"Grandpa," it was Lilia's voice. "I want to fight too."
"You too...?" my master said, surprised.
"What a nuisance," he sighed. "Fine. At least you can handle different attributes, since you're a mage. I'll let you fight. But you two will take down the smaller ones."
I looked beyond the leader. He wasn't alone. Behind him, three smaller wolves, though "smaller" was relative — they were still the size of a horse — watched us with hungry eyes.
"Since you insist so much," the master said, "then I'll fight the [Giant Gray Wolf] to hold it back. I won't seriously wound it," he added with a smile. "I'll leave it intact for you at the end, once you defeat the smaller ones."
"Just this once I'll help you, because it's your first time. Do your best," he said as he headed toward the leader of the pack.
So then, Lilia and I would handle the smaller wolves, while the master would use the [Giant Wolf] as his playmate.
(That old man is really disrespecting the beast,) I thought with a mix of admiration and envy. (Honestly, I'm a little envious.)
"Alright, Lilia," I said, entering combat mode. "You handle the long-range attacks. I'll go head-on."
"Understood, Aito," she replied, and her voice sounded firmer than I expected.
I launched forward at full speed using my wind magic.
My wooden sword at shoulder height, ready to attack. The first of the lesser wolves lunged at me.
I traced a perfect arc. [Straight Line Descending Cut].
The beast roared and charged straight at me, showing its fangs.
[Perfect Evasion] to the left, using the wind.
Its fangs passed grazing without touching me.
I traced a perfect arc. [Horizontal Cut]. My sword, wrapped in wind, cut through its jaw.
I felt the wind-charged blade penetrate the skin. I didn't feel it much, since the wind increased the cutting speed. But the sensation of the sword cutting through was... smooth.
It bled.
A waterfall of red blood.
And at the same time, I cut off its head.
One down.
I'm not happy. I had never killed before.
The other two, seeing their companion brutally murdered, roared with fury.
"AUURGGG!"
And they charged.
I didn't move. I stood still.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, AITO?!" Lilia shouted.
"Don't worry," I replied.
(They're so clumsy compared to my sister.)
The first one attacked.
[Perfect Evasion]
[Vertical Cut]
Straight to the neck.
A clean cut.
The head detached from the body. It didn't even roar. It was a silent death.
Two down.
I ran forward.
The last wolf lunged at me from above, jumping.
(They don't seem very intelligent. They make the same mistakes.)
[Wind-Enhanced Vertical Cut]
"SOUING!"
I cut it almost in two, even though the sword was short. Leaves from the ground flew up with the impact.
Three.
"Good thing they're finished," my master said, approaching.
Finished. I finished them.
"I was about to die here..." he said, and I was confused. How could something like that happen?
"What do you mean you're about to die, master?" I asked.
"I'm dying of boredom," he said, sighing.
(Conceited old man. When will that day come when I can boast like him?)
Only the big one remained. The leader.
And I couldn't wait any longer.
I knew it would be difficult. But I had no intention of backing down.
"Alright, Lilia," I said. "Let's do it."
For some reason, when I said that, I thought of my sister.
She nodded, her staff ready, gripped firmly.
Then, the master stopped playing with the [Giant Gray Wolf] and guided it in our direction.
The [Giant Gray Wolf] lunged at me.
WAIT! The monster's speed increased.
I dodged it by a hair at the last second. Even so, just the pressure generated by its charge cut my cheek. I felt the skin open in a perfect line, the blood running down my face.
The leaves that were on the ground flew up, tracing the trajectory of its charge in a perfect line.
It spun around and tried to attack again. This time, even more fiercely.
I saw it in its red eyes. It was as angry as I had been before.
Its speed had increased again. Maybe it was its awakening.
But Lilia protected me.
A magical shield appeared in front of me. As if the very air had hardened. Shining circles materialized, they looked like mirrors. More and more, until they completely covered me.
Even so, the impact was strong enough to crack the ground. The leaves scattered, leaving the ground bare. And most importantly: the shield cracked and flickered.
I stepped back.
"WATCH OUT, AITO!" Lilia shouted at me.
I felt it. Something was approaching behind me.
I instinctively moved aside.
The shield shattered.
And the [Giant Gray Wolf] was coming straight toward us.
But it didn't look carefully.
Just as I moved aside, a ball of fire passed through where I had been standing a second ago.
It hit him square on.
"AUURGG!"
It roared.
Part of its gray fur burned. It took a lot of damage, it was bleeding.
It braced itself to run.
But it couldn't.
Lilia turned the earth beneath its feet into its enemy.
Its legs sank into the ground, and the earth closed, solidifying again, preventing it from moving.
Since it was fast, that was very clever of Lilia.
As it struggled to free itself, it was useless.
"DO IT NOW, AITO!" she shouted. "It won't last more than three seconds!"
Three seconds. That's enough.
My feet were propelled by the wind. I moved at great speed and jumped.
Three seconds.
My sword at shoulder height, charged with wind magic.
Two seconds.
"AAAAAAAAHHHH!"
I shouted.
I spun in the air. The world revolved around me.
[Spiral Cut]
One second.
It unleashed.
"GRRRRRR!"
I descended on it, spinning.
Slash. Slash.
From the way the pieces flew, it looked like the way I cut it was like when a snake wraps around its prey before eating it.
---
Ugh.
My breathing is unsteady. My heart is racing.
"I did it, master," I managed to say.
"You're incredible, brat," he said, smiling. "Well done, both of you."
And that's how we won our first battle.
But that doesn't mean the dangerous moments of our journey end here.
Lilia approached, staggering slightly from exhaustion. Her face was pale, but her eyes shone.
"Are you okay?" she asked, looking at the wound on my cheek.
"Yeah," I replied, touching my face. The blood was already starting to dry. "Just a scratch."
She nodded, and for a moment, our gazes met. There was something in her eyes that I couldn't interpret. Pride? Concern? Something else?
"Rest," Zekin said, approaching. "You've done more than I expected. Especially you, Aito."
"Thank you, master," I replied, still processing what had just happened.
(I killed,) I thought. (For the first time in my life, I killed.)
I didn't feel bad. I didn't feel good either. It was a strange sensation, neutral, as if my body and mind hadn't yet fully processed what had occurred.
"It's normal," Zekin said, as if he had read my thoughts. "The first time is always like that. You don't know what to feel. But what's important is that you survived. And you learned."
"Learned what?" I asked.
"That the real world isn't like your mother's books," he replied. "That here, if you don't kill, you get killed. And that you, Aito Greymont, have what it takes to survive."
His words resonated inside me.
I looked at Lilia, who was sitting on a rock, catching her breath. I looked at Zekin, imposing as always, with that mix of pride and alertness in his gaze.
I looked at the bodies of the wolves, scattered in the forest clearing.
And I knew, with absolute certainty, that this was only the beginning.
The world was enormous. And it was full of dangers.
But also opportunities.
And I, Aito Greymont, was ready to face them all.