Thick fog covered the floors as broken lights hang from the ceilings, flickering every now and then. Y/n and Jinwoo continue to walk side by side as the (h/c) haired female took in their surroundings. It looked like an old shopping mall, with rows of shutters closed down with a piece of paper taped at the front. The ceiling was broken with scraps of metal hanging out, creaking with every blow of the wind.
Their every step making a soft crunch. Jinwoo kept glancing at their back, sweating "What should we do...?" Jinwoos eyes darted everywhere, he was anxious "I don't think I can do this..." Y/n worriedly looked at Jinwoo, "Jinwoo you're stronger than you know, We're in this together, okay?" Y/n calmly stated to ease the black haired males nerves.
Y/n slowed on her tracks as she stated "There's a foul stench..." Y/n continued to sniff at the air, trying to identify the smell "Is this the smell of..."Jinwoo also now stopped as he breathed out "...A beast-type monster?" Y/n pinched the bridge of her nose as she sighed "Jinwoo stop, you're scaring yourse-" Y/n froze midsentence as she dodged the bite of a black furred wolf.
It had some sort of another sharp metal teeth attachment by its jaw. Jumping to the right just in the nick of time. Jinwoo flinched as he saw another wolf, coming towards him with a chomp, It has red colored fur, with the same metal attachment. Jinwoo jumped to the left stopping himself with a halt, his shoes making a screech.
'Wolf?!' Both thought as they saw its name right above the wolfs head [Steel-Fanged Lycan]. Y/n and Jinwoo now had a wolf each, both staring at them like they were pieces of meat, 'I can barely take on a couple of goblins.' blood red eyes glowed as the two wolves growled, preparing to strike ' Will I be able to win this fight...?' Jinwoo sighed, looking straight at the red wolf "My legs..." Jinwoo tried tugging on his legs but it was no use "...Wont move...!"
Y/n was at another side of a narrow alley, the wolf was bigger than her, heck, it was bigger than the red wolf, she guessed that it might be the Alpha Wolf. It bared its teeth at her, it crouched slightly, Y/n knew it was going to attack her any second now.
She ran, fast as she could, away from the black wolf. It was a bad move on her part, she turned her back towards it, making it an open spot. The wolf naturally, chased after her, she was stupid, the Alpha wolf tackled her to the ground, she turned around to face the wolf, at the corner of her eyes she saw something glint, it was just within her reach, a broken pipe, the wolf now opened its mouth, ready to bite off her head, Y/n held the pipe tightly and shoved it down the wolfs throat.
The wolf staggered, swinging its head to take it out. It began to growl in anger as Y/n and the wolf now stood face to face 'No more running away' Y/n thought. Y/n steeled herself as the wolf went for her head again, jumping high, Y/n saw an opening and slid under the wolf and grabbed the broken pipe again. In a moment of confusion, the wolf turned around, as it did, Y/n quickly swinged her weapon at the wolf, strongly knocking it back to the closed shutters, creating a large crash.
Y/n's legs trembled slightly, she knew that she was a little scared, who wouldn't be. But she knew that she had to face this wolf, she then gritted her teeth, her eyes not leaving the wolf "Let's do this!"
==
'Why? Why...?!' Jinwoo thought, eyes narrowing as he gritted his teeth 'Is it because... I'm scared?' Jinwoo thought back to when he faced the Statue of God 'I didn't think I had any lingering trauma...' the red wolf now approaching him with quick steps
"CRAP...!" Jinwoo didn't have time to think as he dashed to his right as soon as the red wolf went to bite him "Urgh!" the black haired male tried to balance himself as he dodged 'I don't have a healer with me! I can't get hurt this time, no matter what!'
The lycan was not done though, as it delivered another bite, this time it almost got Jinwoo's head, Jinwoo barely managed to move his face. Jinwoo performed a somersault backwards with one hand, he stumbled on his landing, crashing into the shutters right behind him with a thud "Huh?" Jinwoo exclaimed out loud as he still stayed upside down, his head on the floor. He then proceeded to use his arms to push himself upwards to flip up in the air 'My body...' He went over the wolf as he nailed his landing this time 'My body feels light!'
Jinwoo landed on the floor with a wham, he had his back turned to the wolf, as it tried to bite him, Jinwoo quickly whipped his body around to face the wolf "I WAS GIVEN A SECOND CHANCE AT LIFE!" Jinwoo gritted his teeth in concentration 'I cant give in to the fear now!' Jinwoo delivered a swift punch at the wolf, right below its jaw.
"I REFUSE TO DIE SO EASILY!" Jinwoo screamed as he easily sent the red wolf flying back into the metal shutters with a crash "What's this?" the male saw that his fist was covered in light as he opened them slightly staring at his hand with eyes wide open 'Is this happening because I raised my Strength stats?'
He averted his eyes from his hand as soon as he heard another growl from the shutters 'But...' The wolf looked angry, its forehead was scrunched up, red eyes glowing '...Its still stronger than me!' the unharmed wolf stalked towards Jinwoo, but this time Jinwoo was the one who striked first, throwing punch after punch at the wolf 'Just as I thought, this isn't enough...'
The red wolf has had enough, it jumped high up in the air to launch at Jinwoo 'Monsters aren't affected much by normal attacks.' Jinwoo twisted his body, lifting up one leg, to deliver a roundhouse kick to the wolf, sending it flying again 'Even this mob is stronger than me...'
The wolf was back again, crunching on some scrap metal as it made its way to Jinwoo 'DAMMIT' the wolf looked at Jinwoo with drool dripping down its mouth, its sharp metal teeth glinting in the dark 'What do I do?' the wolf opened its mouth to let out a large bark 'Its too much for me alone!'
Jinwoo dashed away from the wolf and faced it. The wolf followed after him, Jinwoo slid to the right as the wolf made a move to bite him, who instead got a bite on thin air. Jinwoo was slowing down, 'I CANT WIN!' this time the wolf managed to scratch Jinwoo with its claws, three scratch marks appeared on Jinwoos left thigh.
'Party... Healers... Equipment... I don't have any of those!' The wolf dashed towards Jinwoo to try and take a bite out of his arms this time, trying to immobilize him, Jinwoo continued dodging 'What do I have that can allow me to beat it?' Jinwoo tried to kick the wolf again, but the wolf dodged fast enough 'What I have is just my body...'
'A weapon possessing magic power...'
'If only I had a weapon...!' Jinwoo widened his eyes in realization '...A weapon?' Jinwoo then went back on his footing looking beside him to summon a window as he screamed out the command "INVENTORY!" there was one weapon stored in it, Jinwoo reached into the window as blue cracks of lighting appeared, 'Yeah...' his weapon materializing as he took out his hand , tightly gripping the hilt of the sword 'I don't know why this is in here, but' as soon as Jinwoo got the sword from his inventory, he delivered a quick swipe straight in the middle of the red wolf splitting it in half in the air as it whooshed past him.
'The blade that Mr. Kim Sang-Shik left behind in the double lair!' Jinwoo brought the sword back down getting it stuck on the floor, now covered in the blood of the dead Lycan that layed in two pieces right behind him. Blood decorated the walls and shutters where it got killed.
[Alarm]
[You have defeated the [Steel-Fanged Lycan]
[Alarm]
You Leveled Up!
"Didn't Mr. Kim Sang-shik say that he bought this for 3 million won?" Jinwoo exclaimed out loud as he took a once over at the sword on the ground "So expensive... Usually I probably couldn't even afford to touch it, but I'll use this sword for now."
Jinwoo turned his attention in front of him, his inventory window still open "An inventory, huh? That's pretty useful" Jinwoo continued to marvel at his empty inventory, thinking of the things he can store "Can I store anything in here?" What Jinwoo didn't hear was the multiple footsteps of two more Lycans, he calmly turned to face them once he noticed their presence, breathing out a huff of air "Since I have a weapon..." [Steel-Fanged Lycan] hang above their heads as they stared at Jinwoo with glowing red eyes "I'm not afraid anymore." Jinwoo turned to them with a smirk, turning to look at his weapon as he tugged on it.
"..."
"WHY CAN'T I PULL IT OUT?!" Jinwoo screamed as he struggled to pull at his sword with two hands, grunting "COME ON!" Jinwoo gritted his teeth as he gave the sword a furious stare "COME OUT!!!" Jinwoo turned his back on the two wolves as he sucked on his teeth still trying to pull out the sword.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!!" the black haired male let out a battle cry as he pulled on the sword with all his might, finally managing to lift it from the ground, successfully swinging it at the first wolf killing it instantly but as soon as the sword faced the second wolf, the wolf was able to grab the sword with the help of its metal fangs "?!" Jinwoo clicked his tongue as he stared at the wolf with wide eyes. The wolf had a tight grip on the blade of Jinwoo's sword slightly chipping the blade,eyes burning red, it had the intent to snap the blade in half.
"HE'S NOT CALLED "STEEL-FANGED" FOR NOTHING!" Jinwoo continued to fight for the sword but it was no use, the wolf had no plans of letting it go "I CAN'T LET MR. KIM'S SWORD..." Jinwoo lifted his foot to swiftly kick the wolf in its middle making it loose its grip on the sword "GO TO WASTE!!" Jinwoo took this opportunity to quickly slice the red wolf in half. Another wolf stood where the carcass of the previous one landed, looking at it in alert.
"Now that I think about it, you guys..." Jinwoo remembered the sheer strength of the stone statues in the double lair "When compared to those monsters," Jinwoo turned to look at the last Lycan in the vicinity sword still in hand, making the wolf shudder, as it flattened its ears, and retreated backwards in the shadow, eyes glowing until it disappeared, scared that it was going to get sliced into two pieces next "...are far too weak."
==
Y/n waited for the Alpha, broken pipe still on her hand, she heard a terrifying growl come from the wolf beyond the shutters, she saw the wolfs eyes glow a bright red, as it walked out, swirls of red mist circles the wolf's paws, it was big before, but now it looked like it grew even bigger.
The Alpha howled, head raised in the air as more swirls of red mist surrounded the wolf, the wolf brought its upper body up, its strong hind legs supporting himself, as the wolf lowered his body back down with force, six red lights came from the ground, what looks to be, coming from it claws.
It came fast for Y/n, it broke the ground beneath her as she jumped, her body felt light as a feather as she came down, the wolf can now attack her from a distant range 'it grew stronger...?' Y/n continued to inch closer to the black wolf, quickly swiping the broken pipe down to land a hit, each time the wolf retaliated just as quick, as Y/n jumped back before the wolf bites off her arm. No matter what she does, the wolf still appears to be unharmed.
The wolf charged straight at Y/n with lightning speed, red mist following behind him. Y/n barely dodged the black Lycan as it tear and grazed her clothes. Y/n this time, charged at the wolf, the wolf looked like it grinned as it twisted its body to quickly swipe its sharp claws at her. She managed to jump back just in time, but something burned her.
She looked at the floor only to see a red spot from where the wolf spinned. It tried to attack her again, glowing red claws straight for her face, Y/n jumped to the right to dodge. When the wolf realized that Y/n no longer charged at it, he jumped high in the air, trying to crush her body from above. As the alpha landed, the floor dented from the force it took, leaving another red burning spot from below.
'How do I kill it...' Y/n thought as she struggle to move, panting. The wolf saw an opportunity as it swiped at her three consecutive times. The last one managing to scratch Y/n in her non-dominant arm, it oozed out a bit of blood as she winced, Y/n threw the broken pipe straight at the wolf's snout, as is whimpered a little from the impact 'I have good aim...?'
The wolf suddenly disappeared from thin air as it ran around Y/n, leaving multiple shadow figures behind him, it was trying to confuse her, suddenly from her peripherals, she saw the wolf come at her, lowering her upper body as she dashed to the side immediately facing the alpha bringing out her palm as a shot of purple lighting came from her hand , shocking the wolf, making it howl.
'What...was that' Y/n looked at her palm in amazement it still emitted out small sparks of purple lighting as she stared at it, the wolf made another mad dash at her, lightly scalding her , she dodged right on time. The wolf was not stopping now, it continued to come at her again and again. 'He's not getting any weaker!' It was as if the wolf had an unlimited supply of stamina.
It disappeared into thin air yet again as Y/n focused, trying to pin point the exact location of the wolf as it continued to leave traces of copies of itself, Y/n was growing desperate she doesn't have anything on her, she still can't control the magic from earlier if you could just have something that can help her Y/n widened her eyes as she gasped suddenly "Inventory...!"
She quickly glanced at the window that appeared beside her, there was an orb, she reached out to the window, blue sparks come from where her hands went through, she felt the smooth surface of the colorless gem on her fingertips, her vision. 'How...?' She didn't know how it got there, she thought she had lost it in the double lair. As she pulled out her arm from the window, her vision materializes, golden border that encased the orb glinted in the dark as she tightly grasped it with her dominant hand.
The colorless orb glowed brightly as it transformed into a basic greatsword, placing it in front of her as she grabbed it with both hands, just in time, any more later and the wolf would've had her head. The wolf and Y/n's sword crashed into each other, the wolf was knocked back due to the impact. Y/n quickly steeled herself and reeled back her weapon, raising it in the air with a huff, and quickly bringing it down with a battle cry, swiping at the wolf, bright purple light came from the greatsword as soon as Y/n swiped the weapon down, the wolf could not react in time as the swipe of light hit him in the leg , cutting him deeply, making blood spray out from the wound.
[Alarm]
[You leveled up!]
Swing after swing of Y/n's weapon as it left grazes on the wolf, finally injuring it. The wolf was hurt as it stood in the middle of their battlefield, it growled and howled so loudly, Y/n had to cover her ears as she winced.
Stronger swirls of red mist came from the wolf as the wind pushed her back. The wolf, made illusions of smaller red lycans, as they lunged at the female. It was trying to stall to buy itself time to recover.
Y/n clicked her tongue as she pushed through, damaging the wolf as much as she can, the wolf now stopped howling as it dodged her attack, burst of fire flames came from the wolf's mouth headed towards Y/n, the (h/c) haired female dodged left and right, the wolf was now growing tired as in panted slightly.
It doesn't seem to have a pattern in which way it attacks, this makes it slightly harder for Y/n to determine what it was going to do next. It seems like the more time she takes to study the wolf, the more stronger the wolf becomes. She just noticed that red flames now covered the wolf from its tail, intricate designs on its body, the hair on its head , burned a pretty shade of red. She charged yet again at the wolf's side, it quickly faced her and opened its mouth wide, Y/n changed her stance as she brought up her sword, swiping it down to the wolf's head, who shook her off just as quickly. That's when she noticed something.
Widening her eyes in realization, she smirked as she narrowed her eyes, the wolf had a blind spot, she was so focused on just attacking it that she didn't notice earlier. The wolf also tried hard to make it focus only on its head. Y/n focused her power on her legs, sit was her turn to hunt now. Y/n disappeared with a spark of purple lighting , quickly reappearing beside the wolf's face, the wolf tried to bite her off but Y/n disappeared again, this time appearing on the other side of the wolf.
Y/n did this a few more times , confusing the wolf, for the last time, Y/n reappeared on the wol'f middle right beside its stomach, an opportunity. She put focused her power on both of her hands and her sword, covering the weapon in purple light as she quickly swiped down, a cry leaving her lips as she did. The wolf could do nothing but howl in pain as his body was cut in half, blood gushing out from his insides, splattering a bit on Y/n's face as the blood sizzled, ticking her face a little bit. The wolf lay in a pool of its blood, slowly returning to its original size, before turning into white particles, and disappearing.
[Alarm]
[You have defeated the [Lupus Notos]
[Alarm]
You Leveled Up!
The wolf's body was now gone, Y/n noticed that it left an item, It was the wolf's red eyeball. Y/n brought up her inventory window, placing the eyeball in an empty slot. She turned her gaze to her weapon, it glowed bright as it turned back to its original form, a colorless orb. The female closed her (e/c) colored eyes and sighed, still holding the orb in her palm, she made her way back to where she was before she got separated from Jinwoo. Her footsteps, echoing in the now empty battlefield.
To be continued...
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SOLO LEVELING
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Word count: 3438
Date published: May 29, 2024