Before I even knew what was happening, the world shifted around me.
One moment, I was talking to the big white wolf.
The next—boom—I was falling into complete, endless darkness.
Pitch black.
All sides.
No light. No sound. No exit.
My paws touched cold ground, but it felt like I was standing in a void.
I growled low.
"What the fuck is this place…?"
Suddenly—slowly—light started to appear in the distance.
A faint, eerie glow that barely illuminated the ground ahead.
Then came the sound.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
Followed by an eerie wet squelching noise.
I crouched low, instincts firing.
Out of the darkness, green-skinned creatures began crawling forward, shambling and twitching unnaturally.
I squinted.
Goblin? Maybe? But… no.
These things had green tentacles where their faces should be. No eyes. No noses. Just writhing, slimy tentacles sprouting from their heads, swaying in rhythm with that disgusting sound.
At least this time they didn't have daggers in the tentacles.
Thank the gods for small mercies.
"Well," I growled, smirking, "at least you guys don't look armed. Unlike that hentai wolf freak I fought last time."
I remembered what the Wolf Guardian had told me: "Kill as many as you can. The more you kill, the stronger the blessing."
Simple enough.
"Let's get started."
Without hesitation, I lunged at the nearest green freak.
SNAP!
My jaws clamped down on its disgusting tentacle-covered face, tearing through it like wet paper. The creature spasmed once—then fell limp.
"Whew," I huffed, spitting out the slimy mess. "That was easy."
No time to rest. More were coming.
Bite.
Bite.
Claw.
Bite.
I was on a rampage. Tearing through them. One after another. They died with pitiful gurgles.
At first it was pure survival. But as I kept going… something started changing.
I lost track of time—hours, days? I had no idea.
I was just killing.
Hunting.
Feeding the bloodlust.
Then… something odd happened.
Between kills, I caught a glimpse of myself in a puddle of black blood.
My eyes.
They were no longer red. They were glowing gold.
Golden light radiated from my fur.
With each kill, the glow grew brighter—stronger.
Power surged through my veins. I felt invincible.
Still, the fight wasn't easy.
Killing so many was draining. My muscles burned. My breath came in ragged gasps. But I couldn't stop. I wouldn't stop.
Then another strange thing happened.
After a few more kills, a faint golden silhouette began to appear around me—a shimmering apparition that looked exactly like me.
But larger. Stronger. Ethereal.
At first, I thought I was hallucinating.
But when I lunged at a goblin 100 meters away, the golden version of me moved ahead of my body—almost like an energy clone—and obliterated the goblin in a burst of gore.
"What the fuck?!" I blinked.
I slashed at another goblin.
Again—my claws triggered a phantom slash, a golden arc that shredded everything in its path.
Hahahaha.
I started laughing—madly, wildly, teeth bared.
My blood was boiling. My heart was racing.
"HAAAAAAHAAAAAA! COME AT ME!" I howled. "MORE! MORE!"
The more I killed, the more this power grew. The goblins began thinning out, but I didn't care—I wanted more.
The golden light around me grew to a blinding shine. My aura alone began to fry goblins before I could even reach them.
Blood.
Screams.
Glory.
It was the purest high I'd ever felt.
"Huff… huff…" I panted, standing atop a mountain of corpses.
"Was that all?!" I roared into the void.
"Give me MORE!"
And then—everything went black.
I collapsed.
When I opened my eyes again… I was back in the snow cave.
Flat on the icy ground, body aching, head spinning.
Standing before me was the Wolf Guardian.
But he wasn't smiling this time.
He was staring at me in shock—like I had done something horrible.
Like I had just murdered his entire family or eaten his lunch.
I blinked at him, confused.
"Uh… what happened? Did I pass… the test?" I asked hesitantly.
The Guardian didn't answer at first. He just pointed one trembling paw at me.
"Y-Y-Y-You…" he stammered. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"