Felix made his way deeper into the verdant forest after his vicious battle with the giant wolf he named Fido. The phantom pains of his previous injuries making him alert and ready if the wolf decided to attack him again.
"I got lucky with the last encounter because it probably thought I was an easy meal. But I'll turn that mutt into a fur coat in our next and last fight!
As Felix began brainstorming of ideas for the rematch against Fido, he started to take notice of the peculiar nature of the forest and mountains that surround it. The montane area caught his attention because of his musings of the wolf and the irregular placement of the mountains themselves. Rather than creating a natural pathway towards other areas of forests the mountains themselves looked as if they sprung up around the forest itself, creating a big spot of trees and the surrounding grassland.
Several ideas started to pop out regarding the strange phenomenon. Could there really be an exit from this forest and the mountains? Or more concerning is the wolf monster that nearly killed him belonged to someone? Someone powerful enough to tame such a beast as a pet that nearly killed him would probably be an even bigger monster! And perhaps the owner might be a sorcerer to boot, using this forest as some sort of garden to host his pets and plants.
Felix's thoughts then latched onto the idea of magic with the mention of sorcerer. A giant wolf monster must have spawned for unnatural events that could only be attributed to magic. Could he use magic as well? YGGDRASIL obviously had the mystic art included in the gameplay since it is a fantasy RPG, however Felix is in a quandary as he was teleported directly into this strange place without even playing the game.
"Figures I end up in a fantasy world without even having the slightest idea on what to do! I really am cursed… Thought Felix as he became frustrated at how unprepared and vulnerable he is.
"Whatever. What comes next can be handled after I deal with Fido and get out of here, in that order.
With that in mind, Felix made a quick stop near a lake that he eventually stumbled upon in his walk deeper into the forest to come up with a plan in fighting Fido and taking stock of his meagre equipment. His sword suffered no damage from striking the wolf monster, however his potions are now down to 2 with the only remaining medical supplies being the herbs that was included in the starter pack. The daggers that also came with the kit now numbered 2, as he used one of them to blind the wolf before it chomped off his head.
"I'm not a bad shot when it comes to throwing but the throw I did that saved my life was strange. The fact that I could throw it with such accuracy to blind Fido and that it was thrown hard enough to injure the bastard.
Felix further ruminated on his capabilities as he felt much better after the fight. He feels a tad stronger than when he originally awaken with a spring to his step and a little more force in his practiced blows. Are the games functions still working even in this new reality? Did he just level up or gained new skills when he survived against his first fight?
He decided to shelve this thoughts and continue in his journey to find an exit after finishing the quick check up on his equipment. Walking into another section of the forest away from the lake that he used to quench his thirst before departing, Felix's senses yelled at him to roll as Fido jumped from a nearby bush in an attempt to chomp his head off like before.
"Give me a break man! It hasn't even been a few hours and you came back?! yelled Felix as he quickly took a fighting stance and faced the wolf.
Fido hasn't changed much since the battle that happened a few hours ago, but Felix noticed something startling about the wolf. While the monster was as big and imposing as before, it's wounds were no longer there and he got his eye back. In place of the nasty slash on its face, there was a long scar instead.
It seems that Felix wasn't the only one that grew stronger from the fight and healed as Fido developed regeneration abilities to recover, and is now back for revenge against the defiant human it planned to have as a meal.
"Might as well get this over with. I don't like leaving things unfinished and the previous engagements we had is making me sick of wolves. Let's dance Fido!
The novice human adventurer and wolf monster stared at each other, analysing the movements of the other and waiting for the first move. Felix had enough waiting and struck first with a quick stab of his sword. Fido easily sidestepped from the obvious attack and followed up with a quick swipe of his claws. Felix made a move to dodge the attack instead of blocking it head on like last time. He proceeded to follow up the dodge with a quick attack of his own, swinging his sword towards the beast.
The counterattack struck true but instead of receiving a wound like last time, the sword bounced off against its fur like hitting a wall. Felix was thrown off balance and quickly rolled to a better position before being hit with a giant clawed paw.
Felix was once again sent flying and landed on the ground farther away. He jumped right back to his feet and was surprised that he was also strengthened from the previous battle, feeling a painful ache to his chest that was bruised but no broken bones.
"At least our dance isn't going to end quickly like last time. But I am curious how my sword just bounced back from hitting Fido's side as if it were a wall…
Felix's thoughts were interrupted as Fido quickly took advantage of its previous attack to close the distance between it and Felix. The wolf monster used its powerful jaws to clamp down on Felix, finally sinking its fangs into his left arm.
Screams of agony echoed throughout the forest once again as the wolf began biting harder into its prey. Felix once again found himself severely injured with no way to escape the literal maw of death. A mysterious glow began emanating from Felix as he reached for another spare dagger on his person to randomly stab the wolf.
Unlike before the dagger did not bounce back from attacking the wolf and could harm it. Fido quickly released its hold on the human's leg to recover from the stabbing to it's face. Both human and wolf were covered in blood, with Felix having the worst of it since the wolf's bite made a large chunk of his thigh ripped off as the wolf jumped back. The dagger itself unfortunately broke and rendered useless once it finally bypassed the wolf's defences.
Acting quickly to not give the monster momentum, Felix reached for his second potion and quickly downed the contents. His injuries quickly healed like before, as his body glowed to signify the healing commencing as he ingested the healing potion.
" Well now I'm down to my last potion and dagger. And I don't know how well the herbs could heal me if I took them, but I don't want to test it when I really lose a limb" thought Felix as he prepared once again to face off against his first enemy.
Felix began thinking back about the glow that engulfed him when he stabbed Fido with his spare dagger. "Was that magic? Did I randomly develop magic in the heat of a battle? Well, whatever it is I hope I figure out how to do it again or use other magic without having to almost die! Felix began pondering the skill he used to bypass the wolf monster's enhanced durability and thought of other skills he can bring to bear. Looking back at how he survived the previous engagement against Fido, that lucky throw he did to take out one of the wolf's eyes was perhaps not luck but instead a skill he developed that enhanced both the dagger's damage and accuracy.
Once again Felix's musings were dashed away as the wolf monster recovered again to do battle with its human adversary. Quickly reaching for his sword, Felix focused to channel the power that he used to harm the beast. It worked as the glow from before returned with a fierce intensity, Felix's movements became a blur as he closed the distance between him and Fido to stab it directly in the chest.
Fido could do nothing but freeze up and feel the embrace of death as cold steel glowing bright in the hands of its intended prey and now murderer pierced its heart. The monster dropped like a hairy sack of potatoes, twitching and making some movement before stilling itself permanently.
Panting from the exertion both mentally and physically Felix collapsed to the ground near his defeated enemy. Collecting his wits, a slow chuckle came from Felix before it became loud laughter.
Felix sprang to his feet and danced around Fido's cooling corpse, celebrating his first victory in the world he finds himself in. "Fuck yeah!! Take that you overgrown puppy! No one mauls Felix and gets away with it!", Felix yelled at the corpse before doing a little dance to further relish in his win.
As Felix continued to celebrate, shadowy figures emerged from the surrounding foliage. Felix was too engrossed in his victory to notice them slowly making their way to the oblivious human.
The shadowy figures are revealed to be wolves just like the deceased Fido, however these wolves were twice as large as the defeated beast. One wolf dwarfed the others in size. While the rest of the wolf pack were the size of cars, this wolf was as big as a bus. Its body and snarling face littered with many scars.
The giant wolf reached Felix first, casting a shadow over him and the body of it's deceased kin. Felix noticed the shadow that engulfed him and slowly turned to face it. His laughter dying down as it was drowned out by the growls and breathing of the truly monstrous beast before him.
"HA…HA….ha….ha….oh… hi".
That was all Felix could say as the angry beast released an earth-shaking roar that almost blew Felix back. The force of the roar reverberated throughout the entire forest, making the trees shake and any animals close to the vicinity run away to avoid the wrath of the undisputed ruler of the forest.
As the beast's roar stopped, Felix was still reeling from it and covered in the saliva of the beast from head to toe. A trembling hand reached up to wipe his face as he faced certain death in front of him.
"Well….. I hope the leftover herbs I have can regenerate a whole new body".