The Earth After Rebirth

The trees were without leaves, it was dark but the moon illuminated them well. They were black as night, at odd angles they looked like shadows, making the party paranoid.

It was as if a higher being plucked them from somewhere, hoping to make the soil here fertile but the opposite happened. The soil managed to kill them but also kept them standing.

"This isn't creepy." Erik commented.

"Just, don't touch anything." Isla ordered.

They walked amongst the trees, they were creaking and oozing black liquid as if to complain of their old age or that they were being forcefully being kept alive.

There was nothing but death as far as their eyes could see. No buildings or signs that there was ever a civilisation, just a world that belonged to monsters, ravaged and treated cruelly until it couldn't bear life.

They continued to walk forward, cautiously. Kiro had told them of the story with fighting trees, so their minds were sharper than usual. Their guild mates didn't quite understand when no monster was in front of them but they followed orders nonetheless.

Wisteria was the shy and quiet type, but she was also very clumsy. It came as no surprise when she tripped on her own feet, Isla had spent a good amount of time with her so she was kind of expecting something dumb to happen with her.

As clumsy as she was, she was the most talented priest amongst those recruited excluding Saanvi. That's why Isla chose her for this, experience would do her good, she thought.

Everything happened in slow motion for Isla, Wisteria's face was inches away from the tree bark and the mysterious liquid. Isla acted faster, using wind to push her back. As she wasn't used to it, she knocked her a couple of meters away, she landed on the soil with her behind.

"Ouch!" She exclaimed

"I am so, so sorry. Are you okay?" Isla was already by her side.

The other members were stifling laughter. Attempting to be as serious in this situation like their guild master was. Isla was genuinely concerned for this shy and inexperienced girl.

But luckily, her spirits didn't sense an animosity. The wind spirits didn't knock her hard, they even cushioned her fall.

She got up, smiling and nodded. She was thankful that Isla had saved her just now, from whatever the tree liquid could do.

"I mean, that's what you get for being so clumsy Wis, why do you have your own gravitational field—" Luka paused because Isla gave him a death stare, he grinned in return to apologise.

A howl resounded throughout the area, they looked around but couldn't see anything, then another howl sounded far from the first one. Like a domino effect, there was a howl, one after another.

They saw a pair of red eyes before they saw its body. It walked on its hind legs. It was crouched a bit, clearly it could run on all fours if it wanted.

The closer it got, the clearer they could see it. It was humanlike but also clearly a monster. It's skin was white as a sheet, riddled with a lot of black, unhealthy veins. It was thin and tall. With hair here and there. Instead of a

mouth, it had a muzzle.

It howled once again, as if to alert the others that it had found the intruders.

Ding!

[You've encountered a stray werewolf. They usually roam in packs, but some are too chaotic to play by the rules in packs so they separate.

Stray Werewolf

Level 40

HP: 8 000]

"Luka, you're our first line of defence. Priests stay far away from the battle. Von, you're our main damage dealer. Erik and I will support you from afar." Isla barked orders.

Nobody talked back, they just did what they were told. Luka activated his berserker state, his already big muscles bulged into even bigger ones. And they felt like he was an unconquerable and unmoving mountain.

Just his back gave them a sense of security. It was big and it radiated hope within the death that surrounded them.

The werewolf had eyes for only Luka, as it lunged for him. Unlike Hiro, Luka didn't use a shield, but his bare fists and body to pummel anything that dared to approach him.

He threw a right hook, it connected beautifully on its maw causing it fall a few paces from them. Isla was already ontop if it, as arrows came crashing down on it.

It attempted to block them out by putting it's hands up, but it wasn't enough. The arrows were dangerous and livid, they pierced through its boney arms.

Everyone waited with anticipation, the werewolf revealed it's face, with an almost sinister grin on its face. The arrows started melting and dripping like they were its blood.

They blinked, and it was in front of Luka. It swiped for his armour, but thankfully it was rare ranked, it didn't leave so much as a scratch on it. Luka held it's arm, and punched it on the jaw, planting it's thin face on the dead soil.

Von was already at the scene with his sword, he pierced it through the heart. It howled, with a more somber tone. The howl was cut short by the gurgles of blood that drowned it's vocal cords and it fell with a finality.

Ding!

[Congratulations on defeating your first ever werewolf. You're awarded 120k EXP and 50k coins. Don't get smug just because you defeated this one with ease. Happy hunting.]

"That was surprisingly easy, was it really a level 40?" Erik complained.

"You need to polish your senses more," Isla scolded and she continued in a serious tone, "we're surrounded."