Demon Wolf

“If you don’t give me a wide enough berth, I will turn your chicken into breaded nuggets!” Wolf warned the approaching rider.

He kept butchering without raising his gaze, but given the talons’ beating, he knew the bird was detouring around him. The road was twelve meters wide; if the rider could not avoid a single pedestrian, they deserved whatever punishment he sent their way.

The faceless girl, which Wolf never bothered to examine, laughed behind his back. Based on her voice, he imagined her appearance. In his mind’s eye, he saw her pointing her finger at Jiji’s unlucky, battered owner.

I wonder whether she’s mocking her because I slew her mount, or because of the state of her clothes? Maybe it’s because she lost to a man? Wolf entertained idle thoughts as the Sprinting Peacock dashed away. He glanced at his ill-fated attacker giving the departing girl the finger.

Why do they have that gesture in a matriarchal world?

“And you!” the dismounted girl shouted, but at least she had put away her sword.

“Your tits are still showing. Get dressed, then we can talk.”

“Shitty shy old man!” She turned around and changed her clothes, while Wolf shook his head and focused on hacking.

I’m only twenty. He wished to grumble, but muttering like that would mean he had stooped to a bratty teen’s level.

“What now?” The girl tugged at her sash, tightly binding her waist.

“Now you walk.” Wolf shrugged. “Unless I’m mistaken, the Earth Pavilion is down that road, and you can’t miss it.”

“What about Jiji?” she shouted, but Wolf shot her a gaze which killed her will to argue.

“I’ll give you some once I roast him? He should be quite the treat with the right seasoning.” Wolf mocked her, and even though he knew he should not, he enjoyed the throbbing vein on her forehead and jaws clenched so tight she risked cracking her teeth.

“Do you know who I am? I’ll tell Mom,” she shouted, resorting to the same foolproof recipe she relied on for the last ten-odd years. However, Wolf was no fool, and her lines, which guaranteed triumph in most encounters, fell on deaf ears.

“Fuck your mother. If she was worth anything, she wouldn’t have let a stupid brat like you out of her sight.” Wolf rolled his eyes. “Given how many laws this country has, they should make a license to procreate. That would reduce the number of idiots like you—”

“Aaa!” the young lady shouted, summoned her sword and charged at Wolf, heedless of her safety.

I shouldn’t have said that. I don’t want to break her bones now. Chains tugged at his soul when he considered sparing her. I goaded her. This violates the rules of self-defense and is punishable by law. It’s most definitely outside the bounds of my oath to break her bones if she attacks.

Only once he rationalized his decision did Wolf feel the shackle of unfulfilled promise disappear.

He sidestepped, reaching for the girl’s wrist. He planned to twist it and have her drop her blade; however, the young lady evaded his grapple and shifted her downward cleave into a sideways slash.

Wolf awakened his senses, and the scent of blood assailed him. He noted the girl had freed her hair of twigs, but she did not tie it properly and her frenzied charge had messed it up again. Her eyes were bloodshot with rage and humiliation, and her humble chest moved, drawing a ragged breath. Muffled by her enraged roar, the slam of distant running talons entered Wolf’s ears.

She’s gone berserk. Can’t blame her. I mutilated more than one idiot for cursing my parents when I was younger.

Seeing the unknown girl move at a snail’s pace, lashing with insignificant, yet genuine murderous intent, Wolf stepped forward and struck with his left. The palm to the solar plexus blindsided the young woman and sent her flying in a normal flow of time.

“I apologize. I was wrong to call your mother worthless and further insult her. How about we call a truce?” Wolf offered, but the gasping girl glared at him, her eyes screaming murder.

“Jiji,” she wheezed, near vomiting.

Fuck Jiji, he yearned to say, but could not. He was the adult in this conversation, and he had become the person in the wrong.

“I’m sorry. I’m unable to resurrect Jiji. I can give you his nub or we could discuss some other form of compensation.” Wolf tried to appear polite, but looming over a coughing girl with his arms bloody up to his elbows did not paint the most amicable picture.

“Don’t dawdle on the road, peasant!” a rider shouted, wisely choosing to show her superiority by trampling the doubled-over girl, rather than the man painted in blood standing two paces away.

What the hell? Wolf jumped, barely snatching the terrified girl out of the careening bird’s path.

He awakened his senses yet again, making sure his seven hundred kilos of weight would not crush the fragile girl as they tumbled. By the time he stood up, the flightless bird and its rider had passed.

“What the hells is wrong with you people? Why are you trying to run over pedestrians?” Wolf shouted at the shaken girl.

“To reach the peak of cultivation, one must trample all their rivals,” she mumbled, staring in fear after the Sprinting Peacock, which nearly ran her over.

Wolf blinked. One, two…

He waited, but even after reaching five, the nonsense he had heard remained nonsense.

“Are you people crazy? Whoever said that almost certainly didn’t literally mean you should walk or ride atop others to establish dominance.” Any regret Wolf felt over calling this girl’s mother stupid vanished.

“Who are you to question our ancestors? All established cultivator families in Boreo abide by this golden rule!” Seeing her smug expression, Wolf’s palm itched to slap the teeth out of the stupid little wench’s mouth.

Instead, he drew a sharp breath through his nose. One, two…

“Good luck!” He turned around and left Jiji’s mangled body on the road. What remained was too difficult to butcher, and apparently, he would get plenty of poultry along the way. He could afford to take only the prime meat and leave the rest, claiming it a warning for anyone trying to trample him.

“Wait! What am I supposed to do now? You…” she hesitated. “Thank you for saving me from trampling.”

Wolf remained silent. He did not even wave goodbye as he advanced towards his goal.

These people really are savages. It’s best not to mingle with them. And no wonder they bred animals who run fast without making noise. Stupid bastards must believe them necessary in every household. Wait… What if it’s just some industrious breeder of Sprinting Peacocks? I could almost respect such a ruthless businessman.

Wolf made his way through the forest, aware of the eyes watching him from the trees and bushes. Earth Pavilion’s people are monitoring the road and everything taking place here. I wonder whether this is also a part of the entrance exam, or are they bored and wish to see who tramples whom to pave their way into the sect?

Ultimately, Wolf did not care. He acted oblivious of the overseers and enjoyed the towering flora lining the path. The twelve-meter-wide earthen road was flanked by two meters of trimmed grass on either side, after which bushes and trees followed. The skyline was cleared following the exact same width of sixteen meters, matching the road and its encompassing lawn.

Three more unfortunates tried to trample Wolf. He handled the situation a bit more smoothly than the first time; with less hesitation and without cursing people for being stupid. It was obvious the girls’ were not at fault; their entire nation was insane.

What surprised Wolf was the fact that his direct approach backfired. All three young women ignored his warnings, and wound up crumpled on the road, wailing, six of their bones broken with surgical precision.

Wolf kicked them off the road, fearing someone would trample such prime targets to death. He was about to butcher his fourth chicken, when he caught something out of the corner of his eye.

He roared in laughter, standing above the beheaded dinner. 

A black apple hung from a branch high above his head, barely visible.

“This brings back memories,” he said for the benefit of people watching him.

Then, instead of butchering the chicken, he yanked out its nub and dragged the bulky corpse into the undergrowth. Wolf moved slowly enough to give those monitoring him time to move out of his way.

He hauled the carcass seventy meters deep into the forest and left it under a thick trunk. “Enjoy your meal, you lucky bastard.”

Years ago, he had spent an extended period of time in a forest called Fellwood, chopping down these intelligent black apples. Unfortunately, just like Wolf’s home lacked Qi, this world lacked Anima, and this interesting Monster Beast was as dull as a doornail, oblivious of his kind intent.

The bestiaries he read in the House of Fairness mentioned the Qi apple as one of the elite crops grown for cultivators, but the cost of growing them was so absurd they were considered exotic delicacies.

I still have ten thousand black apples, which I didn’t sell in the House of Fairness because of their budget, and because I might barter them for something more useful with other cultivators.

sleepydad88 Random Roll - Three teens tried to run over Wolf. The number of them stupid enough to attack his after he knocked them down was d6-3. We ended up with three.