BAM! THUD! CREEK! CREEK!

Denver who was near the worn-out couch from WW II heard the thrashing noise of the door being slammed and hid behind.

Kylie who was stuffing all the food she could find in their tiny fridge and turned into a stone statue, as the booming sound of their front door being slammed to the ground rang out.

Denver tried to sneak behind the couch to the kitchen as he was feeling vexed for his wife's safety, expecting the monsters to make their way inwards to the living room in but a few instants.

The distance between Denver and the kitchen was quite small but it was quite visible.

Being left with no choice, he took the risk and dashed into the kitchen.

While taking a peek at the monster, his eyes widened at the battered but oversized silvery grey wolf for how large it was.

But it seemed luck wasn't on his side as the wolf, saw its dinner running away, so it decided to give chase.

Arriving inside the kitchen, Denver immediately grabbed his wife and hid behind the granite counter to the left of the kitchen.

He huffed out of exhaustion and chuckled dryly to himself.

My age is catching up on me.

He remembered seeing a strange blue window when he took a peek at the giant wolf but didn't have time to examine it.

As he was pondering over what he had seen, he was distracted by the shivering mess Kylie had become as she tried to cover her mouth her both her hands to stop herself from screaming.

Tears could be seen flowing out of her eyes.

Denver's wrinkled face seemed to have lost all its blood after turning his head to the left; as he saw the cheerful and gentle woman, he had married turn to such a sorry state.

.....

The silver wolf chasing after its prey into the kitchen loses sight of it, as the wolf is about to look around; it pricks its ears up to listen to a sound coming from its right.

Drip! Drip! Drip!

The dripping of water from the bathroom seems to have caught the attention of the wolf, making it cautiously move towards the sound with slow but steady steps.

Leaving its back wide open to the prey it gave chase after.

.....

Denver calmed himself and patiently waited for an opportunity and O' Lord did he get it.

He tightened his grip over the machete in his right hand and clenched his teeth.

Without further ado, he lunged forward to cleanly sever its head.

But in this world, nothing ever comes on a silver platter, the wolf managed to shift its body at the final moment causing the machete to go ham on the poor puppy's skull as it started bleeding.

Out of instinct, the wolf turned its head around to bite at whatever smacked it on the head and managed to grip the machete with its jaws.

With a powerful throw, the wolf slings the machete, and Denver who was holding onto it for dear life gets thrown in the air.

THUD! CLANG! CLANG!!

That wasn't the end of Denver's worry as an almost human-sized black wolf abruptly jumped forward from the kitchen's doorway to chomp onto his forearm with its sharp fangs.

Denver tries to get away but is outmatched by the wolf in speed and then comes the pain he had never felt in his entire life.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!

.....

The silver wolf fumbles as the bonk on the cranium did quite a number on it.

Luckily, in all this action Kylie goes unnoticed as she musters up her courage and sneaks up behind the silver pup in a dizzy spell to stab it through the neck with shivering hands.

PHISH!!!

The silver wolf tries to resist with a roar as its crimson blood sprays on the wooden floor. But its windpipe had been punctured causing it to use its last option, its claws.

Nevertheless, it was already too late for that as the world started to become blurry, and with a,

THWAP!

[You have leveled up and reached level 1. You receive 2 status points to allocate freely in your records.]

[You have leveled up and reached level 2...]

Kylie perceives the sounds of prompts ringing in her head but doesn't care less as she just continues to stab the shit out of the wolf until it turns into bloody mush.

A few moments later, the bloody mush started glowing, but no one noticed this bizarre phenomenon.

I actually killed it, Ha! Ha! Ha!

As for Kylie, she slumps to the side of the counter with her hands dripping in dark vermillion blood and blacks out as if she had exhausted herself by steeling her nerves for too long.

But doesn't catch the sight of a strange glow overtaking and nourishing her body without her knowing.

Another prompt would have been heard if she was awake.

[You have acquired the records of Canis Argenti Lupus level ...]

.....

All this happened in but a mere moments after the pair of beasts came knocking on Ethan's apartment.

Ethan sprinted to arrive at his family apartment next door as for Ronald, he followed closely behind Ethan while carrying a bag of food with him.

They rushed into the kitchen only to hear a shriek of pain from their right.

Ethan gets consumed in fury as he narrows his eyes as the human-sized monster digs its fangs into his father's forearm.

Ethan jumped headfirst towards the wolf without a care in the world and swung at the wolf's underbelly with his newly acquired weapon, only for it to dodge the attack as though it knew the attack was coming.

Ronald stood back sealing off the wolf from the exit while ensuring no other monsters came in from the outside.

The wolf's attention shifted from Denver who had already blacked out from the pain to Ethan as it backed away for another lunge.

But Ethan didn't give it a chance to prepare as he rushed forward and continued to swing the meat cleaver and hammer wildly at the wolf's vital parts.

The wolf though always escaped at the nick of time by jumping backward or rolling to its sides.

After a dozen unsuccessful attacks on the wolf and getting injured by it, the adrenaline in his body appeared to have dried up.

Ethan calmed down as he was running low on the stamina department to continue this fight.

He called out to the system in his mind.

How do I use my mana?

Ethan asked in a hurry as he took a step back only to realize there was no space for him to move around with a wall behind his back.

He heard the voice that started all this once again,

[You currently do not possess any abilities that utilize mana]

Ah shit, I'm done for.

Ethan thought out loud huffing out of exhaustion and out of breath.

Seeing Ethan in this predicament, Ronald helped him catch a break by throwing the kitchen knives set on the counter at the wolf to somehow distract it.

The black wolf was hit by a few of the knives on its back but shrugged it off as the throw wasn't strong enough to pierce through its hide.

Ethan took this chance to swing the hammer towards the wolf's jaw which was noticed it and reaches out to chomp his hand off.

But he let go of the hammer right in front of its face just a few seconds before impact and took a sloppy jump backward cautiously while thinking of the possibility that the wolf might even miraculously dodge this.

Fortunately, he was proven wrong as the hammer's momentum caused it to slam into the right side of the monster's jaw while the wolf's eyes seemed to widen from the unforeseen attack.

The blow caused it to fling its head sideways as it tried to steady itself and intimidate Ethan with a howl.

Nevertheless, it was already too late.

AWOOOOO!

Ethan was already in action as he ducked and got ready for a leap with both his hands wrapped around the cleaver's handle and slashed right down the center of the wolf's skull.

GRRRRRRRRRRR!!!

"Even after all that you're still holding on to dear life, I'm gonna fucking turn you into a meat paste," Ethan utters these words with a menacing grin.

The black wolf didn't know why it, but it suddenly felt an unexplainable shiver down its spine.

BANG! BAM! HOOONG! WHOOM! BAM! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

After sending the wolf to King Yama, Ethen fell on his back with heavy breaths and looked at the screen before him with a smile on his face as he listened to the sounds of the prompts.

[You have leveled up and reached level 1. You receive 2 status points to allocate freely across your records]

[You have leveled up and reached level 2...]

[You have leveled up and reached level 3...]

Huff! Huff! Huff! That was freaking exhausting and painful as hell.

Ethan muttered to himself while trying to catch his breath.

Then suddenly the dead monster puppy began to give off an unnatural shimmer and a few moments later it disappeared as the same shine suddenly covered Ethan's body.

He felt a wave of cool rejuvenation hit him as the strange energy seeped into him and relieved him of his exhaustion.

He could also feel the light spread into his arms and shoulders with claw marks as they slowly vanished but...

Argh! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! FUCKING HELL!

Fuck, why does it hurt so freaking much and this damned unbearable itch at the exact spot I'm wounded at.

Finally, after the accursed itch and intense pain vanish, new prompts arrive in his status window.

[You have acquired the records of Canis Nigereous Lupus level 5. You have gained Health +6, Strength +3, and Agility +3]

Turning his attention towards his remaining family, he glanced at Ronald tending to his father's wounds, and asked with a shaky tone, "Is he alright?"

"I think he will be alright but getting the wound treated is the better option than leaving it be," Ronald replied while examining the wound the wolf's fang had left on him.

"What about her? She isn't injured, is she?" Ethan asked about his mother in a slightly less nervous tone after knowing his dad was alright.

"Don't worry, she is completely fine just unconscious," Ronald replies and moves forward to inspect the silver wolf.

"You know that was quite reckless of you to blindly rush in like that." Ronald continued.

"I know, I will be careful next time around," Ethan replies.

Ronald was quite familiar with Ethan as he had known him since he was just a teenager, he was quite casual but became a King Kong whenever he saw his loved ones hurt.

.....

Ethan squinted his eyes listening to Ronald and understood that he was still the pathetic and weak in this new world.

That day, Ethan made a solemn vow to himself that he would no matter what become stronger to not only protect himself but also those he held dear to himself.

For that, he was even willing to slaughter everyone and everything in his path.

.....

After the little pep talk, Ethan noticed another bizarre phenomenon while carrying his father to the couch his eyes widened.

Two orange and white colored spherical crystals magically appeared near the corpse of the black wolf.

Now what is this thing?

Ethan quickly stepped forward after laying Denver on the couch to pick up the white crystal.

[Combat Instinct (Unclassified) Tier 1: The user gains an instinctive sense of danger during battle. This ability drains 2 units of Stamina every time it is used. Excessive use of this ability may to severe exhaustion, unconsciousness, or in the worst-case scenario even death.]

Oh, so that's why this damned dog bob and weaved through almost everyone one of my attacks.

Ethan kicked the wolf in the belly out of frustration.

So, what do I do with this piece of rock?

[Grip the orb in the palm of your hands and visualize it flowing within yourself]

A few moments later, he felt a strange sensation as if something was creeping slowly up his veins and spreading throughout his body then the feeling suddenly dissipated.

What a strange feeling, yuck!

Ethan shivered just remembering the sensation.

He finally turned towards the orange sphere with a strange smile.

Hehe, now what do you have in store for me?