A giant had just appeared on the horizon, its empty black eyes peering through the branches. Its wrinkled gray skin had a rocky texture, making it hard to believe a sword could cut through it. Its legs, like those of an enormous elephant, made the ground tremble, and its disproportionately long arms shattered tree trunks with a terrifying crunch as it gripped them.
Instinctively, I took a step back, freezing for a moment before I could move my lips.
-Well… how long has that thing been following you?
The girl, with a soft and trembling voice, responded with a vacant stare fixed on the creature in the distance.
-It's been following us for a whole day… almost since the beginning of this.
I was stunned by her statement, which implied the kids had managed to evade such a colossus for so long.
-Well, we'll figure out what to do with it after dealing with the wolves.
The blood wolves were just as startled as we were by the giant's sudden appearance. Taking advantage of one of the tremors, I lunged with a horizontal slash aimed at the head of one of the wolves, intending to blind it by targeting its eyes.
-Argh, it's… it's too tough!
With a shake of its head, the wolf made my sword clash against one of its fangs, stopping the blade instantly as if it had hit a solid steel plate.
The second wolf didn't miss its chance and lunged with a ferocious bite, which was blocked by the boy who delivered a vertical slash to its neck. Before the strike could land, the wolf seemed to vanish in an instant, retreating rapidly.
-Damn, so that's its evasive leap. Looks pretty useful.
The crimson wolves' fangs were incredibly tough, and their tactics were agile. We were in trouble.
Thanks to the boy stopping the second wolf's attack, I managed to retreat to my defensive stance. We were back to the initial stalemate.
We had no reliable way to injure them, but with our defense and their mobility limited by the environment, they couldn't advance easily either.
We needed a way to break the stalemate.
I glanced at the two kids, only to see pale, exhausted faces, their eyes losing their spark and determination.
They wouldn't hold out much longer. The boy, with a weary but intense tone, said.
-What do we do now?!
I responded immediately.
-Follow me! There's a more open area further in.
As if they'd been waiting for a signal, their eyes widened, and they started following me without question.
Taking advantage of my knowledge of the path and the fact that the skill window didn't fully obstruct my vision, I used these precious moments to read the details of my new skill.
"System Analysis: Flame"
*{Flame: Creates a flame the size of a palm upon contact} {This effect is temporary when applied to non-flammable objects} {Cost: 5}*
"Burn on contact, seems like a weaker version of those two's fireball."
A slight smirk curled my lips.
"Though the difference lies in how you use it."
We had reached the corner of the room, so I used what little breath I had left to make a request.
-There's no time, listen to me quickly…
***
The beasts were approaching the room's entrance, their sinister shadows visible from within. When they finally peered inside, they saw a boy and a girl at the far end of the room. Their faces showed clear terror and nervousness, yet they gripped their weapons with trembling determination.
The entrance to the area was even narrower than the cave's previous entrances, like a normal doorway, so tight that only one wolf could enter at a time.
One of them began to stalk in with a predatory posture, growling with the ferocity of a wild monster. As three-quarters of its body crossed the threshold, it began to glow with a red light.
A blazing flame.
***
We had reached the room, and I asked to be heard to explain the plan I had in mind.
-There's no time, listen to me quickly…
Both nodded in agreement, though their faces showed some confusion.
-Oh, don't look at me like that. Only one can come through this entrance at a time, and the tight space means they can't retreat easily with that evasion skill.
-The plan is simple: you two stay in the middle to draw their attention, and I'll hide in this shadow created by the light from the hallway and the entrance. Trust me, I learned this strategy from a damn green guy.
The girl frowned, her pale face showing doubt as she said,
-B-But you've seen how tough and fast they are. Your sword won't be enough.
The boy added.
-Exactly, it's a dangerous plan. And why do we have to be the ones in the middle?
I unleashed a [Pulse] that let me see through the wall, revealing the beasts were about to arrive, moving slowly through the cave as they tracked us. Maybe we could lose them for a moment in here and escape through the other exit, but with the kids exhausted and that thing outside, it would be a death sentence.
-Shut up! There's no time. Trust me, I didn't bring you here from the forest just to let you die for no reason.
Maybe it was the force in my voice or the words I said, but both kids fell silent and followed my instructions. I positioned myself in the shadow beside the entrance, checking my status before the impending clash.
-If things go south, as you can see, there's another exit at the back, but it won't come to that.
They didn't respond; they were clearly running low on energy.
***
And so we arrived at the current situation, with one blood wolf inside, engulfed in flames as its coarse fur spread the fire rapidly, like a spark igniting a sheet of paper.
-Good, now just hold it off a bit.
-Yes!
-Yes!
I positioned myself at the entrance to block the second wolf from entering while the kids distracted the first one inside. They didn't have to do much; the wolf was blinded by the fire and, in pain, roared ferociously, snapping blindly without landing a hit.
Their job was to keep it focused on them and not on me, as I had my back to them, blocking the second wolf from joining the fray.
The second wolf stared at me with dark eyes from the hallway. It didn't seem intent on entering, and I had no intention of letting it, so we shared a private silence.
Suddenly, a muffled roar echoed again. It was charging a fireball toward me. With no way to block or dodge it, I threw myself to the ground, shouting a warning to those inside.
-Fireball!
Both kids moved to opposite walls, causing the fireball to hit the first wolf, knocking it down and making it writhe in agony from the flames of both [Flame] and the fireball.
In the chaos, the second wolf entered since I'd been forced to retreat from its attack. It lunged with a bite aimed at the girl, but the boy, sprinting across the room with incredible speed—almost matching the blood wolves' evasive leap—shoved the wolf, momentarily throwing it off balance.
"Was that a skill?"
With that swift charge, the boy allowed us to corner the wolf between the three of us: the boy in the center, the girl on the left, and me on the right. The beast swiped at the boy with its right claw, lifting its body and exposing its left side, where I landed a slash that cut through its flesh, drawing a gush of blood.
Still cornered and bleeding, the wolf showed no signs of surrender. Instead, it prepared a second fireball. Before it could release it, the girl, mimicking the boy's earlier move, charged at the wolf with inhuman speed and drove her sword into its neck, stopping its desperate attack.
The fire from its mouth spread due to the cut, igniting it further. Before it could run wildly from the flames, the boy and I lunged from either side, slashing its front legs with fierce cuts, bringing it down instantly.
Both wolves lay on the ground, wounded and burning.
The three of us let out a heavy sigh. We had won without getting injured in the process.
Suddenly, my system challenge screen began flashing messages.
-Awesome.
The two kids and I collapsed, exhausted after defeating the fire wolves. The accumulated fatigue must have been hitting them hard.
Suddenly, a loud crash echoed outside the cave, the tremor shaking the cave and causing gray debris to fall from the ceiling.
With sweat covering my body and a nervous smile forming on my face at the absurdity of the situation, I spoke to the kids.
-Oh, right, we still have their big friend to deal with.