"Haa... ha..."
I bent over, hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath. "Phew... I need a break."
'Who would've thought climbing just halfway up would leave me this winded?'
I gave a weak chuckle and wiped the sweat off my brow.
"Good thing I'm Awakened now... but at this rate, even a mortal could probably outrun me."
Straightening up, I turned to look back.
The village... I couldn't even see it anymore. Just endless cliffs and clouds below me.
Still, the view was stunning.
I looked up, but the peak was lost behind thick layers of fog.
I squinted, trying to make out anything beyond the white veil, but it was no use.
I pulled my hood tighter and stepped forward, feeling the temperature drop as the mist clung to my skin.
I inhaled, then let out a long breath.
"Haaah..."
'The real climb had begun.'
The fog crept in, curling around the stones like silent watchers.
As I moved ahead, a narrow path emerged—jagged, uneven, barely visible between the rocks and mist.
But I recognized it.
Relief surged through me, and I let out a quiet sigh.
"...Thankfully, I'm still on the right track."
Because of those rumors, I ended up picking this raw, rugged route.
A Blazewolf cub had supposedly been spotted in these mountains, stirring too much attention.
The villagers had tightened security around the main path, posting guards to keep wanderers away.
I didn't want to cause a scene—or worse, get questioned.
That's why I took this rough, roundabout path instead.
After about half an hour winding through random, twisting trails, I finally reached the resting point.
I scanned the cave thoughtfully.
"This must be a shelter made for hunters to rest."
Completely drenched in sweat, I sank down to rest.
My legs aching, breath heavy, and clothes sticking uncomfortably to my skin.
Reaching into my storage ring, I pulled out a water bottle, took several deep gulps, then wiped the moisture from my mouth.
"There was no time to relax for long."
Once I rested enough, I stood up and resumed walking.
Soon, faint voices drifted through the air.
I instinctively lowered my body.
'Are there people here?'
'Wait... could that be the search team the old man mentioned?'
Curious, I quickly slipped behind a thick patch of bushes, crouching low to observe the source of the voices.
The mist was too thick to see more than vague shapes, but my hearing sharper than a normal human's, picked up every word.
"Hey, careful with that," someone hissed. "Remove the hide cleanly. Don't butcher it."
'What are they doing?' I edged a little closer, trying to get a better look.
Rustle…
"Boss, I heard something over there," a nervous voice said.
A bald man pointed straight in my direction.
I held my breath.
"Quit making excuses," a deep, gruff voice snapped. "We don't have time. Skin them—fast. All of you."
The fog thinned just enough for me to make out seven figures.
From the way they moved, the muscular one seemed to be their leader.
I shifted slightly, and that's when I saw them.
several small, lifeless bodies scattered near the clearing. Fur matted with blood. Tiny paws outstretched. Unmoving.
'But… why kill the pups?'
They were still babies. They could've been tamed, trained. Sold, even.
Alive, they had value.
Dead… they were just waste.
A moment passed before the same bald one with a hesitant voice spoke up.
"Boss… why'd we kill the pups? Thought we could keep them as pets for our farms."
A bitter chuckle escaped me. 'Nice one, Baldy.'
The muscular man exhaled sharply, his voice a gravelly rumble. "You don't know a damn thing."
He flexed his hands, knuckles cracking. "When I first saw those pups…"
Then he stopped. Dead silent.
'Why the pause?' My fingers dug into the damp earth beneath me. 'Out with it—'
Without another word, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a lighter.
Snatching one of the pups' pelts from a nearby man's hands, he flicked the flame to it.
But to everyone's surprise, my eyes widened and I was left speechless, it didn't burn like normal fur.
Instead, the skin shimmered.
A strange glow pulsed across the pelt before a sudden crackling of fire erupted like lightning.
The head burst into flames with a loud pop, and the man immediately dropped it to the ground, staggering back.
"Boss! These really are Blaze Wolves!" one of them shouted, voice filled with awe. "We're gonna be rich, boss!"
Hidden in the bushes, I held my breath. 'This doesn't add up.'
As far as I knew, true Blaze Wolves burned even in death; their flames never extinguished.
Yet the pelt at the leader's feet lay inert, its embers cold.
This must be an entirely new species.
'Don't tell me… a mutated variant of the Blaze Wolf?'
The pieces clicked together, the unnatural fire in their fur, the way they moved like embers on the wind. Now it made sense.
"Now it made sense why they kept calling them Blaze Wolves."
Then one question surfaced:
'Where was the mother?'
I narrowed my eyes, scanning the clearing. No sign of her. Only the lifeless pups, bloodied and still.
One of the men called out, "Boss, what should we do with this one?"
He pointed toward something behind a nearby rock, the edge of a blood-soaked pelt barely visible. Fur torn. Flesh crushed beneath a massive boulder.
The muscular man grunted, "Burn it. Let's see if it's a Blaze Wolf too."
From my hiding spot in the bushes, I finally saw it lying beside the giant rock.
'Damn… they killed the mother too.'
My gaze shifted upward to the mountain ridge above.
That must've been where they pushed the boulder from.
But she must've seen it coming.
'It was too far away, though.'
She could've dodged it. Escaped.
'So why did she stay?'
A flood of questions surged through my mind.
My eyes widened as the realization hit me like a blade to the gut.
'Every step had been planned, every move set in motion.'
'They turned a mother's love into a killing floor.'
'And she stayed, choosing to protect her young.'
I sighed, my gaze falling to the mangled corpse pinned beneath a massive boulder.
There was a strange sense of pity within me, as if they didn't deserve to die like this.
Suddenly, a chill ran down my spine.
Something in the air shifted.
I froze.
I could feel it, something terrifying.
A presence so overwhelming that the hairs on my skin stood on end.
Slowly, I looked upward, toward the slope where the rocks had fallen.
'I sense something. A dark aura. It's coming from up there.'
Without thinking, I instinctively stepped back, my eyes fixed on the ridge above.
'I need to get out of here.'
Every part of me was screaming that danger was close.
The others didn't seem to sense it.
They were unaware of the hidden threat.
But I could feel it.
I was awakened now. My senses were sharper than those of a normal mortal, at least fifteen or twenty times more sensitive. I could perceive things they couldn't.
Then I saw it.
Two glowing red eyes.
Burning. Watching.
" Blazewolf..." I muttered.
I didn't see its fur glowing or fiery, but I could feel this was no ordinary wolf.
I didn't see it fully, only the upper part of its head, but the aura it released was enough.
I could already imagine its gigantic form lurking behind the slope.
The wolf's eyes locked onto mine for a brief moment, then shifted instantly toward the others.
In the next heartbeat, the massive beast leapt from the ridge and landed before the group of men.
Its size rivaled that of an earthly elephant.
A wave of terrified screams erupted.
"God... I've never seen such a gigantic wolf!" one shouted, voice trembling.
"Is that even real?!" another yelled, stumbling backward.
Everyone froze in shock and fear.
The wolf's fur was pitch black, so dark it seemed to swallow the light around it.
Only its eyes stood out, glowing red with fury.
Clenched between its fangs was the limp body of some animal, though I couldn't quite tell what it was.
It dropped the corpse from its mouth and turned its gaze to the bloodbath before it, the torn remains of its children and its mate crushed beneath the fallen rocks.
"Boss... Boss, what do we do now?" Baldy asked in a low, trembling voice.
"Ha! It's not attacking... Must be scared of us," one of them scoffed.
From my hiding place in the bushes, my brow twitched.
'Idiot. What kind of fool mistakes a predator's stillness for fear?'
Sweat streaked down the muscular man's face.
"Idiot, stay silent," he hissed.
He motioned for the others to move, urging them to gather the furs and slip away quietly.
The men nodded, scooped up the piled skins, and hurried toward their boss, who was already pointing toward the path to the resting place.
Meanwhile, the black wolf lowered its head, sniffing the broken bodies of its mate and pups.
It released a chilling, ear-piercing screech—
HOOOOWWL—!!!
As the sound echoed, its black fur began to pulse with a dim glow.
Flames licked along its tail and paws, and every step turned the earth beneath it to ashen gray.
"Run!" the muscular man shouted.
The men bolted toward the cave.
I stood frozen, watching the wolf.
A sharp twist clenched my chest.
For a moment, I saw my father standing where the mother wolf had fallen.
A buried memory surfaced, raw and vivid.
"I knew your pain."
Part of me wanted to stay and share that grief, but fear gripped me tighter.
So, I turned and began to run.