His heart raced, its beat loud enough to distract him. He tightened his grasp on the grip of his sword. His gaze was locked with the wolf’s.

  The sound of something brushing against the grass rose behind him.

  He shot a quick glance over his shoulder. Victoria had collapsed. She was gasping, her fingers digging into the ground.

  As soon as his gaze left the wolf, it lunged forward. He raised his blade over his right shoulder, and started to swing, but the wolf’s teeth dug into his arm before he could. Two large paws hit his chest, with the full power and weight of the large wolf-like creature.

  He fell on his back, unable to hold his own against the weight and sheer strength of the wolf. Pain flashed across his arm as the wolf’s teeth dug deeper. It’s low, guttural growl was one of satisfaction. The blade slipped through his fingers as he grabbed the wolf’s snout with his other hand in a futile attempt to pry its jaw open.

  He simply didn’t have the strength to do it. He pushed its snout, tried to kick it off him, and eventually reached for its eyes. The wolf shook its head. A scream escaped his lips as he felt his arm being torn apart. His palm weakly slammed against its forehead as he tried to find its eyes.

  The back of his hand felt hot for a split second. The wolf froze, its crimson eyes locked with his. Then, it let go of his arm, turned around and leapt on the wolf Edward was trying to hold at bay. It grabbed its throat, shaking violently until the beast stopped moving. As soon as that one fell, it turned, leaping onto the next.

  He stared at the odd wolf for a few moments before he felt warm wetness on his chest. A part of him feared looking at his arm, and that same part regretted looking as soon as he lowered his gaze. His stomach churned. It looked almost as bad as it felt.

  He could see Clara with the corner of his eye. She was still standing there, her mouth covered by her hands, her eyes wide, her forehead scrunched. She was visibly shaking and was pale as a sheet of paper.

  With a pained grunt, he pushed himself up on his knees, then stood up. Almost as if it knew he couldn’t defend itself, the odd wolf jumped between him and the last three wolves remaining. It’s growl was loud, like a warning to them.

  He walked up to the still frozen Clara with unsteady steps. The adrenaline was wearing off, and the full force of the pain was returning. He grabbed her shoulder and shook her back and forth somewhat harshly. Her gaze snapped to him.

  “Heal me.” His voice cracked. “Don’t just stand there, wake up!” He shook her again. This time, she blinked once.

  “R-right.” She suddenly snapped out of her frozen terror. As soon as she lowered her gaze to his arm, she visibly reeled back. “Oh.” She looked sick for a moment as she hovered her palms above it.

  Warmth spread through his arm. The torn muscles reconnected, the flesh began to heal rapidly. Even the skin healed, though it remained somewhat discoloured – it was pale, unlike the rest of his somewhat sunburnt arms. Once it was completed, Clara took a few steps back and breathed a few sharp breaths.

  The odd wolf lunged at one of the three wolves it was facing off against. It’s teeth dug into its leg. The other two growled and attacked.

  Alaric snatched the sword he dropped off the ground, then dashed towards the four wolves. These were all the remaining ones – or at least he hoped so. With Victoria down, they needed to take advantage of the chaos the odd wolf caused and finish the rest of them off. He spotted Edward following him, clearly thinking the same thing.

  As the odd wolf leapt back, the two of them struck the wounded one with their blades. Alaric dug his blade into its neck, while Edward stabbed its other leg before it could get back up. As they pulled their blades out of the lifeless body of the wolf, The odd wolf leapt over it, clenching its jaws over the left ear of one of the others. It shook its head violently.

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  “Help it!” Alaric pointed at those two before turning around to face the last wolf. It was also wounded, the left side of its stomach was bloody, and it limped with each step it took. He clenched his jaw. What if… It was risky. Too risky. But if I can do it again…

  If he could, then he could protect everyone.

  I have to try.

  He dashed forward, switching his sword to his left hand, and swinging it sideways. It’s broad side slammed onto the wolf’s wound, and as it winced with pain, he slammed his palm on its forehead.

  Once again, the back of his hand felt hot. He felt dizzy for a moment.

  The wolf froze for a split second, its crimson eyes lost their glint. Then, they turned into a bright, light blue. It spun around, trying to make its way to the other two wolves.

  Finally catching an opportunity, Edward stabbed the final wolf’s back, knocking it off its feet. Another blow made sure it was dead.

  “Edward, are you wounded?” Alaric asked. He spun around, his gaze searching for Victoria. She was sitting on the ground, rubbing her forehead and dusting off her sleeves.

  The other man shook his head. “Just a small scratch,” he pointed at a barely visible scratch. It wasn’t even bleeding.

  FIRST AWAKENING OF THE SOUTHWESTERN NESTING SPIRE CLEARED

  REWARDS GRANTED

  PHYSICAL ABILITIES INCREASED MINISCULLY

  4 NESTING SPIRES REMAIN

  A wave of relief washed over them as the system window confirmed their success. We’re all fine. Somehow, they had survived the relentless assault of a dozen wolves. He could hardly believe it. But looking at the bold, white letters in front of him, he couldn’t help but feel a rising dread. There were more battles to come.

  “Clara?” Alaric called out a moment later. “Can you heal this one?” He pointed at the wounded wolf standing in front of him.

  His sister hesitated. “I don’t know.” She shook her head. “Why aren’t they attacking? What did you do?” Her gaze darted between Alaric and the two wolves.

  “It’s the Mark of Command, isn’t it?” Victoria voice startled them. The young woman had sat upright, though she didn’t seem particularly well. She was pale, and her hands still visibly trembled. “You made them yours, didn’t you?”

  Alaric nodded. “I think so.” He glanced at the mark at the back of his hand. How does it work though? He hadn’t intentionally done it. Was just touching something’s forehead enough? A sudden fear twisted his heart. His chest tightened as he glanced at the two young women and Edward.

  Does it work on humans?

  The thought alone was terrifying enough to send a shiver down his spine.

  I can’t risk that. He needed to learn how he was doing this. And until then… It’s best I stay away from them. Just in case.

  “I don’t know how I did it though.” He took a few steps away from them. “Clara, check if you can heal it, please,” he said before turning around to look at the obsidian rock formation. The nest. There was a mana core in there – something they were supposed to destroy or cleanse.

  He motioned to take a step closer. As he lifted his foot, the earth rumbled, and the ground shook violently. The crimson veins on the obsidian rock started to glow brighter. Alarm bells rang in his mind. He stepped back, his gaze still on the cracked entrance.

  Something moved in the darkness. He caught glimpses of crimson glowing things inside. There were more creatures in there. He shot a glance over his shoulder at his three companions. Clara had just finished healing the wolf, and Victoria was barely standing with Edward’s help.

  We can’t fight any more.

  “Can you walk?”

  “I think so.” Victoria nodded. Despite her exhaustion, she seemed aware of the problem – her gaze lingered on the crack on the obsidian rock’s surface.

  “Good.” She was going to have to walk. “We’re going back to camp, now.”

  “If there are four spires…” Edward’s sheepish voice faded. He didn’t need to finish that thought out loud. Ava and the others could still be out there collecting wood to make those cavalry spikes.

  “Yeah. You take them back to camp.” He raised his hand to stop Clara before she could start to protest. “One of the wolves will come with you. I’ll hurry over to where Ava and the others are, let them know what’s going on.”

  “But-“

  “No buts.” He cut Clara off. “I’ll run there and back, and I know I’m fast. I got enough physical boosts from the system. And you three will hurry back to camp and let Charles know what’s going on. We don’t have time to lose.” A quick glance at the obsidian rock showed the number of red glimmers had increased. “Go, now.” He looked at one of the two wolves. “Protect them.”

  The wolf let out a low, almost cute howl, and wagged its overly long tail. It’s long, flowy fur brushed the ground behind it.

  “You heard your brother. Help us out and let’s hurry.”

  Hearing Edward back him up, Alaric felt a little better. The three of them turned and hurried towards the camp while Alaric dashed northward, where Ava, Jason and the others were supposed to go.

  Please be alive! He had begged for that too many times in the last couple of days.