Lucky or exceptional

Vivid morning chirps made by the many singing birds in the forest woke me up from my heavy sleep. The wild snowstorm had passed away in the icy night, leaving nothing but a blanket of white behind. The chimney's flames were playful and cracked as they were fueling off of the dry wood.

My head ached of the nightmares I had faced through the night. Yet I was reluctant to give up and fall back to my past self, after I had sworn to never be weak again. A book I had found under the bed laid by my side upwards down and flipped half through. The title were 'Animals you find in The White Woods.'

It wasn't much of a story, and basically just informed me of different races that lived in The White Woods. The white woods was a large forest that was said to be owned by a winter spirit because of the never stopping winter that always haunted the area. It was practically impossible for a normal human being to survive here due to the temperature, but somehow my savior lived here by himself.

Speaking of which, what was his name anyway? Well, I'd have to wait till I see him, considering that he was nowhere to be seen at the moment.

A small note left pinned to the wall on my right caught my attention, and I quickly realized where the hooded man had gone.

'I hunt, boy.' A small but important message had cleared my question, and I thought about how I would spend the next hours I now had on my hand.

I took a look at my hands and made a nasty grimace, as the skin on my fingers had turned almost black after the frostbite treatment. Honestly, I had my suspicions about the treatment, but sure enough I didn't feel much pain in the affected areas anymore.

I was unsure about whether my body and mind were in a state capable of moving, as I still felt traumatized by the experience. But the dilemma eventually led to me read further in the book.

'~Dire wolves~

Dire wolves are the strongest and most fierce pack predators found on Neverseen.

They hunt with magnificent and efficient teamwork, and even individually, they are equal to some large cat predators. They have a thick and warm pelt to keep the lethal cold away, and sharp canines to bite through any level of skin their prey may be equipped with.

If encountered, you should immediately try to back away and warn your companions. These wolves are not afraid of humans or any other races, they see only prey. Any attempt of taming these wild creatures has ended in failure and death.

They are estimated to be around 1.5 times the size of gray wolves, and can't even be compared in brute strength.

I let out a slight sigh as another subject had been added to my list of 'things that give me anxiety'. Just then, the door swung up, letting in a cold breeze that startled me for a second.

The big man let out a grunt and swung a juvenile deer over his shoulder. The antlers had just started growing, and I felt a sting of pity for the small amount of life it got to enjoy. But in the end, prey would remain prey forever.

He looked at me but lost interest soon after as he went to the wall and hung up his massive bow. It almost reached the roof if it stood straight on the ground, and made me truly wonder how such a gigantic bow would be used.

"When will the frost infection go away?" I asked, inspecting my hands.

"When you are healthy again." He said as he took off the big bear cloak.

"When am I healthy again?" I knew he wouldn't like me talking back to him, but I felt like he had to have some answers. He had lived plenty of years more than me and may have seen frostbite before.

"When the frost infection is away." He answered and gave me a cold, quick stare to make sure I stopped with the bullshit.

I rolled my eyes and tried to test the extent I could stretch and flex my fingers. Although I still couldn't go all the way, it was way more than when I woke up after the incident.

I saw him disappear into his room, and I looked at the deer that was still laying on the table. Slowly but steadily, I raised myself in the bed with shaken limbs. I just want to see how far I can get, I thought to myself. Resting as much weight on my hands as I could, I slowly shifted it to my feet on the ground and took a step. It had been the first step I had taken without help since he found me.

I reached the table faster than I'd initially thought I could and observed the dead corpse of the deer. Feeling the rigid pelt with my fingers gave me chills. It was a way thicker pelt than I'd felt before on a deer. One question that came to mind after I realized it had no penetration holes and didn't bleed was, how'd it die?

I inspected the chest where the heart was, but found nothing. Skull, nothing. Stomach, nothing. Although something was off about the neck, it was blue and swollen and stretched in an awkward direction. It was obvious at this point; the deer had died by fracturing its neck.

Either he was lucky and found the deer after it had broken the neck, or... He killed it.

A grunt made my eyes dart up toward the mountainous man who stood at the door and looked at me. "What did you find?" He asked expectantly.