"There they are." Perched up on a thick branch of a tall tree, hidden among others, Jinn eyed a pair of wolves hunting a tiger- like beast in the distance.

Under the sharp jaws of these silver wolves, whose hides did not even take damage from its claws, the tiger-like beast stood no chance.

It moved with a limping leg and fought with pride but ultimately fell to the six wolves.

"Worthy of their name." Despite being bigger than normal wolves he had seen in his previous life, the tiger-like beast was larger and more powerful.

Yet, it fell into the hands of six of these wolves.

Despite their numbers, only three of them had actually fought the tiger beast while the rest kept an eye on their surroundings.

'Three wolves are enough for me to complete the task, but their numbers make it difficult.' Each Ironhide wolf had four fangs.

With his abilities, if Jinn wanted to complete the mission, he had to use his powers to separate them.

"How should I do it…"

Watching the pack feast on the corpse, Jinn started formulating a plan in his mind.

…

After finishing their meals, the six Ironhide wolves started to feel tired and found an open area to settle down for a while.

Five of them sat in a circle surrounding a single wolf who appeared much older and more powerful than the rest.

It was clear he was the alpha of the group, their leader.

One of the five guarding wolves was licking blood off its paws while eying the rear of a female wolf nearby.

Just when it seemed to be attracted to the sight before, the wolf before it vanished into a puff of smoke that slowly filled the area.

The only thing it recalled was a faint voice echoing in his mind that slipped away with his focus.

[ Dream of the Trickster ]

The wolf blinked.

Once. Twice.

The warm scent of pack mates, the familiar heartbeat-thrum of the alpha, and the lazy breaths of the resting circle. None of it was there anymore.

The smoke thickened as the young Ironhide wolf could barely perceive the distance of a few meters before it.

Even the tree closest to it became hazy.

The wolf suddenly stood up in panic when it saw a hazy shadow shifting through the smoke.

The same was also the case for the rest of the wolves, including the alpha.

"You should be able to help me test my abilities." Jinn suddenly stepped out of the smoke and stood before the leader of the pack, announcing his intentions.

Even though the wolf was incapable of understanding his words, the wolf leader understood Jinn was its enemy.

Letting out a beastly growl, it stepped forward.

The world around it hadn't changed—same grass, same claw-raked earth, same faint metallic tang of the tiger-beast carcass in the distance. But the pack… the pack was nowhere.

"Grrr!"

Digging its sharp claws in the dirt, the beast lunged at Jinn, ready to tear him apart.

But the moment its claws touched the boy, he turned into a puff of smoke, merging with the fog around him.

It snapped its jaws in alarm, releasing a sharp growl that should have alerted its pack but now only made the air tense.

There was no familiar reply.

No familiar warmth.

No reassuring presence of the kin.

At the same time, several meters away, still standing on the same tree, Jinn watched everything unfold from the distance.

Beads of sweat had accumulated on his forehead as he controlled such a large-scale illusion beyond the capabilities of his level.

Before him, Jinn saw the wolves attacking each other.

By the time everything settled down, only the leader was standing, though barely.

Its left eye was missing, and there was a lot of blood seeping out of its body.

Seeing the dead bodies of its pack lying around at its feet, the alpha trembled with emotions before letting out a deep growl into the space.

"Awooo!"

The wolf howled, as if grieving the loss of his pack. The next instant his eyes burned red with fury.

Woosh!

The silver hide of the wolf shone under the sunlight. It shone so brightly that Jinn almost felt like its skin was melting off.

And in a way it was…

Beads of silver liquid seeped out of its body, suspending into the air.

For a second, these spherical balls blobbed in the same spot. Seeing them surrounding the wolf, Jinn remembered the name Ironhide wolf.

'Could this be its innate ability?'

The abilities humans unlock through rituals are called blessings, but the ones these creatures of darkness awaken are known as the innate ability.

Just as he was thinking, the blob of liquid moved at a tremendous speed.

Woosh!

It whistled past Jinn, creating a slash on his cheeks and legs as he barely dodged the attack.

'What…' from the corner of his eyes, he saw the blob of the same attack he had dodged exploding in the ground.

As the dust settled, a simple arrow-shaped object revealed itself in the ground.

'Metal? Iron!' Jinn instantly understood the ability of this creature. 'It can separate iron from its skin and use them to attack.'

As he looked back, several more of such iron arrows could be seen coming his way.

'Already?' Jinn hurriedly dodged the attack once more and rushed forward. 'I have to close the gap between us.'

Now that the numerical advantage of the pack was gone, Jinn wanted to access his abilities a little.

'There is no one in the area, master.'

Hearing the familiar voice, a sliver of a grin appeared on his face as Jinn increased his speed.

The blessing he had received through the human ritual gave him the ability [The Dream of The Trickster].

Even though there were some passive boosts to his body, Jinn did not gain much physical prowess since his aspect was related to spirituality.

'But my devil side is different.' As he rushed forward, his hands transformed into claws. 'The moment I awakened the first core at the base of my spine. My Dragon Energy had nearly doubled, and my physical abilities had also soared beyond what they were before.'

His figure moved through the barrage of attacks like a breeze.

For a moment, the world around him seemed to have lost color, and waves of crimson threads charged in his direction. He did not see it, but the faint silver-white energy around his abdomen gained a red hue as well.

The crimson lines he saw were aimed at different parts of his body.

Seeing this, Jinn got out of the way until no line touched his body.

The wolf leader was powerful, no doubt. Its attack was dangerous enough to kill someone of his rank with those iron projectiles that appeared from its skin.

But…

That's all it had.

It lacked proper consciousness to fight.

Every attack made from iron was purely from instinct of the abilities. Then it had marked Jinn as its enemy and mindlessly threw attacks at him.

"This should be enough." With the whole area behind him left devastated, Jinn hid himself in the smoke and disappeared from the sight of the wolf.

"Tick, tick… slash!" Without letting the beast realize he reappeared behind it, and with his transformed hands, he stabbed the alpha in the head, killing it in the process.

As its limp body fell down, Jinn's hand turned back. He wiped the blood with a piece of cloth and tucked it back in the bag he had tied across his waist.

'Everything is clear.' with a final report, the imp's voice faded away.

Jinn looked around at the bloody mess he had caused while thinking. 'That was a good workout… but what was that power?'

He recalled how the world had lost color around him and then the red threads he saw in the air.

'Was this the power of my devil nature?' Unlike the blessing, he did not get a detailed explanation about the ability. He would have to explore it all by himself.

After gathering his thoughts, Jinn collected all the fangs and claws of the Ironhide wolves lying around him.

Surprisingly, their fur, which was as hard as iron, turned soft after their deaths.

So Jinn had an easier time collecting his loot.

Even though the mission only stated ten fangs, he kept the rest if similar missions appeared in the future.

'I should move.' Knowing the blood might attract other beasts, Jinn decided not to take unnecessary risks and moved away.

While running, the cuts on his body let out a white smoke before they healed magically.

If not for the tears on his uniform, which were mending themselves at a slower rate, no one would believe he even got hurt in the first place.

'The sun is about to set. I should look for the magical spots.'

And thus, the wandering devil set out in search of the miracle that everyone yearned to see but dared not to witness.

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