Chapter 5

  "Holy shit, Orion!" I jumped up from my pathetic pile of firewood as my hunter came trotting back into camp.

  Dangling from his jaws was what looked like a rabbit, except it was easily twice the size of any rabbit I'd ever seen back home. Its fur was a mottled brown and gray, and it had these weird tufted ears that were way too big for its head. But dead was dead, and meat was meat.

  Another thing was I didn’t level up, which made sense I guess as I don’t think a small monster rabbit will grant me experience to level up.

  "Good boy," I said, giving Orion a scratch behind the ears as he dropped his prize at my feet. His tail was wagging like crazy, clearly proud of his first successful hunt.

  Nox padded over to investigate, sniffing at the dead rabbit-thing with professional interest. He gave Orion an approving rumble that made the younger wolf puff up with pride. It was actually pretty cute, watching them interact like that.

  It took about twenty more tries and a lot of cursing, but I finally managed to get some sparks to catch in the dry grass and twigs I'd prepared. The tiny flame grew slowly, and I nursed it carefully until I had a real fire crackling in front of our shelter.

  "Boys," I announced dramatically, "we have achieved fire!"

  Now for the cooking. I didn't have a pot or pan, but I remembered seeing something on those survival shows about cooking meat directly on hot stones. I found some flat rocks and placed them near the fire to heat up while I dealt with preparing the rabbit.

  This was the part I was dreading. I'd never skinned or cleaned an animal in my life, but I knew the basics in theory. The trick was not thinking too hard about what I was doing and just getting it done.

  "Sorry, buddy," I muttered to the dead rabbit as I used a sharp stone to make the first cut. "Nothing personal."

  It was messier and more awkward than it looked on TV, but I managed to get the skin off and remove the guts without completely butchering the thing. Both wolves watched with interest, though I caught them exchanging what looked like amused glances towards me.

  "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," I told them.

  By the time I had the meat ready, the stones were hot enough that drops of water hissed and steamed when they hit the surface. Perfect.

  I laid strips of rabbit meat on the heated stones, and the sizzling sound was music to my ears. The smell that rose up made my mouth water instantly - actual cooked food, the first I'd had since arriving in this world.

  "Now this," I said, watching the meat cook, "is what I call progress."

  While dinner was cooking, I kept glancing around the forest. Having a fire was great for cooking and warmth, but it also announced my presence to anything else that might be wandering around. The smoke and smell would carry pretty far, and I had no idea what kind of predators might be attracted to either.

  "What do you think, boys? How's the perimeter looking?"

  Both of my wolves had their ears perked up, constantly scanning the area around our camp. Nox was positioned between me and the deeper forest, while Orion kept moving around the edges of our space, nose to the ground. They were taking their guard duties seriously.

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  The meat finished cooking faster than I expected. I used a stick to flip the pieces off the hot stones and onto a large leaf I'd found. It wasn't exactly fine dining, but when I took my first bite, it tasted better than any restaurant meal I'd ever had.

  "Holy shit," I said around a mouthful of rabbit. "This is actually good. Really good."

  I tossed some chunks to my wolves, who caught them midair and gulped them down with obvious appreciation. Even they seemed to prefer cooked meat to raw.

  I was halfway through my second piece of rabbit when both Nox and Orion suddenly went rigid. Their ears snapped forward,rising as low growls rumbled from their throats.

  "What is it, boys?" I whispered, following their gaze into the darkening forest. I couldn't hear anything but both wolves were clearly picking up something I wasn't.

  The growls came from the trees - not from my wolves, but from multiple somethings moving through the underbrush.

  Then I saw them.

  Creatures, about four feet tall with green-gray skin and yellow eyes.

  Goblins. Of course they exist here too.

  They had crude weapons - rusty knives, wooden clubs, one with what looked like a bent spear.

  Their faces were twisted with what looked like hunger and malice.

  "Shit," I muttered, grabbing a burning branch from the fire.

  The goblins spread out, trying to surround our camp. They moved with coordination of a pack like they had done this many times before. These weren't mindless monsters - they were hunters.

  Nox and Orion moved to flank me, forming a defensive triangle around the fire. The lead goblin snarled something in a language I didn't understand, pointing its rusty blade at me.

  The goblins attacked first. Three of them rushed forward while the others hung back, trying to flank us. But they never stood a chance.

  Nox met the first goblin head-on, his massive jaws snapping its neck with a single shake. Before the creature even hit the ground, he was already turning toward the second one, moving with deadly precision.

  Orion flowed around the spear-wielder like black smoke, too fast for the goblin to track. His teeth found the creature's throat, and it went down gurgling blood before it could even scream.

  It wasn’t a fight but a slaughter.

  The remaining goblins tried to coordinate, but they were already panicking. When creatures that size moved that fast and hit that hard, tactics didn't matter. Nox bowled over two goblins at once, crushing ribs with his weight before finishing them with quick, efficient bites. Orion picked off the stragglers, his lean build perfect for chasing down the ones that tried to run.

  The whole thing lasted maybe twenty seconds.

  I just stood there, staring at the carnage scattered around our campfire. These weren't just big dogs - they were apex predators, killing machines that happened to be loyal to me.

  I'd seriously underestimated what a single day's worth of wild power could create. Back when I was making Nox, I'd second-guessed myself. The system had said one day's worth of charges could allow me to make a pack of regular wolves, but I'd chosen to put most of that power into a single, enhanced wolf instead. I'd worried I was making the wrong call - choosing quality over quantity.

  Looking at six dead goblins scattered around like broken toys, I knew I'd made the right choice.

  Quality definitely beats quantity.

  Both wolves sat down in front of me, panting slightly, waiting for praise like they'd done something clever.

  I was starting to realize just how broken my skill really was. But I couldn't get complacent. These were just goblins - basically the tutorial enemies of fantasy worlds. God knows what kind of nightmares were lurking deeper in this forest. Shit I couldn't even imagine.

  What would happen when we ran into something that could actually fight back? Something that might see Nox and Orion as a snack?

  For now, though, I was grateful to be in what seemed like the beginner zone.

  "Good boys," I said, giving both wolves the praise they were waiting for.

  I was about to sit back down and finish my interrupted dinner when a familiar blue glow appeared in my vision.

  [LEVEL UP!]

  "Nice," I muttered, dismissing the notification.

  The warm sensation of getting stronger flowed through my body again.

  As I finished my dinner. Maybe it was time to start thinking about what to create next.