Bigger Threat

Zack turned his head to look but fell on his bum when he did. He wished that he had not turned his head and looked back.

The air grew thin, and the biting cold of winter seemed to seep into the very marrow of their bones. The temperature plummeted and it felt cold like a winter night, even though it was summer. The men at Satris' side stood rooted to the ground with their pale faces. They were frozen in place, as if fear had turned them to stone.

Only two people somehow felt alive and moving. One was Lord Sebrus, who had the fire sword created by his skills in his hand, and the other one was Satris, who was all the way behind the group, shivering. With his cowardly personality, it was natural that he wouldn't be at the front line risking his life.

The people standing there could not tell where this towering pressure was coming from.

However, having eyes that made him see in the dark, Zack was able to see it clearly.

He saw a shadow in the distance, slowly taking shape. It was difficult to make a clear outline of the beast's features because of the darkness. Its messy fur, which was more blackish than gray, was hard to see in the dark.

It had long, sharp fangs glistening in the moonlight and big, golden eyes that were glowing as the gems reflected the visible anger in its eyes.

It was horrifying as it snarled at people, like a Hellhound giving the warrant of a death sentence, and then looked at the wolf on the ground, lying there smeared in blood.

"Shit shit shit, one was not enough, there comes another one; why in the hell did I choose to come here?" Zack almost slapped himself.

He was already going to take a rest after checking out his skill, but out of curiosity, he just had to follow the group. Now, curiosity might not kill the cat, but he would probably be killed by the beasts.

When it came near the men standing there, only then could they see that it was a wolf with black fur.

Lord Sebrus somehow found the courage to stand before the wolf and look at it. He was heavily wounded after the single fight.

"We have to kill this one; if not, it won't let us leave before it hunts us down."

Lord Sebrus said to the group behind him.

'Is he an idiot? Didn't he see his men already struck silly in fear?'

Zack thought, and he took a step back. The black wolf suddenly turned and looked in his direction. Its eyes seemed to pierce the darkness. Zack felt a chill run down his spine, he knew that he had been discovered

"What the, can it see me or did it just sense me?" Zack got a chill down his spine when he saw the wolf turn its head in his direction. ' Is it two levels above me?'

Lord Sebrus after giving the command, rushed to attack it with his men.

The wolf howled, and its sound traveled further into the mountains.

It didn't take a few seconds before more howls echoed in the surrounding area. And then, a deep rumbling sound began to build, as if the very earth itself were trembling in fear.

The men looked around in confusion, their faces filled with terror as they realized what was happening. And then, in the distance, a pack of wolves appeared on the horizon, their eyes gleaming in the moonlight.

Zack didn't stay any longer and turned around to run away using a shadow shift.

While the wolf attacked Lord Sebrus and his men, the packs of wolves started to come from behind it and attack them as well.

"Retreat"

"Retreat. Its strength is at Peek grandmaster level, but its body is as strong as Lord level."

Lord Sebrus ordered as he and his men ran toward town after being outnumbered by beasts.

Even though Zack's speed improved, he could outrun the pack of wolves, which was equal to Awaken and Master levels. After traveling thousands of meters, the pack of wolves had already caught up to him.

"I am not the one who attacked, why the hell are you not attacking them but me"

Watching the wolves follow his back, Zack could not help cursing.

Having no choice, Zack attacked with his dagger, which he got from Kassandra.

"What, my attack is not strong enough to kill in one hit?"

Zack was surprised when he saw that he could not kill the wolf in one attack. "Sh*t, what kind of body do they have?"

The wolf jumped on him and tried to bite his shoulder when Zack suddenly thrust the dagger into its neck.

"Oh, they have weak points under the neck," realized Zack after killing one subsequently before aiming his attack at another wolf's neck and taking it down in one hit.

***

"Beasts are coming."

"Beasts are coming."

The men guarding the town's high walls were alarmed by the voices that echoed from the nearby mountain range.

The men watched in horror as a group of figures dressed in black emerged from the forest.

Behind them came a horde of snarling wolves that seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see.

Even though the number was less than the beast tide every year the town had to face but the quality was higher.

Every year the town was attacked by beasts who were equal in power to awaken and a few master levels.

However, this horde of wolves was mostly made up of master-level.

"Captain, these people look suspicious, what should we do," said a man standing beside the captain in a low voice.

"I know, but for now, we need to focus on protecting this town," said the captain. With a firm voice, he gave the command to his troops.

"Listen up everyone. Take your spot, and defend the town."

"Markus, go and call for help in town, and ask when the special team will be here."

When magical beasts came near the walls, the men on the walls started attacking with different kinds of long-range spells.

***

Zack's heart raced as he darted and dodged through a pack of wolves, getting tired after killing a few. It was easy for him to kill awaken-level wolves using his fast reaction speed and after finding out their weak points.

However, he could not help but use shadow shift when he faced the Master-level wolves.

He knew that his normal fighting skills wouldn't be enough to defeat these powerful beasts.

Another one caught up to him when he changed his location; his hand felt heavy after striking thousands of times.

"Damn, why don't I have any powerful attacking skills?"

Zack checked his status window once again to see if there was anything he could use to help himself.

—-

Skills

Shadow Skill-

Eyes of Shadow - Night vision increases two times.

Shadow Shift - Move to a shadow place within 100 meters.

Shadow Stealth - Blend in any shadow to hide from Awaken two levels above.

Soul bond Skill

Exchange - (Cooldown time 7 days)

—-

Zack saw he had already used all skills available to him except Exchange which he ignored because it had a long cooldown. He didn't ask about it either because he was impatient to explore the world.

"Ava, why does the Exchange skill have a 7-day cooldown?"

[The player is advised to use it as a last resort when facing life-and-death situations.]

Instead of replying to his answer, the system responded with instructions on when to use the skill.

"Am I not in a life-and-death situation?"

Zack pierced another wolf's neck, killing it in one strike before he grimaced.

He was about to use the skills when a familiar voice sounded, along with the heavy footsteps of people not far away from him.

"Did not I say not to run around and stay at home?"