Max took slow and steady steps. He was careful not to step on any twigs or dried leaves. The deeper he got into the forest, the harder it was to keep track of the prints. But luckily for him, the beast had run in a straight line, and every couple of meters, there were also smudges of dark red on the ground.

Max committed the route to memory. It was very important for him to be able to make it back to the clearing. Looking back through the dense foliage, he could occasionally see the hill where the cave was situated. His higher Intelligence stats helped with memorization. He was also extremely mindful of his surroundings. There could be other beasts in the area. So far, there didn’t seem to be any other tracks. But then again, this was all new to him.

From the direction he took off, it would lead him to the ocean. At his current rate, it would take him a long time to reach it. The trees looked mostly the same, but there were a few that had purple or orange leaves instead of the green leaves that dominated the forest. On the way, there were also a few berry bushes. They were all around knee height. The berries weren’t that big, about the size of his thumb. They looked like miniature green apples.

Max was curious and wanted to take the same approach as the moss. Eat a tiny bit and then use Analyze on it. Max hadn’t heard too much about poisonous moss, but a lot of stories of poisonous berries. For the moment, he decided to pass on it. The task at hand was more important.

Checking his Greater Enhance Regeneration, two hours had passed since he exited the cave. His regeneration buff had 10 hours left on its timer. Taking into account the time it took to scale down from the cave and pick this route, it had been about an hour to an hour and a half of him walking in this direction. It was slow going, he couldn’t have gotten too far from the clearing.

Spending so much time in the forest and nothing happening, his nerves started getting the better of him. The stillness of the forest made him want to go back to the clearing. He was half hoping something would pop out so there would be a reason for him to turn back. Max kept panning his eyes, trying to spot any danger. His attention was so focused on looking for beasts in the distance that he missed a ditch and stepped right into it. Rolling down the ditch Max crashed into something. Something cracked, but it didn’t come from him. There wasn’t any pain nor loss of HP.

The next moment, there was a whimper that sounded out behind him towards his right. Putting some distance between himself and the sound, he only turned back when it was a good three to four meters away. Holding the Chi-Infused rock in front of him, Max was ready to fight. But when he saw the state the beast was in he let out a small sigh.

Max was face to face with the second creature he met in this world. This time, the table had turned. The beast in front of him looked like a dog, but it had a longer snout. This coupled with the howls from last night, Max quickly identified it as a wolf. The wolf was small, much smaller than even most dogs on Earth. He understood why the wolves had called it puny, the “beast” in front of him was probably no larger than a chihuahua.

There were two large patches of its fur coated in red, likely blood. It looked especially stained around one of its hind legs. The other patch around its midsection looked a lot better. In the areas without blood, there was snow-white fur with some streaks of gray near the base of its neck

It looked like he had landed on its injured leg crushing it. There was some blood on his poncho shirt that wasn’t his. There was a pained expression across the wolf’s face, but more than that, it also looked scared. The thing looked absolutely pitiful. Max almost couldn’t imagine a world where the creature could harm him. His accidental tumble was enough to break some of the wolf’s bones. But no one could fault him for being too careful. Lowering his center of gravity, he prepared to charge it and end the encounter with a quick hit.

“Wait! Please, no hurt me.”

Halting his advance, Max had forgotten that he could understand the wolf.

“What are you?”

There was a brief change in expression on the creature's face that could be interpreted as surprise.

“You understand?”

“Yes, I understand you. Now tell me, who are you?”

From this brief exchange, Max guessed that humans typically weren’t able to communicate with spirit beasts. As Max finished his last word, he took a step forward menacingly. The little wolf tried to curl into itself more, making it look smaller.

“Please. No hurt me. I tell. I tell. I no name. All call me Puny.”

“Okay Puny, what type of beast are you?”

“They say Ling Wolf. Not sure. Color not same. Ling Wolf ugly. They gray, little white. Me white, little gray.”

After hearing that, Max tried using Analyze on it.

Analyzing…

Unknown Wolf

Status: Alive, badly injured

Cultivation: ???

‘It didn’t say anything about a Ling Wolf, I wonder if it’s because it really isn’t one or I just don’t know enough.’

That was an interesting piece of information, Max continued his questioning.

“What are you doing here?”

“I hurt, I rest”

“And how did you get hurt?”

Having been there, he already knew broadly what had happened last night. He had overheard almost everything. This was a test for the wolf. Would it lie to him? If it did, Max had no qualms about killing something that he couldn’t trust. There was a momentary pause from the wolf before it started answering.

“L-last night, hawk attack pack. P-pack run different direction. Me lucky. Only scratches. Ff-found ditch, rest.”

Even if Max didn’t know the truth, he could clearly tell it was a lie. It started stuttering as soon as it began and there was a shakiness in the wolf’s voice that wasn’t there before. And “Only scratches”? Who does this little runt think it is? Monty Python? “Tis But A Scratch”. It even gave itself away by saying its fur was mostly white. The first thing Max noticed was the two large patches of blood.

‘Wow, I don’t think I have seen a worse liar in my life.’

Taking another step forward, he raised his Chi-Infused rock to end this.

“Wait! Wait! I tell truth now. No hurt. Please”

If Max was being honest with himself, the thought of killing something sentient made him very uncomfortable. He had tried to find a reason to not kill it, but if it kept lying to him he would have no other choice. As much as it made him uncomfortable, he needed a new source of food and while the wolf didn’t have much, it could still last him a couple of days. It was also small enough to carry to the cave, so he wasn't going to make that mistake again.

Max paused, his conscience won out. He nodded for it to speak. The little wolf has one more chance to tell him the truth.

“Last night. Smell blood. I follow. Big hawk. Already dead. Called pack. Pack come, no share. Pack no share. Attack me. I ran. I tell truth. No lie. Please. No hurt”

This time, the wolf rushed to say all of that without slowing down. Afraid that if it was too slow getting its words out, it would die. Fear could clearly be seen in the wolf's eyes. At the same time, his annoyance flared. He had already come to terms with the loss of the hawk, but now facing the main reason, Max didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

‘Da Fuck, I was actually done in by such a puny runt?’

Playing up his annoyance and tinting his next question with a hint of anger, Max asked “Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you right now. The hawk was my kill, and your pack stole it.”

The wolf’s eyes immediately went round, it was comical how round it was.

“Please. Please. I help. I good nose. Find prey. Know forest. Help lead you. Please anything. No kill me. Please.”

Taken slightly aback, he wasn’t expecting the wolf to actually list some useful things.

Max was already planning on sparing it, but now he was going to milk it for all the information it has. If it could show him what parts of the forest were dangerous, it could be a worthwhile trade. He could probably survive a few days, but that wasn’t a good long-term plan. Plus seeing how easily it got hurt and how small it was, it probably wouldn’t give him a whole lot of experience either.

By now, most of his intent to kill it had faded away. It was also nice talking to someone again. It had only been a single day and he was already tired of the solitude. Even if it could only communicate in broken sentences it was better than nothing.

Max didn’t know what was going through the little wolf’s head. When he had mentioned the hawk being his kill, the wolf knew there was no chance of running. Even uninjured, it wouldn’t be able to get far. The hawk was extremely strong and even the pack leader would have trouble fighting it. And there was no doubt in the wolf’s mind that the human killed the hawk, it was even wearing the hawk’s feathers.

Before Max’s mind was made up, there was one last important question. He wouldn’t kill the little wolf, but depending on the answer, he might leave it here for someone else's problem or meal.

“How do I know I can trust you? That you won’t lead me to a trap or betray me to your pack?”

“Pack? Pack attack me. Kick me out. I no pack.”

“No pack. I died. New pack. You me pack. I loyal. Old pack treat bad. I tell where food, pack no share. Old pack bad.”

“You no kill me now, I died today, tomorrow. Soon.”

Max was amazed that it knew its situation so well. And from what little he knew wolf packs, it sounded true. Wolf packs are basically family. They are usually a closed-knit community and typically wouldn’t be attacking each other.

‘It was odd that this happened, but maybe it is because of its size or even fur color. It did say that he didn’t feel like it was one of them.’

Mulling over his decision, he stared at the little runt. It was genuinely sad and it was evident it was afraid. Not just for this current situation, but for its future.

Letting out a sigh, “Okay, can you walk?”

The wolf thought it was for sure going to die when the human just stared at him and didn’t say anything. Even if the human just left him alone, the blood would have attracted predators sooner or later. It would rather have a quick death than be eaten alive. But the next thing it heard was “Okay, can you walk?”. It quickly shook his head. Before it could react, the human grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and pulled him upwards. Letting out a yelp in surprise and pain, some of the wounds that had closed up started bleeding again.

Hearing the yelp from the wolf, Max realized his mistake too late.

“Ah, sorry.”

Being more gentle, the wolf was cradled in one arm. Max tried his best not to aggravate the wounds or let any blood drip. He didn't want to make it easier than it already was for a spirit beast to track him back to the cave.

It took him over an hour to get from the clearing to where he was now. But that was because he had to stop every few minutes to reexamine the tracks. Now on the way back, he knew the route. Along the way, they passed by the berries.

“Are these berries okay to eat? Are they poisonous?”

“No poison, good food”

Knowing that Max picked a couple of fist-full of berries and laid them on top of the wolf. He didn’t completely trust it yet, so Max made it eat a few of the berries by saying.

“Eat some, it will help recover your strength. I also don’t have too much food after the hawk was stolen.”

Hearing that the wolf stiffened up. It had thought it was going to get punished for leading its pack to the hawk. Without taking a second thought it did what the human commanded.

Seeing that wolf eating the berries without hesitation, Max inwardly nodded to himself.

“What do you want to be called?”

“No name. Always called puny.”

“Do you want a name?”

“Yes. Name good. New Pack leader give name.”

“Mhm, are you a boy or girl?”

“Boy!”

He thought about it for a second.

“Okay, from now on your name will be Mark. I am Max, you are Mark.”

“Ma Erk? Okay. I Ma Erk.”

Max was going to correct the wolf, but seeing that the wolf was satisfied with the name, he didn’t say anything.