This name was one that Hyrim had heard her father mention since she could remember.
Whenever he bragged about his past achievements, he could never avoid this particular topic.
So, the question arose—did her father, Rezelian, consider slaying a Forest Direwolf to be his proudest accomplishment simply because he had hunted too few monsters?
No, it was quite the opposite.
Rezelian had slain countless C-class monsters. Whether during his time serving in the Knight Order, or later while maintaining public order, the one thing he never lacked was the task of monster subjugation.
Was it, then, because the Forest Direwolf posed a great threat, and thus carried a high bounty?
That wasn’t it, either.
There were barely any Forest Direwolf subjugation quests—almost none at all. The reason was simple: the Forest Direwolf was a native creature of Simliel, not a monster!
Unless these wolves posed a severe threat to human survival, people would never take the initiative to drive them away.
The reason Rezelian held that particular incident in such high regard was because the Forest Direwolf was truly formidable—one could even call it the very pinnacle of C-class beings.
Among all C-class creatures—be they Simliel’s native beasts, invasive monsters, or creatures mutated by the demon race’s miasma—none could surpass the Forest Direwolf in strength. At most, some could approach their power, but never exceed it.
Such an exceptional and mighty being, the Forest Direwolf also boasted an extremely long history. Even in the oldest ruins yet unearthed, one could still find records of them.
According to ancient texts, all Forest Direwolves originated from the same northern forest. In ages past, they were not even called by this name—their original title had been lost to the river of history.
Later generations could only recall them as “giant wolves from the forest.” In time, this became their official name: Forest Direwolf.
Unlike common wolves, Forest Direwolves were solitary creatures. Once they left the forest of their birth, they would never interact with their own kind again.
For reasons unknown, they also had a fondness for roaming the world, earning them the nickname “Traveling Wolves” and the reverence of bards and wandering merchant groups alike.
Beyond that, Forest Direwolves possessed remarkable intelligence—rumor had it they could even understand human speech.
Their personalities were as varied as could be: some were intensely curious, some cold and indifferent, some friendly to humans, some outright hostile. Their individuality was so pronounced that no two Direwolves were alike—a phenomenon unheard of among ordinary Simliel beasts…
The Forest Direwolf now before Hyrim, though only present for a brief moment, revealed with its arrogant and detached gaze that it was clearly not the sort to befriend humans.
Just as Hyrim had suspected, the Forest Direwolf simply swept its gaze across the goblin tribe, immediately grasping the situation.
It then locked its eyes on the only human present—fixing Hyrim with an imperious, indifferent stare.
It did not even bother to act itself. Instead, it opened its jaws and let out a long howl. “Awooo——!”
At its command, hundreds of wolves surged towards the goblin tribe.
The Forest Direwolf itself, however, simply stood in place—encircled by the pack like a proud king, overseeing its loyal followers as they waged battle on its behalf.
Unlike goblins, wolves had no cunning schemes.
They would obey their king’s orders without hesitation.
And so the fallen goblins suffered, their throats torn out by the wolves.
Some crawled desperately toward their huts, only to be caught and meet the same fate.
Given the scale of this wolf pack led by the Forest Direwolf, it was impossible that they had merely chanced upon the scent of blood.
A pack of this size would require an enormous territory—the scent of blood could never have carried so far.
Most likely, their target had been this goblin tribe from the very beginning.
It was simply Hyrim’s ill luck to have gotten here first.
Of course, expecting gratitude from the wolves was out of the question.
If she was willing to be their supper, perhaps they might consider it.
“Growl!”
“Growl!”
A few wolves lunged at Hyrim.
These ordinary wolves clearly lacked the intelligence of the Forest Direwolf.
They could only judge threat by size and weaponry.
Seeing Hyrim—a mere human child with nothing but a wooden staff—she was deemed entirely harmless.
“【ᚣᛃᛋᛖᛚᛜᚢᚪᛖᛡᛞᚠᛟᛃᛜᛃᚾᚪᛜᛓᚠᛏᚱוᚠᛃᛖᛜᚢᚪᛖᛡᛓᛗᚠᚺ】”
“Flame Barrier!”
A wall of fire burst up before the wolves could react, and they crashed straight into it.
One by one, they were engulfed in flames, howling in agony as they rolled on the ground.
For a wolf covered in thick fur, fire was a deadly foe.
After a few desperate rolls, the flames only burned brighter, while the wolves’ struggles quickly grew weak.
The sudden turn of events did not go unnoticed by the other wolves.
What they had expected to be an easy slaughter became a source of tension, and their estimation of Hyrim’s threat level rose sharply.
“Awooo——!”
Perhaps angered by its subordinates’ stupidity, or perhaps having deduced something from Hyrim’s spell, the Forest Direwolf began to direct the wolf pack in earnest.
“Awooo!”
“Awooo!”
“Awoo…”
Dozens of wolves charged at Hyrim from all directions.
“【ᚣᛃᛋᛖᛚᛜᛁᛄᚾᛒᛜᚢᚪᛖᛡᛞᚠᛟᛃᛜᛃᚾᚪᛜᛚᚲᛜᛚᚪᛡᚠᛏᛖᛗᛜᛉᚠᚺᛗᛜᚣᛞᛖᚾᛜᛓᚠᛗᛃᛟᚺ】”
“Ring of Repulsion!”
Boom!
A massive ring of fire erupted outward from Hyrim, instantly driving back the wolves’ assault.
Those at the very front were set ablaze, screaming in agony.
This round, the pack lost several members and its attack was thwarted.
Yet under the Forest Direwolf’s command, the wolves quickly regrouped for another offensive.
Hyrim prepared to use the same spell again.
Whoosh——!
Whoosh——!
Whoosh…
Suddenly, a barrage of sharp whistling sounds tore through the air.
“Not good!”
Hyrim caught sight of several Spine-tailed Wolves lurking at the back of the pack, lashing their tails and launching volleys of spikes with every swing.
Forced to abandon the spell, Hyrim dodged as best she could, but there were simply too many projectiles to evade them all.
One after another, the spikes struck Hyrim’s body like arrows, leaving her with multiple bloody gashes and tearing her clothes in several places.
Fortunately, she had maintained the third-rank non-elemental spell “Endure.”
With its protective strength, the spikes only pierced her skin without dealing deeper damage.
“【ᛏרᚺᛓᛟᛗᛜᚻᚠᛏᛖᛡᛣᛏᚠᚳᛜᛃᚾᚪᛜᛣᚠᛟᚺᛗᛜᚠᛖᚢᛗᛡᛞᚠᛈ】”
“Wind Barrier!”
Ignoring the pain, Hyrim cast another spell.
A dense green barrier of wind enveloped her, sending all incoming spikes ricocheting away.
The crisis was temporarily averted.
But another danger quickly loomed.
This time, the vanguard consisted of numerous Ironhide Direwolves—larger, tougher, and even faster.
Their heads, which made up a large portion of their bulk, looked especially intimidating.
“【ᛓᚠᛏᚱוᚠᛃᛖᛜᛖᛗᛞᚪᛡᛖᛞᛃᚺיᛤᛜᛖᛚלᚠᛟᛜᛃᛋᛄᚠᚪᛜᛖᚾהᛤ】”
“Rock Barrier!”
Hyrim hastily invoked an earth spell, conjuring a ring of stone walls around herself.
Bang! Bang!
Bang…
Heavy impacts rang out as the stone walls trembled, but managed to hold.
The Ironhide Direwolves shook their heads, circling the walls.
Finding no entrance, they lined up their massive foreheads, and rammed into the walls like living battering rams.
Their thick skulls crashed against the fortifications, hammering at them relentlessly.