Alf hoisted Blix off the ground and pushed her up through a tangle of scratchy limbs.

A chest-rumbling growl sounded behind him. An answering yip from off to the right.

Blix pulled away from his grasp and scampered like a monkey into the tree. “Come on. Climb!” she called down at him. “We’ll figure it out later.”

He retrieved his cane and backed into the tree as a huge gray wolf stalked towards him. The beast stood over three feet at the shoulder. It was twice as large as a normal wolf. And something about it felt off. It’s legs were too thick, it’s haunches too square. And it’s eyes… He swallowed against the lump building in his throat. It’s eyes were just wrong. Too intelligent by far. But lifeless as bottle caps. It didn’t make sense. Nothing about it made sense.

“Alf!”

The beast charged, a streak of fangs and gray fur. Crossing fifteen yards in a single bound, it leaped for his throat.

No time for a momentum-building spin. Alf swung the cane like a baseball bat, stepping deep into the swing to get his shoulders under the pitch. The cane connected with wolf’s throat, but the beast’s momentum sent it crashing into Alf’s shoulder, smashing him against the tree.

The wolf yelped as its snout hit the tree, twisting backwards at an unnatural angle. It staggered to its feet and sprang away as another wolf lunged forward to take its place.

Alf jerked the cane up to protect his face, barely deflecting the second wolf’s bite before its jaws snapped shut inches from his forehead. He pushed with every ounce of his nanite-enhanced strength, but the wolf barely moved. It sprang away on its own power, and gathered itself for another lunge.

A leafy branch came crashing through the branches. The wolf leaped backwards again, and then lowered its head to emit a subwoofer snarl.

“Climb up.” Blix tossed another branch, but it got caught on one of the intervening limbs. “Alf!”

“I need to kill it!” Alf climbed onto his feet and readied his cane for another swing. “I’m at 705 out of 900. If I can just kill one of them, maybe we’ll have a chance.”

The wolf lunged again and then leaped away as one of its cousins crashed through the branches behind him.

Alf tried to turn, but electric pain jolted up his leg. The wolf clamped onto his calf and tugged him off balance.

And then the first wolf lunged.

Blix was right. He didn’t stand a chance against a pack of wolves. But at least he wouldn’t have to worry about Jane taking over anymore. Ignoring gnawing pain ravaging his leg, he raised his cane and fixed his attention on the charging wolf. He might go down, but he was taking this beasty with him.

Whipping his cane around with everything he had left, he spun it in a tight circle and smashed it down on the wolf’s skull, driving root ball into its brain with a splintering crack.

Congratulations! You have defeated the Dyre Wolf.

Reward: 220 EXP

Congratulations! You have attained Level 3 and have been awarded the following:

+ 3 Attribute Points

+ 3 Skill Points

Pain flared in Alf’s leg, making his vision go red. The world went fuzzy as he toppled over backwards. Pain flowed out of him like a receding wave to leave him floating in a silent dark sea. Everything was so relaxing. So peaceful.

Everything except that stupid bar of flashing neon light. Health, it said in bold red letters. Zero out of a hundred and twenty-one.

* * *

Name: Jane

Level: 2

Class: —

Health: 0/121

Stamina: 63/121

Mana: 784/784

Exp: 25/1400

Attr Points: 4

Skill Points: 3

ST: 11

DX: 10

CN: 11

IQ: 28

CH: 16

Combat Skills:

Faire du Canne 4: (Effective Skill: 4.2, Basis: ST+DX, Enhancement: 12.6%)

Grappling 1: (Effective Skill: 1.05, Basis: 2ST+DX, Enhancement: 3.2%)

Crafting Skills:

Woodcrafting 1: (Effective Level: 1.9, Basis: DX+IQ, Enhancement: 5.7%)