『A Dire Situation』

Jack stared at the posters plastered on the job board. Many of which were lopsided or crudely put on, but there was plenty that was placed perfectly. There were a number of teaching requests, many of which he couldn't do as well... They were asking for Swordmasters and he had never picked up anything larger than a dagger.

He chuckled lightly to himself as he saw all the different things that were possibly in front of him. There was even one that allowed an Adventurer to take up a position as a test dummy for magic experiments. There was no way in hell he was going to allow himself to endure such a thing.

Though he wasn't human, he wasn't up for any human experimentation on himself.

Placing a hand under his chin, he scratched ambiently as he did so. His eyes animately looking over ever letter and word that was in front of him. There was a lot of money to make here, but there were also many possible sacrifices and cases of probable humiliation.

His eyes though decided to take a gander at the hunting, expeditionary and extermination based quests. He was sure there was going to be something interesting there, right? There had to be.

Out of the posters which were before him, his eyes narrowed on a singular poster. This specific job had taken his interest near almost immediately as it was flavorfully drawn up.

An illustration of three wolves, compared to the size of a horse. Dire Wolves to be exact, creatures that shared the same size as a standard horse if not larger. He could only imagine the size of their fangs, the toughness of their fur.

"A pack of Dire Wolves has moved into the forests right outside of Axel due to being uprooted by Demon King's forces. They've begun using the forest as a staging ground to attack caravans and surrounding villages...?" His eyes traced over the words as he read it out to himself, information is given freely for the quest which was a nice touch. There was a single mithril coin that from his estimates was worth at least a thousand gold, as a single mithril coin was worth 1,000,000 Eris.

He found it ironic that their currency was named after their God of Fortune, though he had yet to meet such a Goddess. Perhaps he would stop by the Eris Order to learn more about their deity.

With his current abilities, he figured he could probably wipe them all out if he wanted to, alone even. He was a high class and already had a number of abilities up his sleeve that he could use.

Plucking the piece of parchment off of the board, he walked over to the counter and placed it down in front of the Guild Lady. "I'd like to take this assignment," it was high risk for a normal person but had a grand reward.

The blonde looked down at the piece of parchment, then up towards him squinting a few times. "Alright, do you have a party?"

"I'd like to test my hand and solo the mission if you don't mind."

"Hmm... Another party had accepted this job yesterday, but they haven't been heard from since if you find them the guild will reward you accordingly if you bring them back. Even if it's just their remains." The woman at this point seemed worried, though not about him after seeing the stats. She was more so worried about the individuals who didn't come back. Axel was a city for beginners, after all, it was likely they were dead.

Taking a deep breath, he was now fully expecting to find little to no remains, or half-eaten human remains. The idea in itself was just disgusting, to begin with, but it wasn't his first time seeing it.

During his time in the forests of life before his previous one, he had hunted animals to the skin and gut them accordingly in order to store away or eat. Survival was proper for him, he needed it to survive back then and now he was probably going to need it as well. Meals were probably expensive if he were going to buy food to eat every day, so hunting was a good alternative.

While the woman took out a job offer form, she placed it on the counter for him to fill out. With all the necessary information filled in, it was stamped and he was approved for the Job.

Without a hint of another word, he excused himself and advanced for the fine doors leading out into the open world. No money to spare, or even use, he possesses the means to get basic gear in town. On the upside, he didn't really think he needed it, he was already prepared. All the things he could use were already out there, and his magic techniques already covered.

As the sun came shining down on him, he grinned lightly and pulled his hat up obscuring his face from those who might be looking towards him. Without a second thought, he kicked off into a run.

This body was much stronger than his human one, that was for sure, as it was on his card. He didn't go at full speed however and kept himself paced in order to not tire out quickly.

People watched him, and he ignored them almost completely unless they were directly in front of him. He could pass as a ninja, even a samurai in class, but it was likely they weren't differentiated from the Warrior or the Assassins.

It didn't bother him though, even as he leaped over a pair of men carrying a mirror. His legs tucked up against his chest as he was in the air, with his arms out from his sides, he stuck the landing. Continuing to run, it only took him several minutes to leave Axel, the place where he started.

This new life was entertaining, to say the least, the people were seemingly peaceful too. So far he hadn't been attacked, mugged or assaulted by anyone. Not that his past lives were like that.

It just felt all too good here is all, there was a heavy feeling in his chest the further he went away from the place. "I am having a bad feeling about this..." That very phrase echoed in the back of his mind even as he said it out loud.

Transversing across the hilly area outside of Axel, he slowed his run to a jog. Oddly enough thanks to his stats he wasn't all that tired, but he wasn't going to push his luck despite how high that was. Running out of energy, no matter how much luck one had, was not a good thing.

Some of the forests could be seen in the distance every time he raised to the top of a tall hill that could peer over the others. Noticing the lack of Adventurers, he was growing rather curious if not perturbed by the fact that they may be avoiding being near striking distance of the forest.

Based on his knowledge of wolves, they weren't particularly fond of daylight or the heat of the day, so they were nocturnal and hunted during dusk. If they were being disturbed or hunted though, he knew they'd be a bit more active.

Though perhaps, Dire Wolves were entirely different from other wolves. They were extinct in his last life and he didn't recall them very well in the life before that one.

"This internal discussion is getting annoying," Jack came to a stop as he rubbed the side of his head, his gaze running along the dark treeline that was just visible off in the distance that he kept.

There was no activity outside the exterior except for a handful of small critters and birds that remained off the ground and in the trees themselves. "This is Autumn so they should be... Less active right? I know they don't hibernate..."

His gaze moved towards the road that was several meters from the forest, people were cautiously moving along it, no one was going for a casual stroll. Not even Knights which were armed to the teeth.

"It seems that he is a well-known problem... Had it only been that one group of adventurers she mentioned that went out to solve the issue, or were there more?" Without much more reserve, he continued onward towards the forest until he reached the edge he had been scrutinizing all along.

Fully submerging himself within the woods, he walked silently, his feet not raising very high from the ground, purposely dragging fallen leaves amongst the undergrowth.

In a way, he wanted his enemies to see him or at least hear him in some capacity. This was mostly so he could find them in some retrospect.

Roughly a half-mile into the forest the apex canine predators were silently stalking around in the shadows, awaiting possible prey. Three dead bodies which had been torn apart nibbled on and even partially eaten, between their locations. Their wild eyes gave a rotten yellow glow to them, blood staining the fur around their lips. Smelling the scent of an unknown humanoid, their ears perked up and let out a chilling howl.

Jack who was closing in on their location at a slow pace, heard this before any human might've. The sound of them howling overlapping and creating an eery atmosphere.

"Oh... I'm half expecting a werewolf right about now," Jack uttered under his breath as he brushed passed a tree trunk.

He could smell blood, human blood, as he got closer to the scene. However he could also smell fresh piss, and it didn't belong to any wolf he knew. Following the scent, he came upon a hollowed trunk of a massive tree and peered inside.

There was a young man dressed in light leather armor, the hilts of his broken daggers clasped in his hands, curled up against the inner wall.

With the corner of his lips curving into a smile on one side, he cocked a brow, "What level are you?" There was no immediate answer to his question, as he used a sarcastic tone.

One only answer was a sniffle and another was the light shift as the man peered up to if the wolves were anywhere nearby. Of course, when he did see the Oni, he paused at the weird garb and blinked, "What are you even wearing?"

Removing his jingasa he creased his brows down, two thin yet sharp horns rose from his forehead, they were green like emeralds just like his eyes which were glowing even more.

Just letting his horn be visible, it was clear his current status was being buffed. He had no idea what he was going to be up against other than gigantically sized wolves.

"Who are you...?" The rogue's face contorted seeing the horns before he scowled in the stranger's general direction. "What are you... Some sort of freak?" It was clear he was judging Jack, but no matter what he said wouldn't affect the reincarnation, it was as if nothing could slight him.

"How rude, and here I was sent to help you," rising from the mouth of the fallen trunk, he could smell the wolves coming. There was no doubt they smelled him, along with the young man.

Letting out a sigh as he was once more met with silence, perhaps if he said something else he'd get something out of the man. "You should go, if you leave now, otherwise I cannot safeguard your life." Again there was nothing within the next few seconds.

Another howl resonated throughout the forest, causing a tingling sensation to make its way through his body. "Oh?" Holding his hand out in front of him, and wiggling his fingers, Jack had quickly noticed that these were not normal wolves or dire wolves as he had assumed earlier.

A wide grin formed over his lips as even the man who had called him a freak still was refusing to leave the safety of the log. He took several steps back, moving to a nearby tree before using positive energy to propel him up to the highest thickest branch available.

"At least I didn't need to climb," he uttered as he remained crouched on the branch, turning on his heel to face the direction of the wolves, he could hear their enlarge paws crushing a twig.

It appears Jack had sprung into the tree approximately around the right instant.

He spotted one wolf at first, circling around the trunk. It had thick black fur, and gleaming sick yellow eyes. Its fur was patchy, almost mangy in appearance. It was clear a pelt wouldn't be worth much for aesthetics, but it was thick nonetheless.

When it came around for its first pass the oni heard the man in the hollowed-out dead tree squeal. This attracted the other two who were moving in a larger circle around the area.

They were clearly aware of his presence, but they seemed fixated on the male down on the ground. A small chuckle escaped his lips as he narrowed eyes. Jack had warned the man that if he didn't leave now, he couldn't save his life or keep him alive. Though that was mostly because he had called him a freak. He was between headbutting the poor man with his horns or letting the wolves take care of him.

Ever since he was a kid in his last life as an oni, he would headbutt things with his horns if he didn't like them or wanted to get away from someone. He remembered when he first tried to headbutt someone as a human child...

That didn't go over well for either participant in that little event.

As he was thinking more about his past, the wolves were entering the trunk. A blood-curdling scream he never thought he'd hear from a man emitted from the natural wooden structure.

"Oooh... Poor lad," Jack continued to watch from above, the man was still screaming as he heard the snarls and growls of the wolves as they were pulling on his limps.

It didn't take him long to notice that they were essentially playing with their prey.

"Help me! You fucking freak!" Screaming at the top of his lungs, the man continued to struggle. "You can't let me die here! I don't want to die!"

The blood of the human was rising to Jack's nose, and he just remained perched there on the branch. When he was sure there were only three wolves in the area, he held his palm and fingertips out towards the downed tree.

"I'm sorry okay?! Please! AAAAAAAAAAAH!" The sound of one of his arms being torn from its socket could be heard. It was soon followed by flesh ripping and the cracking of bones.

They weren't playing any longer, they were consuming the man!

Sucking on his two front teeth, the young teen was unfazed as he chortled. "Just a bit longer..."

Channeling a yang based magic force through his fingers, he was grinning wildly now. Heat could be seen seeping off his fingers as thermal energy was concentrating.

As he began to conduct his fingers close to one another, a peculiar white ball materialized in front of his hand, the leaves immediately above him drying up and withering from the accumulating heat alone.

Growing to about a one-fourth of a meter in size, the heat from the sphere was beginning to bother himself at this point. The young man had gone silent bow now as he was being torn apart, eaten alive, Jack was sure he was dead and gone.

That was the time he chose to release his attack. A steady beam of thermal energy pulsed forward, ripping through the bark of the log. The wolves only had time to yelp before blindly they were bisected by a beam of superheated air!

The smell of burnt fur and burning flesh immediately reached his nose.

A few seconds following the beam dissipating and he rubbed his sweaty palm with his fingers. Once more he waited for a good minute before hopping down, landing on his feet as he then padded over to the scene.

The young man was hardly recognizable as he ducked down to see the mess. The interior of the trunk was filled with gore, intestines. There wasn't much to identify him by except for what looked like a signet ring belonging to the party or a noble family.

"Ooof... Explains the arrogance," He uttered as he knelt by the sad excuse for a meat bag. He pulled a pouch off of the half-eaten remains and cracked it open, looking over the contents, there was a small sack of coins, two health potions, leather journal, and a small palm-sized illustrated atlas. He slipped the atlas into his vest after briefly flicking through the front few pages.

Taking the journal out, he looked over the first three entries before tucking it back into the pouch.

"And here you probably thought they were... They were like regular wolves," his gaze moved towards the Dire Wolves who were dead and effectively cooked alive by the assault he had done.

Reaching over he grasped what appeared to be a demonic-looking collar. These weren't just any Dire Wolves, they had been trained and were most likely tamed by someone at some point.

"Hmm... Time to get to skinning I suppose, then I'll sell both the meat and then the furs," he drew one of the damaged daggers from the clasped hand of the deadman. "After I cook some of it," moving over to the wolves be began his work, skinning and then gutting. He broke the ribs apart and inspected his hunt.

From the last time he ate wolf, it tasted a bit better than lean venison, but it was a bit tougher in comparison. The question was, would anyone even buy a Dire Wolf's meat? What were its uses?