"MANA YOU IDIOT! ENHANCE YOUR EYES!"
My eyes widened, mouth agape, as she answered.
Mana?
But—
ROAR!
Before I could think further, another wolf lunged at me.
My head snapped toward it.
It lunged low, jaw wide, ready to tear my leg off.
Shish.
My leg slid through the sand as I pulled it back.
Not even a breath later—
Chomp!
Its teeth snapped shut just where my leg had been a second before.
I reversed my grip so that the blade faced down and slammed the sword into the wolf's skull.
Shuk.
But just as the blade closed on it.
Skrtch.
Reached its paw out, slashing across my right shin.
"Arghh!"
Pain exploded in my leg.
Step.
I staggered for a moment, swaying as I forced myself into position.
The pain was immense, even standing hurt.
It felt like he had cut not only flesh but straight into my bone, leaving cracks behind.
I glanced down—
No.
It had only cut into flesh.
The wound wasn't even that deep.
But the pain was so intense that every shift of weight felt like my bone would snap.
I wanted to sit.
To rest.
Not forever.
Just for a moment.
Maybe a few seconds.
My body felt sluggish, as if I were craving this simple rest more than my life.
But I forced these thoughts away.
My jaw clenched tight, pushing the pain aside, and I lifted my sword again.
There was no time to rest here.
Rest meant death.
And I couldn't die.
I had a promise to keep.
But just as I thought another wolf would attack—
Nothing.
It felt like the wolves hesitated.
They flashed past me in a blur of black and grey—but their eyes felt different now.
Not like a predator's.
Confusion struck, and I let my eyes drift around me.
The pile of corpses around me had grown.
They turned into a barrier.
A wall of the dead.
Protecting me from the wolves' attacks.
It gave me some time to breathe.
Haah.
As my breath evened and the pain subsided.
Haah.
I thought back to the girl's words.
Enhance my eyes.
Those three words were enough.
It felt like a spark.
My mind raced.
Enhancing my eyes?
I had never even considered the thought of it.
There was only that one time when a teen bit deep into my arm.
I thought that he must have enhanced his jaw, but never spared a moment to think about it further.
What would enhancing your jaw even help with?
Biting my opponents to death?
The thought made me almost chuckle.
The same was true for the rest of my head.
Enhancing my head just seemed absurd.
What could I do with it?
Headbutts?
I had always used mana to enhance my body.
Arms.
Legs.
Chest.
Back.
It seemed logical.
To enhance my arm for a sword strike, I had to use various muscle groups. They worked like a chain connecting with each other until the movement was complete.
And I did just that.
Why should I have enhanced my head when I didn't even use it?
But—
The spark settled.
If strength and speed increased through enhancement…
Turning into an idea.
What would happen to my vision if I enhanced my eyes?
It felt like something clicked at that moment.
I checked my surroundings for another wolf´s attack before trying it.
My mana lines stopped at my collar.
I had never extended them upward.
Now I slowly started to built a mana line from my core toward my throat—
Then my eyes.
A thin line.
The same line that connected to my limbs.
But it was strange.
Why was it so hard?
It felt like I had to drill through some sort of barrier to reach my eyes.
Like water carving through stone.
There wasn't a problem like this with my lower body.
Why?
The answer came at once—
I had never enhanced my head.
The difference was that I had enhanced my body repeatedly, carving space through training before I built the mana lines.
To enhance my eyes—
ROAR!
My concentration broke at the roar.
A blur of black leaped over the pile of corpses.
My reaction was slow since I was too focused on my thoughts.
But the wolf was also slowed down by the wall of corpses between us.
It had to jump again to reach me.
Giving me enough time to react.
Its mouth opened wide, its fangs gleaming in the light as it aimed for my left arm.
My wrist turned, driving the blade diagonally through the side of its neck.
Shuk.
Awoo!
A weak howl escaped it before collapsing.
Slrrt.
I pulled the sword free.
Ahead, another pair of wolves drew closer, stepping over the corpses.
No time to rest.
I needed at least a few moments to enhance my eyes.
I even thought about giving up on it in this situation with constant attacks.
But something inside me screamed—
'You need this.'
To survive this battle.
I didn't know why, but there was no time to contemplate further.
ROAR!
The pair of wolves attacked.
The one on the right leaped for my throat while the other lunged at my leg.
A sense of deja vu hit me.
The image of the boy being torn apart flashed in my mind.
A shudder went down my spine at the memory.
I bit my lip hard enough to taste blood and moved.
My leg slid back in a half circle until I stood sideways while mana surged into my arms.
Shing.
I slashed diagonally at the airborne wolf.
Slrrsh!
I used even more mana than usual and severed its head cleanly, it felt like cutting through butter.
The sword continued its arc downward—
Slrrsh.
Thud.
—into the second wolf´s skull.
The force behind the slash was weak, and I couldn't go deep.
But it was enough.
Splurt.
Blood sprayed around, and on my face.
Thud.
The wolves collapsed.
For a second, I was blind.
I tore the sword free, bits of flesh flew through the air, and lifted my sword into position before wiping the blood away with my forearm.
Eleven corpses lay now around me.
The wolves hesitated even more.
Finally.
Some time to breathe.
I didn't waste it and focused on my eyes again.
I tried again to form the mana line and immediately felt it was wrong.
Not inherently wrong.
Just ineffective in this situation.
It felt like hours before I could enhance my eyes with this method.
The mana lines spread throughout my body were forged through hellish training and constant repetition.
I gained more proficiency in mana control.
Yes.
But I have never enhanced my head.
The path toward it wasn't as easy as the rest of my body, which I constantly trained.
Trying to delicately carve a new line mid-battle was impossible.
So I abandoned it.
And returned to the basics.
Instead of a thin line—
I just pushed mana into my head.
It was inefficient.
The leakage would be immense.
But it was enough—
Enough to break through that barrier.
Warmth spread.
Not a stream carving through stone—
It flooded upward like a tidal wave.
—but a tsunami breaking it.
Until my entire head was filled with mana.
Eyes.
Ears.
Nose.
Everything.
My vision sharpened at once.
Then—
"AGHHHH!"
A scream shattered my focus before I could see the rest of the changes.
The enhancement collapsed instantly.
No wolves attacked me, which gave me time to turn my head.
Behind me—
It happened fast.
A boy swung his sword, slashing the wolf before him, but he didn't see the second one.
It lunged at him from the side.
Right as his focus was centered on the first wolf.
When his sword was stuck in its chest.
He couldn't react.
And—
CHOMP!
The wolf bit down on his left arm.
Bones broke, and he lost his balance before being helplessly pulled out of the circle.
"AGHHHH!"
He vanished behind a wall of black and grey.
Gone.
"ARGHH!"
But his screams broke through the pack of beasts, echoing across the arena.
"AHH—"
His screams died down.
Blood splashed around, coloring the wolves crimson.
One of the wolves lifted its head.
The boy´s severed arm hung from its jaws.
Blood flowed down its fangs and onto the ground.
Then—
Crack.
The wolf bit it in half.
Bits of bone and flesh sprayed around as blood colored its snout crimson.
Terror.
Absolute terror.
But the terror had only begun.
"HELP!"
And wouldn't end any time soon.
Another desperate cry shook the arena.
My eyes shifted toward the scream.
A gap was created as the teen was pulled out of the circle.
And the wolves didn't let that chance pass.
Wolves surged through the gap, rushing toward the next teen.
The boy was fending off the wolf in front of him when—
Another leaped onto him from the back.
The wolf´s claws cut into his flesh, carving a foothold, as his fangs descended into his shoulder.
The pain paralysed him, and another wolf bit into his sword arm.
Bones broke.
Blood splashed.
But the teen kept standing, waiting desperately for help.
It wouldn't take long before he, as well, was pulled out of the circle.
Just as I thought, that broke another shout through.
"CLOSE THE GAP!"
It was the girl.
Luck or not.
The wolves were occupied with tearing apart the first corpse while the others focused on the struggling teen.
No wolf had fully broken into our circle yet.
"ARGHH!"
Another cry of pain escaped the teen as the wolves bit deeper into his flesh.
He tried to push the one off his shoulder with his free hand.
But it was pointless.
He would die if no one helped him.
The teens shouted one after the other.
"MOVE! DON'T LET THEM IN!"
"GROUP TOGETHER!"
They moved, closing the gap at once.
The circle grew smaller.
One teen ran toward the one struggling with the wolves, sword lifted, ready to help.
He appeared behind him and reached out with his hand.
But—
Instead of helping.
He shoved him forward.
My eyes widened.
Thud.
The teen lost its balance and fell forward, toward the pack of wolves.
"AGHHH!"
The teen who shoved him closed the gap at once and fended off another wolf.
AWOO!
A howl broke through, making my focus snap forward again.
"ARRGHHH!"
Behind me—
The teen's screams continued.
The sound of tearing flesh and cracking bones echoed louder than it should.
Soon—
"AGH—"
His screams died down.
But the sound of flesh being torn apart continued.
He was dead.
There was no use in thinking anymore about it.
Shoving him toward the wolves.
It was an inhuman decision.
But it was the correct decision.
Either him—
Or us.
And—
We couldn't all survive.