The chaos and the fear that had ravaged the enclosed den caused the remaining adventurers to panic. Their cries of desperation bounced off the rock walls, ringing in the ears of their teammates. Ash glanced around the room, seeing only four adventurers keeping their composure.

Direwolves were beginning to appear around the room as the Motherwolf howled viciously, calling her children to protect their guardian.

“We can’t afford to attack the Direwolves,” muttered Ash, trying to formulate some kind of plan to get them out of this chamber. “The longer the Motherwolf lives, the more Direwolves will appear…”

“Ash! Julius!”

“!”

Both boys turned to face the source of the voice that had called their names. Brock swung his massive ax into the jaw of the red monstrosity in front of him, spilling blood across the stone floor. The Motherwolf whimpered, retreating slightly.

“I don’t know what’s happening right now, but it seems like the Motherwolf’s power is unchanged. The three of us can kill her!” roared Brock. A Direwolf leaped at him from the side, but he was already maneuvering his body to slam the oncoming beast with his giant weapon.

The Direwolf’s neck was sliced through with ease. Brock wiped the smudged blood off his face as he repositioned himself to attack the Motherwolf.

“D-Do you think we can really do this?” whispered Julius. Ash noticed that the red-haired boy’s legs were trembling, but he knew they had no other choice.

“We have to. If we don’t kill it here, we’ll all die.”

“Cecilia!!” yelled Brock, “Keep the Direwolves away from the Attack party!”

“Attack party?” scoffed Cecilia as she rammed her blade into the body of another Direwolf, “The entire attack party is dead!”

“I’ve got more than enough people. Just do as I say!”

“Right, right. I better get more than 30% of the rewards after this,” muttered Cecilia in frustration, placing herself in between the wave of snarling Direwolves and Brock.

Ash dashed towards the Motherwolf alongside Julius. Brock detected the incoming presence of his allies, letting out a taunting cry before engaging the Motherwolf.

“Here we go!” roared Brock.

Ash saw a path amidst the chaos. He sped through the crumbling stones and the numerous slashes of Direwolves, unsheathing his sword as he approached his target. The sound of metal digging into flesh filled the area.

Ash and Julius attacked together, one from either side of the towering wolf, as they attempted to bring the giant down. They continuously struck any weak points that opened but to no avail. Their swords barely caused any sort of damage to the monstrosity, and they could both tell it was only a matter of time until they were defeated.

“Earth Blow!” yelled Brock. The adventurer delivered a powerful uppercut imbued with the power of Earth worthy of the mark of Ares, knocking some of the Motherwolf’s teeth out of her jaw. 

Ash recognized the opportunity as he leaped atop the Motherwolf’s distraught body, forcing his sword into her spine. The beast howled painfully, shaking violently in an attempt to knock the boy off.

“She’s… not going down!” screamed Ash as he was sent flying off. He slammed into a rock wall, causing him to moan grievously.

Julius was unable to strike the beast. His eyes remained fixated on Ash’s now bloody body. They had barely inflicted any kind of wounds onto the Motherwolf, and Ash had almost died. Was this really how weak they were?

“Hey, Julius, snap out of it!”

Brock avoided the Motherwolf’s power slash, returning the favor with a strike of his own that dug a deep wound into her front leg.

“We… can’t do anything…” mumbled Julius, “and I thought we could take down the Motherwolf on our own… We haven’t even been here for that long, and we’re almost dead.”

Julius slowly fell into despair. Dead bodies lay all around him. Starved Direwolves tore away at the corpses of his fellow adventurers, gnawing away at their limbs as pools of blood filled the den. He was beginning to understand what fear truly was.

The Motherwolf thrashed wildly, sending Julius flying onto the frozen corpse of a female adventurer. His ragged breaths of air were unable to supply enough oxygen to keep a clear mind. 

Brock realized what situation he found himself in. His teammates had both been incapacitated by the enemy, and he was now the only functioning member of the Attack team.

“Fuck this! If I want even the slimmest of chances of making it out of here, I’ve got to use it. Who fucking cares that it’s not ready… we’re making it out of here alive!” he roared, raising his ax into the air as he opened his mouth slowly.

“Earth Realm:”

Brock slammed his ax into the ground before finishing his line. The ground shuddered as cracks of energy spread throughout the den. Small pillars of earth arose, creating an arena that pitted the Motherwolf against Brock. Fissures appeared as waves of energy surged into Brock’s body from below, encasing him in an impenetrable suit of rock.

“…Titan of Stone!”

The Motherwolf gnarled at the sight of her new opponent. Brock’s eyes glowed a bright amber color through the visor of his rock mask. 

“Prepare yourself, animal,” warned Brock, pointing his ax at the red monster. 

The adventurer leaped into the air. His ax vibrated with essence as he came crashing down onto the skull of the Motherwolf.

“Earthquake!!”

The shockwave sent shivers up Ash’s spine, snapping him back to reality. He scanned the area, seeing Julius leaning over a dead adventurer with a horrid look in his eyes. Another eruption of energy steered his gaze to an arena of Earth.

“A… Realm?!” exclaimed Ash. 

Realms were considered the epitome of magical spells. Morphing the surroundings to suit the caster allowed them to face any opponent on equal ground. Realms were spells that had to be trained through years of practice, and Ash could tell that what stood before him was far from a complete Realm.

“Fuck!” he grunted, standing up and running towards the explosions of rock within the arena. 

An incomplete Realm could have severe consequences on the user’s body, and if it was maintained for too long, could easily lead to death.

Ash jumped with all his strength, barely managing to grab hold of the edge of one of the pillars. He heaved himself up slowly through the curses under his breath. He finally made it to the top, but what lay in front of him only sparked despair.

Brock was beginning to falter due to the physical requirements of his Realm. Blood was pouring out from underneath the suit of armor that had encased him. The enormous ax that he had handled with so much ease now appeared to weigh ten times its original weight.

“Brock!” yelled Ash. Before he could utter another word, his body shot into the air. He didn’t know what he was doing, he didn’t know what his plan was, but he was now on top of the Motherwolf.

His eyes glared at the target beneath him, focusing on the blade that was still implanted in her back. Ash’s irises began to glow a frosty cyan blue as gravity carried his body towards his target. He shot down, bringing back his fist and muttering the words of his desired spell in his head.

[Shadow Punch]

Dark shadows crept around his fist as he rammed it straight into the hilt of the sword. The obscure energy ran down the blade of the weapon, entering the body of the Motherwolf in a matter of milliseconds.

The recoil from the strike sent Ash tumbling into the arena. He immediately stood back up, the sword now back in his hands. He smiled, thanking his natural reflex that had allowed him to grab the weapon before he fell off the beast.

The Motherwolf stumbled to the side, feeling the weird magic within her. The numerous wounds on her body started to open up again, leaking out blood as a tear ran down her face. Ash couldn’t believe his eyes. The image of a crying mother imprinted itself into his mind as the monster turned to dust and ultimately vanished.

“Did that monster… cry?” he asked, but nobody answered. The boy immediately remembered what his main priority was, rushing to Brock’s side as the adventurer of Ares finally collapsed.

[Motherwolf killed]

[+15 Exp]

[Special Quest Complete]

[+40 Exp]

[You have leveled up.]