A symphony of furious howls greeted me the moment I crossed over into the wolf pack’s territory. Memories of my miserable first week rushed to the front of my mind. I pushed those chilling memories down and instead focused on keeping the massive stone plate of smoked meat in my hands from spilling.

My trusty tamed elite monsters followed behind me, but they were more for show than anything else. My senses were much sharper now that I was a level 20 9 Tailed Fox Beastman. It was not as great as the wolf pack, but I picked up their approach far earlier than before.

Sleek wolves with pitch black cloaks burst through the forest and surrounded my tamed monsters and I. The corner of my lips tugged upwards in the barest hint of a smile. Jackpot.

“I brought you a peace offering.”

Unfortunately, I had lost the ability to speak in a friendly voice. Every word that came out of my voice was biting cold. I set down the tower of smoked meat in front of me and backed off.

Hostile snarls surrounded us from all directions. One of my tamed Thunder-streaked Deers whined in worry. I absentmindedly rubbed the deer’s head while I eyed the biggest Shadow Wolf in the pack.

The alpha’s control over its pack was astounding. Not a single wolf moved to eat my free food, despite the appetizing smell it was giving off. In fact, it looked moments away from attacking me. My newfound experience at taming monsters told me that it was best to keep talking to the alpha.

“I want to work together with you to take down that wicked fox. What do you say?”

The alpha dismissively snorted at my words.

“It is true. If you follow me, I promise to take you to a new world where you will not have to fight for your survival each day.”

A few of the Shadow Wolves stepped in front of their weak and wounded at my words. The alpha glanced at them before returning its gaze to me. As unbelievable as it sounded, it appeared to consider my words.

A short bark interrupted my thoughts. At the alpha’s signal, all of the other member’s of its pack disappeared into the shadows. My experience with taming a few, weaker canine monsters allowed me to quickly figure out what it wanted.

“Return home, guys. I’ll handle the rest from here.”

I commanded my tamed monsters to leave. They had already achieved the purpose of showing off the strength of the forces I commanded. A one on one fight, like what the alpha proposed, worked in my favor.

My followers were weaker than the alpha’s pack. Luckily, the leader decided on a duel to help reduce the casualties to its followers.

My ragtag army left, leaving the alpha and I alone. Of course, that was just an illusion. Countless eyes watched me from the shadows. I needed to convince them of my worth just as much as I needed to convince their leader.

“Bring it.”

The alpha barked and abruptly vanished from my sight. I didn’t hesitate to go full throttle from the beginning. 9 balls of [Fox Fire] floated by my tails and blue flames coated my body. [Instinct] took over my body and I dropped to all fours.

I scattered [Fox Fire] in all directions. All stealth skills faced the same issue in that they would be canceled the moment the user of the skill was hit with an attack. Of course, the alpha Shadow Wolf was not so weak as to fall victim to such a tactic.

The fur on my tails stood on its ends. [Instinct] picked up the steadily approaching danger. I leapt away. A sudden gash appeared in the ground where I was standing previously.

This was bad. The alpha Shadow Wolf could attack without breaking its stealth skill. It was normally impossible to beat an enemy you couldn’t perceive, but [Instinct IV] had a supernatural level of intuition that allowed me to avoid danger.

I danced around the empty forest with [Agility], firing [Fox Fire] in the directions I sensed danger. I might as well have been attacking air. None of my blows landed on my foe, but I knew they were working. The danger I picked up from my instincts was unable to close the distance and attack me.

A deadly, invisible battle unfolded. All it would take was a single mistake for the battle to suddenly end in defeat.

Our stalemate ended abruptly. Within an instant, the danger I sensed in front of me suddenly vanished and reappeared behind me. [Fox Fire] flared up protectively behind me, but it wasn’t enough.

A black streak broke through the wall of blue flames and sharp claws tore into my flesh. I roared in pain.

My body pivoted and I threw flames at my assailant, but it was useless. The alpha Shadow Wolf quickly disappeared once more and I was back where I was back where I started. Pain radiated from my back and fresh blood dripped from my wound.

Correction, I was in an even worse position than where I started. Even if [Instinct] gave me a vague indication of where the Shadow Wolf was, I was helpless to react when it suddenly ambushed me from an entirely different direction.

My foe attacked and I gained another gash. If it wasn’t for [Fox Fire] cauterizing my wounds and [Health] aiding my recovery, I would be in serious trouble. As it was, things weren’t looking good for me. I needed to do something to turn things around.

Shadow Wolves possessed the ability to jump from shadow to shadow, launching surprise attacks. There were shadows everywhere in the forest. Then, the solution was simple. I let out a beastly roar. My [Fox Fire] exploded in anger. 

Very quickly, my flames consumed the forest around me. The alpha Shadow Wolf wouldn’t be able to jump from tree shadow to tree shadow if there were no trees. Just as I suspected, it didn’t dare to get close while I was surrounded by a fiery conflagration.

I didn’t move either, content to let my [Health] skill mend my wounds. We reached another stalemate. It took a lot of ki to maintain my flames that were burning the surroundings, but it was well worth the time it bought me.

Once I had recovered enough, I roared in challenge to the hidden alpha Shadow Wolf. Unlike me, it had a pack to worry about. It couldn’t afford to look weak in front of them. Just as I wished, it jumped to the only shadow untouched by the fiery conflagration surrounding me. It jumped to my shadow.

That was a fatal mistake. After all, I had countless contracted monsters dwelling within my [Shadow’s Refuge]. A furious battle erupted in the depths of my shadow. I couldn’t participate, but I felt its aftereffects through the feedback of my skill.

The alpha Shadow Wolf may be strong, but it was no match for the combined might of Lime, Bones, Ruin, and Berry. Outnumbered and outmatched, the alpha was driven out of my shadow.

I grabbed it by the throat the moment it emerged and forced it down against the ground. My sharp, golden eyes peered into the startled black eyes of the alpha. [Fox Fire] danced along the length of its black, shadowy fur. It struggled against my grasp, but it was useless. My [Strength] skill and superior position allowed me to hold the alpha in place.

“Submit!”

My will clashed against the alpha Shadow Wolf. Seconds ticked by as beautiful blue flames burned around us. The fight left the alpha Shadow Wolf’s eyes and it snorted. I let my flames die down and backed off. Our duel was over.

The rest of the wolf pack rushed in from the surroundings and started licking the signed fur of the alpha. They stuck with their boss, even in defeat. The camaraderie warmed my heart.

“Nice to meet you, (Black) Cheddar.”

The newly named Cheddar ignored me and instead went straight for the smoked meat I had brought earlier.

“Hey, wait! Don’t eat that all by yourself. Share some with the others!”

Cheddar’s actions unleashed the gluttonous beasts within the pack as the rest joined in on ravenously devouring the feast. I watched the scene with a troubled heart.

I was grateful my cooking was so well appreciated, but I really wished my guests would savor the food I put a lot of effort into making. Well, this worked too. I had taken my first step in conquering this dungeon.