The world shifted as Kazuki and Rika passed through the Gate, reality bending and twisting around them. When his feet hit solid ground again, they were standing in a dense forest. Massive trees stretched toward a sky that glowed with an eerie red light, and thick fog rolled between the trunks like living things.
"Every dungeon has its own ecosystem," Rika whispered, her hand on the short sword at her hip. "This one's modeled after an old-growth forest. The wolves will use the terrain to their advantage, so stay alert."
Kazuki nodded, gripping his twin daggers. His enhanced senses picked up sounds that would have been impossible to hear before the rustle of leaves in the windless air, the creak of branches, and somewhere in the distance, the pad of heavy paws on soft earth.
[DUNGEON ENTERED: DIRE WOLF TERRITORY]
[RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 6-8]
[YOUR LEVEL: 4]
[WARNING: CURRENT LEVEL BELOW RECOMMENDATION]
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Kazuki muttered under his breath.
"What?" Rika glanced at him.
"Nothing. Just psyching myself up."
They moved deeper into the forest, staying close together. Rika took point, her movements practiced and efficient. She had clearly done this many times before. Every few meters, she would stop and listen, her head cocked to the side.
"They're watching us," she said after the third stop. "I can feel eyes on us."
Kazuki activated his Observe skill, scanning the shadows between the trees. Movement flickered at the edge of his vision gray fur, yellow eyes, teeth. The information appeared instantly.
[DIRE WOLF - LEVEL 5]
[HP: 200/200]
[ABILITIES: PACK TACTICS, ENHANCED SPEED]
[WEAKNESS: VULNERABLE WHEN SEPARATED FROM PACK]
"Three to our left," Kazuki said. "Two more circling around to the right. They're trying to surround us."
Rika's eyes widened. "You can sense them? That's impressive for an E-rank."
"I've got good instincts," Kazuki said, which wasn't technically a lie.
"Good. Then you know we need to force them to attack head-on. If they get behind us, we're done." Rika drew her sword, the blade gleaming in the red light. "Back to back. When they charge, we split them. You take left, I'll take right."
They positioned themselves with their backs touching, creating a defensive formation. The forest had gone silent except for their breathing and the slow, deliberate padding of paws circling them.
A howl split the air, long and mournful. It was answered by four others from different directions.
"Here they come!" Rika shouted.
The wolves burst from the undergrowth simultaneously, five massive creatures with gray fur and eyes that burned with predatory intelligence. Each was the size of a small horse, their teeth like daggers and their claws sharp enough to tear through steel.
The three on the left came at Kazuki in a coordinated rush. His mind kicked into overdrive, the temporary Dagger Mastery from yesterday's fight having left residual knowledge. He could see their attack patterns, predict their movements.
The lead wolf leaped, its jaws aimed at his throat. Kazuki activated Dash, his body shooting to the side in a blur of motion. The wolf sailed past him, and he slashed with both daggers as it passed. Both blades cut deep into the creature's flank.
[CRITICAL HIT!]
[DIRE WOLF HP: 200 → 134]
The wounded wolf yelped and stumbled, black blood staining its fur. But the other two were already on him. Kazuki rolled forward, coming up between them. His left dagger blocked snapping jaws while his right blade found the second wolf's foreleg. The creature howled in pain and backed away, limping.
Behind him, he heard Rika's battle cry and the sound of her sword meeting flesh. She was holding her own against the two on her side.
The third wolf on Kazuki's side circled cautiously, having learned from its packmates' mistakes. This one was smart. It feinted left, then darted right, testing his defenses. Kazuki kept his daggers up, waiting for the real attack.
It came from above. The wolf had climbed onto a fallen log and launched itself at him from an elevated position. Kazuki had a split second to react. He dove forward into a roll, and the wolf's claws raked across his back instead of his neck.
[HP: 170 → 147]
Pain exploded across his shoulders, but the wound wasn't deep. Kazuki spun and thrust upward with both daggers as the wolf landed. One blade missed, but the other sank into the creature's chest.
[CRITICAL HIT!]
[DIRE WOLF DEFEATED: +30 EXP]
The wolf dissolved into black smoke, leaving behind a glowing green magic stone. One down, two wounded on his side. But before he could press his advantage, a massive howl shook the entire forest.
From deeper in the trees emerged a wolf twice the size of the others. Its fur was midnight black, and its eyes glowed with crimson light. Scars covered its body, testament to countless battles survived.
[DIRE WOLF ALPHA - LEVEL 9]
[HP: 500/500]
[ABILITIES: PACK LEADER, ENHANCED STRENGTH, INTIMIDATING HOWL]
[WARNING: BOSS MONSTER DETECTED]
"That's the alpha!" Rika shouted. She had killed one of her wolves and was locked in combat with the second. "Kazuki, we need to regroup!"
But the two wounded wolves on Kazuki's side had backed off, forming a line with the alpha. The massive black wolf growled, a sound that resonated in Kazuki's chest and made his hands shake. It was using Intimidating Howl, a fear effect designed to paralyze prey.
[DEBUFF: FEAR - REDUCES ALL STATS BY 10% FOR 30 SECONDS]
Kazuki felt his courage waver, but he forced himself to stand firm. He had faced death in the goblin dungeon. He had survived when everyone expected him to fail. A little fear wasn't going to stop him now.
"Is that all you've got?" Kazuki shouted at the alpha, surprising himself with his own bravado.
The alpha's eyes narrowed, and it charged.
The creature moved impossibly fast for its size. Kazuki barely had time to activate Dash again, launching himself to the side. The alpha's jaws snapped shut where his head had been, and its momentum carried it past him. But unlike the smaller wolves, the alpha recovered instantly, pivoting and swiping with claws that were nearly as long as Kazuki's daggers.
Kazuki blocked with both weapons crossed, but the force of the blow sent him flying backward. He crashed into a tree trunk hard enough to crack the bark.
[HP: 147 → 112]
Stars exploded in his vision, but training or was it instinct? made him roll to the side. The alpha's jaws closed on empty air where he had been a moment ago, and its teeth left gouges in the tree.
"Kazuki!" Rika had finished off her second wolf and was running toward him, but the two wounded wolves moved to intercept her.
Kazuki forced himself to his feet, his back screaming in protest. The alpha stalked toward him, taking its time now. It knew he was injured. Knew he was weaker. This was just a hunt, and Kazuki was the prey.
But Kazuki had learned something important in the goblin dungeon. Being weak didn't mean being helpless. Being outmatched didn't mean being beaten. Sometimes, you just had to be smarter than your opponent.
The alpha lunged again, and this time Kazuki didn't dodge. He activated Dash, but instead of going to the side, he went forward, sliding between the alpha's front legs. His daggers flashed upward as he passed underneath, both blades cutting deep into the wolf's unprotected belly.
[CRITICAL HIT!]
[DIRE WOLF ALPHA HP: 500 → 398]
The alpha howled in rage and pain, spinning with frightening speed. Its back leg caught Kazuki in the ribs, sending him tumbling across the forest floor.
[HP: 112 → 89]
[WARNING: HP BELOW 50%]
Kazuki coughed, tasting blood. His vision swam, and his ribs felt like they were on fire. The alpha was bleeding from the wounds he had inflicted, but it was far from defeated. And he was running out of HP.
"System," he gasped quietly. "Any suggestions?"
[ANALYSIS: CURRENT COMBAT APPROACH IS UNSUSTAINABLE. ALPHA'S HP REGENERATION WILL OUTLAST YOUR HP POOL.]
[RECOMMENDATION: TARGET WEAKNESS. OBSERVE SKILL INDICATES PACK LEADER ABILITY REQUIRES LINE OF SIGHT TO SUBORDINATES. SEPARATE ALPHA FROM PACK TO DISABLE COORDINATION BONUS.]
Kazuki's mind raced. Separate the alpha from the pack. But how? He was barely staying alive as it was.
"Rika!" he shouted. "Can you hold off the two smaller wolves?"
"For how long?" Rika parried a bite and slashed across a wolf's muzzle.
"Three minutes! Maybe four!"
"You're insane! But okay!" Rika changed her stance, going fully defensive. "Make it count!"
Kazuki pushed himself to his feet, every movement agony. The alpha watched him with intelligent eyes, evaluating. It knew he was on his last legs.
"Come on, you mangy mutt," Kazuki taunted. "Scared to fight me one-on-one?"
The alpha growled but didn't move. It was too smart to fall for simple taunts.
Kazuki needed to make it personal. He activated Observe again, studying the alpha more carefully. There a fresh scar across its right eye, barely healed. Someone had wounded it recently. The alpha had pride, and that pride had been damaged.
"I bet whoever gave you that scar was stronger than you," Kazuki said, pointing at the alpha's eye. "I bet they made you run like a coward."
The alpha's growl turned into a roar of pure rage. Its eyes blazed with crimson light, and foam dripped from its jaws. Kazuki had struck a nerve.
The massive wolf charged, abandoning all strategy in favor of overwhelming force. It wanted Kazuki dead, and it wanted him dead now.
Which was exactly what Kazuki had been counting on.
He turned and ran deeper into the forest, away from Rika and the other wolves. The alpha pursued, its thundering paws shaking the ground. Kazuki led it on a winding chase through the trees, using his smaller size and agility to navigate obstacles that the larger wolf had to smash through.
After thirty seconds of running, Kazuki checked behind him. The alpha was alone, separated from its pack. Perfect.
[DIRE WOLF ALPHA: PACK LEADER BONUS DISABLED]
[HP: 398 → 398]
[COMBAT EFFECTIVENESS REDUCED BY 15%]
Kazuki skidded to a stop in a small clearing and spun to face his pursuer. The alpha burst through the undergrowth, its eyes locked on him with murderous intent.
"Alright," Kazuki said, raising his daggers. "Just you and me now. No pack to back you up. No coordination bonus. Let's see how tough you really are."
The alpha circled him slowly, its rage subsiding into calculated fury. Even without its pack bonus, it was still a level nine boss monster against a level four Hunter.
But Kazuki had something the alpha didn't: a System that made him stronger with every fight, and the determination of someone who had spent five years being told he wasn't good enough.
He wasn't going to lose. Not today. Not ever again.
The alpha lunged, and Kazuki met it head-on, his daggers flashing in the red light of the dungeon sky.
[End of Chapter 9]
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