Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Facing the wind

Ester could see that Vincent didn’t quite understand the true strength of the danger lurking outside. Vincent was only interested in its size.

“I heard that the Great Gray Wolf needs to be killed before it becomes over six feet tall. At that time, it might awaken to a mature Great Gray Wolf.”

“Its physical powers would increase and its magical abilities as well.” Ester explained how strong the Great Gray Wolf was, then she continued, “At this size... it might have a few magical abilities.”

[What! I have never seen the Leader use magic.]

Lupa was surprised by this revelation. If she didn’t think of Ester as a good person, then Lupa would think Ester was lying.

“Perhaps, did Lupa sometimes feel like there was unnatural wind? The Great Gray Wolf is attuned to the air element.” Ester asked Lupa, waiting for Vincent’s response as only he could hear her.

[Hmm... I think... I think the female human might be right.]

.....

[Strangely, not all humans hear its unnaturally loud howl. Some would become terrified while others question their actions.]

[Also, I never saw arrows land a single scratch.]

[Another time, a cart suddenly shattered to pieces making the humans soil themselves.]

[Ohh... and... ]

“It’s ok... please stop.” Vincent abruptly interrupted Lupa and patted her head. He didn’t want to hear her paint the Great Gray Wolf like a walking disaster.

This current situation made Vincent remember a kid’s story. Three little pigs hiding from a wolf in their hay, wood, and stone houses.

The cabin was made out of wood, and if it huff and puffs wind magic, then their shelter might be no more.

‘Why did I get summoned to this dangerous area? For Ester, for Lupa, or something else? This isn’t a souls like game... is it?’ Vincent cursed his luck while his mind was clouded with negative thoughts.

Vincent didn’t know what to feel. Soon his eyes saw Ester with her arms crossed, afraid to die. Then he asked, “Tell me, Lupa, why did you attack this cabin?”

Ester became curious about this question. Was it because of Vincent’s arrival, or was it going to occur anyway? The two thought.

[This week, not many humans attacked us, so we didn’t have much to eat. We have found this cabin a long time ago and decided to leave it as spare food.]

[While approaching the cabin, the Leader detected a strange scent and became thrilled to play with a new different prey.]

Vincent repeated what Lupa said with a clear conscience. It wasn’t his fault that the cabin was under siege. It also seemed that the gray wolves were playing with them because of Vincent.

In a way, his presence made it a little easier to live longer. However, one thing didn’t sit well. The Great Gray Wolf had no intention to back off. Vincent had a scent like it never smelled before. A trophy that couldn’t be found anywhere else.

*AWOOOOOO*

A loud howl echoed inside the cabin. With it arrived a wave of bloodlust. One thing was in the mind of the three inside. The Great Gray Wolf was ready to attack.

[The Leader said it’s time to play. It’s going to attack soon, let’s prepare.]

Lupa gave Vincent a terrifying announcement as she could talk wolf. An inescapable fight was about to start. But how can a makeshift plan work?

Vincent turned his head from left to right. Somehow, he needed a new plan. The Great Gray Wolf seemed impossible to beat.

Soon his eyes stopped at three brooms. Vincent had an idea to sharpen the tips and turn them into spears.

Vincent rushed over to them. In a hurry, he broke the sweeping attachment with a sharp kick. Then with the short sword in hand, he started sharpening the tips.

Ester and Lupa stared at Vincent. They had gotten so used to his orders that they started to depend on him.

Now that he was doing something on his own, the two could only look at each other with no idea what to do. One was too scared to act while the other one was a white wolf. They also depended on Vincent for communication.

“Umm... Vincent, can I help you?” Ester asked as every passing second felt like a minute.

Vincent turned, facing Ester while sharpening the second spear. On his face was a puzzled frown as he thought, ‘How would I know? I’m making useless spears because I’m attempting to think.’

“How about you collect sharp throwable objects and spread them around the place? Lupa can help as well.” Vincent said to give him some alone time to think.

Ester and Lupa looked at each other. They had an assignment to complete and no time to wait standing still.

Ester went to the kitchen, grabbed many knives and forks, then started to place them all over the cabin.

Lupa took a peek at Ester, then grunted with a frown for not having any hands. She was going to lose in this assignment for sure.

Lupa turned her gaze at the door. Laying on the ground was the door stopper broken in two. The edges were pointy and able to stab.

Lupa raised a faint grin as an idea to win surfaced in her mind. She picked the two pieces of the broken door stopper and placed them in easy to find places.

Her next move scared Vincent and Ester. Lupa went beside the table, revealed her sharp fangs, and started biting the leg of the table violently.

*Crunch Crunch Crack*

The table leg broke after a few violent bites with Lupa’s brand new sharp fangs. With a few tugs, the table leg was in her mouth.

Lupa moved her eyes from left to right. One side was flat, while the other side had multiple sharp edges.

[I did it. I’m better than your human. My pointy objects a better than hers.]

Lupa was acting like this was a game, and she was about to win. She was so proud of herself that she announced to Vincent her achievement.

Vincent let a light sigh. Soon, he could only raise a faint smile as Lupa flipped the table and proceeded for the next legs.

The Great Gray Wolf approached the cabin with its ears raised in full awareness. It could hear footsteps inside, but only one was from a wolf.

The Great Gray Wolf swung its tail with great force at the door.

*BAM*

The door almost broke from its hinges with just one tail swipe. The strength disparity was too much.

Vincent, Ester, and Lupa felt the cabin tremble. As if there was a small earthquake.

“I will hold the door!” Ester rushed for the door to keep it close. It was a terrible action she made in a split-second decision.

“No, come back! It’s too dangerous! ” Vincent felt that no matter how many people held the door, it would be useless.

Ester reached the door, but it was for naught.

*Boom*

The Great Gray Wolf rammed against the cabin. The door and most of the wall holding it was demolished in the blink of an eye.

Ester “Ahh...”

Vincent heard Ester shout in pain, but his vision got covered by the cloud of dust the Great Gray Wolf made.

As the dust cloud started to fade, Vincent saw a pair of red piercing eyes staring with murderous bloodlust. Next, Vincent noticed that the door fell on Ester.

Unfortunately, he could only see her hand. With great worry, he used inspection on her hand.

.

[Name] Ester

[Condition] Medium Injury, Terrified, Despair

.

Vincent sighed in relief. Ester was still alive under the door.

This was both a good and a bad occasion. Ester couldn’t fight, so this way, she could be the last one to die or survive this predicament.

Vincent averted his gaze and placed it on the Great Gray Wolf. His legs trembled at the sight of the towering gray wolf.

The Great Gray Wolf stood five foot six tall. It had multiple blueish patterns on its fur, and surrounding it was a strange breeze of wind.

“You wanted to fight against your Leader?” Vincent quietly asked with a terrified expression.

[Yes. Let’s kick its ass.]

Lupa said with a courageous tone.

‘Kick its ass? It will straight up murderer us! Is Lupa brave or plain naive?’ Vincent thought, ready to cry himself to death.

The Great Gray Wolf revealed its sharp fangs. Then licked its mouth and glared at Vincent with interest. It seemed he was the unfortunate target to die first, or in Lupa terms, toyed with.

*Grrrr*

Lupa growled, but like an unimportant fly, the Great Gray Wolf ignored her actions.

The Great Gray Wolf acted first. It entered inside the cabin, step by step, danger approached closer. The three gray wolves gave them enough difficulty, and now they had to fight against this beast.

Vincent took a step back in fright. As he did, his foot stepped on the other and tripped with a loud thud.

The Great Gray Wolf sent a mocking gaze with its red predator eyes. As if it was making fun of his frightened self. As Lupa said, it wanted to play with its prey. The two of them weren’t worthy of its attention and to go all out.

The Great Gray Wolf suddenly stopped. It gazed down at the corpses of the three gray wolves.

Vincent could feel a shiver rush to his spine. A sudden burst of malicious, murderous bloodlust engulfed the cabin whole.

.....

The red predator’s eyes turn their attention to Lupa. It saw how strangely healthy she seemed to be. As if Lupa was a different white wolf.

The attention wasn’t on Vincent, so he decided to try if arrows really couldn’t hurt it. He grabbed a knife and quickly threw it while its attention was on Lupa.

*Clang*

The knife found strange wind resistance a few inches from its fur. The knife ended up falling without hitting the mark.

‘No way! How can we injure this beast if we can’t scratch it?’

Vincent was starting to lose hope. The last rope he held onto was about the get thorn.

[Vincent, I can do it!]

Lupa could feel such a disturbing aura, yet she didn’t falter. She lived for three years with such a beast. Wanting or not, Lupa had gotten used to it.

Lupa rushed forward to attack the Great Gray Wolf. However, it merely raised its front leg and swung it at Lupa, swatting her like a fly.

Lupa was thrown, tumbling in mid-air and crashlanding in the kitchen. Lupa didn’t say a word to Vincent. There were two possible outcomes, she didn’t want to worry him, or she fainted.

Vincent kept trembling, but this time was different. He became angry; the hate to kill the monster before him became his dying wish.

Vincent stood up and glared at death with a trembling body. He picked up two knives from his pockets and threw them at the Great Gray Wolf.

*Clang*

The two knives fell on the ground with no effect. The strange wind surrounding the monstrous wolf protected its body like a wind armor. Sometimes it was gentile and other times violent enough the knock projectiles.

The Great Gray Wolf didn’t rush to kill Vincent. Instead, it seemed to have fun at the expressions Vincent made. It could feel he was different, and every frightened move he made was exquisite to its eyes.

The Great Gray Wolf wanted to savor the prey with delight.