The sky had transformed into a canopy of dark velvet, stars blazing across it like pearls set in cloth.
Above them, the moon rose like a silver lantern, washing the meadow in a pristine light that turned the green into a sea of metallic reflections.
Blades of grass swayed in a gentle breeze, rippling in soft waves, whispering a quiet lullaby.
"[Fireball]," Sora said calmly, breaking the silence of the night.
A new star bloomed in the darkness, pulsing with intense scarlet light. It didn't arc through the sky; it traveled low to the ground, leaving a trail of scorched grass in its wake.
The sphere reached its mark and erupted among the five wolves Sora had targeted.
Their snow-white fur caught the moonlight in flashes of pale blue as they leaped with agile precision to dodge the magical projectile.
Behind his wooden mask, Sora wasn't worried. That was exactly what he'd expected.
"[Air Slash]. [Stone Bullet]," he announced, extending both hands outward.
From his left palm burst a blade of compressed air that whistled sharply, shearing through the grass before striking one of the wolves still mid-leap.
The invisible edge carved into the creature's carotid artery. A dark spray of blood stained the white of its neck, though the animal landed with a snarl, still clinging to life.
Almost simultaneously, an uneven oval rock shot from his right hand and caught a second wolf square in the muzzle. The crack of shattering teeth was blunt and final. The beast dropped forward, shaking its head in a daze.
[T0m-54: What the hell? Does he have infinite spiritual energy or something? He just keeps spamming spells like it's nothing.]
[St3llar_M4g3: Three different elements in ten seconds? Could he be an Elemental Mage Rank A maybe?]
[0n_Kn15T: I've never seen anything like this. He's been in four straight fights without a break and still looks like he has plenty left in the tank. Is he even human?]
[T4mal_07: Pff, he's getting cocky. Night wolves hit way harder than the daytime ones. If he doesn't finish them fast, he's dead. And even if he does, he'll be too worn out to keep going.]
Sora tuned out the stream of comments, his focus locked on the wolves. With two enemies already compromised, one of them bleeding out, he shifted his attention to the immediate threat.
The third wolf was charging straight at him, a white blur cutting through the dark at terrifying speed.
He had traded the drop rate passive for a different one: [Cognitive Enhancement].
This skill let him perceive fast-moving threats as if the world had slowed down, while also sharpening how quickly he processed everything around him.
He could see the wolf's muscles contracting and the glint of its fangs before it even left the ground. By the time it launched itself at his throat, Sora was already ready.
"[Stab]," he said.
He drove the blade upward, fast and precise. The matte-metal dagger punched in beneath the wolf's jaw, through the palate, and into the brain. The animal went limp in midair before dissolving into a thick mist.
[+210 EXP] [+1 White Wolf Fang]
[Level Up!]
[+5 Attribute Points] [+5% Spiritual Core]
A pulse of warm energy traveled up his spine, easing some of his fatigue as he stepped back from the pack.
The wolves regrouped quickly, all but one.
The wolf with the neck wound took a final, unsteady step. Its legs buckled, and its body crumpled, dissolving into a trail of pale mist before it even hit the ground.
[+210 EXP]
[T0m-54: Two down! But those other three aren't just gonna stand there and watch.]
[Yul1_087: The talent on this guy is something else. I don't know how he's fighting this calmly by himself against this many enemies on his very first time in the Spiritual Realm.]
Sora glanced at his system interface. The [Fireball] icon was greyed out, a few seconds still left on the cooldown.
Every F rank spell had a 45 second cooldown, which would have been a real problem if not for the sheer variety he could pull from the Akashic Records library. Though to be precise, it came down more to how many skill slots he had available.
A third wolf came in low, going for his tendons. Sora responded with complete economy of motion: he shifted his weight and drove the dagger down through the animal's ear at a sharp angle.
The beast's own momentum carried the blade the rest of the way, killing it instantly. It dissolved into mist before it hit the ground.
[+210 EXP] [+2 White Wolf Fangs]
"[Ice Stake]!" Sora called out quickly, snapping his free hand toward his right flank.
The air cracked as it froze. Hundreds of scattered ice fragments manifested in the air, converging into a single translucent, razor-edged construct that launched itself at a fourth wolf just as the beast leaped at him with its jaws wide open.
Luck had been on Sora's side. The stake materialized directly in front of the wolf's open mouth, hitting at full force, shattering its teeth and piercing through the palate. A quick death.
[+210 EXP]
[0n_Kn15T: Called it! He left himself wide open from behind.]
[Yul1_087: Watch out!]
Then Sora felt pressure on his arm.
The last wolf, the one that had taken the stone to the face minutes earlier, had used its packmate's sacrifice to clamp its jaws around Sora's forearm.
But the sound wasn't tearing flesh. It was the reinforced leather of his coat holding firm. The animal's teeth, already cracked and broken from the earlier hit, scraped uselessly against the dark fabric.
Sora looked down at the beast. Its yellow eyes reflected something wild and desperate.
"Pathetic," he said, his voice cold and quiet.
In one fluid motion, his dagger disappeared from his right hand, stored instantly in the inventory, and reappeared in his left.
A single downward strike drove the blade into the wolf's skull. The creature let out a muffled whimper and burst into a cloud of white mist that briefly enveloped him.
[+210 EXP] [+1 White Wolf Hide]
Sora straightened up and shook out his sleeve, brushing off the remnants of frost and mist. The field was empty again, bathed in nothing but silver moonlight.
[T0m-54: Did you see that?! He cleared a full pack of white wolves solo. I mean, for a first run that's seriously impressive.]
[St3llar_M4g3: And not just that... he switched his weapon between hands using the inventory to get a better attack angle. The mental coordination that takes is insane. But there's something I can't figure out; if he's a mage, why is he using a knife? And how did he get an inventory this early? Is he from some well-known family? Did his talent get him into some elite academy training program?]
[T4mal_07: Alright, I take it back. That guy is not a lucky rookie. He's a monster. And coming from me, that actually means something.]
[Yul1_087: Has anyone caught his username? I can't wait for him to become a real Player so I can start following him.]
Sora sheathed his dagger and looked toward the mountains. The glow of the holographic messages lit up his wooden mask, but his mind was already calculating the distance to the next target.
The night had barely started, and so far, the hunt had been good.