The forest floor was soft beneath her boots—layers of dead leaves and moss that muffled her footsteps to near-silence. The Shadow-Weave set's passive was already proving its worth.
Riri moved between the trees, staying low, eyes tracking the red HP bars scattered throughout the dungeon. Hunter's Eyes let her see them through the underbrush—most were clustered in groups of three to five, pack formations.
Wolves, probably. Coordinating like System #2 had warned.
Closer HP bars appeared to her left. She crouched behind a fallen log, peering through the gap beneath its trunk.
Three creatures prowled through the clearing twenty feet away.
[Dire Wolf - Level 4]
[HP: 180/180]
[Dire Wolf - Level 5]
[HP: 220/220]
[Dire Wolf - Level 5]
[HP: 220/220]
They were massive—easily four feet at the shoulder, fur matted and dark, eyes glowing faint amber in the dim light. Muscle rippled beneath their pelts as they moved, noses to the ground, tracking something.
One of them stopped. Its head lifted, nostrils flaring.
Riri froze.
The wolf's gaze swept the tree line. Passed over her hiding spot.
Kept moving.
It hadn't seen her. The Shadow-Weave gear and her positioning behind the log had been enough.
The three wolves continued their patrol, disappearing into the underbrush to the north. Their HP bars faded from view as distance increased beyond Hunter's Eyes' range.
Riri waited, counting her breaths. One. Two. Five. Ten.
No sounds of return. No breaking branches or warning growls.
She rose from her crouch and moved deeper into the forest, angling away from the patrol route. Her objective wasn't the standard wolves—it was the Alpha. Everything else was just obstacles between her and the primary target.
The canopy overhead rustled. She looked up.
A flash of movement—too fast, too fluid to be wind.
[Shadow Fox - Level 6]
[HP: 150/150]
The creature perched on a branch fifteen feet above, watching her with eyes like polished obsidian. Its fur was smoke-gray, shifting and rippling like it couldn't decide on a solid form.
It cocked its head. Vanished.
Not ran. Not jumped.
Just gone.
Riri spun, blade raised, scanning the surrounding trees.
Nothing. No HP bar. No movement.
Then the bark beside her face exploded in splinters.
The fox reappeared on a branch to her right, claws hooked into bark. Its mouth opened in what might have been a grin.
Then it lunged.
Riri dropped flat. The fox sailed over her, claws raking air where her head had been. It landed behind her, already spinning for another pass.
She rolled left, came up with the dagger ready. The fox darted in, faster than the wolves, and she slashed—blade passed through smoke.
Illusion.
The real fox hit her from the side.
Claws scraped across the Shadow-Weave jacket. The fabric held but the impact knocked her off balance. She stumbled, caught herself against a tree trunk.
[HP: 237/244]
Seven damage. The armor had absorbed most of it.
The fox circled, low to the ground, tail lashing. Its HP bar hovered steady at 150/150.
Riri's mind worked through the problem. Illusions meant she couldn't trust visual cues. But the real fox had mass—it had weight when it struck her.
She shifted her stance, blade held loose, and waited.
The fox created three copies of itself. All four versions charged from different angles.
Riri watched their feet.
Three left no tracks in the moss.
She lunged at the fourth.
The blade caught it across the shoulder. Fur parted. Blood welled black against gray.
[Shadow Fox HP: 121/150]
[Critical Hit! Bleed effect applied!]
The fox yowled and twisted mid-air, landing in a crouch ten feet away. The illusions dissolved like mist.
It hissed at her, ears flat against its skull. Blood dripped from the wound, pattering onto dead leaves.
[Shadow Fox HP: 118/150]
[Shadow Fox HP: 115/150]
The bleed ticked down steadily. Not fast, but consistent.
The fox's muscles bunched. It leaped for the trees.
Riri threw the dagger.
A hundred and fifteen Agility made the throw clean and fast. The blade tumbled end over end and punched into the fox's hindquarters just as it reached the branch.
[Shadow Fox HP: 87/150]
The creature lost its grip. Fell. Hit the ground hard and scrambled upright, limping now, the dagger still embedded in its leg.
Riri was already moving. She closed the distance in three strides, grabbed the dagger's handle, and twisted.
The fox shrieked.
[Shadow Fox HP: 58/150]
She yanked the blade free and slashed across its throat.
[Shadow Fox HP: 12/150]
Ten percent threshold.
Time to test the class.
Riri activated the skill with a thought.
[Tame Beast]
Golden light bloomed from her chest. Not harsh or blinding—soft, like honey dissolving in warm water. It spread outward in gentle waves, reaching for the fox with threads that looked fragile but felt unbreakable.
The creature went still. The light wrapped around it carefully, sinking into fur, into flesh, into something deeper that had no name.
Riri felt the connection form.
It was warm. A presence settling beside her heart, tentative at first, testing the bond. The fox's fear touched her awareness—not overwhelming, just there, acknowledged. She could feel its rapid pulse, the pain from its wounds, the exhaustion in its muscles.
And beneath all that... curiosity.
The golden threads tightened gently. The fox's breathing slowed to match hers. Its obsidian eyes locked onto her face, and something fundamental shifted in its gaze.
Understanding.
The light faded. The threads dissolved. The connection remained—a warm weight behind her ribs, pulsing softly in rhythm with her heartbeat.
[Tame Beast: SUCCESS]
[Shadow Fox - Level 6 has been bonded]
[Active Companions: 1/3]
[Companion designated as: Unnamed]
The fox sat up slowly, wounds still bleeding but movements careful, controlled. It watched her with new awareness.
Riri crouched, keeping her movements slow. Extended her hand.
The fox sniffed her fingers. Pressed its nose against her palm.
The warmth behind her ribs pulsed stronger.
She could feel it now—the bond wasn't just metaphorical. She sensed the fox's location relative to her own, its general state of health, the fading adrenaline in its system. Not thoughts, exactly. More like impressions. Emotions without words.
[Please designate companion name]
"Vesper," Riri said quietly.
The fox's ears perked up. Its tail gave a single tentative wag.
[Shadow Fox has been named: Vesper]
[Bond strengthened through naming]
[Vesper - Level 6]
[HP: 12/150 - Critically Wounded]
[Skills: Shadow Step, Illusion Clone, Stealth (Passive)]
Twelve HP out of one-fifty. The bleed effect was still ticking.
Riri pulled a Greater Health Potion from her belt, uncorked it, and held it out.
Vesper sniffed the vial, then lapped at the contents carefully. The red liquid disappeared in seconds.
The wounds across the fox's shoulder and leg began to close.
[Vesper HP: 150/150]
The fox stood, testing its weight on the previously injured leg. No limp. The bleed effect had vanished entirely.
Vesper shook, fur rippling like smoke, then padded closer and sat at Riri's feet. The top of its head barely reached her knee.
The bond pulsed warm and steady. Contentment radiated from the fox—safe, fed, whole.
Riri ran her fingers through Vesper's fur. It felt like touching mist, insubstantial but real. The fox leaned into the touch, eyes half-closing.
[New Passive Bonus Applied: +8 Agility while Vesper is active]
[Current Agility: 123]
[Beast Tamer Tip: Companions gain experience from kills made while summoned. They also benefit from shared combat encounters.]
A hundred and twenty-three Agility. Fast enough to outrun nearly anything in this dungeon.
Riri stood. Vesper rose with her, positioning itself slightly ahead and to her left. Protective instinct, maybe. Or just pack behavior asserting itself.
She glanced at the dungeon objective.
[Current Objective: Defeat the Alpha Direwolf OR Clear all hostile creatures (1/94)]
Ninety-three enemies remaining. One companion acquired.
Two slots left.
She needed that Alpha.
"Come on," Riri said, starting deeper into the forest.
Vesper followed without hesitation, silent as a shadow.
The forest grew denser as they moved north. Trees pressed closer together, their trunks thick with moss that glowed faint green in the perpetual twilight. The underbrush tangled in thorny masses that forced Riri to weave and duck.
Vesper moved through it all like smoke, phasing between branches that should have blocked its path. Shadow Step, probably—the skill let it teleport short distances.
Useful for scouting.
Riri tested the bond, focusing on the warm presence behind her ribs. She pushed a simple concept toward it: scout ahead.
Vesper's ears swiveled. The fox glanced back at her, then darted forward and vanished into the shadows.
The bond stretched but didn't break. She could still feel Vesper's location, maybe forty feet ahead now, moving fast through the trees.
Then the sensation shifted. Alarm.
Riri dropped into a crouch behind a massive root system. Her hand found the dagger's grip.
Vesper reappeared beside her, silent, eyes fixed on something beyond the trees ahead.
Riri crept forward until she could see what had spooked the fox.
A clearing. Maybe fifty feet across. And in the center, a pack of dire wolves surrounded a kill—something large and already half-eaten, ribs exposed, blood staining the moss.
She counted quickly. Eight wolves. Levels ranging from four to seven based on their size and the density of their HP bars.
[Dire Wolf - Level 7] [HP: 280/280]
[Dire Wolf - Level 6] [HP: 240/240]
[Dire Wolf - Level 5] [HP: 220/220]
Five more below that, all Level 4 or 5.
And at the back of the pack, larger than the rest, a wolf that made the others look like puppies.
[Alpha Direwolf - Level 10 - ELITE]
[HP: 800/800]
It lay on its haunches, watching the others feed. Scars crisscrossed its muzzle and shoulders—old wounds, healed but visible. Its eyes were red, bright and aware.
When it shifted position, the entire pack adjusted with it. Subtle movements, unconscious deference.
Pack leader.
Riri's pulse kicked up. That was her target. Eight hundred HP. Abilities she hadn't seen yet. And eight other wolves that would defend it.
The smart play was to wait. Let the pack disperse after feeding. Isolate the Alpha and engage it alone.
Riri studied their formation. The Level 7 and Level 6 wolves stayed closest to the Alpha. The younger ones patrolled the edges, noses to the ground, alert for threats.
Smart positioning. The Alpha kept its strongest defenders close while the expendable scouts filtered out dangers before they could reach the pack's center.
She'd need to separate them somehow. Draw off the outer wolves first, thin the pack's numbers, then engage the Alpha with fewer defenders in play.
Or...
Her gaze tracked to the densest part of the underbrush on the clearing's far side. Thick thorns, tangled roots, tight spaces.
Choke points.
If she could bait the pack into pursuing her through terrain that favored speed over numbers, she could pick them off one at a time. A hundred and twenty-three Agility meant she could navigate obstacles the wolves would have to crash through.
Vesper pressed against her leg, the bond pulsing with quiet tension. The fox was waiting for direction.
Riri stroked its head once, then stood slowly.
Time to thin the herd.
Riri circled the clearing, staying low, using the dense underbrush as cover. Vesper moved beside her like a ghost, paws silent on moss.
She needed to isolate one of the outer wolves. Pull it away from the pack without alerting the others.
The bond with Vesper gave her an idea.
She focused on the warm presence behind her ribs, pushing a concept through the connection: distract one, lead it to me.
Vesper's ears swiveled. The fox understood—or at least sensed her intent clearly enough to act.
It vanished in a flicker of shadow.
Riri positioned herself behind a thick oak, dagger ready, and waited.
Thirty seconds passed. Forty.
Then movement at the clearing's edge. One of the Level 4 wolves broke from the pack, head low, sniffing at something. It took three steps into the underbrush.
Vesper appeared for half a second twenty feet deeper into the forest, just long enough for the wolf to spot it, then disappeared again.
The dire wolf's ears perked. It growled softly and padded forward, following the scent trail Vesper was laying.
Away from the pack. Away from backup.
Toward Riri.
The wolf pushed through the undergrowth, massive shoulders forcing aside branches that snapped back into place behind it. Its nose stayed low, tracking.
It passed within ten feet of Riri's hiding spot.
She let it go another five steps, putting more distance between it and the clearing.
Then she moved.
A hundred and twenty-three Agility turned her first step into a blur. She closed the gap before the wolf could react, blade already moving.
The dagger punched into the wolf's hindquarters, just above the hip joint.
[Dire Wolf HP: 152/180]
The wolf spun with a snarl, jaws snapping. Riri was already gone, darting left, using a tree trunk as cover.
The wolf lunged after her. She dropped into a slide beneath a low-hanging branch, came up on the other side, and slashed across its exposed flank as it tried to follow.
[Dire Wolf HP: 121/180]
[Critical Hit! Bleed applied!]
The wolf yelped and stumbled. Blood dripped onto moss.
Vesper reappeared behind it, silent, and raked claws across its hind legs.
[Dire Wolf HP: 97/180]
The wolf tried to turn, to defend both flanks at once, but Riri and Vesper moved too fast. They circled it, striking from opposite angles, never staying still long enough for it to commit to an attack.
Kiting. Classic MMO tactics applied to a forest deathmatch.
[Dire Wolf HP: 63/180]
[Dire Wolf HP: 41/180]
[Dire Wolf HP: 18/180]
Ten percent threshold.
Riri darted in one last time, feinted high, then swept the dagger across the wolf's front leg when it tried to block.
[Dire Wolf HP: 9/180]
The wolf collapsed, panting, blood pooling beneath it.
Riri stepped back, letting the wolf bleed out. It stopped moving after a few breaths.
[Enemy Defeated: Dire Wolf - Level 4]
[+20 EXP]
[Vesper gained +20 EXP]
One down. Seven standard wolves remaining, plus the Alpha.
She didn't need this one. Her third companion slot was reserved for something better.
Riri moved back toward the clearing's edge, Vesper padding silently beside her. The bond pulsed steady—the fox wasn't tired yet, barely winded from the brief fight.
Good. They had six more to go.
She found her next target on the opposite side of the clearing. Another Level 4, this one separated from the pack by maybe twenty feet, investigating something in the underbrush.
The same tactic worked. Vesper flickered into view, drew the wolf away, vanished. The dire wolf followed, growling low.
Riri ambushed it from above this time, dropping from a low branch. The dagger sank into its spine.
[Dire Wolf HP: 141/180]
The fight lasted three minutes. Kiting, slashing, Vesper harrying from the flanks. The wolf went down hard.
[Enemy Defeated: Dire Wolf - Level 4]
Two down.
The third wolf was smarter. It didn't chase Vesper as far before stopping, hackles raised, suspicious.
Riri adapted. She threw a rock into the bushes to its left. When it turned to investigate, she struck from the right.
[Dire Wolf HP: 8/180]
[Enemy Defeated: Dire Wolf - Level 5]
Three down.
The fourth wolf heard her coming. It spun and lunged before she could close the distance.
Jaws clamped onto her forearm. The Shadow-Weave fabric held but the pressure was immense.
[HP: 221/244]
Riri drove the dagger into its eye socket. The wolf released her, stumbling back.
Vesper finished it with a Shadow Step directly onto its spine, claws raking deep.
[Enemy Defeated: Dire Wolf - Level 5]
Four down.
Riri checked her HP. Still above ninety percent. No need for a potion yet.
The fifth and sixth wolves came together. One must have heard the other's death throes and come to investigate.
Two on two.
Riri took the Level 6. Vesper handled the Level 4.
The fight was faster, more brutal. Riri's dagger found the Level 6's throat after a feint that left it overextended. Vesper used Illusion Clone to confuse the Level 4, then struck from behind while it bit at empty air.
[Enemy Defeated: Dire Wolf - Level 6]
[Enemy Defeated: Dire Wolf - Level 4]
Six down.
The seventh wolf was the Level 7—the largest of the standard pack members. It didn't fall for Vesper's bait. It didn't chase rocks or investigate sounds.
It just stood at the clearing's edge and howled.
The Alpha's head lifted in the distance.
Riri swore under her breath and charged.
No more stealth. No more kiting. She had maybe thirty seconds before the Alpha came to investigate.
She closed the gap in a sprint, blade leading. The Level 7 met her head-on, jaws wide.
She slid beneath its lunge, dagger raking across its belly.
[Dire Wolf HP: 201/280]
It twisted impossibly fast for something its size. Claws caught her shoulder.
[HP: 198/244]
Riri rolled with the impact, came up slashing. Vesper hit it from the side, claws finding an eye.
The wolf roared. Thrashed. Blood sprayed.
[Dire Wolf HP: 143/280]
[Dire Wolf HP: 97/280]
[Dire Wolf HP: 54/280]
Riri drove the dagger through its throat and twisted.
[Dire Wolf HP: 11/280]
The wolf collapsed.
[Enemy Defeated: Dire Wolf - Level 7]
Silence.
Riri stood in the underbrush, chest heaving, blood dripping from her shoulder where claws had torn through fabric and skin.
Seven standard wolves dead.
Only the Alpha remained.
And it was walking toward her.
The Alpha emerged from the clearing slowly, each step deliberate. It didn't rush. Didn't charge.
Just walked, amber eyes locked on Riri's position.
[Alpha Direwolf - Level 10 - ELITE]
[HP: 800/800]
It was massive up close. Shoulder height easily reached Riri's chest. Scars crisscrossed its body—old battles, old victories. Its fur was darker than the others, almost black in the dim light.
When it stopped fifteen feet away, the forest felt smaller.
Riri's grip tightened on the dagger. Blood dripped from the blade onto moss. Her shoulder throbbed where the Level 7 had caught her.
[HP: 198/244]
Vesper pressed against her leg, tense. The bond pulsed with alarm—not fear, but recognition of danger.
The Alpha's gaze flicked to the fox, then back to Riri. It tilted its head fractionally, studying her.
Then it lunged.
Riri dove right. Jaws snapped shut where she'd been standing, teeth clicking together with bone-crushing force. She rolled, came up running.
The Alpha pivoted and charged. Faster than the Level 7. Faster than anything that size should move.
[Alpha Direwolf used Pack Leader's Charge! +50% movement speed for 5 seconds]
Riri sprinted for the densest part of the underbrush, the thorny maze she'd scouted earlier. Vesper vanished in a flicker of shadow, reappearing ahead to lead the way through gaps only something fox-sized could navigate easily.
The Alpha crashed through behind her. Thorns tore at its fur but didn't slow it down. Trees splintered when its shoulder hit them.
Riri's breath came fast. Her boots found purchase on a fallen log, launched her over a ravine barely three feet across.
The Alpha jumped it without breaking stride.
She needed distance. Needed time to set up an opening.
A root system jutted from the ground ahead—thick, gnarled, creating a natural barrier with gaps too small for the Alpha to fit through.
Riri dove through the largest gap, twisted mid-slide, came up on the other side with the dagger ready.
The Alpha slammed into the roots. Wood cracked but held.
It snarled and tried to circle. Riri moved with it, keeping the barrier between them.
Vesper appeared on a branch above the Alpha and dropped, claws raking across its shoulders.
[Alpha Direwolf HP: 776/800]
The Alpha snapped at the fox. Vesper was already gone, teleporting to another branch.
Riri used the distraction. She darted around the root barrier's edge, blade leading, and slashed across the Alpha's exposed flank.
[Alpha Direwolf HP: 751/800]
The wolf spun faster than she expected. Its paw caught her in the ribs.
The impact lifted her off her feet. She hit a tree trunk hard, vision whiting out for half a second.
[HP: 156/244]
Pain exploded through her chest. Probably cracked a rib.
The Alpha advanced, slow again, confident.
Riri pushed to her feet, gasping. Her hand found a Greater Health Potion at her belt. She uncorked it with her teeth and downed half, saving the rest.
[HP: 206/244]
Better. The rib still ached but the sharp pain dulled to manageable.
The Alpha was ten feet away now. Eight. Six.
Vesper hit it from behind again, claws finding the same wounds.
[Alpha Direwolf HP: 729/800]
The Alpha ignored the fox this time. It lunged for Riri.
She sidestepped, blade flashing out to catch its neck—
The Alpha twisted mid-lunge, jaws closing on her wrist.
Not hard enough to break bone. Just enough to pin.
[HP: 194/244]
Riri drove the dagger into its shoulder with her free hand. Yanked it free. Drove it in again.
[Alpha Direwolf HP: 681/800]
The Alpha released her wrist and backed off, bleeding from multiple wounds now.
They circled each other. Both breathing hard. Both bloodied.
Vesper darted in and out, adding cuts whenever the Alpha's attention shifted to Riri. The bond pulsed with coordinated intent—they were fighting as a unit now, each covering the other's openings.
[Alpha Direwolf HP: 623/800]
[Alpha Direwolf HP: 574/800]
[Alpha Direwolf HP: 521/800]
The Alpha's movements slowed. Blood matted its fur, dripped onto moss. Its HP bar ticked down steadily.
Then it howled.
[Alpha Direwolf used Pack Leader's Howl! All wolves within 200 feet gain +50% Attack and Defense for 30 seconds!]
But there were no other wolves. Just corpses dissolving into mist in the distance.
The buff applied only to the Alpha itself.
[Alpha Direwolf HP: 521/800 - Defense Increased!]
Riri's next slash barely scratched it.
[Alpha Direwolf HP: 518/800]
The defense buff made her attacks almost useless.
She needed a different approach.
Her gaze swept the terrain. The root system. The thorny underbrush. A fallen tree propped at an angle against a boulder.
And above it, a dead branch hanging by splinters, heavy with rot.
Riri ran for the fallen tree. The Alpha chased, slower now but still dangerous. She scrambled up the angled trunk, boots finding purchase on moss-slick bark.
The Alpha followed, claws digging into wood.
Riri reached the top where the branch hung overhead. She jumped, caught it with both hands, and used her full body weight to yank down.
The branch snapped.
Thirty pounds of rotted wood crashed onto the Alpha's skull.
[Alpha Direwolf HP: 479/800]
[Luck Proc: Environmental Hazard!]
The Alpha stumbled, dazed. The defense buff flickered and dropped.
Riri landed on its back, dagger already moving. She drove the blade into the base of its skull, angled down toward the spine.
[Critical Hit!]
[Alpha Direwolf HP: 331/800]
The Alpha bucked, trying to throw her off. She held on, yanked the dagger free, and struck again. And again.
[Alpha Direwolf HP: 241/800]
[Alpha Direwolf HP: 167/800]
Vesper appeared beside them and raked claws across the Alpha's throat.
[Alpha Direwolf HP: 98/800]
Riri drove the dagger in one more time, through the shoulder joint, twisting hard.
[Alpha Direwolf HP: 79/800]
Ten percent threshold.
The Alpha collapsed, legs giving out. It hit the ground hard, breath coming in ragged gasps.
Riri slid off its back, stood on shaking legs. Her HP bar blinked at 182/244. The rest of the health potion was still clipped to her belt.
She didn't need it yet.
The Alpha's amber eyes found hers. No fear in them. No submission.
Just acknowledgment.
Riri activated Tame Beast.
Golden light bloomed from her chest, softer this time but stronger. The threads reached for the Alpha, wrapped around it gently despite the violence that had come before.
The connection formed.
This one felt different than Vesper. Heavier. Ancient. The Alpha's presence settled beside her heart like a mountain—solid, immovable, patient.
She felt its pain. Its exhaustion. The old scars that had never fully healed.
And beneath it all... respect.
The golden threads tightened. The Alpha's breathing slowed to match hers.
Understanding passed between them. Not words. Not thoughts.
Recognition of strength.
[Tame Beast: SUCCESS]
[Alpha Direwolf - Level 10 - ELITE has been bonded]
[Active Companions: 2/3]
[Companion designated as: Unnamed]
The wounds across the Alpha's body began to close as the bond solidified, HP slowly regenerating now that it belonged to her.
[Please designate companion name]
Riri ran her hand along the Alpha's massive head, fingers sinking into blood-matted fur.
"Loki."
The wolf's ears perked. Its tail moved once—a single, deliberate wag.
[Alpha Direwolf has been named: Loki]
[Bond strengthened through naming]
[Loki - Level 10 - ELITE]
[HP: 127/800 - Critically Wounded]
[Skills: Pack Leader's Howl, Pack Leader's Charge, Rending Bite, Savage Leap]
[New Passive Bonus Applied: +15 Strength, +12 Constitution while Loki is active]
Riri pulled the rest of the Greater Health Potion from her belt and held it to Loki's muzzle. The wolf lapped at it carefully, draining the vial.
[Loki HP: 427/800]
Not full, but enough to move without collapsing.
The wolf stood slowly, testing its weight. It shook once, blood and dirt spraying from its fur.
Then it padded to Riri's side and sat, massive head level with her shoulder.
Vesper appeared on her other side, smaller but no less present.
Two companions. Two bonds pulsing warm behind her ribs.
[Current Objective: Defeat the Alpha Direwolf OR Clear all hostile creatures (8/94)]
[Objective Complete!]
[Dungeon Clear conditions met - Boss defeated]
[Exit portal available]
Golden light materialized at the clearing's center—the way out.