Liam woke to a throbbing pain splitting through his skull. "Urgh…" The sound slipped past his lips before he even realized it.
Confusion weighed heavily on him. What… what just happened? His mind clawed at fragments of memory, but there was nothing only a dull dizziness, like he had been spun through a storm and dropped unceremoniously back into his body.
He pushed himself upright, one hand clutching the side of his head. His vision swam in a blur, the world smeared into formless shapes. Slowly, agonizingly, it began to settle. The first thing that came into focus trees.
And then more trees.
Towering trunks stretched endlessly around him, their canopies tangled together in a dense ceiling of green. Shafts of sunlight pierced through gaps in the foliage, illuminating the forest floor in scattered patches. Strange, birdlike calls echoed in the distance, mingling with the rustle of unseen creatures moving through underbrush. Some animals darting past were familiar squirrels, birds but others were alien, a rabbit with antler-like protrusions, a lizard with crystalline scales that glinted unnaturally beneath the light.
Liam's heart tightened. None of this made sense. This has to be a dream, he thought, shaking his head as though he could dispel the unease clawing at him. There was no logical way to explain waking up in the middle of a forest. Not like this.
Still… what if it wasn't a dream?
He forced himself to his feet, every movement cautious, as if the wrong step might shatter the fragile illusion around him. After a few tentative strides, the faint murmur of water reached his ears ,a stream somewhere ahead. Relief stirred within him. If he washed his face, maybe the shock of cold would pull him awake. Or… prove the opposite.
Following the sound, Liam emerged into a small clearing where a stream ran crystal clear across smooth stones. He crouched at the bank, cupping his hands and plunging them into the flow. The icy bite of water rushed against his skin.
He splashed it over his face.
The cold was real. The sting of it was real.
"I'm… not dreaming," he muttered, voice breaking with disbelief.
His gaze darted around, suddenly sharper, more urgent. The strange fauna he had glimpsed earlier weren't figments of imagination—this place was real. And if that was true, then he was no longer on Earth.
Liam swallowed hard. He needed a plan, and quickly. Water was a start, but shelter was the next priority. If night fell, even the forests of Earth turned treacherous. Here? Who knew what prowled after dark. He wasn't about to gamble with his life when the rules of this world were a mystery.
He turned, ready to search for a safe spot to make camp—
And froze.
A translucent screen flickered into existence before his eyes, glowing faintly against the dim forest light.
Liam blinked once. Twice. "Is this… what I think it is?"
The words scrolled across the panel, crisp and mechanical:
[Would you like to bind?]
[Y / N]
His breath hitched. It was a system.
After a brief pause, his hand shot forward, tapping Yes.
[The Teyvat Enemy Transformation System has been bound to host.]
The interface shifted, new lines forming.
[You have 1 Random Character Card. Would you like to use it?]
Liam's mind reeled. Character card? Could this mean… he could become someone from Genshin Impact? But the name of the system—Teyvat Enemy—did that mean monsters instead?
It didn't matter. Any edge, any scrap of power, was better than nothing. He was just a normal human, dropped into the unknown. And here was a chance his only chance to survive.
"Yes," he whispered.
The screen pulsed, cycling through shifting colors and question marks. The symbols spun rapidly, as though mocking his anticipation, until finally they halted—blue and white.
The panel burst with light.
An image filled the screen: a colossal wolf, its body sculpted of glacial ice and roaring winds. Its fur shimmered in pale hues, equal parts spectral and divine. The air around the image seemed to hum with power.
[Lupus Boreas, Dominator of Wolves (1/3 unlock)]
Liam's jaw dropped. "What—?! No way. Andrius? On the first pull?"
He closed his eyes, then opened them again, half-expecting the vision to vanish.
It didn't.
[Lupus Boreas, Dominator of Wolves (1/3 unlock)]
The words burned into his vision, undeniable.
Excitement surged through him, raw and overwhelming. A moment ago he had been a helpless man in an alien world, but now… now he held the power of a wolf god.
For the first time since waking, hope eclipsed his fear.
With this, he could survive.
The glowing panel hovered before Liam, lines of text etching themselves across its surface.
[Lupus Boreas, Dominator of Wolves (1/3 unlock)]
A smaller line blinked beneath it.
[Prove Yourself]
"Prove… myself?" Liam frowned. Some kind of condition? A test? He shook his head. He would figure it out eventually.
The screen shifted again.
[Would you like to transform into Lupus Boreas, Dominator of Wolves?]
[Y / N]
His pulse hammered in his ears. Was he really about to do this? "Yes," he whispered, tapping the option.
The world answered instantly.
A gust of wind tore through the clearing, swirling violently around his body. Leaves and dirt lifted into the air, spiraling into a storm. The ground beneath him crusted over with frost, spreading in jagged lines that glittered faintly under the sunlight. The trees creaked and swayed as the gale intensified.
Light engulfed him, searing bright. His human frame expanded bones stretching, reshaping, his skin dissolving into a cloak of fur. From man-sized, his form swelled to a towering thirty-two feet tall, nearly fifty feet from muzzle to tail. The light finally shattered away, unveiling a creature that was no longer Liam at all.
Where a man once crouched, now stood a colossal dire wolf.
His fur was a sweeping cascade of white and icy blue, catching the sun like freshly fallen snow. Patterns of frost shimmered faintly across his pelt, glowing with an otherworldly light. From his paws radiated trails of frozen mist, spreading with every step he took. His eyes blazed with a piercing azure, sharp as glaciers yet ancient in their depth. The air itself bent to him—winds gathering, cold flowing outward in waves as though the forest acknowledged the arrival of something greater.
A chill mist curled from his jaws as he raised his massive head to the sky.
"Awooooooo—!"
The howl erupted like thunder, shaking the forest to its roots. It wasn't merely sound—it was a proclamation, a reverberation of primal authority carried on the wind. Birds burst from the trees in panicked flocks, scattering wildly. Small animals darted for their burrows. Even the air seemed to quiver with awe and dread.
Somewhere not far from Liam's, a group of adventurers camped along the forest's edge. The instant the howl reached them, the entire camp froze, tension snapping taut in the air.
A woman in a midnight-black kimono stood slowly, her long hair flowing down her back, pinned neatly with a kanzashi. Her eyes narrowed, sharp and calculating, as she turned toward the source of the sound.
Beside her, a second woman stepped forward—a tall figure with striking red hair tied into a ponytail, a rapier hanging at her hip. She glanced at the kimonoed woman. "You heard it too, Kaguya?"
Kaguya's expression remained composed, though her hand rested subtly on the hilt of her blade. "Yes. That wasn't a normal monster call."
Before more could be said, a ripple of movement disturbed the underbrush. Wolves emerged, their yellow eyes gleaming. The adventurers tensed instantly, weapons raised yet the monster barely spared them a glance. They bolted past, racing toward the echo of the great howl.
"Captain! Astraea-sama is calling you!"
The voice came from behind a girl with medium-length pink hair hurried into view, her breath quick.
The red-haired woman, Captain Alise Lovell, turned. "Astraea-sama? Calling me?"
The pink-haired girl, Lyra, nodded.
Alise's gaze shifted back to Kaguya, who still stared into the direction of the howl, eyes dark with thought. "Kaguya… this has to be connected to that howl."
Kaguya inclined her head. "It seems so."
The forest felt heavier, as though the world itself had shifted in response to that cry.
Something vast had awakened.
----------divide-------------
Meanwhile, Liam now a towering dire wolf couldn't stop himself from feeling utterly embarrassed.
He had howled. Loudly. Out of nowhere.
The colossal beast that was once Liam now sat back on his haunches, one massive paw covering his eyes. What the hell was he even thinking…? If anyone had seen that, he'd die of shame—well, more than he already had. Thank the stars no one was here to witness it.
The image of a werewolf tearing through its own shirt flashed in his head. He groaned inwardly. Grah! Whatever…!
Shaking off the thought, he rose onto all fours. The motion felt strange at first—the weight of his body spread across four limbs, his stance wider and heavier—but oddly natural. It was as though this body had always been his, and his human form was the disguise. Each step pressed deep into the soil, the ground crunching faintly with frost where his paws touched.
Then—he felt it.
A brush of wind passed over him, carrying scents and heartbeats, whispers of life. An instinctive awareness bloomed in his mind, telling him exactly what approached. Wolves.
Dozens of them.
His howl had been a summons. Andrius wasn't just a wolf. He was the Great Wolf King. If I've taken his form, then to these creatures. I'm their god now or existence something similar. That one howl, foolish as it seemed, must have been a summons a proclamation of his arrival. And every wolf within miles was compelled to answer.
Soon, they came. One by one, shadows slipped between the trees—wolves of all sizes, some nearly five feet at the shoulder, others towering seven feet tall. Their eyes gleamed, and their steps were reverent. At the forefront strode a massive wolf, scarred across one eye, larger than the rest. The pack's alpha.
As they entered the clearing, the wolves bowed their heads, their forms trembling in instinctive submission. Even the alpha lowered himself, though his gaze flicked between Liam and his pack as if ensuring they all followed. Then, with solemn steps, the scarred wolf approached alone and bent low.
Liam swore he heard a voice, faint yet insistent, pressing against his mind.
He opened his jaws, intending to say something, but what came out was a word not his own thought's.
"I shall accept thy plea." a voice that boomed out was deep, regal, tinged with ancient resonance
Liam blinked. That wasn't what he meant to say at all he had wanted to say something like, Sure, you can join me, I guess.
The effect was immediate.
The pack erupted in a chorus of joyous howls, their voices rising to the sky in unison. A sudden breeze swept the clearing, encircling them. Liam watched, stunned, as the scarred alpha's body began to shift. Muscles swelled, fur bristled, his very frame stretching. In moments, the alpha stood nearly thirteen feet tall but still dwarfed by Liam's immense form..
Liam stared, bewildered. Did I… just bless them?
The alpha wolf turned his gaze upward, now brimming with newfound power. He bowed once more, deeply, awaiting command.
For a moment Liam quietly thinking. He had no plan, no idea how to handle his new followers. But the words came anyway, heavy and regal, his voice rolling through the air.
"You may go. When the time comes… I shall call."
The pack stilled. One by one, they lowered their heads in acknowledgement, then melted back into the trees. Only the alpha remained, lingering a moment longer. He bowed once again, then followed, vanishing into the forest's.
Liam stood alone once more.
His ears twitched. His breath misted in the cold. Then, slowly, he nodded his massive head.
"…That was pretty cool," he muttered, though the voice still came out as a deep, majestic rumble. In truth, he had no idea what he was doing. No plans for the wolf pack. He had just said the first thing that came to mind and somehow pulled it off.
Still, his priorities hadn't changed. Camp, Shelter, Fire, to survive.
-----divide-------
p.s p.s p.s there