Shulim had frequently heard her father mention this name ever since she was old enough to understand. Whenever he bragged about his past achievements, he could never avoid this topic.
This raised a question: was her father, Rezerian, so proud of slaying a giant forest wolf simply because he had slain very few monsters?
No, quite the contrary.
Rezerian had defeated countless C-Class monsters. Whether during his service in the knights or later when he was charged with maintaining public order, the one thing Rezerian never lacked was monster-slaying missions.
Was it then because the giant forest wolf was highly dangerous and carried a massive bounty?
Not that either.
Slaying missions for giant forest wolves were almost non-existent. The reason was simple: they were native creatures of Shimulir, not monsters!
Unless they posed a serious threat to human survival, people would not actively drive them away.
The reason Rezerian placed such high value on that sudden encounter was that the giant forest wolf was exceptionally powerful. They were practically the absolute ceiling among C-Class creatures. No other C-Class entities—be they native creatures of Shimulir, invading monsters, or creatures mutated into monsters by demonic miasma—could surpass them in strength; at best, they could only draw close.
The history of such exceptionally powerful creatures was also extremely long. Even in the oldest ruins excavated by mankind, records of them could still be found.
According to ancient texts, all giant forest wolves originated from the same northern forest. In the past, they were not called by this name, but their original name had been lost to the river of time. Later generations, relying solely on memory, simply referred to them as the giant wolves from the forest, and eventually, their name became the giant forest wolf.
Unlike common wolf packs, the giant forest wolf was a solitary creature. Once they left their birthplace, they would never associate with their own kind again. Furthermore, for some unknown reason, they enjoyed wandering all over the world, earning them the moniker "wandering wolves," highly revered and praised by certain bards and traveling merchant groups.
In addition, giant forest wolves possessed incredibly high intelligence; rumors even claimed they could understand human speech.
Their personalities were also incredibly diverse: some were highly curious, some were cold and aloof, some were friendly with humans, and others were deeply hostile toward humanity. It reached a point where almost every single individual had a completely distinct personality, something never seen in normal animals of Shimulir...
Although she had only observed the giant forest wolf before her for a brief moment, Shulim could tell from its arrogant and indifferent gaze that it was clearly not of a friendly disposition.
Just as Shulim expected, the giant forest wolf scanned the goblin tribe, instantly grasping the situation. It then locked its gaze onto the only human present, its proud eyes carrying a trace of indifference.
It did not even move to act itself, but simply opened its mouth and let out a howl.
“Awoo—!”
Upon receiving its command, hundreds of wolves surged toward the goblin settlement.
The giant forest wolf itself remained standing quietly in place, surrounded by the pack. Like an arrogant king, it watched from the rear as its loyal subjects fought on its behalf.
Unlike goblins, wolves did not possess so many devious schemes; they would truly execute their king's orders with absolute loyalty.
Consequently, the fallen goblins suffered. One by one, their throats were ripped out by the wolves. Some struggled to crawl toward the huts, but they were quickly overtaken and met the same grim fate.
Judging by the scale of the pack led by this giant forest wolf, they had definitely not just wandered over by chance upon smelling blood. A pack this massive must have an exceptionally large territory, and the scent of blood could not have drifted that far.
It was highly likely that their original target was this goblin tribe all along.
It was just unfortunate that Shulim had beaten them to the punch.
Of course, expecting the wolves to thank Shulim was out of the question. Perhaps if she volunteered to be their dinner, they might consider it.
“Growl!”
“Growl!”
Several wolves lunged toward Shulim.
These ordinary members of the wolf pack clearly lacked the giant forest wolf's level of intelligence. They only judged threats based on size and weaponry. Shulim, who appeared entirely like a human child holding nothing but a wooden stick-like wand, was deemed completely harmless.
"【ᚣᛃᛋᛖᛚᛜᚢᚪᛖᛡᛞᚠᛟᛃᛜᛃᚾᚪᛜᛓᚠᛏᚱוᚠᛃᛖᛜᚢᚪᛖᛡᛓᛗᚠᚺ】"
“Fire Barrier!”
The suddenly rising barrier of flames left the wolves no time to react as they crashed straight into it.
Enveloped in fire, they writhed and rolled on the ground, howling in agony. For wolves with thick coats of fur, fire was their ultimate nemesis. After a few rolls, the flames did not subside in the slightest; instead, the wolves' movements gradually died down.
This turn of events naturally caught the attention of the other wolves.
The wolves, who had initially viewed this as an easy hunt, immediately grew tense, their assessment of Shulim's threat level skyrocketing.
“Awoo—!”
Perhaps their king was displeased by its subordinates' stupidity, or perhaps it had deduced something from Shulim's recent move.
It began to command the pack.
“Awoo!”
“Awoo!”
“Awoo...”
Dozens of wolves charged at Shulim from all directions simultaneously.
"【ᚣᛃᛋᛖᛚᛜᛁᛄᚾᛒᛜᚢᚪᛖᛡᛞᚠᛟᛃᛜᛃᚾᚪᛜᛚᚲᛜᛚᚪᛡᚠᛏᛖᛗᛜᛉᚠᚺᛗᛜᚣᛞᛖᚾᛜᛓᚠᛗᛃᛟᚺ】"
“Circle of Repulsion!”
Boom!
A massive ring of fire expanded outward with Shulim at the center, instantly repelling the pack's onslaught. Some of the leading wolves were caught in the flames, shrieking in pain.
With this wave, the pack suffered heavy losses, and their offensive was successfully thwarted.
Yet under the giant forest wolf's command, the pack quickly organized a new offensive.
Shulim was about to use the same technique again.
Whiz—!
Whiz—!
Whiz...
Suddenly, a barrage of whistling sounds cut through the air.
“Oh no!”
In her field of vision, Shulim spotted several spinetailed wolves lingering at the rear of the pack, whipping their tails. With every flick, numerous sharp quills shot out from their tails.
Shulim was forced to abandon her attempt to cast the Circle of Repulsion, redirecting her focus to dodging the projectiles. However, with so many incoming attacks flying at her at once, dodging them all was physically impossible.
Quills struck Shulim's body like arrows, instantly leaving numerous bloody gashes and tearing her clothes to shreds.
Fortunately, Shulim had never deactivated the Third-Tier Non-Elemental magic "Fortify." Under the defensive enhancement of Fortify, these attacks only punctured her skin and could penetrate no further.
"【ᛏרᚺᛓᛟᛗᛜᚻᚠᛏᛖᛡᛣᛏᚠᚳᛜᛃᚾᚪᛜᛣᚠᛟᚺᛗᛜᚠᛖᚢᛗᛡᛞᚠᛈ】"
“Wind Barrier!”
Enduring the pain, Shulim cast her spell. A barrier of green wind formed a seamless, airtight shield around her, instantly deflecting the incoming quills upon impact.
The crisis was temporarily averted.
However, the next threat was already breathing down her neck.
This time, a swarm of thick-skinned dire wolves led the charge. They were much faster and possessed immense raw power in their stride.
Their heads, which made up a disproportionately large part of their bodies, looked intimidatingly formidable.
"【ᛓᚠᛏᚱוᚠᛃᛖᛜᛖᛗᛞᚪᛡᛖᛞᛃᚺיᛤᛜᛖᛚלᚠᛟᛜᛃᛋᛄᚠᚪᛜᛖᚾהᛤ】"
“Rock Barrier!”
Shulim hurriedly cast her Earth magic, erecting a circular stone wall around herself.
Thud!
Thud!
Thud...
A series of heavy impacts shook the stone wall, causing it to wobble, but it ultimately managed to hold.
The dire wolves shook their heads and circled the stone wall. Finding no entrance, they aligned their massive foreheads with the stone surface and rammed into it with full force.
Their thick, massive skulls acted like battering rams, relentlessly hammering away at the defensive wall.
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