"Be prepared?!" Kevin felt unsteady upon hearing the data terminal's words. "What kind of preparation? Are you really going to face the wolves head-on?"
Kevin looked down at his current outfit. Unarmed was one thing, but he was still in his pajamas! Being in his pajamas was one thing, but he had no shoes! Being shoeless was one thing, but he vaguely remembered the black wolves on this grassland were bigger than him! In this situation, the data terminal confidently said "Be prepared." He suddenly felt the urge to tie a rope to that broken thing and use it as a meteor hammer: it was the only way he could think of to arm himself. The data terminal ignored Kevin's discontent. It simply fluttered into Kevin's pocket and uttered a cryptic message: "Your salary has arrived, but how much you can withdraw is up to you."
Kevin was about to ask what this meant when a distinct noise suddenly emanated from the nearby bushes: the wolves, seemingly sensing their "prey"'s wariness, impatiently tightened their circle.
As the data terminal had warned, escaping the wolves' encirclement was unrealistic. Kevin could only focus and prepare for his first challenge in the dream plane. He recalled the scene in the underground palace that day when he faced hundreds of steel undead, but that battle, to be honest, wasn't very valuable: he was flanked by two incredibly powerful female warriors, and those tin cans had just woken up, making them incredibly slow and clumsy. Besides their tenacious vitality, they had no other advantages. As long as he stayed calm and delivered a powerful kick, dealing with them would be a piece of cake. But dealing with the wolves from the "other world" was different. Perhaps in Vivian's eyes, these wolves were "lower" than the knight undead, but to Kevin, an ordinary person with little combat experience, the beasts posed a far greater threat.
He suddenly found this a bit amusing: Was it really worthwhile to go to the dream plane and provoke wild wolves just to supposedly improve his strength?
His wandering thoughts were interrupted by a fierce flash of light in the darkness. The wolves had closed in on him. The scent of wild beasts wafted on the night wind, and dark shadows appeared in sight. The scent of the wolves was within reach. Kevin didn't know what he would do if the beasts attacked en masse, but he suspected they might send out one or two vanguards to test the waters. He'd seen that in the animal kingdom, and he wondered how different the wolves of the dream plane were from those of the real world...
The standoff didn't last long. After realizing their ambush had failed, the first wolf, unable to contain itself, pounced.
Kevin saw only a massive black shadow rapidly enlarge within his sight. His mind was intensely focused in that moment, his muscles tensing to the point of bursting. He dodged sharply—he'd imagined striking the black wolf's vulnerable chest and abdomen with a single punch, securing the first kill. However, it turned out that bravery wasn't yet within his grasp. Faced with impending danger, dodging was a human's first instinct. But at least he dodged well. The huge, bizarre-looking black wolf, clearly more ferocious and agile than Earth wolves, was still dodged. Kevin subconsciously swung his right hand as he dodged. He vaguely felt he'd struck something, but he wasn't sure how effective it had been.
The first black wolf that lunged at him quickly turned after landing, confronting Kevin at a distance. Moonlight shone across the grassland, and Kevin's enhanced vision allowed him to clearly see the beast's appearance.
They were roughly similar to Earth wolves, but twice the size of a normal wolf. Their fur was jet black, and numerous black, plate-like protrusions could be seen on their heads and waists, seemingly some kind of keratinous substance—it was clear they couldn't be classified as the same species as Earth wolves. The wolves watching the fight around him didn't stir at all; they merely adjusted their formation slightly, tightening their encirclement. Kevin saw a hint of "watching the show" in those countless eyes, and he was stunned. The look was genuine; the surrounding wolves were indeed observing the situation with intense interest.
"Roar—" The first black wolf growled menacingly, its voice hinting at anger. One of the keratinous protuberances on its waist had broken, apparently from Kevin's haphazard punch.
In the blink of an eye, the beast lunged again.
But Kevin was now in much better shape than before. He found his body could actually keep up with the extreme attacks of this monster wolf, which gave him a huge boost of confidence. He then confirmed that the surrounding wolves didn't seem to be planning to gang up on him, and with renewed confidence, he repeated his previous move, carefully observing the giant wolf's movements before dodging and striking. At the moment of the exchange, he discovered that even at such a rapid speed, he could clearly see every hair on the giant wolf's body. In the split second of swinging his fist, he even had the energy to fine-tune the angle of his attack. This was a feeling he had never experienced in the underground palace, relying on brute force to deal with the slow-moving steel undead.
"Bang!" A solid punch landed on the monster wolf's midsection. Kevin tried his best to avoid hitting the keratin armor like before, and this second punch was clearly more effective. The giant wolf let out a noticeable whimper and grazed Kevin's shirt, missing. However, Kevin soon felt a burning sensation on his face. He reached out and touched his hand, only to find it covered in blood. Normally, his calves would have cramped, signaling that he'd nearly had his head ripped off by the wolf. But now, he couldn't tremble. The wolf, having landed, immediately turned and charged again. Kevin's reaction was a beat slower than the beast's. He could see the wolf's jaws closing in, but his body couldn't keep up. He could only watch helplessly as the bloody maw sank into his arm.
"Fuck!" Kevin muttered unconsciously, but before he could recall the stories of revolutionary martyrs, he realized something: "Why doesn't it hurt?"
The giant wolf hung heavy on his arm, its weight undeniable. But Kevin looked closely and saw that his arm was covered in a thin, translucent film. Though thin, it was indestructible. The wolf's fangs had already broken half of it where they bit into it.
The wolf was slow to react. Only after chewing hard and realizing the taste wasn't right did it let out a howl and retreat, circling several meters away with its mouth full of blood. Kevin was still confused when he heard the data terminal mutter, "Those two punches were good, and your mindset is barely adequate. It proves you can maintain a fighting spirit even when auxiliary tools are ineffective. The conditions are met, and your basic ability as an Inquisitor has been granted: Rigid Shield. While not as good as a Psionic Shield, it's radiation-free, so it's more than enough."
Kevin's body trembled, then he burst into ecstasy: Raven 12345 finally stopped cheating!
"But I'm reminding you that the Rigid Shield has a limited capacity. The shield you use is a symbiotic 'gadget' within you. It's only for the Inquisitor's survival, so don't mistake it for invincibility. Of course, it's more than enough to deal with these wolves."
"That's enough!" Kevin waved his hand excitedly. Having finally acquired an ability that could be called a "skill," he couldn't wait to try it out, so he pounced on the nearest other monster wolf. The wolves finally gave up their spectatorship. These ferocious beasts erupted in a commotion, four of them charging simultaneously from two different directions at Kevin. Kevin didn't dodge, relying on his shield to bite them hard. After another flurry of fangs, he finally landed on his target. The giant wolves' brute strength and agility were truly remarkable, and the two (?) immediately engaged in a fierce battle.
The battle was filled with the sound of flying sand and rocks—actually, not that much noise, but that made it seem more intense. Kevin felt he was engaging in a fierce battle, ignoring the data terminal's comments, "Your fighting style isn't much different from an animal's." Ultimately, the aggressive were afraid of the inert, and the inert were afraid of the desperate. Kevin, with comparable strength to the black wolves and the shield propping him up, soon had the wolf beneath him dazed. The surrounding wolves, realizing they couldn't bite this strange creature, hesitated and didn't dare to approach. But the wolf's ferocity was real. Even with its face bruised and battered by Kevin's fists, the giant wolf still stiffened its neck and roared, "You dare spare my life?!"
Kevin refused to let go: "You're dreaming! Who jumped at me first?"
"I was just watching from the sidelines. Someone else bit you first!" the giant wolf roared, turning to look around. "You bastards, stop just watching. Come help!"
"It doesn't matter how many come. I'll just grab you... Damn, you can talk?!"
"Fuck, you're so slow!"