"Two Grade-2s coming from the left," a young woman in her early twenties said, hiding behind the tall grass.
"Got it," the man with a spear replied.
The tall grass provided them with perfect camouflage. Forget about humans, no creature in the world could detect their presence in the six-foot-tall grass. At least it was true in the old world.
In the new world, the humans had long since lost their position at the top of the food chain. No, the top position wasn’t held by zombies either. Animals had reclaimed that position for themselves.
However, humans weren’t a species to back down. Zera and Hina, the hunting duo, were prime examples of it.
Bathed in dirt and manure, Zera grabbed a fistful of dirt and let the wind carry it. After confirming the direction of the wind, he quickly repositioned himself.
At the same time, Hina backed away. Her job was to locate the prey, not to hunt them. That was the task for her brother.
Only the patient one would get to survive another day on the accursed earth.
A moment later, he heard the rustling of the grass. Something was getting closer. He peeked through the dense grass and saw two massive wolf-like creatures rubbing heads.
Although they were cubs, they were as big as a grown wolf of the old world. It went to show the changes the world had undergone.
Much like Zera and Hina, the two beasts were also siblings. Perhaps in the old world, they’d live a better life, but in the current time, no one was allowed to have peace. Not even the beasts.
Zera reacted the moment the two cubs turned their backs towards him. His feet glowed red as he charged towards the beasts.
It was impossible to hide his thundering footsteps, and the wolves jumped to their feet in response. Usually, the young beasts would run when startled, but they didn’t this time.
Perhaps they were hungry, or it was a case of lacking experience. Either way, Zera didn’t stop.
One of the cubs lunged at him, only for him to slam his spear on the ground, using it as a pole to vault over to the other cub. The second cub snarled and tried to attack Zera, but it was too slow.
Zera twisted mid-air and let gravity pull the weight of his spear. The hundred-pound spear crashed into the direwolf cub’s back like a bunker buster.
The cub let out a whimper as the spear hit it. Being hit was an understatement. The spear had pierced through the creature’s back and appeared from the opposite end, pinning it to the ground.
The cub began struggling, trying to rip away the spear. In the process, its blood splashed everywhere.
"Not good," Zera mumbled, landing next to the pinned wolf.
Before the other cub could react, he wrapped his arms around the injured one’s neck and twisted with all his might. The cub let out a final yelp before going limp.
Zera smiled after the successful hunt, swiping the sweat off his forehead.
Still, a lot of blood was spilled. It would attract stronger predators. Zera had to grab the corpse and leave fast.
He would have done so if not for a small issue.
The second direwolf cub was snarling at him. Zera was worried about it because he didn’t have his spear at his disposal.
He could’ve tried taking it out of the ground and the wolf’s corpse, but turning his back on an angry predator wouldn’t end well for him.
However, that didn’t mean he couldn’t trick the cub.
Zera reached for his spear, and the second his fingers touched it, the cub lunged at him. Instead of pulling the spear out, he used it to jump and kicked the wolf’s head.
The beast’s head snapped to the side from the impact and still landed on its feet. It stood just seven feet away, baring its teeth. The wolf began circling him.
Unlike the first cub, this one had some experience in hunting.
"Or it is acting on instinct."
Zera saw the first cub’s blood seeping from the corner of his eye. He needed to get out of there with the corpse, and fast.
Trickery is the way to go.
The cub kept roaming around, as if waiting for an opening. Just then, Zera lowered himself slightly.
The cub lunged at him, thinking he was trying to escape. To its surprise, Zera wasn’t running away. Instead, he grabbed a handful of dirt and tossed it into the cub’s eyes.
The cub let out a painful cry, rubbing its face on its paws.
Zera didn’t waste any time and grabbed his spear. Veins bulged all over his body as he yanked it off the ground. The cub’s corpse dangled on its edge as he pushed the spear onto his shoulder.
"Damn, you’re heavy," Zera said, gritting his teeth.
He was preparing to run away when the cub slammed into him on instinct. After all, humans weren’t the only ones with evolved senses.
The cub was desperate for revenge and used the sound of Zera’s grunts to figure out his position. They both rolled in the dirt as the spear slipped out of his hands.
The cub tried to bite Zera’s face off amid the struggle, but Zera forced its head sideways before kicking it away.
The cub shook its head, brushing off the attack. Zera kept his eyes on it and noticed it was still blinded from his earlier move. Then his eyes fell on the spear, and a plan formed in his mind.
Don’t blame me for this.
Zera let out a grunt, and the cub immediately jumped at him. He rolled away at the last second, grabbing the freed spear while he was at it.
The cub looked annoyed as it missed the mark again.
Meanwhile, Zera lay on the ground, holding the spear before him, and whistled. The cub jumped at him again, but this time he didn’t roll away. He put all his weight behind the spear.
A second later, the cub’s neck got skewered by the spear.
The cub twitched around for a while before its body went limp and it collapsed beside its fallen sibling.
Zera collapsed by their side, panting heavily, but happy.
"Two prey in one hunt. That’s gotta be a record—"
The words had barely left his mouth when the grass parted. A pair of shiny eyes locked onto the fallen cubs and then onto Zera.
The creature was thrice as big as the cubs, and it was pissed. How could it not be angry at seeing its dead cubs?
Zera reached for his spear, but the wolf jumped on him, pinning his hands to the ground. The direwolf tilted its head, its saliva falling on Zera’s chest.
Scared shitless, Zera closed his eyes, waiting for the impending attack. Instead, a gust of wind passed by, and he felt the direwolf’s weight off him.
He snapped his eyes open and saw the direwolf staring back at him.
Zera screamed until he saw a man holding the direwolf’s severed head.
"What the hell, Min!?"