The cloth was a greyish hanfu (traditional Chinese clothing). It looked decent, but nothing special. Feeling slightly more energized, Dion walked back into the forest, in the direction directly opposite from the incomplete building he came out from. He walked cautiously, careful not to make any unnecessary sounds.
But as he moved, he heard leaves rustling, he suddenly felt a strange sensation pressing against his back, not a physical one, but mental, like an invisible weight.
Instinctively, Dion sidestepped, surprised by his own reaction. A powerful gust of wind rushed past him, and when he turned, the claw of a giant wolf tore through the air; it even nicked his ear!
Judging by its size and the aura it radiated, it was obviously stronger than him!
A strength that completely overwhelmed its enemies!
A sharp pain assaulted his mind; he couldn't think straight, yet he was being faced with death!
How was he supposed to deal with that?
After all, he was only at the beginning level, Grade 9.
Dion racked his brain.
How had he ended up in such a situation?
There was no way he could outrun it.
And there was no way he could kill it.
So how…?
A thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
Without hesitation, Dion veered sharply to the left. The wolf followed immediately, its heavy steps shaking the ground behind him. Tree bark scraped him all over, but he didn't stop running.
The wolf was gaining on him; its breath was loud, its growl echoing through the trees. Dion's heart pounded in rhythm with his steps. Every second he stayed alive was borrowed time.
He slowed down gradually, then came to a complete stop.
The sudden stillness caught the beast off guard.
The wolf lunged forward, its eyes glowing with desperation, certain of an easy lunch. But at the last possible moment, Dion moved, one quick sidestep, just like before.
The wolf was supposed to slam into the large tree behind him, head first.
But this time, he wasn't able to move quickly enough to avoid the wolf. As he sidestepped, he watched the jaws of the wolf widen, coming straight at him.
He was too weak!
At the last moment, Dion raised his two arms, hoping to block the attack.
Crack
A thought flashed in his mind.
'Grade 8… Grade 8? What does that mean?'
The pain in his head increased sharply.
Knowledge only surfaced when he needed it, he had no idea what to do with the information.
The fangs of the wolf but straight into his arms, he could feel his bones already breaking!
Though the adrenaline lightened the pain, there was no way it could be nullified! But even with all this, Dion did not scream, nor did he stop thinking.
He could still feel the dull thudding in his head, and he could feel himself getting lightheaded.
He refused to accept this judgment!
But what could he possibly do?
At this moment, the blood he lost was too much; he couldn't keep his eyes open, and the wolf was still grinding the bones of his forearms.
Light faded from his sight, the sounds of bushes, trees, and the wolf became duller until he could not hear anything at all, and the sensation of being devoured faded.
At this moment, no thoughts could be formed in his head anymore.
He was already dead.
Or, was he?
He could see light again, he could hear, and he could feel pain again. But this time, he felt like he had lost complete control of his body; he felt like he was spectating with his own eyes.
It all happened in a single moment!
Suddenly, his arms softened.
As if they were boneless.
Then they … changed.
They changed into sickles made of what was left of his flesh as they assaulted the wolf's weakness.
His arms resembled those of a praying mantis.
It directly shredded the mouth and neck of the wolf.
It could only whimper slightly before a sickle-shaped arm stabbed out of its neck, taking it out of its misery.
Dion watched in shock, yet no expression was on his face. He was too weak to form one, but he could think now… he could-
Whoosh
A golden thread swiftly flew out of the head of the wolf and into the sky.
Am I hallucinating now? A golden thread.
'Why would a golden thread fly from this beast into the sky?' Dion could only ask without receiving an answer.
He felt intense pressure. Someone, or something was definitely watching him… But from where?
I need to leave now.
This was when he noticed his arms,
Though still seriously broken, they now actually resembled the arms of a human.
There were openings and deep cuts, but it seemed as though he had healed, ever so slightly.
The bleeding had actually stopped, but he still looked a mess.
'What was that? My body. There's something else in it.'
He remembered something he saw earlier in the day.
'Ninth attempt: DEAD'
'Attempt at what?'
'What's in my body?'
He was shaken. Something took control of his body? It even healed him slightly.
Dion could do nothing about it for now, so he pushed the thought aside.
'I need to find at least a human settlement before it gets dark.'
But if they see me like this, I would be detained or even killed on the spot!
There was only one thing he could do now.
It wasn't practical to head back to the pond where he had cleaned himself.
He had to take at least a part of the wolf with him, to make sure he wasn't mistaken as a lunatic or murderer.
Thankfully, its head had almost been severed, so he could easily take it along.
His arms were broken, He had to use twice the effort to separate the head from the body.
Suddenly, a dim, red, small orb rolled out from it.
At first, Dion was startled, then he slowly reached out for it, grabbing it tightly.
He dropped the head he was holding and picked up the orb, pain engulfed his entire arm.
Shortly after, he was able to hide it in his robe, right at the chest area.
'Core.'
The pain assaulted his head again.
'The orb was a… core.'
He continued tugging at the head until finally.
Snap!
The head was finally separated!
He ignored the growling of his stomach, the pain in his arms, and the weakness in his legs, and held the wolf's head tightly before jogging in the direction that had the least number of trees.
As he jogged, he felt extremely dizzy and light headed, he could faint at any moment.
Dion jogged on for a while, hoping in his heart that no monsters were lurking, he was still fearful of what was sharing his body with him.
After a while, he sighted an expanse of land that had barely any trees and only a few bushes. Looking on, he saw buildings! People must be living here.
If the people here had anything to do with the place that tortured him…
He might be walking back into a cage.