They sat on the hill, watching the wolves run between the hills. Very few of the took a path that made any approach on the surrounding mounds, but the ones that did were quickly set upon by their larger brethren before being dragged up, supposedly as food. It was a disturbing sight, seeing wolves cannibalize each other. They had prime meat on another hill, yet they did not approach. They barely moved a few feet from their den and immediately returned. What made the hills so special that the wolves refused to leave them? They couldn’t see anything of particular value on top of the other hills or their own currently. Maybe when they cleared the hill they were currently sitting on they would find out, but for now, they needed to recuperate at least some of their mental and physical energy.

  “Did anyone else feel soke kind of breakthrough?” Enki asked as they sat

  “I did.” Said Trevor.

  “Same here.” Said Fayde.

  “I also felt it.” Added Matia,

  “I think I’m just about there.” Guidry mentioned shyly.

  “How far off do you think you are?” Lith asked.

  “I feel like I’m right at the threshold.”

  “Should be there once we take out the one on top of the hill.” Matia mentioned.

  “Strange that its waiting.” Fayde said contemplatively. “Wolf packs generally leave the female pack leader and pups in the den. The ones that came from the top were probably the other den protectors, but why isn’t she attacking?”

  “Why would the den be at the top of the hill and not near the base?” Trevor asked.

  “Most of the wolves that attacked us didn’t come from a hill. They were spaced around the hills. When they retreated, the ones that got too close to a hill were attacked by the wolves on top of the hill. They all naturally blend into the environment and so far, we haven’t seen any other predators. The safest place would be in the available high spots.” Fayde gestured to the horizon. “And so far from what I can see the hills are the only high spots.”

  They continued talking about the strange circumstances surrounding the hills and the wolves. After a while, the strained pressure on their minds and bodies lessened to a point they felt comfortable with trying to take the hill again.

  “Everyone ready?” Lith asked. The family nodded before Trevor noticed something.

  “You’re not going to heal your arm?” Trevor asked as she pointed at Lith’s left forearm. There were claw marks from one of the wolves who assaulted him on the back line. The blood had stained the rope bracelet on his wrist, and while it looked like the flow of blood had mostly stopped Lith had yet to mend the wound.

  “It’s not affecting my ability to fight, and the bleeding had stopped.” Lith said flexing his hand into a fish and rotating the injured arm. He winced with the pain as the coagulating blood cracked and let a small amount of blood flow.

  “What was that about the bleeding having stopped?” Matia asked.

  “It’s fine.” Lith said as he looked up the hill. “Need to save the energy in case one of you is hurt. I’m not going to let a little flesh wound like this be the reason I can’t heal any of you.”

  They stood and nodded in understanding as they made their formation on the hill. Matia, Fayde, Lith and Trevor became the front line, all of them having a class with martial abilities, while Enki and Guidry stood behind them, planning to make their use of range to their advantage. As a family, they ascended the hill. Whatever came next, they were ready for it.

  When they first crested over the hill, they saw nothing. The growling was a constant bother on their nerves, yet they couldn’t see what was making it. The only thing they could see not on top of the hill was a small cluster of alabaster rocks. It looked like a large pile of needle like stones gathered by the wolves on the hill. That was until the pile of stones started to move. The growling stopped as the mass of rock rose to the height of a draft stallion. Before them stood a massive alabaster stone covered wolf. It turned its head to the sky and let out a bellowing howl, deeper and more gravel in its tone than the furred wolves below. Similar howls began echoing from every hill in the fields around them until the air and ground were shaking from the combined vibrations from them all. As the howls died out, the Alabaster Wolf looked down on them, taking a posture ready for battle before growling and letting out a snarling bark.

  “Weird flex, but ok wolfy.” Taunted Lith.

  “Tch,” Matia sounded with a smirk. “Leave the taunting to me, dad.”

  “Show it what you go kiddo.” He said as he put a hand on her shoulder. “Let’s get it!”

  Matia charged forward as she channeled her gravity manipulation to try to lock or slow the wolf down. Thankfully, once her ice armor was created, the mental energy cost to maintain it was minimal, and she was able to regain some of the energy as they rested. Trevor headed towards it’s left flank, using her fire manipulation to set her swords ablaze. Fayde and Lith took the right while Fayde used her sound manipulation to damped the sounds of them rushing around. The wolf struggled against the restrictive gravity for a moment before it charged at Matia who was already holding her shield up to block. As the wolf passed the two flanking groups, Enki and Guidry released their ranged attacks. Motes of mana and blots of lightning impacted with the hard stone, sending out shards of sharp alabaster that pelted Trevor, Fayde, and Lith. Many of the small pebbles fell harmlessly to the ground while some of the larger shards lodged themselves into their armors and skin. Where the areas that had been impacted were not deep wounds, some small dots of pink now stained the otherwise white body of the wolf.

  “Enki, Guidry, flank around and hit it from an open side. There spikes will wear us down. Target a single point and focus your fire.” Trevor called out as she removed a spoke from her leg.

  “Sorry mom!” Guidry shouted.

  “Focus baby. You got this.” She called back before rushing in.

  The wolf maintained its focus on Matia and its attempt to bite at her while fighting her oppressive gravity. It saw her spear as she lazily thrusted it forwards towards its head and dodged only to have its snout met with a shield. As it recoiled to the side, Matia’s spear came at it again with another thrust aimed at its neck. Despite having recently experienced a breakthrough that made her feel stronger, the tip of her spear still glanced off the rocky fur, only releasing a few small chips.

  “High physical defense.” Matia shouted to her family. “I’ll keep it slowed down for as long as I can.”

  Trevor, having the wolf shield bashed closer to her, took the opportunity to slash downward with her flame wreathed swords at the back leg closest to her. The rocks chipped and fell as he swords slid down the beast’s leg, streaks of blacked rock were left in her wake. Reflexively, the wolf jumped back, away from the scorching flames, directly into Fayde and Lith. Fayde moved towards the leg Trevor had injured, continuing to hack away at the blacked marks left by her daughter while Lith took a running slide between the wolf’s legs. He raised his hand and swung at the underbelly as the overlayed energy construct claws on his fingers raked through the stone fur. A small shower of pebbles fell on his before he turned his momentum into a roll that let him get from under the wolf.

  Realizing that it was beset on all sides, the wolf continued to attack Matia aiming to end her restrictive ability. Lith ran around to join Matia at the wolf’s front, taking the time to jump up and swipe at the wolf’s eye. Much like how their eyes would close when something came too close, the wolf’s eye instinctively closed, turning what would have been a disabling strike into a futile attempt. It was however an excellent distraction. As the fangs of the wolf snapped at Lith, its neck was struck by bullet and bolt sent by Enki and Guidry, causing it to barely nip at the ends of Lith’s fur half skirt. Shards of white rock sprayed the ground, finding no purchase on anything but soil. Enki and Guidry had flanked right, following a distance behind Fayde and Lith before their repositioning had given them an open side with no one for the shards of rock to impale. They had quickly decided that the best place to land their shots was the neck of the beast, and it seemed to be an effective idea as there were now signs of blood flowing from the wolf’s neck. Fayde and Trevor had been dodging the half-minded scrapes in their direction from the rear paws of the wolf. The rock armor on its right hindleg was loose and about ready to split, giving them access to its all-important tendons.

  They continued to pressure the wolf, Matia thrusting with her spear while maintaining her gravity manipulation as a suppressive force on it. Lith, as insane as it seemed to some of the others, continually harassed its face with the construct claws of Rake, barely dodging the snipping bites as Matia punished the distraction with a swift bash of her shield her shield. Fayde and Trevor harassed and focus on its rear left leg, continually hacking at it with flames and metal. Eventually their efforts were rewarded with the sensation of their blades cutting into flesh and muscle. Trevor stabbed deep into the leg, pouring her flames into it while Fayde used her blood manipulation to expediate the flow of blood from the wound. In a moment, the leg went limp, and the wolf repositioned to balance itself in a three point stance. Guidry and Enki unleashed another volley of lightning and condensed mental energy landing their shots perfectly on the neck of the wolf again. While fewer shared rained down than previously, they were rewarded with a gush of blood that spread more than the rocky fur. The wolf was about to turn its attention fully towards the two ranged attackers before its body suddenly felt lighter. Matia collapsed to the ground, her mental energies now fully depleted. Her manifested ice encrusted armor was already showing signs of melting.

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  The wolf, despite its wounds, was in a frenzy. It started shaking its rocky armor viciously. Shards began to shed and splinter off the Alabaster Wolf as it shook its rocky fur like armor. Guidry used his water manipulation, a skill he had somewhat neglected until now, to create a barrier of water in front of Enki and himself. Lightning crackled along its surface as he charged the water with electricity. Guidry could feel his mental energy tick away as his shield was pelted by the rocky offshoots. Fayde stepped in front of her daughter and let out a yell. Using her sound manipulation, she focused and amplified her yell, shattering the rocked that were to pelt Trevor and herself, causing them to harmlessly fall as pebbles. While the others had their own ways of dealing with the stone spikes falling way from the wolf, Matia found herself unable to even lift her shield. Lith had already stepped back to his daughter and hearing the rattling stones, looked up to see the splinters flying at them. Not wasting a moment, Lith grabbed the frozen stone shield from her hand. He nearly dropped it immediately from how cold it was, despite her mental energies no longer maintaining the freezing temperatures. He angled the shield to intercept the brunt of the shards that came raining down, doing his best to cover them both from the hail of stones.

  When the rocks had settled, the wolf stood before them. A bleeding mess of shorn flesh with rabid eyes. Those fiery eyes were still locked on the now defenseless Matia as she kneeled behind her father. Its eyes met for a moment with Lith’s. His teeth were bared in a snarl and his eyes broached just as much ferocity as itself. In Lith’s eyes the wolf saw what amounted to a challenge. It was wordless, as challenges between beats were, but it was definite and final. It let out a bellowing howl and with it a wave of force that pushed Fayde, Trevor, Guidry, Enki, and Matia away towards the end of the hilltop. The earth rumbled and as they recovered from the shock they looked up to see a wall of stone surrounding the wolf. Fayde, Trevor, Enki, and Guidry circled around the wall until they met each other by Matia’s side. Fayde quickly gave her daughter a once over before looking around. She had expected Lith to already be here.

  “Where’s Lith?” She asked looking around at the four other members of her family.

  They looked around for a moment before Matia spoke up, her words coming out winded with exhaustion.

  “He’s inside the wall.”

  A howl and a yell could be heard on the other side of the wall. Lith was fighting the beast. By himself.

  Lith and the wolf staired each other down for a long moment. Lith was only vaguely aware that Matia was no longer behind him. He had seen his family get rebuffed by the force of the howl and found it peculiar that he was left in place. When he saw the walls of stone rise around them, he understood. This was a duel. Man verses Beast. Blood was still running down from the wolf’s body from where the shed shards had ripped the flesh, but they were only minor wounds. Given time, they would heal. Lith raised his daughter’s shield to cover his front, the top of the shield allowing Lith’s eyes to see over it, taking in the view of the wolf’s eyes and maw. He waited for a moment, letting the tension build and for the wolf to make the first move. When the wolf moved, it was quick. Shaving off the stone armor had made the beast lighter and improved its speed, more so that just having Matia’s restrictive ability being alleviated. As it moved, Lith activated the construct claws of Rake on his right hand. It leaped, mostly straight. It’s injured hindleg hung limply in the air while the rest of its body soared at him. Its maw was open, ready to bite down on him with all its might. Lith raised the shield to intercept the bite. The fangs bit down, crushing the ice holding the stone together. Cold chunks of frozen rock pelted him as the shield collapsed. His left eye closed one of the clunks hit his brow, ushering a gout of blood to cover his eye. Lith could feel the hot breath of the wolf on his arm as it melted the remaining ice causing cold liquid to mix with hot blood that now began to pour once more from his left arm. Lith’s eyes met with the wolf’s again as it looked down at him. There was no anger in its eyes, just as there was none in his. The scowl both of their faces bore was that of determination and pain. Lith kept his arm flexed as the wolf continued to bite down on his arm, the force of the bite threatening to break it. Lith kept eye contact with the wolf as his body shook slightly. His right hand was suddenly and violently drenched in blood. A small yelp escaped the mouth of the wolf. Lith had used his right hand like a knife, using the ephemeral claws to cut deep into the wolf’s unarmored neck.

  The grip of teeth on his arm slowly loosened and the hot breath being expelled from the maw began to slow. With some time, the force around his arm became a weight upon it the he struggled to keep up. The wolf’s dying body was heavy. He lowered his body with the wolf as its legs began to give out underneath it, letting its head come to rest on the ground. He did not remove his arm from the mouth of the wolf. Instead, he kept contact with the eyes of the wolf as it laid there dying. He watched as the last flecks of life left the eyes of the wolf. His arm felt the last exhalation of its breath. It was only then that he carefully removed his arm from its maw, prying the teeth from his flesh. He moved his hand over the eyes of the wolf and closed them. There was a certain understanding that passed between him and the wolf at the end. Its kin and family had tried to kill his own. His family had proven victorious and kill its family instead and while at first it sought vengeance, it had resolved to shed blood for blood shed. It had pride in what it was, its strength. In the end, that pride had dissolved into fear. Fear of being alone. Fear of being viciously ripped apart by the kin that came after it should it kill them. Fear of death. As Lith’s hand slipped into its neck, severing vital flows of blood and scratching at its bones, it accepted its fate. It no longer feared. It would no longer worry about being alone. It would not have to worry about suffering at fangs of other wolves. It no longer felt the ominous grasp of death on the nape of its neck. Death was here. Death was looking it in the eyes. Eyes that said I will be here until the end.

  Lith was shaken from the reverie of thoughts that passed between them by the sound of clattering rock all around him. As he looked up he saw Fayde and Guidry running towards him. Enki and Trevor were slowly walking towards them, Matia held up between them as she took slow steps.

  “Lith!” Fayde cried out. “Are you okay?” she asked as she hugged him.

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” He said hugging her back.

  “You killed it?” Guidry asked

  “Yeah bud. Sorry for the kill steal.”

  “It’s fine, I still felt a break though just before the wall came down.”

  “The rest of us got a fair amount of energy too, but I don’t think we’re even halfway to our next breakthrough.” Fayde mentioned.

  “So, everyone that contributed got a portion of the energy, but the one who delt the final blow got the majority of the energy.” Lith said. He had felt a large influx of energy after the wolf drew its last breath. Not enough for another breakthrough, but he did feel fairly close to one.

  “Seems so.” Said Fayde “But at least we are all now working on our second breakthrough.”

  “True enough.” Lith agreed. “So, what’s next?”

  “Take a look for yourself.” Fayde said with an unpleasant look on her face. She held out her hand and the card with the quest appeared there.

  Kill Alabaster Wolves: 1/100

  Lith was left baffled. They had killed so many wolves climbing the hill and yet only the one on top of the hill counted towards the quest? But the card didn’t end there. Several new lines were now on the card, and they left Lith feeling both excited and annoyed.

  New Quest:

  Collect 99 Alabaster Cores: 0/99

  New Quest:

  Defend the Alabaster Core as it forms:

  Time Remaining: 59 Minutes

  “I’m already getting tired of the system and this tower.” Lith said as he finally used his remaining mental energy to mend his own wounds. “And of the fucking wolves.”

  “You, Matia, and Guidry take a break. Enki, Trevor, and I can take on whatever comes up for a bit. Join in when you can.”

  Lith smiled. “Thank you, my love.”

  The first wave to assail them came five minutes after the timer had begun. The pack was comprised of six wolves, none of them being an Alabaster Wolf. They died quickly. The second wave came five minutes later, again a pack of six wolves.

  “Think it’ll be the same in another five minutes?” Lith asked.

  “You tell me in five minutes.” Fayde said as she sat down next to him. “Your turn honey.”

  Lith stood and stretched before jabbing the air. His body felt light and strong. He put his hands on his hips in a superman pose.

  “Matia. Guidry. We’re up.” He said.

  They both stood and took a triangular formation around the top of the hill. All of them had recovered enough stamina and mana over the last ten minutes to easily take out six wolves. Like this the hour came and went. One wave of six wolves every five minutes. They switched out teams every ten minutes, just so everyone could level together as quickly as possible. During the one hour the core took to form, they watched as all the grass on and around the hill absorbed the blood spilled onto the ground. Small roots seemed to rise from the ground and dig into the wolf carcasses, draining them completely as they were covered in red roots. The whole process was rather disturbing if they were being honest, but the roots left them alone. None of them had reached the third minor breakthrough, but they were all feeling pretty close to one. A few more wolves and they would likely break another threshold.

  Quest Complete

  Defend the Alabaster Core as it forms:

  Time Remaining: 0 Minutes

  At the center of the hill, red roots sprouted from the ground. They grew rapidly before sprouting a pure white flower bud, which bloomed as quickly as it formed. Laying there in the middle of the newly bloomed flower was a small round alabaster stone. Matia walked over and picked it up.

  “This is an Alabaster Core?” Matia asked as she looked at it, holding it between her pointer and thumb. “It’s so ti…”

  The core passed through her armor and into her skin, wracking her hand in pain.

  “Gah fuck! Get it out! Get it out!” she screamed, holding her hand by the wrist.

  “Matia?” Fayde and Lith asked together. “What’s going on.”

  “The core! It’s…it’s in my hand. Gah”

  Lith caught his daughter as she fell to the ground in pain. Fayde took her hand and practically ripped off her gauntlet. There was nothing there. No wound, no red mark, no blemish. She turned the hand over, examining it fully but found nothing.

  “Where is it? I don’t see anything.” Fayde said.

  The pain was excruciating, but it was lessening slightly. It felt like it was traveling through her finger and into her palm.

  “It right here.” Matia said examining her hand, but she, too, saw nothing wrong with it, or any sign of the core. The pain was quickly subsiding as it traveled through to her wrist. Once it passed through her forearm the pain had completely subsided, leaving only a phantom soreness.

  “Matia?” her mother called her name questioningly.

  “I’m fine. The pain is gone.”

  “Stop. Touching. Random. Things.” Each word was cut off, accentuating her words and driving them home. She should definitely stop picking up random things.

  “Right. Sorry mom.”

  “Jesus Christ kiddo. I nearly had a heart attack.” Lith said as he patted her shoulder. A warm sensation flowed through her body.

  “What was that? Did you cast a spell?”

  “It was Balm.” Lith admitted. “Should purge whatever toxins or poisons that thing might have given you.”

  She shook her head. “Can you not be so overbearing?”

  “Can you stop picking up random things?”

  She blushed. “Fine. Whatever.” She said under her breath. Her father did another examination of her hand, testing finger strength, flexibility, ensuring it still had feeling. She got a clean bill of health from her dad. She already knew she was ready to continue on their quests. The quest on the card had even updated.

  Collect 99 Alabaster Cores: 1/99

  With the core collected, they took some time to look over their gear before heading to the next hill. The grass on the hill remained red and stretched out until it was halfway to any of the other hills around it. If the hills they conquered stayed red, it would serve as a good marker for where they would have to go next. As they passed over the dividing line of red and white, they were set upon by the roaming wolves again. Lith had the family moved back into the red side and found that the wolves would not cross into the red grass. He didn’t know if it was because the wolves knew their natural camouflage wouldn’t work in the red grass or if the red grass would try to consume the wolves when they crossed and the wolves knew it, but for now, the red grass was a safe zone.