Silver light flashed out from the silvermane alpha’s maw as they clashed, and erupted into a beam that felled trees as it exploded across the jungle. Sending wolves bouncing out of the way.

  The goblin spectators cowered and held shields up at the display of the destructive power, despite it not coming in their direction. And Treg didn’t blame them. This was easily the strongest beast they had ever seen.

  Appearing before the wolf in a flash, the human flew into a barrage of punches; his chest burned from the energy beam. Treg had seen him at least partially dodge the beam, just barely, though. His eyes struggled to keep up with the two powerful fighters.

  Dodging was one thing, but surviving that attack? It was impressive, and not just because of the power it held. Treg couldn’t understand how someone at Aaron’s level could survive such an attack.

  He could only begin to imagine what kinds of bonuses Aaron must have. He had seen his Blessings, of course. But were those alone what gave him the ability to survive such attacks? Probably not, he figured. Besides, if he could get a True Blessing to begin with, he was a great talent, and probably had a bunch of Titles powering him up.

  Truly incredible.

  Aaron landed, and Treg could feel the strange energy in the air as the punch slammed into the wolf. The D-grade beast that could slaughter him and all his people with ease didn’t like it, and a wisp of silver light carried the alpha away from the human.

  “You’re not getting away that easily!” Aaron shouted and took chase.

  Treg watched intently as the human chased the large wolf around, briefly turning into a ghost to keep pace whenever the wolf turned into a mote of silver light. This duel was something else. Something he couldn’t even imagine being a part of.

  But more than that. Aaron seemed to have the beast on the back foot. Whenever they clashed, it shot out a few of its beams and claws, but then quickly tried to break from the melee and create distance. If Treg had to guess, he’d say that the wolf didn’t want any part of the melee fight and wanted to keep things at a distance.

  They clashed again, and silver needles shot out, followed by another beam. Even to Treg’s relatively untrained eyes, he could see that the wolf was draining quickly, especially whenever Aaron hit it.

  But then, the unexpected happened. The wolf went all out and managed to catch Aaron, blasting him straight in the chest with its beam and blowing a hole straight through it.

  “Oh no!” Treg gasped, fearing the worst.

  But instead of falling dead, the human convulsed once and kept moving, as if it had momentarily died, and then slammed straight into the wolf with a combination of attacks that blasted away at its energy reserves and opened small wounds that stained its fur blood red.

  The goblin leader had never seen anything like it. Had Aaron really died in that moment, or were his eyes playing tricks on him? Were others truly capable of such feats? He mused on these thoughts, and they took him back to where it all started.

  Their Tutorial had been a clusterfuck from the start. Chaos reigned, and goblins were dying all over the place.

  It had been set on a mountain range, and most of the beasts were giant carnivorous birds that swooped down and hunted him and his people.

  It had been hopeless from the start. And a struggle just to survive.

  Worst of all, he knew that it had just been the tip of the iceberg. He had seen the big one, the boss. It was an absolutely massive bird at the top of the highest peak.

  When he saw it, he knew they had no chance of ever beating their Tutorial and decided to play it safe.

  He felt foolish watching Aaron fight. But back then, it had all seemed so impossible. They struggled so hard against even the beast’s minions, and so how could they challenge the boss?

  Deciding they couldn’t, he took the lead and led his people to relative safety. Caves dotted the mountainside Tutorial, and it hadn’t been long before they found one to settle in.

  However, It hadn’t been safe in there either. The caves were home to giant spiders, but they were the lesser of two evils. And with Treg leading the way, his group managed to clear out a cave passage and turn it into a little base.

  Looking back on it now, it all seemed so pathetic. He had thought that he was doing the right thing. That he was saving his people from the birds and the spiders. But maybe he was enabling them. Helping them remain weak.

  Of course, no matter how hard they tried, they weren’t able to completely avoid danger. It came looking for them. But they killed only what they had to, creating warbands to hunt spiders that got too close to their camp. He himself had taken on some of the stronger spiders, which was how he came to grow stronger, and before long, he was the strongest living goblin in his Tutorial. But that wasn’t saying much at all.

  The reality was, they had wasted their time. They had remained weak, and when they arrived at their new world, they had nothing for the beasts that inhabited it.

  Already, they had lost more than half of those they came here with. It was heartbreaking, and Treg felt like an absolute failure. But seeing the human fight, he realized something.

  It wasn’t how they managed their arrival here. The failure had started long ago. It had started when he fought others’ battles for them. When he decided to hide away in a cave and wait until the Tutorial was over. When he decided to avoid all but the necessary battles.

  He had doomed them in that moment. And if they were going to survive, they would need to undo the mistakes of the past.

  The goblin’s brow bent as he watched Aaron slam into the incredibly powerful wolf again. Wounds appeared on the human’s body, but he barely seemed to care, shrugging them off and returning with his own devastating blows.

  This was a true warrior. It didn’t matter that he was facing a stronger D-grade beast. He wasn’t scared, not in the slightest. He would do everything in his power to carve out a victory, however he could. And that was the very reason he could fight the beast.

  This was how one survived the Integration, Treg realized. They had to take their futures into their own hands.

  We have to be more like Aaron. We have to fight harder!

  ***Aaron***

  It felt a little weird having all the wolves, goblins, and his two human companions watching. But then again, it wasn’t the first time a duel of his had drawn a crowd. And it probably wouldn’t be the last.

  Something was off, though. It wasn’t as if the silvermane alpha wouldn’t kill him if given the opportunity, but he felt that it could probably fight harder than it currently was.

  Then again, he had hit it with a few [ Soul Shattering Strikes ], and its morale and energy were no doubt taking a beating. Maybe this was all the spirit and fight it had left in it?

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  Dodging another beam, he flew into range and drew on the last of his reserves as he landed another of his soul-damaging strikes, and the alpha whimpered, bouncing away.

  Aaron, of course, followed, landing another combination as his enemy fled.

  However, instead of trying to return the attack, it zipped away as silver light and then appeared far from him, cowering in submission.

  “Huh?”

  Despite the wolf’s unusual behaviour, it wasn’t actually that damaged. It had a few wounds and blood soaked through its knotted fur, but nothing a D-grade beast couldn’t handle.

  And so why was it kowtowing to him?

  On the other hand, Aaron had already died twice. He felt he had the upper hand either way. Long fights were kind of his thing, and the wolf wasn’t strong enough to keep killing him before he could recover. If the fight dragged on, he had a pretty good feeling he would eventually beat it down and defeat it, regardless.

  But considering how close the fight was, he felt that the silvermane alpha could at least push him harder, if it wanted to. It was strange, and he felt like it almost wanted to surrender to him.

  Instead, it kept its head low, and when he took a step forward, it rolled onto its back, showing its belly submissively.

  “Ahh… okay?”

  Silvermane Alpha Wolf has submitted to you.

  Trait Acquired: Pack Alpha

  You have gained the trait of Pack Alpha, marking you as the strongest in the pack, and by doing so, you become the leader of the Silvermane Wolf Pack.

  Provides: [ Pack Alpha ]

  Pack Alpha

  This racial Skill interacts with those marked with the [ Pack Bond ] racial Skill, granting the owner of this Skill leadership over the pack.

  Title Acquired: Pack Leader

  You have become the leader of a wolf pack, and through it, you appear more fearsome and intimidating than ever.

  Provides +10% Charisma

  He blinked in disbelief. He hadn’t actually expected to win that easily. But more interestingly, the silverman alpha started to change before his eyes.

  Silver light glowed around the wolf, and it began to shrink a little. Its fangs shortened slightly, and its deadly maw took on a less intimidating presence. It was still a menacing beast, but as it changed, it started to look a little more domestic. It was smaller, and its facial features looked softer, almost gentle and happy.

  Aaron just blinked, and then he inspected it.

  Silvermane Ruffian [ Level 105 ]

  Titles: [ Giant Slayer ]

  The alpha hadn’t just shrunken a little and changed its appearance slightly, but it had lost the trait that Aaron had gained. Not only that, but he became suddenly aware that all of the wolves around had the [ Pack Bond ] racial Skill.

  Turning to look around, the wolves all lowered into a bow and howled to the sky. Not only that, but he innately felt like they would listen if he gave them a command. Like something had awoken within him.

  “Oookay, that’s new.”

  This wasn’t how he had expected the fight to go. Not at all. Then again, having a pack of loyal wolves wasn’t so bad. He did kind of want the experience of killing his first D-grade outside of the trials, but this was probably the best alternative.

  The silverman ruffian then got up and walked over, nestling its nose in his palm.

  “You are a good boy, aren’t you?” Aaron said, as he saw a softer side of the beast.

  But it did seem strange. It all happened so fast, and it made him wonder about what exactly the deal was with the wolf pack.

  The silvermane ruffian then yipped and turned, beckoning him to follow with a glance over its shoulder.

  It was a short walk through the jungle, which Aaron was grateful for, as he still wanted to get out before the ants caught up. Hopefully, they won’t be wandering into the wolf territory anytime soon, but still, he had a bad feeling about encountering them.

  Soon, they found a small burrow, and the ruffian pressed its nose against it.

  “You want me to look inside?”

  It barked and nodded.

  “Okay. I suppose I’ve done worse,” Aaron grimaced at the wolf-sized hole. It was surrounded by bones and smelled not great.

  But nonetheless, he crawled inside and searched through it until he felt something. With a tug, he pulled something out and climbed back outside with it firmly in his grasp.

  When he met the light outside, he realized that it was a dog collar with old dog tags tied to it.

  “What’s this?”

  He eyed the collar suspiciously and then looked to the silvermane ruffian, who just nodded. An idea began forming in his mind. While all the humans had been taken into Tutorials, what happened to all the animals? He had already known that the System affected everything, not just humans, but he hadn’t really thought about the implications as far as pets went. Now, faced with a monster oddly willing to submit to a human’s hand and an old collar, understanding dawned on him.

  “This is yours?”

  The wolf nodded again.

  Aaron turned the collar over and grabbed one of the tags, reading the name.

  “Zero? Wait, that’s your name?”

  Again, the wolf nodded.

  “Hmph, I like it. Beats Silvermane Ruffian. Let’s call you Zero, from now on.”

  Rename: Silverman Ruffian to Zero

  Y/N?

  “Wait, I can rename you? Does that mean you’re like my pet or something, now?”

  The wolf just stared back and shrugged at that.

  “Okay. Well, at least we’re as confused as each other. So, do you want me to call you Zero again?”

  The wolf just stared back silently.

  “I suppose that means you want me to make this decision? Fine. Zero it is.”

  Aaron accepted the prompt, and its inspection window changed before his eyes,

  Zero [ Level 105 ]

  Titles: [ Giant Slayer ]

  “What’d you know? It actually did change your name.”

  He scratched the former dog behind its ears as it pressed its body into him, then looked back at the collar. There was a second tag hanging from it, but this one looked slightly different. The one with Zero’s name was shaped like a bone, like a normal pet’s dog tag, but the other was a simple metal rectangle with rounded edges, like one that would be used in the military. Or it would have been, if the end wasn’t torn apart. It looked like a bullet had torn through it. He flipped it over and read its contents as well.

  WILLIAMS

  JAMES R

  5487229104

  USMC O POS

  NO PREFERENCE

  As soon as he read it, he knew that this tag hadn’t belonged to a dog.

  “James R. Williams…” he read aloud.

  At the sound of the name, Zero’s tail drooped slightly, and he pressed tighter into Aaron.

  “Is that your former owner?”

  Zero let out a small whine. Aaron wanted to say something comforting to Zero, telling it that its owner might still be alive after surviving the Tutorial, but then he glanced down at the tag again and the bullet hole at the end of it and frowned. And while it took him a moment, he eventually recognized the USMC acronym as well. This James R. Williams person had been dead before the Tutorial.

  He spent a few seconds just petting Zero before the goblins and humans wandered over, not sure what to do. They recognized that the battle was over, but while Zero had shrunk, he was still a menacing D-grade, so they were now standing around, still looking apprehensive.

  “Well, it looks like I have a pack of wolves helping us now. Should we keep moving?” Aaron said as if it were just another day.

  “What?” Marko muttered, still holding his weapon tightly. “What the hell happened?”

  “Are you sure this is safe?” Treg swallowed and jumped as a wolf stepped too close. But then something seemed to come over him, and he relaxed a little, like he was trying to force himself to be more like Aaron.

  “Eh, maybe?” Aaron shrugged. “I can’t say for sure. I was not expecting this at all. But Zero here seems like a friendly doggo, aren’t you, Zero?”

  Zero nodded and nestled its neck into Aaron’s hand as he gave it a rub. “There you are. Feels good, huh? Who’s a good boy?”

  “Woof!”

  Aaron’s brow bent as Zero sounded way too dog-like. That and the collar made his suspicions about the beast run wild. Had it been a regular dog before the integration? He had a vague memory of being told that the animals of Earth would evolve and turn into beasts. Was this part of that?

  And if Zero was just a doggo dragged into the mess of the multiverse, had that been why it seemed to submit so easily? Did it want to find an owner?

  Aaron looked into its eyes, and gone was the malice of the beast they had first met. Big eyes blinked back, and he couldn’t help but grow a soft spot for it.

  “I’m pretty sure the wolves are safe now,” he said after a long pause. “Now let’s get moving before the ants find us.”

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