Chapter 21: The Hunt

The forest was too quiet.

Ash could feel it—every broken twig under his foot echoed too loud. Mira trailed behind with her knife drawn, Haru clutching his staff like a lifeline.

“You two nervous?” Ash muttered, eyes scanning the trees.

Mira frowned. “Of course we’re nervous. You said this was just a ‘simple hunt.’ Where are the rabbits and deer you promised?”

Ash smirked. “Rabbits don’t toughen you up.”

“Then what does?” Haru asked.

Right then, a low growl answered.

Shadows slid out from between the trees. Wolves—four, five, then seven of them. But their eyes weren’t normal. They glowed red, dripping with bloodlust.

Corrupted.

Mira cursed under her breath. “You planned this, didn’t you?”

Ash cracked his knuckles. “Planned? Nah. Just… didn’t complain when the forest threw me a gift.”

The first wolf lunged. Ash met it head-on, his fist slamming into its jaw. The impact split his knuckles open. Blood sprayed—his and the wolf’s.

And then it happened again—that rush. His vision sharpened, his limbs burned with unnatural strength.

Pain was fuel.

Mira and Haru fought too, stumbling, screaming, learning to swing and strike under Ash’s shouted instructions.

By the end, the clearing was littered with twitching bodies. Ash stood over them, bleeding from his arm, chest heaving.

He laughed through the sting. “See? Simple hunt.”