey, not predators. Tonight the wolves were prowling not them. They would not have the advantage in numbers nor capabilities. The only benefit they had was four measly bear traps.

Arvion tried distracting himself from the sudden movements in the forest by looking at the top of his vision. Directly at the ticking clock that was his bad luck curse counter.

All it read was 23:12. Twenty-three hours and twelve minutes remaining before this cursed thing ended.

There was very little they could do to stop the slaughter that was coming but just as he saw the first glint of teeth on the outskirts of his vision he could also see a gentle movement coming from in front of him. Mag stood up slowly at first, making sure not to leave the inner circle, and looked at his surroundings calmly.

"It seems like you all have found yourself in quite the pickle here. Seems like I won't be able to rest and refill my mana as I planned on doing."

The wolves seemed to begin to circle them as glinting lights could be seen gently circling them. Arvion couldn't tell if the light was the gently light reflecting from their cruel eyes or the light glinting meanly off their teeth but it was menacing nonetheless.

Mag seemed unperturbed by the large-scale wolf invasion about to take place and gently cracked his knuckles before smiling gently.

"Don't worry little cubs. I'll go easy on you. I 'promise'" Mag said while making gentle air quotations at the word promise.

The first wolf seemed to take its first tentative step into the glade as a silver wolf appeared in the glade at once. It seemed to be illuminated brightly by the moonlight as soon as it stepped out of the shadow. It then began to charge, as did the other hundred wolves.

"It seems like breakfast has come early this morning!" Mag said before licking his lips.