Slay the Wolf Pack

An astonishing chill radiated from Octas, and nine long, frigid ice spikes condensed around him. "Take up your weapons! Prepare for battle!"

Lister reached out and grabbed one of the icy spikes. To his surprise, it was not cold—more precisely, the shaft was not cold, though the pointed end still was. He gripped the spike tightly. Three years of knight training had him swiftly assume a standard parrying stance, his entire body taut, even his ears pricked up as he focused on distinguishing the different signals carried by the wind.

"This is a feint." Octas's voice drifted steadily through the wind. "Dread wolf packs are not mindless creatures. The strongest Dread Wolf King can even match a sixth-circle mage in strength, and its intelligence is fully comparable to that of an adult. Of course, this is a small pack. Its Wolf King is roughly equivalent to a second-circle mage, but it still possesses the intelligence of a human child."

"So they could not possibly attack from upwind." Octas looked behind them. Shadowy figures seemed to drift through the pitch-black forest. "Upwind is only meant to draw our attention. Their main force is actually downwind."

His expression was utterly solemn. "This is the first lesson I'll teach you. When facing an enemy, you must first determine their intentions. That requires long-term experience, but it can only benefit you."

"Watch our rear for me! Notify me immediately if anything moves!"

At those words, all nine children turned to face the forest behind them. Yet apart from the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves in the darkness, there seemed to be nothing.

Lister could feel an invisible pressure slowly emanating from Octas. As time passed, it became increasingly distinct, like a dam gradually filling with water. Clearly, Octas was preparing a spell. Lister's blood began to boil, and he could not help turning his head. This was his first time witnessing a mage fight.

"Chain Lightning!" Octas did not wait for the wolf pack to probe them. Instead, he launched the attack himself, ensuring that they held the initiative on the battlefield!

A thick blue-white bolt tore through the deep darkness and shot into the black forest like a swift, slithering serpent. By its light, Lister saw the scene before him clearly.

Four or five enormous, shadowy monsters fled in panic beneath the lightning. Their black manes streamed like banners as they darted through the woods. Two black wolves that failed to dodge in time were struck directly. The first let out a strange "Wuh" before collapsing in a cloud of black smoke. The other, caught by the leaping lightning, fared better. After being struck, it limped onward and continued fleeing.

At that moment, heavy breathing sounded behind them, followed by a terrified shriek from one of the children. If it had to be described, it sounded like the crack of breaking ice, enough to freeze everyone's soul solid.

That scream instantly jolted the hearts of the other children, and they could not help crying out as well. Lister's heart pounded like frantic drumbeats against his eardrums. He immediately turned around.

A huge, bloody maw reeking of rot lunged straight at him. Bits of decaying flesh still clung between its uneven yellow fangs, while its greedy green eyes gleamed with cunning and brutality. But it had never expected Lister to turn around in time. More fatally, it was already airborne and could not alter its trajectory at all.

Lister held his breath and, following the simplest knightly sword technique, delivered a clean upward thrust.

The green eyes changed instantly. Lister's strike pierced straight through its lower jaw, driving through the tender flesh beneath it and into its brain. Its massive body hung limply from the ice spike. Its eyes held nothing but boundless reluctance to part with life and the deepest hatred for Lister. Those green eyes remained fixed on him, and only then did Lister realize what he had done.

His mouth fell open instinctively, his heart hammering more violently than ever before. He opened his mouth, trying to draw breath and ease the pressure in his chest, but after several attempts, he could not complete even that simplest, most instinctive action. All he could make were meaningless "Ah, ah" sounds. His entire body trembled uncontrollably. He felt as if his blood had frozen solid. It was truly bizarre—his heart was beating, yet his blood had already congealed. Still, his hands remained steady, maintaining the ice spike driven into the dread wolf's brain. This bizarre sight left several children staring in stunned disbelief.

Octas turned around in time. A solid dark-blue ice crystal condensed in his right hand. At such close range, there was no chance of missing. He drove it fiercely through the dread wolf's right eye and into its brain. The tenacious beast let out a miserable howl before finally collapsing. Its weight caused its head to slide straight down the ice spike, and warm black-red blood flowed along it onto Lister's hand. Yet he remained motionless in the same position.

A pair of gentle hands patted his shoulder, finally pulling his soul back to him. He stared at the giant wolf on the ground in disbelief. "I did it?"

"Good job." Octas shrugged, picked up a roasted rat from the ground, and stuffed it into his mouth to chew. "Mages must eat promptly after casting spells."

Having lost two adult male wolves, the pack wisely left the group alone. Octas had Nobo bring back the wolf that had been electrocuted, then sat by the fire and skinned it while it was still warm.

"Your first battle?" Octas asked as he sliced open the wolf hide with an ice knife. Lister merely sat nearby, staring blankly at the flames, and nodded woodenly.

"Not bad." Octas cut open the wolf's belly and pushed its organs into a pit they had dug beside them. Raising the ice knife, he chopped off the skinned wolf's bloody head in one blow and tossed it beside the fire. Several children boldly reached out to touch it, then grinned at the blood on their hands, thrilled as though it were proof of their courage. "The first thing I ever killed was a chicken. My mother told me to kill it so she could make chicken soup."

"I chopped off its head with one stroke, but I never expected its headless body to run all over the ground. I was so scared that I cried." Octas cut open the hide around the wolf's leg and peeled the entire pelt away as though taking off a sweater. "You did very well. You killed it through the jaw, and this hide is intact. In Storm City, it could sell for as much as three hundred gold coins. I'll split it with you fifty-fifty at market price."

"What about us?" Nobo dejectedly stroked the wolf's head. "Where's our share?"

"If you had been a little braver back then, we would have gladly shared the proceeds with you. But in truth, your eyes were bulging as ridiculously as a toad's, and you looked like an earthworm desperate to burrow into the ground." Octas finished skinning the wolf, folded the pelt, and placed it in his backpack. Then he began cutting up the wolf meat, placing the sliced pieces over the fire. "Have some. Fresh wolf meat."

At last, everyone cheered. They had defeated a pack of dread wolves. Though most of the credit belonged to Octas, at least they had not run away. Having faced death made them more united and stronger.