In the darkness of night in a rainforest on the Valorious continent, ten entities stood in two groups. Eight giant wolves the size of lions were on one side. Together with a bear-sized wolf a size larger than all of them.
Standing opposite to them was a man covered in wolf blood whose eyes shone with green light. The man held steel steak knives that had Spirit wrapping them. The energy used the metal as a base and extend the blades, and handles to the size of short swords.
Originally the wolves all charged but a growl from the Alpha caused them all to stop in their tracks. As if wishing for some dialogue to occur the Alpha remained silent while his pack started to grow agitated. Maybe because of the long history of his rule, the Alpha believed forcing his wolves to keep at bay would win over the human.
Unfortunately, that only worked if the human intended to fight only as a last resort. For those that wished for bloodshed from the get-go. The gesture could be even treated as an insult. Hiro who had his nerves on edge tried to rationalize the actions of his opponents. After a few seconds of contemplation, he concluded.
"Fuck you and your mind games, I don't give a shit. I need EXP, meat for my journey, and better equipment. You assholes fulfill all three."
Hiro then began to fearlessly run at full speed at the canine army in front of him. The Alpha grew bewildered at the reincarnator's actions a growled menacingly as if to say "Wait! We want to be friends you fucker! Stand down!". If they faced Hiro a few days ago, that is to say, the transmigrator, they might have been able to achieve the effect he wished.
That did not hold true for the person before them. Hiro noticed how his inclinations became vastly different from his original personality. Since the soul should be the same, Hiro could not understand why in this life he had fewer inhibitions and a more aggressive personality.
"While I can attribute that to my death I don't think that's all there is to it."
It was a common reaction on earth, people who had brushes with death would change dispositions and become different people. They do say that in the face of death, all things are equal. Though losing all the fucks one gives normally happens in such an event, Hiro is unique in such that he actually died and came back.
Not being able to come up with an answer, the system gave insight as if waiting for its time to shine, granting it knowledge of the new dynamics Hiro needed to consider.
- Alert: Host now has a higher Aura Caliber than Mana or Spirit. Hiroyuki Mitsurugi originally had Mana as his highest Caliber, followed by Spirit with Aura being the lowest. This gave him a Logical personality that held consideration for those around him. -
- In contrast, Hiroto Musashi has Aura, Mana, and Spirit as his Caliber order. Giving him an impulsive and even aggressive disposition. This is further complimented by high analytical skills and a reduced Spirit caliber which makes Hiroto prioritize himself over others. -
Hiro suddenly began to wonder what the difference in disposition meant. Is he really still Hiroyuki Mitsurugi? Or is he Hiroto Musashi with Hiroyuki's memories? If it was the latter, does that mean he would disappear completely when his memories are fully assimilated by Hiroto?
The reincarnator grew anxious and frustrated at this revelation. And maybe due to him no longer giving a shit, or Hiroto slowly changing him, he found himself caring less and less. The man tightened his grip on his Spirit swords as he ran. The best way to drive out fear and worry always revolved around drowning oneself in action.
Eight wolves grew antsy at the charging human, their social order prevented actions against the commands of the Alpha. They were not his family but were more like his subjects, luckily this Alpha valued loyalty and trust in so doing acted the opposite of a tyrant most of the time. And as if to answer their expectations the Alpha sent a mental transmission to battle the human but not kill him.
Already familiar with taking down humans as prisoners, none of the eight questioned why the man needed to be kept alive. Their belief in the Alpha had years of a foundation built into it, thus they followed. Like an angry mob eight large bodies all made a beeline for Hiro, and their fangs were visible as short growls left their mouths.
Hiro suddenly dived for their legs which threw the wolves off guard. The ones in front leaped into the air to avoid him, while the ones at the back leaped back. However, one of the ones at the back failed to retreat when it slammed its back into something in the air.
Due to the abrupt movement of its jump, the momentum was enough for the object to bury itself into the wolf's back. Pain in large amounts assaulted the beast. Upon using his superior senses the wolf learned that he impaled himself into a floating dagger. Yes, Hiro started to sharpen the edges of his Mana footholds effectively turning them into traps.
Normally traps like these wouldn't matter but in a high-stakes match with an angry Hiro that delay meant death. Hiro twisted his body to one side like the protagonists of att*c* of t*tan and carved the neck of the wolf caught in his floating knife foothold. The attack came so suddenly that the wolf had no time to respond. The cut was so deep the monster could already be considered decapitated.
More blood splashed Hiro, turning him even a darker shade of red. Unfazed, the reincarnator charged another Wolf only for the opposite to happen. A beast attacked Hiro from above but stopped midair when it impaled itself into an invisible knife in its throat.
The man didn't spare the wolf a glance as he raised his hands. Out of nowhere two knives with burning edges pierced the wolf's skull through the monster's eyeballs. If the forest wolf still struggled to breathe with a punctured throat, now it ceased moving completely.
—————
Dumbfounded that two of their pack suddenly died prematurely, the wolves figured out Hiro somehow left floating daggers made from Mana. Keeping a wide eye, the rest of the pack avoided the knives Hiro littered in this place. Without the interruptions of the floating traps, the wolves quickly surrounded Hiro and attacked him.
One of the wolves managed to come in close and bite Hiro in the arm, despite having [Mana Armor] the beast's fangs dug deep into the man's flesh and tore apart the man's muscles and skin on his right shoulder.
The wolf quickly chewed and swallowed the morsel he got and licked his lips. Staring at the reincarnator as it did so. However, instead of being unsettled or afraid, Hiro's eyes lite up in fury.
- Alert: User has incurred damage from a marked target. Target's [Mark of Vengeance] upgraded to [Mark of Annihilation] -
Hiro's shoulder started to heal at an incredible face. The missing flesh allowed the wolves to see the dark gray skeletal bones of the reincarnator.
As he was covered in blood, even if he had his own gushing out, no one would be able to tell. That clearly indicated how much red drenched Hiro's frame.
The man again charged the wolf that attacked him with an elevated speed as he approached. Expecting to get another tasty morsel the wolf opened its jaws and moved to bite Hiro's throat next.
Yet instead of his throat, Hiro threw the knife on his hand which the beast easily evaded. The forest wolf then closed its mouth around Hiro's fist.
Thinking it won the wolf started to crush the hand in its mouth. The beast's jaws enveloped Hiro's fist. From an unrelated person's point of view. There was nothing Hiro could do except wait and have his entire hand disappear to his elbow the moment the wolf bit down.
However, instead of losing an arm, a knife appeared in his hand, which he started to supply with Mana. Soon a sword edge grew out of the Wolf's muzzle as the edge pierced the upper and lower halves of its mouth.
Hiro then turned his hand and arm while still inside the monster's mouth by using the knife to make a circular cut inside the orifice of the beast.
The blade sliced apart the entire insides of the wolf's muzzle all while Hiro destroyed his hand in the process. Unable to remove the knife from its mouth, Hiro stabbed then his free sword into the monster's skull. This forced another wolf to pitifully succumb to its injuries and die.
From 8 wolves down to 5 the others inwardly started to regret their decision to attack Hiro. They watched on as Hiro ripped the leftover bits of hand out of the wolf's mouth and stabbed a steak knife into the new bleeding stump he had instead of a hand.
Soon another blade made from spirit power emerged from the stump on his left hand, and he again wielded another knife spirit sword on his right.
"Nowhere near enough, you shits. Come at me with the intent to die or just kneel down and wait for me to kill you. No matter what happens I will reap all your heads today."
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