Chapter 42 - First Combat

"No offense, but, if you're going to spend this much time on this one piece of land--we'll never get any meaningful progress," Ren finally spoke up, "really, if you haven't found anything yet, I doubt you will."

Tristan stayed silent as he continued scanning the tree closely, wiping a swab of some type of clear, gooey substance from the tree's skin.

"Have you taken a single look at the ground?" Tristan suddenly asked, squeezing the goo between his index finger and thumb.

"What--?" Ren turned to him.

Tristan gestured with his eyes for him to look down towards the ground. Both confused and curious, Ren looked down at the dirt--noticing the existence of dozens of footprints etched into the soil.

"I...I don't understand. Are those all goblin prints?" Ren knelt down to get a closer look, "If you already confirmed this--then what are we doing here?"

"You don't seem to quite understand the threat we're dealing with here, Ren. Maybe you're familiar with the goblins of fiction you read about back on our homeworld, but things are different here. Sure--they're still green-skinned with those devilish yellow irises, but these creatures are anything but the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to monsters," Tristan wiped the goo off of his glove, scraping it into the tree.

"If you're trying to scare me, let me tell you it's not working because I've been scared the entire time in this creepy forest! Anyways--what does that have anything to do with what I said? If you see the tracks--we've got our information," Ren argued.

"Beatrice really stuck me with someone like this, huh...Ren, I'm acting with every ounce of caution I can spare. Did you consider that these footprints might be bait to lure us into an ambush, or perhaps, did you notice how a lot of these footprints are facing different directions?" Tristan stepped closer to Ren as if making sure his words reached his core.

As much as he wanted to argue--the man was right in his words. The footsteps were indeed scattered, giving no solid indicator on which direction they were really heading.

"Look, I understand that this is all new to you, I'm guessing that's why Beatrice wanted you to tag along with me for this--so that I can teach you a thing or two," Tristan pressed his index finger against Ren's forehead, "make sure to use this. Question what you see--what you know. In this world, just about everything wants to see us dead, so we have to act with that in mind. You understand?

He nodded his head slightly--nearly jumping as the bushes nearby rustled violently. A low growl reverberated from within the mass of green leaves.

"It seems you've got your chance to shine, kid," Tristan slapped Ren on the back, causing him to stumble forward closer to the bush.

"What- No, I can't fight!" Ren looked back at the man, his eyes pleading for him to help.

Tristan seemed to ignore his pleas, putting his hands in the pockets of his coat as he stood in the same spot without a hint of empathy. His fear pried his eyes away from the man and back to the bush as the creature made itself visible.

First, a paw covered in jet black fur stepped forward before the beast slid out of the bush with beady black eyes that were locked directly onto him. It resembled a wolf from his world, maybe a bit larger as it easily reached over two meters in length. What truly set it apart were those eyes--containing only a black void devoid of life, staring into his very core.

His body ran over with a chill, fingers trembling as he shakily reached for his sheathed blade. As he slid the blade from its leather sheath, it nearly fell out of his grasp from the sight of the beast's exposed canines, displaying them in a "declaration of war".

"That is a "Vanta Wolf", creepy, huh? They really aren't too different from the wolves back home though. Well, I guess they are larger," Tristan leaned against a tree as he watched.

"It doesn't look that much bigger than--"

"That is a teen, it isn't an adult," Tristan affirmed.

"This behemoth is a teen--? I don't know whether that helps or not…" Ren nervously laughed as he gripped the handle of his blade.

The wolf began to slowly circle around him, keeping its soulless eyes on him without blinking a single time. He matched its speed, doing his best not to provoke its attack, or rather, he was trying to delay the inevitable attack.

"Don't you have a shield or something I can use? Anything?" Ren glanced back at Tristan, wiping sweat away from his forehead.

"If I gave you a shield, you'd just coward behind it. You wouldn't learn anything that way. Adapt--fight and adapt," Tristan ran his hand through his hair.

"Do you see its claws--? I won't have time to adapt if it rips my jugular out in one swipe!" Ren slowly backed away as the beast pressed forward.

Fear of the beast clad in black fur overtook Ren, forcing him to focus on the beast and only the beast. He watched every strand of its dark coat move in the wind, waiting for the wolf to attack.

--If I have to fight, then I need a plan. Magic is out of the question--last time I nearly blew my own arm off. I'm just going to have to resort to good old physical ability. It's been staring directly at my neck this whole time--there's no doubt it's aiming for my throat. I can use that against it. The second it goes for the attack, I'll slash its throat instead.

Ren tightened his grip on the handle as he steeled his own resolve. The bloodlust oozed from the creature as it jolted towards him with its bloody canines on display. It leaped into the air, stretching its neck forward as its open mouth inched closer to his neck.

--Now!

He ducked down, swiping his blade diagonally swiftly, listening to the air hiss as if he intended to cut it apart. It connected--he felt the blade press against the heavy warmth of the wolf's neck as it launched past him, rolling across the dirt.

"I...I did it! Holy crap--I'm badass, aren't I?" Ren smiled in disbelief.

However, the unchanging look on the silver-haired man's face sent a worry through him. He raised his blade to check--only to see not a single drop of crimson on the clean metal. The growling started again, turning around to see the beast unfazed as it stood up from the fall.

"How…? I felt it connect!" Ren backed away, looking over at Tristan in utter confusion.

"It's simple--"Panniculus Carnosus"," Tristan stated.

"Pickle what--?" Ren asked, only hearing a jumble of sounds that vaguely sounded like words.

"Panniculus Carnosus--it's a muscle attached to the skin. Although it really isn't anything of use for humans--in beasts like that one there, it allows for the skin to move independently of the muscle. That's why you don't see bears bleed out from their little brawls," Tristan explained, scratching his head before yawning.

"Can you explain that in a way that I can understand--?" Ren asked with desperation carrying his voice past his lips.

"Basically--half-assed cuts aren't going to do shit to it."

The problem is--he swung that blade with every ounce of strength he had. It seemed the futile attack only riled the beast up, angering it as it revealed its white gums. He considered luring the wolf towards Tristan to force the man's hand into killing it for him, but that choice would likely result in a catastrophic failure.

Those beady black eyes belonging to the beast only saw the prospect of prey in front of it as its tongue slithered between its sharp teeth.

"Wait...that's it," Ren muttered to himself.

He flipped the sword so that the blade was pointing towards the ground, lowering his stance to ready himself for another counterattack.

--If I can't cut through that tough skin, then there are other ways to hurt it. That's how humans rose to the top of the food chain--we didn't rely on brute strength, we evolved because of our way of thinking.

A simple-minded beast lost in a stupor of violence--it was easy to predict. All it wanted was a meal, and that meal was right in front of it. Even after being read and countered, the beast still focused its sight on his jugular.

"Come on, mut, I'm not scared of you," Ren taunted it quietly.

Any sense of pity he felt for the beast that would otherwise be considered "Man's best friend" was vacant as this was a battle to the death. The only thing on his mind was getting out of this situation alive, and hopefully with all of his limbs intact.

Once again, the beast charged toward him, digging up the dirt under its paws as it stampeded towards him. As he prepared to sidestep away from the wolf's reach, his foot slipped as the dirt gave away under his weight.

He was face to face with the salivating beast, losing all of its nobility as it craved sustenance. The only action that came to mind for him was to shove his forearm into the beast's mouth, stopping it in its tracks. Luckily, his arm was protected by a layer of metal armor--but even so, he could feel its large fangs penetrating the armor, slightly piercing his skin underneath.

It swung its head side to side in an attempt to throw him to the ground, tightening the iron grip its jaw had on his arm.

"I've got you...just where I want you!" Ren smiled through the sharp pain shooting through his arm.

With his free hand, he brought his blade over his head and brought it down with all of his might--directly into the beast's left eye. The mushy feeling of the steel digging through the eye almost made him gag even in his burst of adrenaline, trying not to watch as pus oozed from the mutilated eye of the wolf.

The creature let go of his arm, letting out whimpers and yelps of pain as it writhed in agony.

"Not bad," Tristan praised him with a slow clap.

"I'm...not...done yet," Ren huffed, wrapping his arms around the beast's neck.

The bite must've reached his bone, as summoning any strength from his attacked arm sent a bolt of pain through his entire body as if striking his bone directly with a pick. Still, he gritted his teeth and pushed past the pain, replacing it with adrenaline as he squeezed the beast's neck tightly as if hugging it from above.

He felt it struggle under his grip, tightening it further as he crushed its throat as best he could. Its vicious snarling as it thrashed around calmed down into defeated whimpers, feeling the life fade from the beast's body as he deprived it of oxygen.

"That was unexpectedly brutal, I mean, coming from you," Tristan commented.

Ren let go of the wolf, letting its limp body fall to the ground. He fell down onto his rear, panting as the adrenaline soothed to a lull. There were two distinct holes on the metal plate protecting his forearm, dented by the biting strength of the beast. A stream of blood seeped from the two holes, running down his arm as he let it fall limp.