A group of four young men were running through the canyon stealthily.

  The blond man leading the group suddenly spoke in a low, worried voice.

  "Ivan, there are no traces of the passage of an ancient centipede here. Should we go back? Delving any deeper would be too dangerous."

  The redhead at his side, Ivan, calmly responded. "I understand your concern Alexei, but we have yet to reach the core of the canyon. Furthermore, we haven't even encountered one shadow wolf. There is something wrong going on here."

  "Then the more reason to return and gather with the others!" Alexei exclaimed.

  Then he said in a softer voice that only Ivan could hear, "there are recruits accompanying us, going any further without ample preparation is just reckless!"

  He was met with silence, but as if acknowledging what was said, Ivan slowed down and soon came to a stop after muttering, "okay, I'll hear you on this one Alexei." Who simply nodded and spoke clearly to the two young men following closely behind.

  "We'll be going to the checkpoint to discuss about the abnormalities here with the lieutenant. Contrary to yesterday, we will directly contact the other teams using the comms and investigate this place further together, let's get go—...!"

  Interrupted by a sudden howling he lifted his head.

  There on top of a small cliff, a scarred wolf stared dangerously at them.

  A cold shiver ran through his spine. But he quickly recomposed himself and cried out his instructions.

  "An ambush ! Keep your mind straight and stay in formation, do not falter !"

  Ivan then added, "Focus on defense, I'll send the distress signal so we'll just have to wait for reinforcements to arrive ! And do not use your firearms, it will attract more beasts."

  Immediately the two recruits, as the two sergents, pulled out their blade and stood close to each other.

  A dozen huge black wolves rushed out from all sides, slashing with their claws and biting ferociously.

  Clank!

  The loud sound of blade against claw resounded through the canyon.

  Slash—

  Ivan pushed back the shadow wolf and managed to make a small cut on his front leg.

  However almost immediately, a second one pounced at him without a warning. Struggling against the unexpected attacker, he couldn't avoid being hurt as a deep claw mark emerged on his arm that he had used to defend himself.

  'Why are those wolves so strong..!?'

  Indeed, these wolves were unusually bigger and sturdier than the normal ones, rendering the fight a lot harder than it should have been.

  At this rate, it wouldn't take long for them to fall, if nothing happened, they were doomed.

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  Suddenly Alexei yelled in a desperate voice while clashing with two black wolves, "Let's break through their encirclement and try to escape—Ugh..—! it's the only way!"

  Ivan screamed inwardly, 'Is he crazy? Turning your back to the enemy?'

  Noticing his friend’s distress, Alexei added. "We are out of options here, only waiting to be killed by staying like that!"

  Ivan clicked his tongue, he knew that. Yet he still thought it was too reckless.

  But then clenching his jaw, he yelled "Okay let's try it ou—" only to be interrupted by a strong whistling wind, followed by a dreadful cracking sound, and a low thud.

  Turning in the direction of the sound, Ivan was met with a stunning woman with long, flowing silver hairs that cascaded down to her waist. Her shining golden eyes and her soft lips attracted his gaze like a magnet. A slender yet gorgeous body reminiscing of an angel coupled with the aura of brightness she exuded gave her an air of divinity. And added to her crisp and soothing voice that softly echoed in his ears, lighthearted words, yet pulled him towards her in a gentle embrace...

  "Hello! I'm here to help kick some dog's butt, hehe!"

  ...he had fallen in love.

  _ _ _

  Alexei however, was filled with doubts as soon as that unknown woman killed the first shadow wolf.

  Furthermore, even when the other monsters charged at her, she could hold her own really well.

  Who was she and why is she here? Were the two main questions Alexei was asking himself.

  But now was not the time to ponder.

  "We have to support her in killing the wolves!" He shouted before charging in.

  Followed by the two young recruits and then Ivan who took longer to recover from his daze.

  *

  The fight was fierce, but this time with the help of the strange woman, they had the upper hand against the wolves.

  Strangely, she could sense any attack coming from behind her, as if she had eyes on the back of her head, and even counter it in the best way possible while still taking care of the foe in front of her.

  'Truly frightening.' Was the only thought on Alexei’s mind.

  Before not too long, the ground was filled with bloodied corpses of the Shadow Wolves. It was an utter victory except for a few sustained injuries on their end.

  Thereupon, Alexei made his decision and walked towards her.

  Popping his hand forward, he introduced himself with a serious face.

  "I'm Sergent Alexei, soldier of Colonel Verdra's Federation army, same for those behind me. It's nice to meet you."

  For a moment nothing was said, then...

  "Yes yes, I'm Rebecca. Just a wanderer. Nice to meet you!"

  The woman, Rebecca, grabbed his hand cheerfully, shaking it with a smile, joy spilling from her.

  'What a peculiar woman...' he thought, squinting.

  "Then what do you think about meeting our other teammates? Since you're a wanderer you probably have time to waste right?"

  "Hmm.." Caressing her chin she closed her eyes and thought for a moment, then finally—

  "Yeah sure, why not !" Again with a wide smile, she spoke. Her cheerfulness radiating the surroundings.

  Then slowly arriving before them, the brown-haired recruit stood with an awkward face.

  "Uh sir..."

  Alexei answered with a calm voice, "Yes, what is it? Speak up."

  "While searching the wolves for condensed energy, we found that seven of the bodies were empty..."

  Alexei's brows jumped, he looked at the wolf bodies that the recruit had pointed out, it was obvious to the eyes that those weren’t killed by a blade. Then, he recalled the previous fight: The woman in front of him had killed those exact 7 wolves and coupled with the inhuman strength she had displayed, there were only few answers to what happened. It only took him a moment to put the pieces together, and it lead to a single conclusion…

  "Are you an awakened..?" Alexei inquired, with a hint of certainty but still unsure of himself.

  For a heartbeat, silence. Then the woman's golden eyes narrowed, and her tone shifted, calm and sharp, like a different person entirely.

  _ _ _

  "How did you know..?"

  I spoke in a serious tone, which kinda ruined the cheerful image I was trying to build for myself but whatever.

  Nonetheless, the fact that I were an awakened wasn't exactly true, since I was actually a chimera. But still, it's quite similar.

  Alexei here, had quite a strange look on his face. I wonder why?

  Then finally, before I had the chance to ponder for longer, came the answer to my previous question.

  "The monsters you killed are exempt of condensed energy, which leads to only one possibility: you absorbed all the magic fibers through the power that awakening gives to people."

  Hearing this, my brows furrowed.. so it was that easy to detect an awakened person.. then let's just say it was almost impossible to conceal that fact. I sighed heavily before relenting.

  "Well I guess it's no use to hide it then. But will that be a problem?"

  His serious face immediately disappeared. Alexei smiled, warm and easy.

  "Not at all. On the contrary—I hope our cooperation will last."

  My face hardened for a split second, but rapidly regaining my composure, I simply nodded back and returned his smile, "Of course!"

  ___ ___ ___