The green plains greeted him once more. Breathing in the fresh air, invigorating his lungs from the dust and pollution of Singapore’s air. He ran through the plains, heading back to where he encountered the damsel in distress that almost killed him. Stumbling over a few familiar wolves, he dispatched them quickly with a stun from his taser and a swipe from his dagger. He looted the items except for the daggers.

I’m here. Zane reached the place where his horror all began. He wasn’t there to seek out revenge as he was far from being strong enough to spill their blood. Glancing at the opposite of the tree line where he fled with Fethea, his chance of finding a town or a village was far more probable if he went in that direction.

He bolted across the plains, diving into Legan Forest. His eyes were wary. Looking in between the trees, anticipating any sort of ambush that might come his way. He ran his hardest, trying to maintain a straight line without diverging much from his intended path.

Half an hour later, he rested on top of a tree, taking a short break with small sips of water. Down below a few wolves growled at him. Smelling his scent as they waited for him to come down. Unlike before his first trip, Zane wasn’t bothered much by these mutts. He killed so many of them that he thought nothing of them now.

Yet a howl erupted through the forest air. The wolves down below left Zane alone with his tree, heeding to the call of its kin who wasn’t far. A few moments later, Zane heard a scream. He glanced towards the voice, but barely moved a muscle. He learned the hard way that not all screamers should be saved.

Nonetheless, he still wanted to see what was happening. And perhaps he could trail behind the frightened lady back to her home that is if she survived of course. Running towards the growing commotion, he hid behind a tree and peered from the side. At first glance, it wasn’t a lone damsel in distress, as a whole group of them was in a pinch. Four of them to be exact. Three were fighting while one was on the ground unconscious. The group of four was fighting a pack of rabid blue-maned wolves. At the lead was the tallest girl in the bunch, wielding a sword in her hand.

[Isidora Ancus][Lv.8]

[Class: Warrior(Lv.6)]

[HP: 21/40]

[MP: 20/20]

[Strength: 30(+6)]

[Vitality: 20(+6)]

[Agility: 4]

[Arcane Power: 10]

[Perception: 6]

To Isidora’s left side, a gal dressed lightly in a short dress as if visiting the park for a picnic. In her hand looked some sort of stick like a wand.

[Helen Bardur][Lv.7]

[Class: Mage(Lv.4)]

[HP: 7/8]

[MP: 5/46]

[Strength: 4]

[Vitality: 4]

[Agility: 19]

[Arcane Power: 23(+8)]

[Perception: 12]

Yikes. A real-life glass cannon. But not exactly a cannon as she kind of poured a lot of points in her agility. So a glass pistol perhaps? Zane thought.

To Isidora’s right side, a girl dressed in a cloak with a leather chest guard on her right side. The way she held the bow was unlike an archer as Zane guessed that she might not have any arrow left.

[Skylar Coldrin][Lv.7]

[Class: Archer(Lv.7)]

[HP: 5/8]

[MP: 2/10]

[Strength: 9]

[Vitality: 4]

[Agility: 24(+7)]

[Arcane Power: 5]

[Perception: 26(+7)]

Whoa, her perception is pretty high, Zane thought. I wonder whether she could sense me behind this tree. Unfortunately, perception didn’t work that way.

Last not but not least, the dead weight of the team. I’m presuming this is the cleric considering the nun getup she’s wearing, Zane thought.

[Jaenis Klop][Lv.5][Bleeding]

[Class: Cleric(Lv.5)]

[HP: 10/38]

[MP: 28/40]

[Strength: 4]

[Vitality: 19(+5)]

[Agility: 4]

[Arcane Power: 20(+5)]

[Perception: 4]

Ah, shit. She’s dying, and now my conscious trying to guilt-trip me as if it didn’t remember what happened the last time I saved a girl, Zane fell in dilemma. Fighting against his good conscious that kept whispering to go be the white knight. Yet he learned his lesson well, he wasn’t going to let the same thing repeat again. But the situation right here was outright leaning towards these girls' death. The numbers of wolves out there were more or less three dozens of them. For him, it wasn’t a problem since he got a stun gun, but for them, it was nothing short of a nightmare. At first glance alone, the only one who could fight was the warrior, Isidora. To make things worse, Zane saw a peculiar wolf among the many canines.

[Blue-maned Alpha Wolf][Mini-Boss][Lv.15]

[The leader of the pack. The strongest, the most ferocious, and the agilest. It’s bigger than a normal wolf. Yet its strongest attribute is its ability to command those within its pack.]

Yup, they’re definitely going to die. He watched from his hiding spot as the girls fought for their very lives.

* * *

Isidora brought down her sword, slashing a pouncing wolf at the head. It died. Yet another came to take its place, baring its fangs and claws. Skylar clutched at the last second, slamming her precious bow at the wolf, saving Isidora from being bitten on the neck. The warrior stabbed down her sword at the wolf and ended its life. But the crisis was far from over.

“You sure you don’t have any arrow left?” Isidora asked. Keeping an eye out at the wolves in front of them.

“Do you really think I have one after using my bow like a freaking blunt weapon?” Skylar grumbled.

“Wouldn’t hurt to be hopeful,” Isidora said. Swinging her sword in an arc, keeping the wolves at bay.

“Guys. Less arguing, and more thinking to get out of this mess,” Helen urged.

“Says the one who comes to a hunt wearing a fucking summer dress,” Skylar scoffed.

“Excuse me?” Helen turned to her back, glaring. And Skylar replied the same with a glare of her own.

“Stop it!” Isidora shouted. “Jaenis needs us, and you guys are not helping. Helen, spell options?”

“A big one once, or five low-rank spells,” Helen answered. And it wasn’t a good thing to hear. To make it worse, the wolves were toying with them as they could have ended them quickly, swarming them like bees. But they didn’t. As if the ringleader was enjoying itself seeing the spectacle of human beings struggling for their survival.

The Alpha let out a short howl and the front liners of the pack surged at the trio. Six of them came at the same time, and the girls went frantic. Isidora swung her sword like mad, randomly hitting the wolves, barely making any damage to them.

To the side, Helen threw Force Beat after Force Beat. Sending these mutts flying in the air, slamming against tree trunks, and deadfalls. Yet all of those weren’t enough. Force Beat was the weakest of her arsenal and no one in their right mind would use it not unless they were forced to. Helen cussed on the inside. Seeing the wolves got back up again, chasing after her as the urge to run grew by the second. Slowly she was losing her MP and it scared her. The mage was as fragile as a thin sheet of glass.

On the opposite side, Skylar was breathing hard, dodging all those claws and fangs of the wolves. She didn’t even have the time to counter as her perception and agility were going at it in full force just from dodging alone. Gritting her teeth, she jumped and swerved, and before she knew it, she ran from the fray. Catching both her teammates and the wolves off guard. Leaving them behind as she prioritized her life over anything else.

“Skylar!” Isidora bellowed. She let out a battle cry as her anger consumed her mind and soul. Driving her forward, bashing her blade against the fur of these wolves. Blood spilled all over the ground, both hers and the wolves around her. Yet she didn’t stop. She kept on moving. Slashing and cutting her enemies down.

To make things worse, she caught a glimpse of something in the corner of her eyes. Wolves were leaving and as she turned, the back of a leaving Helen left her heart cold. She didn’t know what to say or how to feel. Her shoulders drooped down as her comrades left her one by one, betrayal after betrayal as those memories she once had with them went to flames in mere minutes. They were budding adventures, yearning to conquer dungeons as well as making a name for themselves. Yet all of that left Isidora’s mind as the reality adventuring slapped her right in the face.

The burning desire of a berserker settled down as if she gave in to fate. The fate of dying this young in the middle of the forest. Tears streamed down her tanned cheeks as she recalled the face of her parents, smiling at her, wishing her good luck during her departure. But now, all of that was about to end. Hope was no longer there, and for the last time, she glanced at her unconscious friend. She expected Jaenis to be mauled by the ravenous jaws of these blue-maned wolves. But to her surprise, a masked man stood guard in front of Jaenis. A peculiar mask that she hadn’t seen before in her entire life.

She watched as this man sent wolf after wolf to the ground, twitching. The blade in his hand was quick to deal the final blow, ending the lives of these wolves that dared threatened Jaenis’ life.

By chance, she sort of met eyes with the masked man.

“Stand and fight!” said the masked man.

She couldn’t understand his gibberish words yet Isidora felt the meaning of it from the masked man’s tone alone. Something lit inside of her as she readied in a battle stance, raising her sword to fight another battle. The glint in her eyes changed as she shouted through the air, “Howling Arc!” a subtle glow enveloped her sword as she rushed in front of her sending a horizontal swing from left to right in an arc. Some were dead while some were heavily injured. She pressed on fighting as her eyes kept glancing at times at the stranger that came to help.

The masked man trod through the ground as if sliding on it. Dodging these wolves as the taser in his hand zapped them unconscious to the ground, and slit their throats to the underworld zoo. But some managed to find his blind spot. Pouncing at him as it tried taking a bite out of his nape. Yet an unseen force slammed the blue-maned wolf point-blank, crushing its ribs and sending it flying in the air.

But surprisingly, the wolf landed on its feet, glaring with drool dripping from its jaw.

“Oh,” the masked man exclaimed. “If isn’t the big man himself.” He realized the different sizes of this blue-maned wolf and even without Hi-Analysis, he knew who he was dealing with. “That’s quite cheeky of you going for the blind spot. Didn’t know a boss would be that sneaky even with that kind of level.”

He dislodged the dagger from the throat of a dead wolf and kept his eyes staring at the yellow eyes of the Alpha. “Hey!” he shouted. Gaining the attention of Isidora. “I’ll be fighting the boss, so keep your friend safe,” he said, pointing at Jaenis.

The lone warrior glanced between her friends and the big wolf that the masked man was about to confront. She got the gist of it even without understanding even a word from Zane as she shouted, “I will!”. She ran towards Jaenis’ side and stood guard with both her hands gripping on the sword. After standing back and away from the wolves’ attention, she finally noticed how little the pack had become. From three dozens and now they were less than eight of them including the Alpha. And she realized most that were still alive were those that she fought. Her line of sight brought her to the back of the masked man as she was awed by this stranger.

Deep down, she prayed silently for both her and Jaenis. “Please win.”