Second Encounter

'Wait... Did I have to fight with it?

'NO! I have enough food. I will wait till the monster gives up and leaves to find another prey.

'It is a good idea, Jack!'

Panic made him unable to think straight. Since he just woke up, the adrenaline that he produced wasn't enough to pump his bravery to act. On the contrary, it only made him more afraid.

So Jack decided to wait while hugging the main trunk and observe the monster below him. But as time passed by, his fear and hesitation accumulated, making him more and more paranoid.

When the sun was about to set, his drying throat woke him up.

'Stupid me!' Thought Jack while hitting his own forehead.

'I will die first because of thirst. I need to act fast before dark, or the wolf will have the visual advantage. Where is my spear…?

'Sh*t! I left my long spear at the base of the tree because it was too hard to bring it up here. What do I do? Think Jack, come on.'

Jack looks at what he has while formulating a plan. He only has two short daggers that will not be enough to fight a 1,8m tall wolf, a one-meter short spear, dried wolf meat, and a bag of valuables. He also checked the health and mana potion in his belt, and suddenly a crazy idea popped up in his head.

'Wait a minute. I still have those!'

Jack opens his bag before taking out a bottle of black liquid. He poured them to the canine tooth that now became a spearhead and went down to the lowest tree branch, which was about ten meters high from the ground surface.

Cold sweat starts forming in his palm as he looks at the sitting giant wolf below him.

He knew that a single mistake would cost him his life because this is real. The monster and the fear are real, and he has to face it in order to survive.

Jack exhaled a lot of air and steeled his nerves.

'Here we go!'

He threw all the meat he had before jumping while holding his short spear with both hands.

Of course, the wolf noticed Jack's movement and prepared itself to attack him. But when the meat hits the ground first, its sound and smell distract the monster for a split second.

Jack makes use of those opportunities to stab its body with his short spear. Adding his weight and gravity to its thrusting power made him confident that the spear would penetrate its thick skin and injure it badly.

Bam!

The wolf groaned softly when his spear hit its back. Sadly it only sunk three centimeters deep before Jack's body bounced up and hit the ground.

"Sh*t!" Curse Jack loudly when seeing that his surprise attack did not work as he thought it would be. It only makes the monster angry.

The wolf growled before pouncing at Jack with glowing red eyes. Fortunately, Jack has a backup plan and has drawn his stabbing dagger.

When the wolf mouth was about to bite his neck, Jack moved back while swinging his right hand to stab its left eye with a dagger.

Both of their bodies still collide, making them roll a few times before stopping. Jack loses his dagger but manages to avoid its most lethal attack. In preparation for the next one, Jack draws his other weapon before standing up.

After another angry roar, the wolf leaped at Jack once more. Because the distance is closer than the previous one, Jack can't use the same tactic. He only could evade it to the left like a matador facing a bull while countering at the same time with his single-edged dagger.

This time Jack wasn't so lucky and had to take its claws with his upper right chest. He made the wrong choice of dodging to the left. He should have exploited its injured left eye by dodge to the right where his blinds spot is.

In the next attack, Jack makes a stride to the right before leaps in the same direction and dodges the wolf attack. After his body rolled on the ground surface, Jack got up before moving again toward its blind spot.

Jack dances on a knife-edge while repeating the same process again and again. Unknowingly, the sun is no longer present.

Jack feels his body drenched in sweat. He was already breathing with his shoulder, a sign that he is almost running out of gas. With claw marks all around his body, Jack only has one way to win this fight.

With a strong surprise attack!

Obviously, he couldn't dodge all of its attacks. Sometimes he has to take a risk to lead the wolf in a specific direction. He realized that his stamina would be exhausted first before he could defeat his opponent if this continues. And that will be the end!

Luckily, the wolf movement also slowed down because it too sustained some damage from Jack's counterattack.

Finally, after a few dodging and rolling, the moment that Jack waited for from the beginning occurred.

The wolf movement suddenly swayed when it tried to attack.

'The poison is reacting!'

As soon as Jack noticed it, he dashed toward a tree with a smile on his face and grabbed his long spear. He twisted his body and aimed the spearhead in his hand toward the monster's open mouth.

A muffled growl comes out from the wolf's destroyed throat. But it kept struggling while vomiting a lot of blood, so Jack gritted his teeth while continuing to push his spear as strong as he could until he was sure that the monster was dead.

"Finally…! I win!" Jack mumble softly as all of his body trembles.

His legs turn soft, forcing him to sit down then lie down while facing the sky. All of his body won't stop trembling. He is out of stamina, and his eyes feel very heavy.

But before he passed out, Jack wanted to make sure that his enemy was really dead, so he twisted his neck. What he finds is his stabbing dagger lying around beside his head. Behind it a giant dead wolf with a long spear piercing its throat.

The corner of Jack's mouth raised as a sense of relief started to fill his heart. His eyes slowly closed when his consciousness began to fade.

Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!

Jack hears a rhythmic tapping sound of someone walking toward him. He thought that it was the sound of his wife's footsteps who wanted to take him back to Earth. But... is it?

'That's impossible!'

Spontaneously Jack jolted awake and turned his head toward where the tapping sound is.

An opened wolf's jaw decorated with sharp teeth and two large fangs greeted him and aimed for his neck!