Free Web NovelChapter 10: Lost the plot
Ren made it out of the cave, and it was already morning. He had been in this world for a full day now.
"Well, that was a first day with a lot of ups and downs, more ups than downs to be honest," he spoke to himself as he walked through the forest. He had no idea or plan on what he wanted to do today.
After walking for a while, he recalled that he now had functional wings, so without further thought, he flapped his wings and shot into the sky. He flew above the trees, gliding peacefully.
His dragon vision was activated, and he looked for anything that would be pretty interesting. And that was when he found it. A battle was happening in a large clearing down on the ground.
A pack of grey wolves were locked in battle against lizardmen with crude weapons. The fight was bloody, and they were both losing men at a fast rate.
"Hmm, monsters at war, that’s pretty cool," Ren said. He thought about what to do. He could fly over this. He did not really need their flesh now, but then again, he kind of wanted to just interrupt them and see what happens.
"Fine."
He let his intrusive thoughts win, diving down immediately. He came down fast like a rocket, his wings spread out wide.
"Coming in hot!" he yelled as he landed right in their center. He raised his head and let out a roar.
RAWRRRRRRRRR!
It was nothing thunderous, but it was loud enough to pull the attention of the wolves and lizardmen alike. They all looked at him, shocked to see this small dragon out of nowhere.
[Optional Quest]
[Stop the War: The Grey Wolves have been locked in a territorial war against the lizardmen for weeks unending. End the war between both parties.]
[Penalty: Reduction of all stats by 50%]
[Rewards: Dragon’s Rage, Flame Dragon Form, 1000 EXP, 10 stats to all]
[Do you wish to Accept this Quest?]
"A quest? Did I trigger it somehow?" He looked at the screen carefully. The penalty for the quest was pretty steep, but when his eyes rolled to the rewards, his attention was pulled immediately.
He would gain all that if he managed to stop their war? He was surely willing to go for that if that was the case.
"I accept the quest," he replied without much hesitation.
By this time, the wolves and the lizardmen had acknowledged the presence of this small dragon that had interrupted their fight.
GROWL!
One wolf growled at Ren. It bared its teeth and barked, eager to remove the vermin from its front.
Ren turned and looked at the wolf. He frowned. "Why the hell are you growling at me? Do you have a death wish?" he asked, his eyes glowing with an intent to kill. The wolf felt fear in that moment. It stepped back in fear but continued to growl and snarl. Ren did nothing, so it kept snarling and roaring at him.
"Tch, die already," Ren said and went in with a Claw Strike that cleaved the head of the grey wolf off in one swing.
[You have killed a Grey Wolf, 100 EXP gained.]
[10x Multiplier Applied]
[Level Up]
[+2 Stats]
Both lizardmen and wolves alike instinctively staggered back the moment the grey wolf’s head hit the ground, some deep animal instinct screaming at all of them that whatever had just landed among them was not something to be tested carelessly.
Ren straightened up, rather pleased with himself, basking openly in the wave of fear rolling off the assembled crowd.
"Yeah, that’s right," he said, puffing his chest out slightly. "Mess around and find out."
Movement parted the wolf ranks ahead of him.
The alpha stepped forward, easily two meters tall, broader than every other wolf in the clearing combined, its grey fur bristling in jagged spikes along its spine that looked closer to silver than natural fur. A single curved horn jutted from its forehead, dark and ridged, clear evidence of an evolution somewhere in its past.
[The Alpha of the Grey Wolf Pack has deemed you a worthy opponent.]
[You have been challenged to a Duel to the Death.]
Ren stared at the notification, then at the alpha, then back at the notification.
"Wait, what? You guys were literally just at war with the lizard people two minutes ago, and now you want to fight me instead? Did everyone just collectively lose the plot?"
The alpha didn’t answer. It simply lowered its head, muscles coiling, and launched forward with a speed that belied its sheer bulk.
Ren reacted on instinct, flapping hard and lifting clear off the ground just as the alpha’s jaws snapped shut where he’d been standing.
What followed was less a fight and more an increasingly frustrated chase.
The alpha lunged again and again, snapping at empty air every time, Ren weaving and gliding just out of reach with an ease that bordered on insulting, looping lazily overhead while the alpha snarled and twisted beneath him, completely unable to close the gap on something that simply didn’t have to stay on the ground.
"You know," Ren called down conversationally, banking sideways to dodge another lunge, "I feel like you didn’t really think this challenge through."
The alpha’s frustration boiled over.
It planted all four paws, threw its head back, and unleashed a roar that carried something far heavier than sound, a visible ripple of compressed air rocketing outward and slamming directly into Ren mid-glide.
The impact caught him completely off guard, the sonic force punching through his concentration and sending him tumbling sideways through the air before he crashed hard into the dirt, skidding several feet before coming to a stop.
"Okay," he coughed, pushing himself up, genuinely startled. "Okay, that one actually hurt. Didn’t see that coming. Guess the horn wasn’t just for decoration."
The alpha didn’t wait. It charged again immediately, clearly believing the fight was already decided, jaws wide, moving to finish what the roar had started.
Ren waited until the last possible instant.
He twisted hard to the side, the alpha’s jaws snapping shut on nothing once more, and as it sailed past him, overcommitted and exposed, Ren spun and drove a Claw Strike deep into its flank, the blow tearing through fur and muscle in one clean motion.
The alpha let out a pained howl, stumbling, blood welling fast from the wound, legs buckling beneath its own weight as it crashed down onto the clearing floor.
Ren stood over it, breathing steadily now, looking down at the massive wolf bleeding out at his feet.
"Yeah, you really should have stuck with the war," he said quietly.
He finished it fast.
[You have defeated Alpha Grey Wolf]
[EXP Gained: 500]
[10x Multiplier Applied]
[Total EXP Gained: 5,000]
