Harvest Dungeon 25 Chapter 25 - The Boon Of A Challenge

"A brave little human." The alpha wolf spoke while he watched me. "Do you think this flimsy barrier of yours will stop me?" it asked.

I shook my head. "No." I replied keeping the spell ready. Like the spell I had used on the wisp I could overcharge this spell to catch stronger beasts.

"I hope you don't think that little spell can hurt me." the alpha wolf chuckled.

"Maybe, maybe not, but I am sure it will surprise you." I replied calmly as I channeled as much energy into myself as I could to prepare to channel it into the spell.

'Jason.' Zephirah called me mentally she sounded like a nervous wreck.

I didn't reply to her. I couldn't lose focus on the beast in front of me. I knew it wasn't a great idea to ignore the other pair, but I didn't think those two could break the shield in a short time on their own.

I glared at the alpha wolf for several long moments refusing to back down.

At first the wolf seemed to find it funny, but after a couple minutes he obviously started to get irritated. I didn't enjoy putting my life on the line like this, and I was sure it was. I was nowhere near certain that I would be able to catch the alpha wolf in the spell, even if I used all of the dungeon's mana, but with each pa.s.sing moment the dungeon absorbed more ambient mana increasing the amount I had available to use against it.

The biggest reason though was the fact that this beast was the strongest I had faced so far. While I intended to get stronger, I knew it would too. If I backed down now I knew it would become something I constantly worried about. Something I would always fear and prepare for even if I never saw it again. Even if that wasn't a bad thing, I feared I would get caught up worrying about the threat I was aware of and forget or ignore the other threats out there. While I didn't mean to look down on the alpha wolf, I worried that it still might not be the greatest threat to me in this trial, and I intended to survive. If I couldn't face this wolf now how would I handle the greater threats later.

Was I being stupid? Probably.

"Back down pup." the alpha wolf growled at me.

"If I back down now there will be no point in continuing this trial." I replied firmly. I wished I had something cooler to say but it took all my effort to meet the gaze of this wise powerful beast in front of me.

"If you don't back down now, you will die now." The alpha snarled at me angrily baring its teeth.

I didn't wait any longer. I pumped all the mana I had in me then poured everything the dungeon would give me into the spell. The spell grew in size and began to shine as brightly as the sun of my world. I felt proud of myself for holding my own even as I continued to feel a need to fall down onto my knees in front of this great beast. After my spell was overcharged the wolf roared at me in anger releasing all of its pent up aura to overwhelm me.

I held firm though making even me wonder if my spine had turned to steel, I was so scared I wanted to curl up into a ball and cry like a child scared that the bogey man was under my bed waiting for my parents to leave me in the dark so it could carry me away. It was a fear I had become intimately familiar with after my parents disappeared. After I realized the bogey man had already taken my parents. A fear I had thought I had become immune to after the Neglism ate it away. Despite that it was like riding a bike. I got right back on like I had never stopped. Right or wrong, smart or stupid, I had made my choice and would stand my ground until the end because it was what I thought I needed to do to protect myself, and those behind me.

We continued to face off as I charged more mana into the spell while it continued to intimidate me trying to break my spirit. Make me submit. Yet I continued on, I even hoped that if this lasted long enough I would be able to pour in enough mana to catch the beast.

With each pa.s.sing second my confidence started to grow a little bit stronger, and this didn't go unnoticed.

The beast was intelligent and finally broke eye contact with me to look at the spell in my hand. I felt triumphant that I wasn't the first to look away, but contained my excitement as it didn't mean I had won.

The alpha wolf noticed the fact that I was continuing to charge the spell with each pa.s.sing moment. For a brief second I saw fear in its eyes. Finally it started to laugh, a sound I didn't think a wolf could make, and a sound I was not prepared to a.s.sociate with happiness, instead it sounded more like it was trying to get something out of its throat. "Very good little human, I shall grant you a boon for your unwavering courage." he told me.

'Jason stop the spell now!' Zephirah yelled in my head.

'Where?' I thought back quickly.

'At me!' she replied hurriedly.

I shot the overcharged spell at Zephirah, but rather than catching her as it was supposed too, the spell unwound and was absorbed by her channeling the energy back into the dungeon.

The alpha wolf nodded at us, a sight I never expected to see in my lifetime. "Very good." he told us. "Not a bit of energy wasted. I am impressed."

"Well that was intense." Vanessa said from where she was sitting on the ground. She looked pale and made no move to get up.

"He is an Ancient Dire Wolf, the fact that you didn't pa.s.s out from fear could be considered astounding, though it doesn't compare to this cub." a feminine voice said from behind me.

Looking back I saw the two smaller wolves were laying down just outside of my barrier looking rather relaxed, and maybe a bit bored. Though the way they looked at me a.s.sured me that their lazy and bored appearance couldn't be farther from the truth.

"I am impressed little cub, but I will say you need to pick your battles better. While there are going to be times when you need to stand strong, there are also times when you need to tuck your tail and run so you can come back stronger. The battle is never over until you breathe your last breath." the alpha wolf told me.

"You are too kind to the cub." the other female commented. Its voice, while similar to the first, sounded colder.

"I estimated he had a twenty percent chance at catching me, and turning me into his pet." the dire wolf replied honestly. "It has been many years since I have faced such a threat, let alone from a human of so few years."

"Twenty?" the second female asked skeptically.

"And it would increase the longer he charged it." the dire wolf replied then looked at me. "You are a mana n.o.ble." he stated.

"Mana Lord." I agreed.

I could feel the interest of the two females as their gaze towards me became more wary.

"Interesting." the alpha dire wolf commented and seemed about to say something then stopped himself. "What boon would you ask of me sprite?" he asked turning to look at Zephirah.

"Me?" she asked surprised.

"Of course, the dungeon themselves are always the ones who understand the situation the best. You will understand what you can and can not ask for." he explained patiently.

"A wolf gem." Zephirah stated immediately.

"Seems you spoke too soon." the second female chuckled.

"We are willing to submit to a challenge for it." Zephirah added.

"Oh I see, she's a smart one." the first female added.
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"A boon from a mediator is not easy to get." Zephirah replied.

I was a bit shocked but waited to see what would happen. I honestly had no idea what I could expect to get from the dire wolf, but I had thought a nice weapon would have been the best I could hope for. I still wanted a weapon, but having a wolf gem capable of creating powerful wolves like those in front of me would be the best. Even if it would take time for the wolves to become as powerful as them.

"So you wish for a challenge, one aiming for a wolf gem." the dire wolf commented to himself while he seemed to consider the request.

"Are you really a Mana Lord?" the second female asked.

I nodded then looked to Lilian. "Lilian." I called.

"Yes he is. His situation is a bit odd, but he had earned the position before arriving here." Lilian confirmed.

"And you are?" the dire wolf asked.

"I am a runic fairy a.s.signed to pa.s.s on the information about the n.o.ble ranks." she replied.

"A runic fairy? It has been a while since I have seen one of your kind outside of the Runic Palace." the dire wolf commented.

"He had no teacher." Lilian replied.

The focus of all three wolves landed on me, I felt the shock, and oddly enough awe from the three of them.

"I have a challenge if you can not think of one." the first female suggested.

"And that is?" the dire wolf asked.

"We unintentionally harmed him by killing the dog before he had a chance to capture it. Why not gift him one of the cubs." she suggested.

"Which one, and what would be the challenge?" the dire wolf asked.

"Elisia, help her achieve her goal. Give them three challenge tokens. If he can a.s.sist her in becoming strong enough to win one of those challenges he will receive three drops, if she wins two challenges they will get a wolf gem." she replied.

I was curious as to what I would get if she won all three challenges, and what kind of drops did she mean? I could feel a huge wave of excitement through my bond with Zephirah. It seemed this challenge, or at least the rewards were a really good thing.

The dire wolf gazed at the first female for a while leaving everyone waiting with bated breath for his decision.

"Would she agree?" he finally asked breaking the tense silence.

"You know she would." the first female spoke up.

"So be it then. The challenge has been set. Do you agree to take up this challenge?" the dire wolf asked looking at me.

'YES! YES! YES!' Zephirah shouted in my head repeatedly.

"I agree." I said with a wince.

"Reluctant?" he asked warily.

I shook my head. "Just an overexcited sprite." I replied while rubbing my temple.

"Sorry." Zephirah actually apologized. "I was afraid you wouldn't understand how good of a thing this could be for us."

"Its fine, just not so loud next time." I grumbled.

The dire wolf started to laugh again, which was still an unpleasant sound to me. Worse, it was done with its large mouth full of sharp teeth wide open for all to see. Rather than eliciting a sense of mirth, I felt threatened.

Then without warning the ancient dire wolf let out a loud howl. The howl reverberated in my chest making it hard to breath for a moment. A light appeared in the sky a moment later then expanded into a runic circle as the light descended closer to the ground.

Looking at the runic within the circle I was able to make out a portal spell, however it was arranged in a fashion I had never seen before. It wasn't like another language, instead I would call it a different dialect. A moment later the spell activated opening a portal seven feet above the ground that faced downwards. As soon as the portal opened a figure seemed to fall through. However it landed on its feet with ease.

While I expected a wolf, I was surprised by her size. She looked similar to the two females lounging beside my barrier, just smaller, a lot smaller. She looked to be only two feet tall at the shoulder. It was her eyes that looked like blood rubies which was the only thing that set her apart from a normal wolf. Besides the fact that see might be a bit small.