I Woke Up In Another World As A Slave

The first one burst through the underbrush like a shadow made flesh: thick-furred, eyes burning yellow, fangs flashing white. Stick barely had time to raise his sword before it lunged.

Clang!

Steel met tooth. The impact knocked him back two steps, boots skidding on the frozen ground. The wolf snarled, circling.

More shapes emerged from the dark. Four… no, five. Maybe more. Their growls overlapped like a living drumbeat, low and relentless.

Big Man stepped forward without hesitation. His shackles swung as he caught a lunging wolf mid-air, body turning with the weight. With a roar, he slammed it into a tree. A red floating text filled Stick's vision.

-210 LP

Stick's breath came fast. Keep it together. Don't freeze.

He gritted his teeth, used Parry on another charge, then slashed out, grazing fur. A red floating text filled his vision.

-75 LP

Not enough. His [Bronze Sword] was too slow, too light. Too weak.

But he stayed upright.

One of the wolves darted toward Nakamura.

The ex-Praetorian didn't move. He simply pointed with his lance.

A sharp flash. A sigil of fire spun into existence midair, and in a single blink, a lance of flame speared the wolf clean through. It yelped once, then vanished into ash.

"Focus!" Nakamura barked, already conjuring another glyph.

Stick ducked as a wolf leapt past him. Too fast. It curved back for a second strike.

Big Man intercepted again, catching it by the scruff and heaving it sideways. But more wolves were coming. The pack was testing them. And they were losing ground.

"We can't hold this line," Stick gasped.

"We don't need to," Nakamura said. "Look."

He pointed. The wolves had encircled them but had not attacked all at once. Tacticians, Stick realized. They're gauging our patterns.

"They're not beasts," Nakamura said grimly. "Their behavior is coded like soldiers."

As if on cue, two wolves feinted at Big Man, distracting him, while a third came in from behind.

Stick moved before he could think.

"Big Man! Left!"

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

He darted forward, shielded Big Man's blind spot, and drove his sword upward just in time to catch the wolf's leap.

-80 LP

It wasn't a perfect strike, but it was enough. The blade tore across its jaw, turning the lunge into a tumble.

Stick rolled with the momentum, landing hard on his back. The cold slammed into his spine.

"Stick!" Big Man yelled.

"I'm… fine!" he croaked, scrambling up.

The wounded wolf snarled, circling again.

Focus. Focus on Skills.

He waited. Breathed. Centered.

The wolf lunged again, and Stick stepped into it, blade angled back for a Parry.

CLANG!

Counterstrike triggered. A shimmer of red light pulsed through his sword as the blow landed.

-180 LP

The wolf's body jerked mid-air, stunned.

Stick followed through with a full slash to the neck.

-165 LP

The beast collapsed.

Another wolf came for him.

Nakamura slashed the air with a wind strike. A pulse sent it tumbling into a tree. Bark and bone cracked together. The beast whimpered and went still.

"Focus, Stick!"

Big Man roared again. He was bleeding now. Fuck, his Protection!

He checked Big Man's Combat Status. 0 LP. Still standing. Always standing.

Stick panted, blade shaking in his grip.

Two wolves left.

They were smarter now. Waiting. Watching.

"I've got the one on the right," Big Man growled.

Stick nodded. "Then I'll take the other."

They moved together.

Big Man surged forward like a battering ram. His wolf charged and met a rising knee—

-140 LP

-and a blow to the head—

-175 LP

-that crumpled it into the snow.

Stick's wolf hesitated, sensing weakness.

He let it come.

Counterstrike again.

-110 LP

Too slow.

The beast knocked him aside, jaws missing his face by inches.

He hit the snow hard. Rolled. Came up swinging.

The wolf lunged, and this time, Stick dropped low, slid under the leap, and drove his blade into its gut from below.

-270 LP (Critical!)

A perfect hit. The wolf crumbled on the ground beside him.

Silence fell.

Steam rose from the snow where the bodies had lain. Stick's breath rasped in his ears.

Then the system chimed.

+45 EXP

He stared at the notification. What?

He opened his Status to check the Experience Bar.

7650/8800 EXP.

"That's nothing!" he yelled.

"Five from the Goblin King and nine from each Dire Wolf," Nakamura said, glancing over. "Still think you can grind your way to Level Eleven?"

Stick sighed, scanning the area. The wolves shimmered. Lootable.

When he opened a window, he found… [Torn Fur]. So the restrictions apply to normal fights too…

Big Man clapped a heavy hand on his shoulder. "You fought well."

"Thanks, you too."

Stick took a closer look at Big Man's wounds. Claw marks on his arm, bright against the snow. Shit.

"Hold still," Stick said.

He pulled out some bandages from his Inventory, gifts from a friendly Carnifex soldier, and began wrapping the arm. The bleeding stopped like magic. Big Man's LP ticked up rapidly.

"I'm glad you have Berserker Regeneration," Stick said. "But a Healer would ease my mind a bit."

"Ain't that the truth," Nakamura commented. "But Healers are hard to find these days. Especially at your LVL."

Big Man, who had no interface, simply nodded in thanks. But Stick noticed it again. The way the NPC listened whenever Nakamura talked systems. He didn't see everything. But he understands. I'm sure.

Nakamura gave Stick a nod. "You will really need to gear up in Pridtur if you want to survive the Whispering Woods."

Stick nodded back. "Yeah. Ain't that the truth."

Ahead, the trees thickened into mist and shadow. The Whispering Woods stretched out before them like the open maw of something ancient and watching. Stick sheathed his sword with fingers still trembling from the fight, but it wasn't fear anymore. Not exactly. It was something else. Exhaustion, yes, but also a sharper awareness, as if the world itself had turned its gaze on them. They had survived the wolves, but just barely. They had disturbed the natural order, and the game had made them feel it. The Whispering Woods had let them in.

But they weren't welcome here.