Advancing toward the Gray Wolf, Rin raised her buckler to guard her chest.
Though she doubted the small shield could truly withstand any of the wolf's attacks, holding it up gave her a measure of psychological comfort.
The closer she drew, the more immense the wolf seemed.
Even standing on all fours, its height matched that of a grown adult.
For a child like Rin, being near such a creature pressed down on her with a heavy sense of intimidation, born from the vast difference in size.
But then she recalled the times she had sparred with her Master—when he swung his blade at her without hesitation. Aside from the day she was gravely injured by thugs, Rin had never felt so close to death.
The pressure of facing her Master had been far greater than that of the wolf looming before her now.
Because of that, Rin's steps remained steady, her grip on the weapon unwavering.
Was she afraid? Of course.
Sweat drenched her palms and feet as she confronted the dangerous Magical Beast. Yet what terrified her more was the thought of disappointing her Master.
Since the day he saved her, Rin had received so much from him, yet she had given back nothing of real worth.
Now, at last, the chance to prove herself had arrived. She could not waste it. She could not let her training be in vain.
The wolf had long since noticed her and kept its gaze fixed upon her as she approached.
From its eyes and bearing, Rin sensed disdain.
Locking eyes with the beast, Rin declared her resolve:
"I will defeat you."
* * * * * * * * * *
Even before the pack leader was slain and the pack scattered, it had never been an especially remarkable wolf.
Yet on its own, it was still a healthy, full-grown adult with no injuries whatsoever.
In other words, the wolf was in the prime of its life.
A powerful predator, it turned nearly every smaller creature in the forest into its prey.
It carried the pride of a hunter.
Today, its keen senses detected two small beings trespassing into its territory.
To its surprise, one of them dared to approach directly, even defiantly.
Though it sensed danger in this oddity, as a proud predator, it could not simply flee with its tail between its legs.
It roared a threatening cry and lunged to tear apart the small figure before it.
It let out a threatening roar and charged forward to tear apart the small creature before its eyes.
Swinging its sharp claws, the wolf already envisioned the scene of the tiny being pierced through and crushed beneath its feet.
Yet the small creature somersaulted away and managed to escape.
Faced with the failure of its attack, the wolf grew even more furious, feeling as though its prey was mocking it.
Growling, it circled, steadily closing the distance between itself and its target.
It was choosing the right position to launch another strike. And then, without any warning, the wolf acted once more.
This time, its entire body lunged forward. Its jaws opened wide, revealing rows of sharp fangs.
Yet the prey did not dodge as before—instead, it charged straight toward the wolf.
As a result, the wolf miscalculated the timing of their clash and was a fraction too slow to react.
The small prey, upon drawing close, suddenly shifted slightly to the wolf's right instead of continuing straight ahead.
That swift change of direction was unusual. Normally, when the body is charging forward at full speed, such a sudden turn would inevitably slow it down in that instant.
Yet this prey managed to move that way without losing speed—in fact, it became even faster than before.
And then, what the wolf saw next was a small object hurtling straight toward its head.
Too close to evade, it snapped its jaws shut around the weapon being swung.
The impact from that small object was beyond its imagination. The blow was so powerful that its skull seemed to shatter instantly.
Not stopping there, its head was forced backward even as its body continued lunging forward.
The result was its neck snapping in an instant.
From hunter to hunted, the wolf was defeated by the tiny prey after only two attempts at attack.
Its massive body collapsed, and darkness swiftly engulfed its vision forever.
* * * * * * * * * *
In that first attack, Rin had struggled to dodge—partly from surprise, partly from panic.
But she quickly steadied herself, regaining her defensive stance before the wolf could strike again.
Though outwardly shaken, she had gleaned precious insight.
First, the wolf's movements were not too fast to follow; compared to sparring with her Master, they were clumsy.
Second, its strikes lacked the weight one might expect from such a large body. Its strength lay more in speed than raw power.
Meanwhile, during her sparring with Master, the puppet 'Servant' had a small, slender frame identical to Rin's, yet every strike it delivered carried a weight completely at odds with its appearance.
In one such bout, when Rin stumbled back toward the fence, Master showed no mercy, commanding the puppet to unleash a direct kick at her.
Though she managed to dodge, Rin still vividly remembered the mark left upon the fence—it was far stronger than the wolf's blow just moments ago.
In truth, Master had shaped the puppet into an equal of Rin in raw strength, differing only in its refined technique.
In other words, if Rin now executed every technique she had been taught with precision, she could unleash a strike no weaker than the wolf's in a contest of sheer force—and perhaps even surpass it.
Knowing this, Rin grew more confident for the next clash.
This time, Rin focused intently on every slightest movement of the wolf and prepared herself.
The moment it lunged, Rin moved as well.
Using the footwork she had been taught, she shifted precisely as intended, slipping to the wolf's right instead of charging head‑on.
At the same time, Rin swung her warpick straight toward the wolf's head, applying the techniques she had learned.
Empowering both her body and weapon to the highest level she could manage, Rin struck with all her strength.
As a result, the wolf was felled by that single blow.
Though victorious, Rin felt her right hand had suffered considerable damage.
Perhaps not broken, but she believed the joint had been dislocated, leaving her with sharp, uncomfortable pain.
Had she mastered body reinforcement more precisely, she might have avoided such injury.
Quietly reminding herself to improve further, Rin lifted the warpick with her left hand.
The battle was not yet fully over—she still had one task to complete.
Approaching the fallen, trembling wolf, Rin brought her weapon down, ending its life once and for all.