NOVEL NEXT B1 | Chapter 3 - A Mission
Cassandra
Year 820 | Month 1 | Day 3
I stare at the spot where the mirror thing was for a second before shivering slightly at the cold breeze and remembering where I am.
So much for him being nice. But at least he rescued me.
If I were to take a guess, I’d say it’s a decent chance that that was the ‘high general’ those two voices from before kept talking about.
Anyways, I look around at my surroundings before focusing on the clothing currently covering me and realizing that despite having been in a container of what looked like blood before, there isn't any of it on me.
Was that really blood? Or was it something else?
After pondering on the thought for only a few seconds, I lift up the clothing to take a look, and a pair of black and white pants and what look like underwear falls out of it.
At least he didn’t just throw me out here without any clothes.
My brows raise in surprise once I touch the underwear and feel the very soft material that it’s made of.
“I’m keeping these,” I mutter while putting it on along with the also comfortable pants right after.
After that, I look at the shirt that’s left and actually find a pair of black gloves still tucked inside of it somehow. The shirt is similar but still different to the ones I saw those people who took me away from the castle wearing. Material-wise, at least.
No armor in this shirt, after all.
Wait, gloves?
I glance at my hands.
Yeah, those would be nice. With these claws and fangs, I’d probably be mistaken for a sacred beast in humanoid form.
And princess or not, I’d rather not have the sacred beasts get mad at me for something as trivial as that.
I put the gloves on while being careful not to accidentally scratch myself with my blood red claws before leaning down to grab the strange boots and socks. However, in the process of doing that, my hair falls over my shoulder and I finally notice the red tips at the ends of my still-black hair.
Uh…
That’s kind of random for a mutation, but okay.
Hair aside, the socks are just as comfortable as the underwear when compared with the clothing at the castle and fit almost perfectly. Meanwhile, the shoes are very strange, and are not like anything I’ve seen before, but I still manage to get them on without much issue.
And it’s very good that I do, because almost immediately afterwards, a loud howl echoes throughout the forest, making me quickly climb to my feet and look around.
Shit.
Please be a normal wolf. Please be a normal wolf. Please be a-
My internal prayers are interrupted as a two-meter-long wolf with pitch-black fur bursts out of the bushes on the other side of the clearing.
“Shit!” I swear while unconsciously reaching down for where my knives should be, only to remember that I don’t have any.
Well, shit. Again.
I glance at the large wolf before slowly backing away towards one of the bushes near me.
If I can reach a river, I might be able to make it lose my scent. But in the meantime, I can’t show it my back. Because that’d just be an open invite to attack.
Also, any goodwill I had towards that man is gone.
I mean, who the hell just randomly dumps someone into the Dark Forest?!
Because this has to be-
The direwolf suddenly snaps its jaws forwards as it slowly approaches me.
I barely hold myself back from flinching while continuing to carefully walk backwards towards the edge of the clearing I was dumped in.
The only place on the Liathtria continent with direwolves is the Dark Forest, which is on the other freaking side of the continent from the capital.
Which also means that – assuming I don’t end up as direwolf chow, or any other monster from this forest's chow for that matter – I’m gonna have to walk for almost two months to get home…
I continue to back up for a bit, only to remember something and look directly into the direwolf’s eyes.
Name: N/A
Species: Direwolf
Level: 6
Hmm. For one, that thing’s level six?
Impressive. I think.
But not good for me.
For two, why didn’t it list species when I identified the asshole old man?
The direwolf doesn’t seem to care about my thoughts as it continues to approach me while growling all the way till I finally reach the bushes.
I take a deep, shaky breath before doing a backflip into the bushes and taking off at a run.
Sudden movements to disorient it while using the bush to block its sight of me so that it doesn’t immediately charge my back.
And now to run for my life.
The direwolf doesn’t take long to let out a loud snarl before I hear it chasing after me.
I continue running for a couple of minutes, very thankful for the World Tree Sap that’s boosted my physical prowess to a point beyond normal human capacities, until I eventually pause slightly at the smell of fresh water, along with the sound of a river.
Yes! A river!
Unfortunately, my pause also gives the direwolf time to catch up and I soon feel it managing to lock its jaws around my leg, tearing through the pants that I just got and into the skin and eventually bone beneath.
“Damnit! Stupid mutt!” I exclaim while grabbing my gloves and taking them off before swiping my hand towards the mutts head. “Find some other bone to gnaw on!”
Surprisingly, my claws sink straight into the direwolf’s massive head, tearing a large gash across its face and making it let go of my leg.
Right as I’m wondering if I should use this distraction to run, or if my wound is too bad to even attempt that, a System note appears in my vision, except slightly transparent unlike how it normally is.
Mission Acquired!
Title: Outleveled and Outmatched!
Escape from or kill the Direwolf before you bleed out!
Rewards
Kill Reward:
100 EXP and a Tier 1 [Random Item Draw]
Escape Reward:
50 EXP
If I wasn’t so busy clenching my jaw from the pain, it would have dropped open at the sight of the note.
Before I can come to a decision, I notice a strange sensation moving through my body, originating from some sort of pulsing in my claws.
My eyes widen as I remember the Claws of Wrath skill.
“Okay,” I whisper to myself, the pain and fear slowly beginning to leave my face a little bit at the sight of my leg injury slowly starting to heal up a bit. “I might be able to do this…”
The direwolf finally seems to gather itself at the same time as me and begins to rush forwards again. But this time, instead of running away, I leap out of the way, causing it to continue running straight into the tree that was behind me. I then rush up towards it while it’s reorienting itself before slashing it with both of my clawed hands, tearing long strips through its side.
My confidence begins to wane a little bit at the sight of how shallow the wounds are when compared with the direwolf’s overall size. Fortunately, however, I begin to feel the same pulsating feeling running through my claws again as a warmth moves around my injured leg, closing it up even more than before.
At this point, it’s either die to it, somehow manage to kill it, or wound it enough that it runs away itself.
With one last mental curse towards the asshole old man, I rush in to claw at the direwolf again.
Several minutes pass by with the two of us slowly taking chunks out of each other, except with my injuries healing during the process, before the direwolf finally begins to show signs of wariness. To the point that I’m pretty sure it might try to run away soon.
I exhale heavily, my entire body covered in sweat, soaking the clothes the asshole had given me as I glare at the direwolf standing a few meters away from me. It’s covered in claw marks practically from head to toe at this point, with one of its eyes having been cut out entirely, and one of its legs damaged enough to basically count as being crippled.
Surprisingly, the direwolf actually lets out a whimper for the first time in the battle, but I ignore it and rush forwards, causing its eyes to widen in fear.
I grimace as I feel several of the wounds on my body that had been healing from the life steal begin to reopen from the sudden movements, but I still push forwards and reach my claws out towards the direwolf’s body. The creature once again tries to dodge, but this time, I suddenly switch out and reach forwards with my fangs, biting straight into the creature’s neck instead.
Out of nowhere, a faint howl echoes in the distance, likely from another direwolf, but I don’t let go of this direwolf’s throat as a faint red and black light begins to radiate out of the spot I’m biting.
Please just die already!
A strange stream of some sort of black and red energy begins to move from both my forehead and the direwolf’s forehead towards my bite before I feel my fangs somehow growing in strength. To the point that they manage to tear out a large chunk of the direwolf’s neck, causing the creature to finally drop to the ground with one last breath of gargled air mixed with blood.
At the same time, I feel myself falling to my rear on the grass – and now blood – covered ground beneath us.
My wounds are still bleeding, despite the healing I got from my own attacks, but I think I should be able to survive this amount of damage.
Another howl suddenly echoes from far away, while at the same time a System note appears in my vision.
Mission Complete!
Title: Outleveled and Outmatched!
Kill the Direwolf before you bleed out!
Rewards:
100 EXP and a Tier 1 [Random Item Draw]