[Chapter 39. Primal Instinct]

  Searanox slowly made his way into the open space in front of him, his boots making soft sounds against the stone floor.

  A large, multilayered chamber stretched out before him, its scale imposing in the dim light filtering from above. He could make out four different plateaus of varying heights along the outer wall, each serving as potential vantage points or ambush locations, as well as several tunnel entrances spread across the chamber like gaping mouths. The ground was a lighter color than the stone walls, a sickly grey-white that crunched underfoot. Bones cracked underneath his boots as he stepped fully into the chamber, the sound unnaturally loud in the vast space.

  The ground was littered with bones of all sizes and conditions, from tiny rodent skulls to massive femurs that might have belonged to something much larger than a wolf. His drones flew in beforehand, the assault drones drifting off to each side like silent sentinels, while the offensive drone floated above the entrance of the chamber, close to its ceiling, its violet lens scanning the area. The moment they entered the space, there was a deafening howl, followed by another and another from somewhere deeper within, the sounds echoing off the cavern walls and creating a disorienting chorus of predatory calls.

  Without any time to waste, he brandished his rifle and shot one of the lesser wolves that had emerged from a nearby tunnel entrance. The beam ripped into its flesh, burning a smoking hole through its side, but it was still running at him, its eyes burning with furious determination.

  Within seconds, the cave filled with streaks of light in two colors as his drones opened fire. What had been less than a dozen wolves at first quickly escalated into multiple dozens as they flooded in from various side tunnels, their sheer numbers overwhelming the chamber. The air grew thick with the smell of ozone and burnt fur.

  Searanox fired his rifle at the smaller ones first, picking them off with methodical precision while his offensive drone's violet beam tore into the clearly noticeable greater ones, their larger forms making them easy targets. His two assault drones quickly found themselves outmatched and were ripped apart, their metallic shells giving way with sickening crunches under the wolves' powerful jaws.

  Without slowing his rate of fire, he summoned new drones, their materialization consuming precious TP but necessary for survival.

  Meanwhile, the previously safe offensive drone was ripped out of the sky by a wolf that executed a wall jump, using the cavern wall as a springboard to reach the high-floating machine. The drone's lens shattered as it was dragged down with it. Even his defensive drone was pushed back in no time at all, its barrier flickering under the coordinated assault of multiple greater wolves. After less than a minute inside this chamber, he had already lost multiple drones, the cost of this encounter rising rapidly with each passing second.

  He jumped to the side as one of the lesser dire wolves leapt at him, slipping past his shield.

  Landing on the ground, he took an overcharged shot that blasted its head clean off, bone and brain matter splattering against the cavern wall. While he was fighting on the ground, his defensive drone was destroyed, but quickly replaced, its barrier flaring to life just in time to block a lunging wolf.

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  It was pure coincidence that he noticed his offensive drone was no longer shooting. It was lying on the ground, pushed into a corner and held down by two wolves.

  He thought, a flicker of grudging respect cutting through the adrenaline.

  His attention was split across multiple fronts at once. He constantly had to evade incoming wolves while aiming, while also keeping an eye on his drones and their mental links, resummoning those that were already out of the fight but not yet destroyed.

  This went on for minutes.

  It was pure chaos.

  Two of the greater wolves teamed up and went after him. After howling and staggering him for a moment, they charged. He managed to shoot one of them down with the help of two overcharged beams, one from him and one from his drone. But the second was already too close for comfort, and he jumped aside. It leapt at him and pushed off his body with its hind legs, catapulting him straight into the nearest horde of wolves.

  One fell to his rifle, another to a crimson beam. There were too many. To protect his throat, he shoved his arm between a wolf's jaws as they closed around it. Searing pain shot through him as it tugged and shook its head, teeth grinding against bone.

  Searanox drew the dagger from his belt and plunged it into the side of the wolf's head, feeling the blade scrape against skull. He slowly got up after kicking the corpse off him, but he did not make it far before being tackled by a greater dire wolf.

  As it snapped at him, he tried to hold it back, pushing his hands against its massive form. His right hand sank into warm, sticky fur just beneath a wound, one that had penetrated hide and flesh, but not deeply enough. Desperately, he drove his hand forward with full force into the greater dire wolf's chest.

  Hot blood ran down his arm as his fingers closed around its beating heart. In one motion, he kicked the wolf off him while ripping its heart straight out of its chest. With the still-beating heart in his hand, he brought it to his mouth and squeezed it like a juice box, drinking the hot blood. With each drop, he felt different.

  Knocking an incoming wolf aside with his elbow, he immediately fired an overcharged beam into its chest. Without thinking, he ripped its heart out and drank its blood.

  His vision turned red, and he could hear the heartbeat of every individual wolf. He wanted more, needed more. With a wicked smile, he grabbed the next wolf mid-leap, bit directly into its neck, and tore out a chunk of flesh.

  Everything after that became a blur. The drones never stopped firing except when they were pinned or destroyed, in which case he summoned them anew. Instead of dodging and retreating, he welcomed every wolf that came at him.

  Either they fell to his magitech rifle or his dagger and those were the lucky ones.

  Eventually, the sounds of fighting ceased.

  His head cleared, and the sight before him was brutal. It reminded him of the farms from his first few days: blood and bodies sprawled everywhere. Some were ripped apart, others missing chunks of flesh. He looked down at himself and found he looked much the same.

  One of his arms was missing a large chunk of flesh, down to the bone.

  As the adrenaline faded, pain crashed into him. His leg was definitely broken, along with several deep tears. He coughed as he summoned two healing drones, his vision blurring and shifting.

  Then everything went dark.