Chapter 94: Asserting Dominance
Asserting Dominance
Theresa felt like there was a weight pressing down on her chest, and suddenly, she found it difficult to breathe.
Despite her armor having a temperature-regulating system, sweat immediately poured out of her pores, and her pupils shrank as her breathing turned forced and ragged.
Her body trembled, and her grip on her bow became tight to the point of her knuckles turning white.
’What... is this...?’ She thought through gritted teeth. She wanted to move, turn around, shout, anything.
But her body was paralyzed with fear.
’Fear...? Is... that what this is?’ She suddenly realized.
It was like countless icy hands had gripped her limbs, throat, and heart. Any thoughts of running made her legs feel like jelly, and it was like someone had put a buffer between her thoughts and actions, rooting her to the spot.
Theresa had never been on the receiving end of Mike’s skill, Primal Dread. In fact, she’d never witnessed him using it before.
So right now, she was experiencing the skill for the first time, and despite not being the target of it, she could only describe it in one word.
Horrifying.
She likened Mike to a predator, but right now, it was like he embodied that word in every sense.
Theresa wasn’t the only one who felt like this, though.
The surrounding wolves lowered themselves to the ground as their tails drooped, and their ears went flat against their heads, some of them whimpering.
Only the Alpha wolf stood tall as it stared at Mike, its own aura clashing with his, the two aiming to suppress each other and prove themselves superior.
A small part of Theresa’s mind, which was still coherent enough to process what was happening, couldn’t help but be baffled. What on earth was Mike trying to achieve here? Instead of attacking the wolf, he went to it to have a sort of... competition?
Actually, that aside, why wasn’t the wolf immediately lunging at him to attack?
Everything about the situation was too strange, and she lamented her inability to move due to whatever it was that Mike had done.
The invisible clash continued as the auras of both sides rose higher and higher until they reached a crescendo, and the surrounding wind billowed like a storm was approaching in the wake of their fury.
However, everything came to an end when, without warning, Mike’s aura completely consumed the aura of the wolf.
The effect was immediate.
Without its aura holding his back, it was free to sweep across the entire vicinity, drowning everything within it.
At the same time, the proud Alpha’s ears drooped, and slowly, it lowered itself to the ground, refusing to meet Mike’s gaze.
He kept his aura active for a few more seconds, as though proving a point, then it vanished abruptly, and Theresa gasped, bending over and putting her hands on her knees as she struggled to breathe.
It was as though she was pulled from under a deep ocean, and she could finally breathe again.
She looked up after a while and saw Mike looking at the Alpha with a toothy grin, showing off his canines.
The wolf in question looked back at him, but there was no more pride in its black eyes. Or rather, the pride was no longer directed at Mike, only submission and respect.
"Wh-What did you do?" Theresa finally managed to speak, wincing at her stutter, but Mike just turned with a satisfied look on his face.
"Just made some new friends."
Theresa stared at him blankly.
"... What?"
"Yeah. They are friendly." As if to prove his point, he reached over and rubbed the Alpha’s head, and to Theresa’s shock, it didn’t resist at all, nor did the surrounding wolves jump in to stop Mike from petting their leader like a common pet.
In fact, now that she could focus on her surroundings a bit more, she saw that the wolves were staring at Mike with something that looked a lot like... worship? Or was that fanaticism?
’Wait, that can’t be right. They’re wolves. Do they even understand the concept of worship?’ Theresa frowned.
That’s when the wolves suddenly got up and pounced on Mike.
A wave of panic overtook Theresa, and she was about to curse herself for dropping her guard as she once more prepared to draw her bow. But she paused when she realized two things.
Mike wasn’t resisting, and the wolves... weren’t attacking.
She watched as dozens of furry tails wagged, while Mike’s laughter sounded from within the mass of bodies as they all... licked him.
"... What?" Theresa watched in a daze as the fearsome creatures all paraded Mike like a pack of puppies seeking attention from their owner.
Meanwhile, Mike was in the center of it all, laughing as the wolves licked and rubbed against him with obvious glee.
If he was being honest, he wasn’t super sure about what just happened.
He’d expected his instincts to warn him about the wolves as soon as he detected them, but they didn’t, like his instincts didn’t perceive them as a threat. In fact, when he saw them, he felt a sense of kinship with each of them that he couldn’t explain. Then, when he saw the wolves, he had the urge to approach the Alpha and prove himself to be superior.
Which he did.
As soon as he did, it was like something clicked between him and the wolves, causing this situation.
If Mike were to ask the system what that was all about, it’d have told him that Lupines are beings possessing the traits of both wolves and humans.
However, it wasn’t just any wolf or any human, as for every Lupine, their human and wolf side had incredibly pure bloodlines, causing them to be seen as being who exist on a higher framework compared to their lesser counterparts.
For humans, things such as bloodline purity hardly mattered as they were creatures that operated on logic. As such, it was nigh impossible to tell whether another human had a purer bloodline than another, and even if they could tell, they most likely wouldn’t care.
For creatures like wolves, though, who operated more on instinct, things like bloodlines mattered quite a bit.
However, the Alpha still had its pride and wouldn’t bend just because Mike existed higher on the bloodline hierarchy, hence the following confrontation between the two of them to see who had the more oppressive aura.
And Mike came out on top. As such, he proved himself to be the stronger creature, which netted him a neat level up.
Granted, there were a few other factors at play, but those come later.
It was only after a few minutes that the wolves stopped parading Mike and laid down around him.
Watching this, Theresa couldn’t help but marvel at the scene. Seeing Mike surrounded by the wolves sort of made her think about a pack leader surrounded by his pack.
’Huh... wait a minute.’ She blinked as a few things suddenly clicked into place.
’His wolf-like behavior... The wildness he showed sometimes... His insane sensory abilities... The feeling of a predator he gives off...’ Her brows knit together as she added them up.
’I see. Is his ability tied to wolves in some way? Is that why they are so comfortable with him?’ She wondered. However, she felt like her guess was more or less spot on.
"Theresa! What are you just standing there? Come on, I promise they won’t bite!" Mike called over with a smile, snapping Theresa out of her thoughts.
She looked at the pack of wolves who looked at her in turn, making her shiver.
Any one of them could bite her in half if she wasn’t careful, and she had half the mind to run away.
But seeing Mike sitting among them with a big smile on his face, at no risk of harm, she took a deep breath and walked over.
Her body was tense, and she expected one of them to jump at her. But even after reaching Mike’s side, none of them made any move to attack her.
"See? I told you. They’re friendly!" Mike said proudly, and Theresa stared at him with a complicated gaze.
Before she could speak, though, Mike faced the Alpha whose ears had perked up and flicked in a certain direction. They locked eyes for a few seconds, and then Mike’s eyes widened as his smile grew.
"What’s happening?" Theresa was thoroughly confused.
"They found some prey." Mike answered without looking at her as he stood, and all the wolves followed suit, startling Theresa.
"Wait, what...? Why are you... Why is that our business?" She frowned as the wolves seemed to scatter into the surrounding greenery without a sound.
Mike looked back at her with a weird expression and replied.
"Because we’re gonna follow them?" He said it like it was the most natural thing in the world, but Theresa’s face went blank.
However, before she could protest, Mike had already gone after the wolves.
"... Damn canines." She gritted her teeth and followed after him.