Frantic Battle

His legs felt like lead, but he forced himself to step forward. "Stay in formation! Don't let it separate us!" His voice cracked, betraying his fear.

The wolf's snarl deepened, and without warning, it lunged. The sheer speed of the beast was almost beyond their comprehension.

Victor barely raised his shield in time. The impact was bone-shaking, forcing him to stagger back with a grunt as his knees nearly buckled. His shield arm screamed in pain, but he held on.

"Sh-shit! Attack it! Now!" Victor roared, his voice breaking as he braced against the beast's immense strength.

Leah's fingers fumbled as she drew an arrow, her breaths coming in sharp gasps.

She stretched the bowstring to its limit, her arms quivering from the effort. Taking a shaky aim at the wolf's side, she released the arrow. It struck the beast, embedding itself in the beast's shoulder.

The wolf let out a piercing howl, but instead of retreating, its rage seemed to grow. Its murderous eyes locked onto Leah, and it lunged again, its speed almost a blur.

"Bloody hell!" Noah shouted, stepping in its path, though his own legs felt like they'd give out any moment.

His heart pounded in his chest as he swung his longsword, the blade glinting in the faint light. His attack barely grazed the wolf's thick hide, and the beast snapped its massive jaws at him, forcing him to stumble back in panic.

Daniel's eyes darted wildly, his breath coming in short bursts. He fumbled with his throwing knife before hurling it with a desperate yell, "Take this, you oversized mutt!"

The blade struck the wolf's hind leg, but the hit was far from clean. Still, the beast staggered for a moment, its snarl turning into a guttural growl as it whipped around to face him.

"Shit! Shit!" Daniel yelled, diving behind Victor's shield. "Why is it looking at me now?! Someone get it off me!"

"Fuck, why are you hiding behind me??" Victor shouted through gritted teeth, his shield still trembling under the wolf's earlier blow. "Do you want to get me killed so bad?"

Emma stood frozen, her bow trembling in her hands. Her breath hitched as tears welled in her eyes. "I-I can't… it's too fast…"

"You can," Noah shouted, his voice rising above the chaos. "Aim for its legs! We need to slow it down!"

Emma swallowed hard, her fear nearly overwhelming her. But as the wolf growled and charged toward Victor again, she took a deep breath, her fingers tightening on the string.

She released the arrow, her hands shaking as she watched it fly. The arrow struck the beast's front leg, and to her astonishment, it faltered.

"Good shot!" Leah called, her voice tinged with desperation. She loosed another arrow, which sank deep into the wolf's ribs. The beast howled in agony, staggering but refusing to fall.

"Keep hitting it!" Noah yelled, circling the wolf nervously with unsteady steps. His palms were slick with sweat, his sword wobbling in his grip. "Daniel, don't stop now!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm on it!" Daniel forced a grin, though his hands trembled as he pulled out another knife. His throw lacked power, but the blade found its mark, embedding in the wolf's side. "Eat that, you bastard!"

The wolf's movements became erratic, its injuries slowing it down. Victor seized the chance, surging forward with a roar that was more fear than courage.

He slammed his shield into the beast's face, the impact reverberating through his arm. The wolf stumbled, shaking its massive head in disorientation.

"Noah! Finish it!" Victor shouted, his voice hoarse with exhaustion.

Noah hesitated for a fraction of a second, his legs quaking as he moved in. The wolf was massive, and up close, it radiated a terrifying presence. But he gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on the longsword.

He raised it high and, with every ounce of strength he could muster, slashed at the wolf's exposed neck.

The blade cut deep, a spray of blood staining the forest floor. The wolf let out a final, haunting howl before collapsing with a heavy thud, its glowing eyes dimming.

For a moment, no one moved. Their breaths came in ragged gasps, and the silence of the forest seemed even more dangerous.

Then, a faint azure mist rose from the wolf's body, swirling into an orb before splitting into uneven parts. The mist was drawn toward each of them, sinking into their bodies.

"What… was that?" Emma whispered, her voice shaky.

Noah's hands trembled as he wiped the blood off his blade. "I… I think we survived…"

Daniel fell to his knees, laughing hysterically. "That's it? Just one monster and I'm ready to quit. What fucking world is this?!"

Victor groaned, clutching his shield arm. "Shut up and thank your luck you're alive." But his lips twitched into a weak, relieved smile.

Noah soon felt surprised as he sensed his body being rejuvenated, filling with energy. He raised his hand as he felt himself getting noticeably stronger than before.

The others had similar reactions as they looked at their own bodies getting stronger.

"Is this what Garrick said about us being granted a chance?" Leah softly said.

Noah clenched and unclenched his fist. "Looks like this is the so-called Soul Energy he was talking about. We need to kill more beasts to get this."

Daniel took out a throwing knife, aiming at a tree. He threw it with all his strength.

Boom!

The knife flew through the air before strongly hitting the tree, making a loud noise. "Woah! Looks like we are really getting stronger," Daniel said in a surprised tone.

The others flexed their weapons as well, and everyone noticed clear improvements in their strength, agility, endurance, perception, among other things.

"What should we do about this wolf?" Victor asked, pointing toward the giant wolf lying down.

Daniel collected all of his throwing knives from the body of the wolf while saying, "What else? We leave this shit here and move on to fight something else. This feeling of improvement is really crazy."

Victor looked at him for a moment as if looking at a moron before turning to the others. "What about you guys?"

Noah shook his head. "We should head back for now. The sun is already setting, and we have already hunted a beast for now. That Soul Poisoning thing shouldn't happen for a while."

Leah agreed with him. "True, and we need to find out how we can improve our strength or if we should look out for something while absorbing the Soul Energy."

Emma nodded her head along, clearly wanting to leave the forest as soon as possible.

Daniel also calmed down. "I guess that's true. We should leave from here for now. I was getting too intoxicated in the feeling of getting stronger."

"Okay, now back to the first question. What should we do about this wolf?" Victor asked with a shake of his head.