Chapter 9:A Play Between Hunter And Prey[2]

The Direwolf who seemed to have inherited the cunningness and sadistic nature of the human dark side seemed quite pleasant watching the prey screaming wildly after losing his reason.

Lucas, who lost his temper for a moment, attempted to calm himself.

He has never felt something like this before. The tension in the atmosphere was sickening and suffocating yet all of this seemed to be a joke in the beast's eyes.

This enraged him.

No matter how much he thought about it, he could not find a way to defeat the beast.

From the short exchange, he could infer that the Direwolf was stronger than him but it was not to the point that it could overwhelm him.

The proof was that he could perceive and react to his attack faintly however even this beast could tell with a glance that he was a noob with no prior fighting experience.

If he had not lost sight of the beast when his body rolled down, he could have at least avoided the attack.

At that time, Lucas remembered certain advice from the Wildlife expert who gives safety tips.

Never show your back to the animal you are confronting especially when it is watching you. Even a moment of carelessness is enough for them to tear you apart.

Lucas shook his hand to get rid of the tingling sensation and noticed that he had lost the dagger near the Direwolf.

Some things had fallen from his backpack through the front hole. His smartphone was one among them.

Once he saw that, he realized many things lay around the place which he could use to distract the Dire wolf.

As he scanned his surroundings, he could feel his senses becoming absurdly sharp.

Lucas felt as if he was seeing the world incomparable to before.

He could feel the blowing of soft winds, the sound of leaves, the swaying of branches, the sound of his heartbeat, and he could also notice the twitching muscles of the Direwolf calves.

His senses were sharp enough to notice even minute changes in the surroundings.

It did not take long enough for him to figure out the reason behind these changes. It was just that he was slowly getting used to his heightened perception and maybe the awakened ones normally see the world like this.

It may look like an hour but in reality, just a few seconds had passed.

Naturally, the wolf did not allow the man to catch his breath.

Taking advantage of Lucas's dazed state, the Direwolf rushed at him with high speed.

Lucas reacted immediately, even if his backpack had been torn, the steel bottle was still there in the water bottle pocket at the side which he pulled out quickly.

With its jaws wide open and its paws stretched, the Direwolf pounced on Lucas.

Lucas rotated the bottle and swung the bottom of the bottle at the incoming dire wolf. It was an instinctive reaction, almost like a spinal reflex that did not need to get a signal from the brain.

Lucas twisted and swayed away his left flank where the paw was aiming while trying to smash the bottle at the Direwolf's jaw.

CLANG!

A clanging sound was heard as the bottle went right into the depth of the wolf's jaws.

When the speed of the attacks countered the acceleration of the Direwolf, it amplified the normal reaction.

With a clatter, a small whitish grain flew due to the clash causing the Direwolf's jaw to tilt sideways while spraying saliva over Lucas's face.

The sharp claws of the paws struck the trunk of the tree, scattering a few chips of wood.

Lucas pulled the bottle back and hit the snout of the wolf which was right before him.

HOOOWL!

The Direwolf bellowed in agony as a few drops of blood dripped from its nose

Whether it's human or other mamalic animals, the nose is a soft spot for both.

It would have been nice if Lucas had the strength to knock it down with a few hits but the Direwolf whose strength was incomparable to Lucas just tilted his head sideways while writhing in excruciating pain and agony causing him to back away.

Lucas immediately took the opportunity and ran towards the place where his dagger had fallen while thanking his water bottle for holding on.

He did not know what material it was made of but it survived the brutal onslaught with a heavy dent.

The Direwolf was a formidable opponent and charged at Lucas.

Lucas could feel the Direwolf closing on him as if he had eyes on his back causing him to stride forward as fast as possible.

Reaching near, Lucas leapt forward and picked up the dagger with a roll and swung the dagger.

While picking up the dagger, he embedded his hand onto the soil and tossed away a layer of dirt towards his back.

The faint dust cloud with particles of soil blinded the dire wolf's vision, softening its attack power.

CLANG!

The dagger blade and the Dire Wolf claws crashed and the beast instinctively swung its other paw to attack Lucas which he blocked using his bottle as a shield.

STRUNG!

The bottle burst open splashing water everywhere.

Lucas felt his hands becoming numb and he was barely able to stop the dagger in his other hand from getting out of his grasp.

Even though Lucas was pushed back, he was not shot back like previously.

The Direwolf jumped up and slashed the claws again.

Lucas hopped aside to dodge the attack because accompanied by the whole weight of its body, this attack must have carried more force than before.

The Direwolf did not give Lucas a moment of rest and moved its neck to attack more vigilantly than before.

Lucas felt his throat becoming dry and his lungs squeezing tight to take in more air to supplement his body.

The pain from the Direwolf charge still had not gone away and in the end, he had to twist his body to divert the shock.

He felt strong pain in his arm as if his bone had been chipped away while his left shoulder hurt like hell making him think if his left arm had dislocated.

As such Lucas's body trembles however the light in his eyes instead of going dim shone brightly as the will to survive burns fiercely.

Faint expectations of getting out of the crisis started to swell up in his heart.

Lucas retreated and dodged as much as possible while trying to strike when a situation arose.

While his body was battered and his clothes had become tattered, the Direwolf had small scratches all over his body, however, the wounds were quite superficial.

Lucas, who was breathing heavily, could feel a cool sensation washing over his body.

He inferred that it was the mana that was supporting his body and replenishing his strength.

The Direwolf eyes which were burning with hostility now had a sense of anxiousness and fear that couldn't be hidden.

This made Lucas wonder if this was the first time it was fighting an awakened one.

It also made him remember certain news of humans being attacked by wild beasts have come out alive from such a dangerous encounter and some even managed to kill them.

It proves that even wild beasts could be defeated by humans without any prior experience and Lucas who had been engaging in a tugged war could feel the chances of getting out from the crisis rising.

The Direwolf was a clever guy since Lucas's momentum had been swept away by the injury, there was no reason for him not to take advantage of the situation.

So instead of doing deadly attacks, it tried to exhaust him and then slowly succumbed to death. For it, Lucas was like a slippery eel who managed to get out of its hands at the last moment.

Lucas picked up scraps that could help him to fend off and threw them at Direwolf.

Rolling around, he also found a broken bayonet which he flung at the wolf but sadly it bounced off on coming into contact.

The Direwolf smashed his hind legs to the ground and its body shot at Lucas with a terrifying speed.

Lucas gave up trying to counterattack and threw himself away.

Lucas's body rolled on the ground and then in preparation for the Direwolf's subsequent attack he got up again quickly.

The Direwolf charged again and Lucas again rolled on the ground as if it was an inevitable choice.

Lucas hurriedly got up and without any delay stomped the ground and his body shot backwards.

He slides on the ground for a few meters avoiding another deadly strike by the Direwolf.

While sliding he picked up a small stone that got in his hands and threw it at Direwolf.

It hit just below the eye and some dirt went into the eyes causing it to shed a few drops of tears.

Lucas, who slid against the ground, felt something squishy and mushy substances under him causing him to spring up immediately.

His expression distorted and he almost puked. He saw intestines and certain human organs squeezed on the ground.

Rolling and escaping from the Direwolf, he had reached the spot where the Direwolf stood initially.

The glade where the Direwolf had bitten the three corpses.

The mutilated corpses had been spread around the area and Lucas had seen two dead bodies behind the tree a few meters away.

Lucas's eyes darted around and saw scraps of clothes, some shattered bronze coins, boxes and many things that might have been carried by the humans killed by the Direwolf.

Lucas was about to look away when his eyes caught sight of an old dusty flintlock pistol lying in a puddle of blood held by a torn wrist.

Lucas was disgusted with such a bloody sight that gave him goosebumps all over his body.

Though it was nauseating, the sight was more than enough to add fuel to his fire of life.

Firearms might not be effective against monsters and beasts but it surely increases his odds of survival.

Most commoners who ventured alone in the wilderness use firearms to fend off dangers.

'Damn…why didn't I notice it when I was looking here before.'

Lucas without wasting any time lunged towards the firearm while praying inwardly.

'I hope it's not empty and loaded with bullets.'