The map was incredibly useful. When I zoomed in, it didn’t just show terrain, it marked where certain animals usually gathered. Right now, I was only about ten minutes away from the city, standing in the forest not far from where that man had been killed... where the fire had torn through everything.

I stood there with my hands buried in my uniform pockets, staring at the blackened remains of the trees.

Charred trunks rose around me like broken pillars, their bark cracked and peeling. The ground was still dark with ash, patches of it clinging to my boots as I shifted my weight. Some trees were completely hollowed out, their insides burned away, leaving thin shells that looked like they could collapse with a strong enough push.

"Damn..." I muttered.

I opened the map again and turned slightly. A little deeper into the forest, in the direction I was facing, I could see a small wolf icon inside a faint circle. That meant a pack usually roamed there.

I didn’t have much to work with. No weapon, no gear. Just fireball.

"Yeah... great," I muttered. "Hunting wolves with magic I barely understand."

I started walking.

The deeper I went, the less damaged the forest became. Burned trees gave way to living ones, thick trunks rising high, their branches stretching out and weaving together overhead. The canopy blocked out most of the sunlight, leaving the ground below in shifting patches of shadow.

The air felt heavier here, quieter.

Tall grass brushed against my legs as I moved, and low branches forced me to duck every now and then. The smell of damp earth replaced the burnt scent from before.

When I glanced to my left, I could still see the dirt road a short distance away, pale and open compared to the dense forest I was in now.

"So wolves really hang out this close to the road..." I muttered.

I kept moving, slow and careful.

The only sounds were the occasional rustle of leaves and the distant calls of birds I couldn’t name. It was strangely calm. Too calm.

"Come on, wolfies..." I whispered. "Don’t make me walk all day."

I checked the map again. My marker was right on top of the wolf icon. But there was nothing. Just trees. Shadows. Silence.

"You’ve gotta be kidding me."

Then something changed. A white exclamation mark appeared on the map, just a little further ahead. I frowned and focused on it, but no information popped up.

"What the hell is that... the system showing me a wolf on the map?"

I turned toward it, leaving the road behind me completely now, and started moving faster. A few minutes later, the trees suddenly thinned out and I stepped into a clearing.

A wide lake stretched out in front of me, almost perfectly circular, its surface dark and still like a sheet of glass. The water reflected the dim sky above, but something about it felt off. Too still. Too quiet. At the center of the lake, a jagged rock rose just above the surface.

And standing on it... a child.

An elf girl, small and shaking, her bare feet barely stable on the wet stone. Her clothes were damp, clinging to her, and her wide eyes darted around in panic. She had to be six or younger.

"Help! Anyone... please!"

I took a step forward, and that’s when I saw it.

Something moved beneath the water. A huge shadow.

It circled slowly beneath the surface, its shape distorted by the ripples, but there was no mistaking its size. It was far too large to be anything normal.

"What the hell..."

The water suddenly bulged upward. Then it exploded.

The creature burst out of the lake in a violent surge, sending water crashing in every direction.

It was massive. Its body was long and thick, like some twisted mix between a serpent and a fish, covered in slick, dark skin that glistened under the dim light. Patches of rough, scale-like growths ran along its back, jagged and uneven like broken armor.

Its head was the worst part.

Wide and flattened, with a mouth that stretched far too large for its face. Rows of thin, needle-like teeth lined its jaws, layered over each other like they had grown without order. Water streamed between them as it opened its mouth.

Its eyes were small, sunken, and completely black. No emotion. No intelligence. Just hunger.

It lunged toward the girl. She dropped flat at the last second, pressing herself against the rock as the creature’s jaws snapped shut inches above her head. The sound echoed across the water like a crack of bone.

The monster crashed back into the lake, disappearing beneath the surface again in a violent splash.

Ripples spread outward. Then the water went still.

The girl scrambled, trying to keep her balance, sobbing under her breath. "Help! Please!"

The shadow was already circling again beneath her. Faster this time.

"Oh, what is that..."

The girl’s eyes landed on me, and they widened instantly. She wasn’t just scared of the thing in the water anymore. She was scared of me. Her lips trembled, and then she broke into loud, panicked sobs, her small body shaking uncontrollably on that rock.

This wasn’t my problem. It really wasn’t. But leaving a kid there like that was the same as killing her myself.

I clenched my jaw and looked between the lake and the forest. A creature that could dive underwater would make my fireball almost useless. I had no weapon, no plan, and barely any mana to waste.

"Oh, crap..."

The bushes behind me rustled.

I turned, and my stomach dropped. Wolves stepped out from between the trees, one after another, their bodies low, their eyes locked onto me. There were too many to count properly at a glance. Ten at least. Maybe more... nah. Definitely more.

Great. Trapped between a lake monster and a pack of wolves. Though these wolves looked more like puppies, much smaller than the ones I’d seen in movies. At least they didn’t seem like the type to maul me in seconds.

I raised my hand without thinking and released a fireball. The flame shot forward and slammed into the nearest wolf, bursting against its side. The animal yelped as fire spread across its fur, then collapsed mid-step, twitching once before going still.

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> ENEMY SLAIN

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> +10 EXP

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