[Nightmare]

"If you find me amusing, I'll graciously exchange mischief for training." Helix replied with a serious expression.

After a moment of stunned silence, Tyrene burst into laughter.

"I don't know whether to laugh or cry, kid." She asserted while wiping light tears from her eyes.

Elsa glared daggers at him, but Helix gave her a light shrug and an expression that read, "[it couldn't be helped].

"I like your spunk. However, you shouldn't be so eager.

If you train with me, I plan to flay your ass and grill it on skewers." She replied with a sharp gaze.

"I now know where Macron got his mannerisms." Helix chuckled with a wry smile.

"Hah. That softy? My language is the only thing he picked up from me.

He didn't pick up on my willingness to execute my words." Tyrene declared with a chilly gaze.

Helix shivered.

"I'm bitter to say this. But after seeing your match with Tilo, I won't even try to convince you to be my apprentice.

However, Tilo told us he'd give you four hours a day to learn from other teachers.

Is that correct?" She asked.

Helix nodded in confirmation.

"I'd like all four hours he's giving you." Tyrene requested with a serious gaze.

Helix gave her a conflicted expression.

"Linus, the grand scholar, would like to speak with you four hours a week.

You can speak to him during your nights and weekends.

So you don't have to refuse anyone, and Tilo has agreed." She clarified.

Helix's eyes flickered with excitement.

"However, I'm warning you, boy. I'm not Macron.

If you choose to train with me, you better prepare for death." Tyrene warned with fire blazing in her eyes.

Elsa looked at Helix with a concerned expression.

He responded with a gentle smile before turning to Tyrene with a steeled gaze.

"I'll do it. I can't wait to whine about you ten years from now when I'm still alive." Helix replied with a firm gaze.

Tyrene's eyes widened before narrowing slightly.

"That was the most astute reply I've ever heard." She replied with an impressed expression.

"Excellent. Come now. Let's make you regret your words."

Tyrene motioned for Helix to join her.

Helix shivered and gave Elsa a truly pathetic smile.

"I'll be back later, Elsa. I probably won't be back until training with Tilo tomorrow is impossible." He chuckled with a nervous smile.

"So don't stay up for me. I'll ask master Tyrene to escort me home so you don't have to worry."

Elsa's worried expression softened after he addressed her concerns.

So long as Tyrene was with him, it was nearly impossible for him to die.

Tyrene smiled gently, watching their light exchange.

Once she and Helix were out of Elsa's hearing range, she gave the young man an evil grin.

"Since Tilo's still recovering, I have all day to teach you how real grandmasters teach their students." Tyrene declared with a predatory gaze.

"What will we be doing today, master?" Helix sighed.

"Oh, that…." She replied with an ominous smile.

—

"GRRRRRR GHAT!"

"Uh… Tyrene? Isn't this a bit—agh!" Helix exclaimed while lunging to the side.

"Don't just stand there, moron!

If you have time to beg for your life, you have time to save yourself!" Tyrene barked.

"GRRRRRRrrrrrrr!"

"GRRRRRR GHAT!"

"GR GHAT!"

"Guh! Oh shit!" Helix cried.

"You call [that] surviving!?" Tyrene roared.

"This is survival training, not suicide watch!

Stop gawking and keep your damn eyes in front of you!

I'll decide if you're worth saving."

Helix's heart was pounding.

There were three level 17 Liken Wolves in front of him.

Each had black and silver fur matted and greased with blood from prior meals.

Helix didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he ran behind a thick three for cover.

He was salivating when Tyrene announced she was taking him on a monster hunt.

Hunts were the fastest and most effective means of leveling up.

That was something he desperately needed.

That was the laugh.

—

[Name: Helix Hellsworth Margrave]

[Age: 18]

[Level: 8]

[Defense: 40]

[Strength: 55]

[Stamina: 45]

[Agility: 100]

[SP: 450]

—

However! He didn't expect to be fighting three wolves with levels two times greater than his own.

That was the cry.

"Gahhhhhhh!" Helix screamed.

"Lesson number one! Learning how to use a sword is important!

Don't go on monster hunts until you know how to swing one!" Tyrene yelled.

Helix released a caustic chuckle at her words.

"Let that wound on your arm be a permanent reminder!"

After hearing her words, he was waist-deep in the cry category on the laugh-to-cry scale.

No, it was always just [cry].

"GRRRRRRrrrrrrr!"

"GRRRRRRrrrrrrr!"

"GRRRRRR GHAT!"

The wolves started circling Helix.

"Think, Helix." He whispered in sudden realization.

Tyrene's eyes glittered with a strange glint after he spoke those words.

However, his expression remained unreadable.

—

[Query: Liken Wolf]

[Species: Canine]

[Threat Level: Intermediate]

[General Characteristics:

~200-400 hundred pounds.

Dark black and silver fur.

Large teeth with elongated canines.]

[Description: A large wolf roaming in packs of three or more unless separated.

The beasts are aggressive and extremely territorial.

They will attack humans upon sight.

Indigenous to the following regions…]

[Known Weaknesses:

Afraid of smoke and darkness.

Have poor eyesight and primarily use their hearing and sense of smell to track their enemies.

Rely heavily upon their powerful thigh muscles.

Fear the following beasts…

Weak to the following elements…

….]

[Known strategies for fighting them…]

[Research]

[New query]

—

"Thank god I like to read in my free time…." He muttered as he gritted his teeth.

Helix moved backward to a dirt-heavy area.

He kicked the dirt at full force when he reached a patch.

"GRRRRRR GHAT!"

The wolves lunged forward without pause.

"They don't have poor eyesight, you—"

Tyrene raised an eyebrow when she saw Helix's position.

The second he kicked the dirt, he ran behind trees to avoid the impending attack.

"If he knew it wouldn't stop them, why did he do it?" Tyrene muttered to herself.

Helix ran into a crack between two rocks and reached for his belt.

"That idiot! Those rocks are too brittle to stop the Liken Wolves!" She yelled.

Tyrene exploded from her position at lightning speed to the area.

However, before she struck the first Liken Wolf, her mind became clear as day, and a strange smile curled on her face.

Helix and the wolves had disappeared.

At least, that was how it would appear from an outsider's perspective.

Tyrene narrowed her eyes at Helix.

He was covered in blood and struggling to pull a sword out of a Dire Wolf.

However, she couldn't hear him struggle.

The scene unfolding was eerie and chilled her to the bone.

Helix lightly extended his leg and pushed the wolf while pushing the sword.

He gently lifted his hand to keep the second wolf at bay.

Between the barrier of the first corpse and the narrow passage, the third couldn't come into the fray.

Helix casually lifted his arms and floated the sword into a wolf's shoulder.

The sight was comical and soothing to Tyrene.

Helix looked like he was dancing, but his face was aggressive and strained with terror, frustration, and adrenaline.

Tyrene laughed at the absurdity of what she was watching.

However, Helix couldn't hear her.

He had unleashed the Circle of Silence into the passageway.

As a result, the area was dead quiet, and the lack of noise made the fighting appear fake.

It was like trying to take a poorly acted combat scene in a movie on mute seriously.

"So that's why you kicked dirt at them." She chuckled in bewilderment.

"You blinded their already poor sight and shot dirt into their noses.

Then you cut off their hearing completely, trapped one to create a barrier, and prevented them from sensing your nuanced position.

Not bad, kid."

Tyrene's eyes lit up.

However, they grew cold when she sensed that one of the Liken Wolves was about to strike a serious blow.

Tyrene disappeared from her position in an instant.

Helix opened and closed his mouth a few times, but no words came out.

He wanted to ask what the hell had happened, but his voice wasn't working.

The last wolf's claws were less than eight inches from his throat when its head exploded, and its arm disappeared.

Helix looked down and found the attack had soaked his entire body with blood, brain matter, and bone fragments.

He then looked up.

Tyrene, holding a sword in her left hand.

On her right hand, there was the sign of a thumbs up.

The area was dead silent, and the sight was too much for him to handle.

So he burst into silent laughter and waited for the Liken Wolves to dissolve.