Chapter 8

Deciding to keep away from humans when there were no humans around wasn't that much of a power move as it turns out. Also, taming a wolf? Wouldn't recommend. Did I expect it to be dangerous and insane? Well, yes. This was a wolf we were talking about. 

BUT THIS PARTICULAR WOLF WAS BEING AN ASSHOLE.

You know how wolves have Alphas and Omegas? This Alpha had seemed to have found an Omega in me. I had been wondering the frozen wastes for some time in my lonesome, feeling disorientated by the sudden change of scenery due to my unceremonious exit from Oasis and being in the ready for an attack. I gradually got hungrier and thirstier, however. The cloak did a good job of keeping the harshness of the wind from biting my body but the temperature was still below freezing so it was getting harder and harder to walk into those conditions and my health had been bleeding points steadily. I was very grateful for the pair of boots because I knew too well what it was like to walk and run barefoot in this place. 

That had been when my eyes connected with the iciest blue behind the white foliage. The rest of the body was one with the scenery so if his lips hadn't been pulled back to reveal two deadly rows of teeth and if he hadn't started growling, I wouldn't be able to discern what I had before me. I had been expecting something crazier than those enormous snakes but this wolf looked regular sized and pretty normal looking, if not the most regal and beautiful animal I had ever seen.

Things started to get downhill from there. As we stared into each other's eyes, a sort of understanding seemed to go through and as my grip on the handle of the sword loosened and I had hope of finding an animal companion, the wolf cocked his head to the heavens and howled. I knew I was done for the moment I felt the ground shake underneath the pounding of many running feet and before I could react or think of a plan, I was surrounded by a whole pack of those snow white wolves. The original asshole that called them unprovoked, however, was still keeping himself on the side. Watching me in an absurd expression of curiosity and interest as if he wanted to see me get eaten. The wolves around me started snapping their jaws and growling and their beautiful faces became those of hungry beasts. I didn't think it possible but my body felt even colder. That was when I had tried to draw my sword defensively and my predicament became crystal clear both to me and my predators.

Erlong had made such a scene of handing me the sword reluctantly and spouting all that nonsense about my destiny or fate or whatever but I would have had more luck with a hammer or even that sharp rock I had used to defeat the Ikawa the first day in Oasis. Because, I was only a level 2, okay? I had reached that level through painful labour and effort and it had been the slowest breakthrough you could ever imagine. So up until that moment, I had been a little proud of that feat. Thing was, the sword was such a higher level than mine that I couldn't even support its weight and when I tried to read its name, even that was blurry and hidden from me. The only word I could make out was Legendary. And it looked very legendary. My death? Not so much.

Even the wolves looked perplexed at my unusual behaviour. They had been called there due to a threat but I wasn't attacking nor did I look able to defend myself so, their pack mate could have easily taken me on their own. Still, they were animals. They weren't gonna use logic. Especially in a game where they were programmed to attack. And attack they did. At first, two by two as if trying to assess me and then one by one when they realized I wasn't worth that much effort. In my defense, I didn't take too much damage. Those mutant fish in the river next to the cabin were no joke and they always kept changing their appearance or behavioural patterns so now I had some experience and I had built some strength and speed. Nothing to compare with a wolf or two but I could evade them pretty easily. I just couldn't harm them, out of fear of retaliation and out of uselessness so this ended up being a battle of patience and endurance. Who was going to get tired first?

Their fighting patterns weren't that complicated or upgraded. They jumped at me with either their jaws open or their front legs trying to scratch me. They had perfect coordination and the circle around me wasn't letting on but they weren't motivated by the need to eat me like real wolves would have been. So the more time passed and I showed no aggression, they seemed to be getting less and less motivated to keep their attention on me. I wasn't proving to be a challenge and I was boring them. It was taking an incredible amount of time to do so though. My legs and arms were cramping and I was sweating bullets that weren't going to be very good when I stopped moving. The cold would take me before the wolves could. 

Some of the wolves started sitting on their haunches or laying down on the snow and yawning. Two or three were still pretty determined to see me drop before they did. Maybe it was like a pride thing or they were just programmed this way. I couldn't tell anymore and I was starting to get so tired by the dead weight of the weird ass sword in my hands that if I weren't afraid of losing it, I was about to just throw it towards the wolves and hope for the best. That was when the snow started falling.

These were polar animals. They looked equipped for the change of the weather. But something in me could tell, this wasn't going to be a mere snowfall. As the wolves got distracted by the falling snowflakes, I walked around carefully and tried to find materials. I stayed in their peripheral vision and made as little noise as possible so as not to trigger them. I locked eyes with that lone wolf that started it all but he just kept watching me tirelessly with his depthless eyes. I went on with what I was doing but kept glaring at him in challenge from time to time, baiting him to come out and face me. I wasn't gonna survive but he irked me and I was itching for a fight. 

In the end, I only managed to find some branches and fallen leaves but my days in Oasis were going to come in handy. I didn't have to do it from scratch. I just had to have the skills to do it and I did. So I put them all together and they melded into a tent. It looked sturdy but it was pretty basic and small. My skills got an upgrade and the tent solidified not a moment too soon. The blizzard started as unexpectedly and peculiarly as the last time, as if someone pressed a button and it came on full force. I made to get in my tent only to get trodden by six fourlegged hasty and wet wolves. The pain didn't even register behind the shock and when I looked up, I saw my tent overcome by white fur and six pairs of pale blue eyes blinking at me. 

I laughed. I wasn't expecting this at all. Maybe, at first, before I had met them, this had been my idea of taming a wolf. But this had never crossed my mind. My cheeks hurt from the cold and my smile and even though I had felt the sharp ends of the teeth these fluffy faces were hiding, I couldn't try to take them seriously at that point. So I just tried to push myself in that pile of warm, furred clouds.

"Coming through! Hey, I'm the one who built this you assholes so you better make space!" It felt like I was covered with the softest blankets. I kept expecting that one wolf to make an appearance but he never did. So I just slept the best sleep of my life. Well, at least until I started feeling too warm for comfort and some of the wolves decided to sleep on me. Then I happily suffocated in silence.