Somewhere in the wilderness of the Primordial Land, the grass in the valley was exceptionally green after the rain. Muddy water flowed through the ditches, washing out withered bones buried beneath the turf. Pungent smartweed grew from the skulls' eye sockets, blooming in little clusters of pale pink flowers that drooped and swayed over and over as the current stirred them.
In the muddy grass by the bank lay a slain Six-Eyed Monster as large as three oxen. Its fatal wound had pierced upward from beneath its jaw into its skull, and its filthy blood had drawn swarms of green bottle flies.
Beside the monster's corpse, a young man sat on a rock by the bank, busily binding an armguard.
He had cut a piece of the hardest hide from the monster's body, trimmed it, punched holes through it, and fashioned it into a simple armguard. Holding a thin cord between his teeth, he tied it in place one-handed, then repeated the process on his other arm. He clenched his fists to test it and nodded in satisfaction.
A wild wolf was secretly creeping closer through the grass behind him.
Its frame was larger than that of an ordinary wolf, yet leaner. Fresh and old wounds covered its body, and its eyes shone with cruelty and bloodlust. It inched forward soundlessly, its entire body coiled with strength, ready to spring out and bite its prey's neck from behind. The young man did not turn around, merely lowered his head and continued arranging his gear.
Once it had crept close enough, the wild wolf suddenly accelerated!
But the human turned around. The object in his hand flashed with fire and erupted with a thunderous bang. The wolf instantly lost consciousness and collapsed. Momentum sent it sliding far across the grass, leaving