The wolf, with fur the hue of night, moved elusively under the illuminating moonlight.
It circled around me with its head lifted, revealing a second mouth yawned open along its neck, teeth glistening wetly as breath steamed into the night air.
I held a defensive stance with my spear and shield, turning to meet the wolf at every angle as it circled.
We were at that deadlock for a while.
With my reflective shield and Foresight, I was a 'reactive' fighter—best at defending and counterattacking on openings, not at taking the initiative or forcing flow of battle.
It wasn't always like that though.
I used to be a combatant trained in Vance Forward Spearform, a common martial art local to the Vance Empire that leaned towards offense rather than defense.
However, once the knowledge of my powers from binding the Reflection Primordial surfaced, I knew I needed to change styles, perhaps even pioneer my own.
Being capable of reflecting attacks with a mirror, wielding a shield became a no brainer.
But, there was a problem.
A large one.
I didn't really know how.
Vance Forward Spearform was a two-handed spear style, meaning I had to shift to a one-handed spear hold and learn to wield a shield, both of which I was unfamiliar with.
I only had a few special lessons in one-handed spear holds in case of injury and some theoretical knowledge of shield wielding along with observation from peers.
Even so, I still chose to immediately switch to spear and shield despite being in a monster-infested forest, believing that even in the short term, a reflective shield would prove too valuable.
Now, it was time to see if that decision was right.
The previous two fights against the boar and stag were won by the element of surprise and unanticipated abilities, not skill.
This was going to be the true test, the first head on battle against an opponent who knows the powers I possessed.
After I finished monologing during the lengthy impasse where the wolf and I had a grand staring contest, I pretended to leave an opening in my defenses.
With a snap decision, the wolf took the bait.
It performed a low leap before pouncing with its two jaws wide opened, aimed at the spot I purposefully left undefended.
Swiftly pivoting, I moved out the way then blocked the sharp rake of its claws with my shield with elegant footwork.
Although I couldn't physically feel anything due to the force of the attack being reflected, I could tell the beast mostly retracted its claw mid strike.
That was because I could sense the almost non-existent essence expenditure of that reflection.
When the wolf bounded back, it took a glance down on its paws where small lines of red could be seen.
It seemed to be using the scientific method to test the workings of my shield first hand.
What a clever little pup, I shouldn't give it time to think.
Springing forward, I began my assault.
The first thrust went out clean, but it lacked the familiar power and control, causing the strike to skim past fur when it should've been a clean hit.
At my miss the wolf retaliated, letting out a low growl as it attacked, swinging a claw ferociously from the right at my spear wielding hand while I was retracting it.
I took a swift step back, causing the claw to only graze past shallow skin.
Essence circulated vigorously around my body as I felt drops of warm blood flowing from my hand, but I had bigger issues at hand.
The wolf had gotten uncomfortably close to me, and as a spear wielder, that was bad to put it simply.
Inside a one meter radius, it was awkward to properly execute attacks, especially with only one hand—often requiring butt strikes or half-gripping that output little power, even with my newly acquired enhanced vampire strength.
As a result, I entered into a struggle with the beast that was painstakingly not in my favor.
Fierce claws raked at me from both sides, but the wolf never truly committed on my left.
Its paws only shallowly flicking in just often enough to keep my reflecting shield angled there while it launched attacks at my weak right side.
Though I could foresee them, I struggled to defend against them from lacking familiarity and control wielding one-handed, causing me to suffer many surface wounds to my ribs, thigh, and arm.
As it continued its onslaught, growing more confident, I eventually spotted an opportunity with my Foresight.
Pouring a great amount of my essence into the engraved runes of my spear, a vortex of windblades unleashed when the beast got itself into an awkward position.
With little space to dodge and at too close a distance, the damage dealt was quite significant. Blood flowed in streams down many lacerations across its front body.
With a shudder, the wolf bounced back.
A short moment of respite passed between us as we briefly reflected on our first clash.
I already knew my mistake: not immediately repositioning my body once the wolf got uncomfortably close.
After taking a step back, I should've continued to back up diagonally to the left, allowing my shield to cover both sides of my body better and slowly reestablish control of space.
Finished mentally noting my shortcomings, I reengaged the fight, starting our second and final bout.
It wasn't particularly eventful with me coming out on top in the end.
The shallow wounds I suffered slowly regenerated and were nothing compared to the wolf's, whos injuries slowly piled up as I grew more accustomed to the flow of battle.
My footwork adjusted to match my new combat style, one-handed handling with the spear improving, and use of Foresight refining.
Meanwhile, the wolf's movements grew continuishly more sluggish as blood stained the grass a dark red.
Though, what truly decided this battle wasn't something I learned here, but something engraved into me from the beginning: controlling space.
That was the core of spearmanship, and in this encounter, that concept shone especially bright.
Throughout the fight, the wolf had always been attacking with its claws when it shouldn't have—ideally.
But I forced it to.
Claws of wolves' are meant for traction and grappling, letting it close in on their enemies to use their true weapon: the mouth—or in this case, mouths.
However in this battle, I had always made sure to steer clear of biting radius, carefully maintaining a steady distance so that only claw strikes could reach.
The wolf understood that, and eventually, desperation took over.
Attempting to trick me, it dipped its shoulder and feinted a lunge to my right, only to spring forward in a sudden, deadly pounce at my left with its jaws unhinged.
The monster tried its best to be unpredictable as my shield stood firmly to my left, but unfortunately for them, I foresaw the attack before it even initiated.
With a strong push, I slammed my shield against the airborne wolf.
Mid leap, there was nothing it could do to change its projected trajectory, and so, it collapsed to the ground after a resounding thud.
Although it wasn't completely crippled like the boar because of its far inferior momentum, the fight was still as good as over now with it temporarily maimed.
Delivering a strong thrust aimed at the beast's head, its whimpering ceased forever.