Seconds passed, each one slower than the last. Matt could feel some slight tremors every now and then, some even from inside the pool. None were close enough to where he was to cause concern, yet he knew it was but a matter of time.

  He was still making his way across the chlorinated waters of the pool while alternating between [Revitalize] and [Repair], making sure he was in tip-top condition for when the time came.

  Whilst [Patient Predator] did drain some resources while it was active, it was almost negligible, at least from the mana side. Stamina was a different story, draining at a much faster rate, reaffirming the notion that something was wrong with his muscles, and it was something that he needed to look into. Right now it was merely worrying, where he was using up a lot more stamina than he felt he should. It was bad, but tolerable. But if something worse were to happen, like losing stamina while doing nothing, then the bad became detrimental.

  Matt had to steel his nerves every few seconds. His confidence was wavering. Not in the plan, but in the lack of contingencies to fall back on. If the alpha wolf were to move, or if he ended up in the wrong position, he’d have to do it all over again, with the wolf eventually losing interest or patience.

  The wolf leaving wasn’t necessarily a worst-case scenario. It would give Matt enough time to fix his sight, [Sense Mana], and find out what was wrong with his stamina, which would make it a much more even fight, and if there was one thing he was confident in, it was winning even fights.

  It was a realistic and probably correct line of thinking, dodging an iffy fight and coming back when the odds were better.

  And yet, he didn’t want to. He didn’t like it. It felt like losing. No, it was losing, and Matt hated losing. It would leave a sour taste in his mouth for a long, long time. The alpha wasn’t necessarily stronger than him, but whatever had happened to his vision and skill had turned the tides of the battle. And while there was no shame in running for your life, to Matt it felt like he’d be running from a tough fight on the premise of coming back when he held the advantage, assuming he even could run.

  No. Running was not an option. He would see this to the end. He had run before, and it wasn’t a feeling he wanted to live with. Killing the alpha was the only way, and the final showdown was now closer than ever.

  After what seemed like forever, Matt finally felt his back come in contact with the cold ceramic tiles of the pool.

  It was done. He had reached his target.

  Thankfully, being at the bottom of the pool, his fingertips on his left hand were already touching the tiling, and so, mana started flowing from his hand as he tried to locate the gigantic wolf.

  Surprisingly, mana traveled through water fairly easily. It wasn’t as effortless as when pushing it through the ground, but when he had tried using mana sense without touching a surface, the mana was just too unstable and extremely difficult to control. Thankfully, that didn’t seem to be the case in the pool thanks to the water.

  As his scan traveled through the tiles and onto the poolside, his vision suddenly lit up as if he was staring directly at the sun. Something ginormos and full of mana was right on top of him.

  Matt smiled internally. He had never appreciated how much of the resource the wolf had, but seeing it up close, it was a shit-ton, enough to eclipse even his own. He was sure he hadn’t landed exactly where the alpha was, which meant it must’ve noticed something unusual and had come to investigate, presenting Matt with the opportunity of a lifetime to land a fatal blow, because from the mana outline, Matt could see that the canine’s head was extended over the pool.

  Right on top of him.

  Matt dropped [Revitalize] and started channeling mana into his palm, pushing as much as he could. Pulling the wolf into the water was out of the question, he didn’t have nearly enough strength for that, but he did have something else in mind, and while the wolf had seemed able to shrug off his mana orbs, mana wave was very different.

  He didn’t need to channel that much mana for what he was about to do. The rush was mainly so he wouldn’t lose the opportunity with the alpha wolf being so close, so he took a second to clear his head. There would be no do-overs, so it was now or never. He would’ve loved to take in a couple of deep breaths to calm his nerves, but this would have to do.

  With everything in place, and with the pool being shallower towards the edges, Matt turned his body around, breaking stealth, before jumping out of the water and towards the startled beast.

  The wolf tried to react, but it was hunched forward as it scanned the water, a bad position for a quick response, giving Matt the little time he needed to grab onto its thick fur with one hand, while shoving the other down its gullet, unleashing a tsunami of mana on the unsuspecting creature.

  The wolf tried to jump back and away from the pesky human holding on to it, but it was too late. The flood of mana unleashed pushed down on the wolf from inside its own gullet, a mountainous weight pulling it down, forcing it towards the water, carving a path through it like a sinking anchor, nothing stopping it but the bottom.

  Matt had tried to pull away from the beast, but whether on instinct or by reflex, it had bitten down on his arm, pulling him with it into the shallow chlorinated water.

  The wolf was resisting with all its might, flailing and thrashing around, but not letting go of Matt’s arm.

  Acting swiftly, Matt wrapped his legs around the wolf’s thick neck, holding nothing back as he pummeled its head with gusto.

  The wolf’s canines dug deeper into Matt’s arm, threatening to tear the limb off. Being unable to heal it without stopping his assault meant it was only a matter of time, and so he kept summoning mana wave after mana wave, making sure to keep the wolf’s head in place.

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  With a snap and a crunch, his arm was finally freed from the stubborn wolf’s jaw, although now the entire bottom half, starting at the elbow, was missing.

  Matt let out an angered, agonized scream that was almost entirely muted by the water, yet his pummeling never stopped.

  The chlorinated liquid was working against him, dulling the power behind his punches enough that he was starting to feel unsure whether he was inflicting any actual damage, and yet, the wolf seemed to get more and more panicked with every punch, desperately flailing around, which only served to spur Matt on.

  Matt didn’t know how long he kept on clobbering the monster. His arm was growing numb, his body tired, his mind foggy.

  He wasn’t angry, or at least that’s what he thought. That’s what he told himself.

  It wasn’t the wolf’s fault. It was defending its territory. Its own existence. Same way Matt was. He couldn’t begrudge it its survival instincts, just like it couldn’t begrudge him his will to live. So no, he wasn’t taking his anger out on the wolf, he was treating it with the respect a foe deserved. Giving it his all. Not holding back, and throwing everything at it.

  But… whilst he might not have been pissed at the wolf, he wasn’t okay. Not by a long shot.

  He had struggled. Suffered. Endured. Persevered. Yet he still felt like he came out the losing end. Less person, more monster, wondering why and how it all came to be.

  At some point the wolf had stopped moving, its head going completely slack, but the punching… it never stopped. It kept going… and going.

  Matt was struggling for oxygen, but he didn’t care.

  His stamina was at 12%, his body burning up, his muscles sore like he’d spent days on end doing the most rigorous of training. Every punch was weaker as he struggled more and more to lift his flailing arm… but he didn’t care.

  His health was at 19%. Brain foggy, head dizzy, vision fading, slowly losing consciousness. Whether lack of oxygen was the cause, or his dangerously low health, he didn’t know. He could easily find out by raising his head and taking a breath. And yet, he still didn’t care.

  He kept going until his fist was hitting solid ground, his weak punches unable to damage the blue ceramic tiles of the pool, yet he still didn’t care.

  It all seemed like a bad dream he needed to wake up from. Like a prank that had gone too far. At some point he had lost himself. Whether the system was to blame or whether he had been lost long ago didn’t matter, because he didn’t like it. He didn’t like him.

  Matt finally resurfaced, unable to hold his breath underwater any longer. It was night, if the cool breeze and lack of sun’s warmth were any indication. A perfectly silent night. It felt calm. Quiet. Comforting.

  The breeze felt cool on his skin as he stood under the moonlight in the chilly water.

  Defiant.

  Yet all he could feel was a streak of warmth making its way down both cheeks. Insistent. Continuous.

  Guess the water wasn’t cold after all.

  Matt stood under the moonlight for a long time. Silent. Unmoving. If he had dispelled the mana blocking his ears, he would’ve heard the sounds of the ocean waves, the leaves dancing in the wind, or his ragged, uncontrolled breathing, but he didn’t. He wanted the silence. He reveled in it. It was… soothing. And his mind and soul needed soothing.

  Since the system had been introduced, Matt’s hands were always full.

  Between Sal telling him he was now stranded, to fighting off a vulture only a few minutes later, to trying to escape a desert only to get stuck in a dungeon instead. Then, managing to get out of the dungeon, only to find himself back where it all started, where he was stuck trying to find a way out of the desert and into Hurghada.

  He was always running from something or towards something. He had even given himself a new goal: find a good place to stay.

  And yet, not just any place sufficed. He chose one where he had to fight to claim it. Where he had to clean the place up. Forcing himself into a situation that kept spiraling out of his control, ending in what many would’ve considered an unwinnable fight.

  Could he have looked for a different place?

  He had realized from the get-go there were more wolves inside. How the ones on the outside had positioned themselves, blocking the entrance, was akin to a bright red stop sign. So, he could’ve just left. Yet at the time, it didn’t seem like an option.

  Why hadn’t it? He’d never been to this place before and had no attachments to it, yet he fought with reckless abandon. Like it was his goal. His purpose.

  But now, as he stood in the cold water that was undoubtedly red with his blood, it all finally came crashing down. Because once you stopped running, what you were running from eventually caught up to you. And now, there were even more things to run from. From trying to fight for his life. The lack of knowledge and information working against him. A class he didn’t ask for. A trial he didn’t want any part of. And a feeling he never wanted to experience. He was tired of running, overwhelmed even. At times it all felt so… surreal, but sadly, it was all too real.

  He had joked before about not being suicidal. That everything was part of a plan, or he had no other choice in the matter. But was it ever true? Was he just throwing himself into dangerous situations because he wanted to? Even going as far as to antagonize a Guardian. A being three tiers higher than him, and for what? Pettiness? Pride? Entitlement? The more he thought about it, the more nothing else made sense. He was suicidal, but why?

  When the system had first arrived, Matt was happy. He had thought it was finally his time to shine, to show what he was made of. He knew it would be difficult, that he’d be all on his lonesome. Yet he never questioned it, choosing to run face-first into whatever dangers he came across. He never cared about the loneliness, he was always alone after all. People who tried to befriend him always wanted something. His family cared for nothing but the family name, and even his fiancée, the girl he loved and thought so did she, was merely a puppeteer, and he was the clueless puppet on strings. The only company he could enjoy was his own, safe with his own thoughts. Yet his thoughts right now were anything but safe. This was his chance for a clean-slate. To break free. Start anew. So why was it so hard to accept it? Why did he still feel helpless?

  The irony of the situation wasn’t lost on him. In a world controlled by an unknown system, where any and everything was trying to kill you, he was his own worst enemy.

  So, Matt chose this moment, as he stood waist-deep in the bloodied water, to take it all in and then let it out. Because… no matter what he told himself, he was still weak. Maybe his body was stronger, but his mind was as fragile as ever, and apparently, no amount of stats could help fix insecurities, trauma, or whatever ailed his mind. It was something he’d have to deal with. He didn’t want to be weak, for it to anchor him, weigh him down. He needed to free himself from its clutches, and before that, he needed to find the broken pieces and put himself back together.

  But right now, there was something else he needed. So, he simply stood. Somber. Taking in the night. Utter silence and emptiness filling him, while warm water continued streaming down his face even long after all the pool water on him had dried out.