"GRRRAAAA!" the large Alpha Wolf growled as it lunged at Yang, its teeth bared and eyes wide in an expression of unbridled fury.

Yang remained calm, stepping in towards the Alpha's attack, seemingly unburdened by the thick wooden armor that covered her arms, legs, and torso. Yang ducked under the Alpha's claws and shoved her shield against the beast's chest, not knocking it away but holding it in the air.

The beast did not attempt to fall back for another attack and instead tried to get around her shield while still resting on it. Its claws swiped at her sides and its fangs snapped towards her head and face, but these desperate attacks either missed entirely or landed ineffectually on her Maple Wood Armor.

"Ha...ha...hoo," Yang breathed steadily, eyes narrowed as she kept track of the Moss Wolves darting around her.

Loran watched from his hiding spot in a nearby tree, ready to jump in at the first sign of trouble. From his position he could easily see the five wolves circling her, the large Alpha bearing down on her, and the eight dead Moss Wolves at her feet. He was also struggling to keep his balance right now, as in addition to his usual hunting gear he had what appeared to be a huge rolled-up pelt tied to his back. She had been fighting for nearly two minutes and was making steady progress.

It was day 52 for the players trapped in New Eden Online, and they had rapidly grown accustomed to the deadly conditions of the world. After weeks of crafting, weapons and armor were not only readily available, but the Workshop was now steadily turning out items of the Common quality instead of Poor. With the improved equipment, along with growing levels and player skill, there was very little that posed much of a threat to the village or its inhabitants. The only danger remaining was the Demon Bear, and while some were itching to test their luck against it, the general consensus was to leave the beast alone unless it arrived on their doorstep. Fortunately for the more adventurous players, the village had expanded by building a rudimentary bridge across the river. Now that crossing didn't mean having to swim across, the players had an entirely new region to explore.

Loran and Yang had currently crossed the river and were exploring the northern edges of the known territory. Initially, Loran had planned to make this trip alone, just wanting to see what was out here, but when Yang asked if he was willing to support her for her first solo hunt he saw no reason not to turn his little expedition into an impromptu hunting trip.

"Shouldn't we be doing this in the usual hunting areas?" Yang had asked when Loran suggested the idea.

"We've already covered nearly everything up to the base of the eastern mountains, and there doesn't seem to be anything different aside from the Alphas," he had explained, "and besides, at this point, I can take down anything we've seen so far. Between the two of us, we'll be fine as long as we stay cautious."

Loran had been right; aside from some new plants and the Alpha Wolves, a Moss Wolf subspecies that was larger and could coordinate the pack slightly, there hadn't been anything out of the ordinary.

Even this pack of Moss Wolves hadn't been able to threaten them. However, there was one thing he was quickly realizing that he was very mistaken about.

'I had said the two of us could handle this,' he thought bitterly, 'but isn't she basically steamrolling them?'

With the Alpha helpless on her shield, Yang brought her ax down on its hind leg, leaving a gash deep enough to expose the bone.

Loran used [ANALYSE], checking her condition and confirming his suspicions.

[NAME]: Yang

[SPECIES]: Human

[LEVEL]: 11

[EXP]: 3570/1600

[STATUS]

[ARMOR]: 45

{HP}: 625/697.5

{SP}: 73.5/232.5

[END]: 31(+15.5)

[STR]: 25

[AGI]: 10

[DEX]: 10

[PER]: 10

[REMAINING ABILITY POINTS]: 3

[SKILLS]

[HP BOOSTER] Lv.10

[HUNTER] Lv.10

[STALWART] Lv.10

[SHIELD BASH] Lv.10

[STRONGER SHIELDS] Lv.10

(Passive) Increase the Armor and Durability of equipped shields by 50%.

[TAUNT] Lv.10

(Active Cost: 15 SP) Applies the [ENRAGED] debuff for 30 seconds.

[TENACIOUS] Lv.10

'I get that she's a Tank, but she's taken so little damage.'

Yang was still slightly underleveled compared to Loran and the others, but she had become far more imposing than she was a month ago. Her HP was easily the highest in the village and even higher than any living thing the players had ever come across. Her newly acquired [TAUNT] Skill was simple but perfect for generating agro, and [SHIELD BASH] functioned well for CCing single targets. While there was room to improve, Yang had everything a solid Tank build needed.

But being a Tank meant more than just having a good build, and it was here that Yang had truly surprised Loran. Her Skills were only able to target a single enemy at a time, giving them limited use in large battles like she was just in, but even with just a few uses, she was able to control the wolves shockingly well. She avoided spamming them immediately, but once she was able to pick out the Alpha Wolf she kept it under the effect of [TAUNT] constantly, tracking the duration almost without thinking, and reapplying the [ENRAGED] debuff the instant it fell off. The Moss Wolves didn't necessarily follow orders from the Alpha, but it was able to coordinate the pack, and making it [ENRAGED] quickly caused the beasts to lose their normal synergy.

Loran watched as two wolves lunged to attack Yang while she was busy with the Alpha, only to collide in midair and fall to the ground in a useless pile. Yang didn't miss their actions and quickly used [SHIELD BASH] on the Alpha, knocking it away. The moment she was freed from the Alpha's weight, she brought her ax down on them, killing one and wounding the other as it evaded.

As she turned her back, another Moss Wolf came from behind bit at the back of her knee, one of the few areas her armor didn't cover. Unfortunately, the wolf wasn't as out of sight as it thought it was, and Yang shifted her leg at the last second, causing the attack to land uselessly on the wooden plates of her armor.

'Honestly, that armor is just too broken.'

Yang was wearing Rika's Maple Wood Armor Set, a massive thing made entirely from interlocking wooden plates that were held together by leather straps and were an inch thick at the thinnest areas. The thing was heavy, clumsy, and reduced your range of movement even if you met the stat requirements of 17 STR and 17 END. The set gave a tremendous amount of defense, but it was so restrictive that only a few of the melee players were willing, or able, to wear it.

Furthermore, Rika had built and rebuilt the armor several times, prototypes that were now the versions being used around the village, and the one that Yang was wearing was the best result; the arms and legs were at the Common grade while the chest piece was the only Uncommon item in the village. In order to deal any damage to her through that armor, an attack would need to deal more than 45 damage, and then you would still need to work your way through her nearly 700 HP. As it stands, the only thing that can even deal any significant damage to Yang through her armor is a Spined Deer or Hell Pig using [CHARGE], and those would still need to hit her at least six times to take her down.

'...Maybe we should consider taking down the Demon Bear,' he considered, 'at the very least that would be the only thing that could threaten her at this point.'

The [ENRAGED] Alpha Wolf lunged at Yang for another attack, but as it did so the debuff's duration ended, leaving it disoriented as it flew towards the wood-clad woman. Rather than reapplying the debuff, Yang swung her ax at the Alpha's face, an attack it could normally dodge with ease but was currently unable to. The stone ax blade dug into the beast's skull, killing it.

As the Alpha fell, the rest of the Moss Wolves quickly scattered. It was rare for animals with full HP to run from a fight, but the wolves had long realized that Yang was wiping the floor with them. The only reason they hadn't fled sooner was that they had faith in the Alpha.

"So how was your first solo hunt?" Loran asked as he dropped down from his hiding spot in a nearby tree.

"Annoying," she said tersely, but a grin started to form as she checked her menu to see her total EXP, "but I suppose I could get used to it."

"Yeah, I bet you could," he said derisively, knowing just how much EXP she must have gained from that hunt. 'Ten Moss Wolves plus the Alpha, even taking level differences into account, that would have to be at least 8,000 EXP.' "Still though, we came all this way and all we find are more wolves?"

"You can't always find new shit just by walking around," she said, pulling her attention away from her menu. "Anyway, how are we getting these back? You said you had a plan to not leave so much meat behind?"

"It was Bates' idea actually." As he spoke, Loran set down the rolled-up pelt he had been carrying. Unrolling it revealed that it was actually four Spined Deer pelts sewn together, with a pair of ropes running along the sides and coming together at the front end.

With the practice of solo hunting becoming more prevalent, it soon became obvious that too much food and materials would be wasted without a proper plan. Even normal hunts weren't exempt from this problem, as Moss Wolf packs typically had too many to carry back, and Hell Pigs were too heavy to be carried over long distances unless it was carried by multiple people.

"What about a sled or something?" Bates had suggested as the problem was circulating around the village. At first, the idea was dismissed since the thought of carrying a wooden sled during hunts seemed impractical at best, but when one of the crafters heard about it they decided to do some experimenting. After a week they decided that a hide sled could work since it could be rolled up without much hassle. There was still a limit to how much weight these Leather Sleds could carry, but it was a significant improvement overtaking everything back by hand.

After a few minutes, Loran and Yang had loaded the Alpha and four of the Moss Wolves onto the sled, along with the pelts of the remaining wolves. As they began pulling they were slightly worried that the ropes or the deer hide would tear, but their fears were unfounded and while the sled was rather heavy it moved smoothly enough. The two began the slow trip back to the village.