Complete - Press "??" to Not Die

Hey, little sister. It's been a long time, but I felt like this was as good a time as ever. I've been playing this game called TerraSphere for a while. It's really good. I know mom bought you a VR helmet forever ago but it should still work fine. Maybe we can find one another.

Lots of love, Joyce
​

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vivienne stared at the...person in front of her, for lack of a better word, with wide-eyed bemusement. It had been a very long time since she'd played any sort of video-game. Hell, the last game she remembered completing was all the way back in her teen years when she'd been giving some online multiplayer games a shot with her friends from school. What had it been called? Elder Scrolls Online? It was so far back that VR had been in the testing phase. Yet sure enough, here she was, looking at herself in a virtual reality landscape. It was a surreal experience. She had good reason to break her dry spell, though: she had someone to find.

Is Joyce really playing this game like she said? She wasn't really into them when we were growing up.

...was she?

Shaking the hesitation off she began messing around with the character creation options. There were a few races to choose from, too, aside from all the cosmetic and technical stuff. Should she make the avatar look as much like herself as possible, so Joyce could find her faster? Urgh, but what if somebody from work recognized her, or somebody from school? The whole point of these games was to create a new self, right? Sort of? Maybe she should have looked up an online guide or something before she jumped into downloading the damn thing. Eh. After giving each race a once-over she finally picked one that simply looked the best for her preferred gaming style--or what she remembered as being her preferred game style, at least: the Caenis, born hunters and, bonus, adorable dog people. As soon as she selected it a pair or cute blonde ears perked out of her avatar's head, and a matching tail.

Wow. She'd never thought of wearing animal accessories before, but those weren't half bad.

Still, the avatar just looked too much like her. She didn't like it. She didn't need somebody to know who she was, she just needed to play this enough to find Joyce and that was all. So she began to experiment. She dyed her hair a dozen colors before settling on a nice, rusty shade of red. She gave herself a few inches for "purely cosmetic" purposes. As she went along picking her combat preferences she gave herself a bit more build and bulk.

Then she noticed another setting.

GAME:

Are you a boy, or a girl?

Huh. Well, obviously, Vivienne was a girl. Even with her more muscular figure, her long blonde hair, softer facial features, and dainty hands gave her away. That didn't need to be the case here, of course. Hadn't she played a male character in that other game? It had been just because she'd liked the look of the males more than the females. Too many boob-windows. Here, she didn't know if she would have the same problem or not. Plus with the way this game claimed to have highly immersive VR, it might be interesting, at the very least, to play a male character. And thus, Vivienne ticked the box to change her character's gender. He looked...not too different, really. His facial features looked more androgynous than her own, and his hands were larger, and his eyes slimmer. Still, they had the same deep blue color that was one of the few things Vivienne liked about herself. So she kept that just as it was.

"I guess we're going to be getting to know each other very well," she mused aloud, half expecting the lifeless player avatar to respond, but when it didn't she just patted his cheek lightly. "Now I have to name you though...hmm...I think I'll go with..."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GAME:

WELCOME TO TERRASPHERE, ARISTIDES

Aristides spawned into the world, quite literally, sitting under a tree on a sunny day, in the midst of a warm forest. He could very clearly hear birds somewhere nearby, and maybe a brook or a river as well. His hearing was really crisp, like everything was much closer to him than it really was, or like there was no noise pollution even though there was. It was strange. Taking his time to carefully stand up he looked around some more. He couldn't hear voices and all he could see were some squirrels running about--could he smell their fur? Was that a thing? That was too weird--so he assumed he was alone. Alone in a beautiful woods, somewhere in a world he had no clue about at all. He adjusted the clothes on his shirt and, without a better plan, started walking towards where he heard water coming from. Water usually meant people. Didn't it? Hadn't he read that somewhere? Or maybe he was thinking of--

While he was thinking, he took a step up on a root and hit his head on a low-hanging branch.

...huh. So this is what it felt like to be six feet tall.

Aristides swore and rubbed at his head and his left ear, muttering to himself about needing to mind doorways now, and "maybe I should have stayed shorter". At least nobody had seen him make a fool out of himself in his first few minutes of playing.

Right?

 

After a few minutes seeing nothing but completely darkness, Brian suddenly found himself inside a grey room that only had one thing in it: A perfect copy of himself. He raised his eyebrow with a interested smile, and suddenly a hologram with several character options and modeling tools popped up beside him.

"Heeh... I guess this means I can make my character by myself..." He went on and poked the character's forehead, and it felt like play dough. Brian chuckled lightly and scratched his head. "I've never been good at sculptures, but I have plenty of time. Worth it a shot, but first." He turned his head at the gender and race options. "Last time I played a RPG I made a female, so this time it will be a male." He selected his character's gender and switched to race options.

"Human... Nah" He switched to Caenis, making he smile a bit. "Oh, so that's how I would like if I was a wolf! Cool..." He switched to Felis. "Uwa, that kind of make me feel like petting myself... This is dangerous." He switched to Yladian, making him blink surprised. "T-Tall... I'm already tall enough in real life..." Then finally he switched to Faerin, that made him look down. "So small. But cute... This kind of remind me when I was a kid, except not chubby!" Brian said laughing at his own joke, that nobody that would understand was there to hear and selected Faerin as his character race.

"Now now... Time to work." He said grabbing a few tools and began modeling his avatar.

With all patience he had, he carefully modeled every single part he could, carefully changing his hair, his ears, his cheeks, everything that he could detail he tried to. Deleting and editing as many times as possible, and after many attempts of modeling his character, he finally finished it. And on name selection, he simply wrote 'Hanno" a name that her japanese father would give to him if it wasn't for his mother. He felt like it would be a good tribute.

Brian looked at the model for a last time, impressed. Then nodded at himself. "I will never be this cute. Heh, let's do it man!" He said giving a 'bro-fist' to the avatar.

Welcome to Terrasphere.
​

His eyes opened and he raised his head. He looked at his hands, closed and opened, then tried to stand up, having a few issues with it. "It's so weird to move with a body different from the one you are used to." He said jumping a few times, attempting to get used to it.

"I guess I'm Hanno now." He said opening the menu. No weapons, no armor, no equipments. Now, they said that game was ultra realistic and immersive, and it looked like it was true, for some reason he felt like he was in a completely different world. The lights... The warmth... The feeling of the grass on his feet... The sounds... The smell... Wait, something was smelling incredibly good!

Hanno's nose twitched and he raised his nose upwards. "Th-This smell, this is food! This is a very tasty food!" He exclaimed running toward the smell.

After a few minutes he found a big tree close to a river, that had some interesting looking purple like fruit. His eyes widened and he went close to it. "C-Could it be that we can taste stuff in this game?!" He clung to the tree's trunk and began to climb it until he was able to sit down on a bulky branch. Then he grabbed the big fruit that had the size of a melon and bited it. The sweetness, the texture and the juice of the fruit invaded his mouth, giving him an immediate pleasure that made he let out an "So goooood~"

He ate it in seconds, and instantly grabbed another one that didn't took too long to be eaten either. But soon, there was no more fruits nearby, except by one single fruit hanging in a lighter branch... If he jumped he could try to grab the fruit and climb on the branch, after all he was very small and light.

Hanno adjusted, preparing himself to jump at it. "This will be easy..." These were his last words before jumping straight to the fruit, grappling it with all the might he had and failing horribly because the branch broke because of the weight.

"aaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"

Hanno screamed while falling flat on the grass and letting the purple fruit roll away, only to be intercepted by a Caenis's feet.

 

"aaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"

From high in the treetops Aristides heard the pattering of feet, the crack of a branch, and then--quite suddenly--the screaming of what sounded like a person. He flinched away from the source of the noise but still managed to spot the unfortunate somebody drop straight out of the sky and land on the grass with a hard sounding thunk. Oof. That had to hurt. When something rolled from their hands to his feet, however, Aristides' gaze was pulled away to see a large, odd colored fruit on his feet, which he bent to pick up.

Was this why this person had been up in the trees? He was much smaller than Aristides was, so he had to be one of the smaller races. What were they called again? Faerin? It had been two seconds since he'd seen the character creator and already he was forgetting simple details.

Great job, Vivi.

Still, it would probably be really rude to just walk away from somebody who had likely hurt themselves right in front of him, so Aristides approached them, slowly and with a bit more care than before, having already hit his head once. He set the fruit next to them on the ground as he bent into a kneel at their side, looking for blood. Did people bleed in this game?

"Are...are you okay? Are you hurt? Do you, uh, need any help?"

At least with their height, they had gravity on their side when it came to falling.

Maybe. Possibly.

 

Aah... The smell and the taste of the grass. It wasn't tasty at all.

Hanno's body twitched a little. 'Aaah, this is very immersive indeed, that hurted almost as much as I expected it would hurt if I did the same thing in real life.' He thought, moving his arm to support his body and raise his head a little. 'But I think it was worth. That fruit was very delicious! It would make a wonderful pie.'

Finally he raised his head completely after hearing a voice.

"Are...are you okay? Are you hurt? Do you, uh, need any help?"

He analyzed the person in front of him, it was a Caenis and it looked very tall from Hanno's pespective. His real life self was actually quite tall, so he rarely had moments that he needed to look up to face someone.

"I-I'm alright! It was to get that tasty fruit, so it was worth!" Hanno stood up and stretched his body for emphasis. "Though I think I lost some HP." He opened the menu to give a fast check, but seeing it wasn't nothing serious he just closed it and stared to the Caenis's eyes. At least they were kneeling, so it was easy to do that.

"Hehe, this forest looked so empty, I didn't know it had someone else here!"

 

Aristides looked at the small person with a tilted head and raised brow, curiosity and confusion battling each other on his face. This person had risked getting hurt for a fruit? Huh, so you could taste things in this game as well. That lead to a whole new slew of silly things he could get up to in this game. Though looking for Joyce came first. Curiosity won the day as he picked up the purple fruit and held it up to the sunlight with one hand.

"This one? Mind if I...try it?"

He was sidetracked again as the person opened up their menu with their hand. Like an idiot, Aristides hadn't thought to do that when they'd entered the game. He'd do it later. He hadn't lost any HP from bonking his head on that branch, right? The game couldn't be that mean. Still, the smaller person was asking them a question. Sort of. They were talking to him, anyway. Aristides' spine straightened.

"Oh, uh, I just spawned in myself. I...think I heard you in the trees, but I thought you were a squirrel...sorry."

Okay, not bad for a first social interaction with another person, save all the awkward pauses. His voice sounded different than his in the real world--more masculine, or perhaps androgynous was the word, than his feminine one in reality. Interesting.

"I'm Aristides. Are you new to TerraSphere, too?"

 

After all the excitement of tasting a new fruit and of falling down from a giant tree worn off and realizing that he needed to give more attention to the person that he just met, Hanno's relaxed expression slowly came back and he kind of just sat down on the grass, that actually looked more like fell with their butt on the ground.

Crossing his legs and looking up at the Caenis, he began to answer. "Sure! You should really try it out, this thing is great!" He said while grabbing his own ears and squeezing a bit, for some reason that felt great, making a smile appear on his face.

"Ah, nice to meet you Aristides. I'm Futaba, Hanno Futaba." He introduced himself, while tilting his head a little. "Are you french?" Hanno asked, while thinking on french food. 'They probably have the best gastronomy in this world... Along with Japan and Italy... I'm kind of envy of him, to have access to such good food.' He pondered.

 

"Ah, thank you. Then I'll, um...do I need to put it in my inventory and select it, or do I just...shove it..."

Aristides awkwardly held the fruit to his face with his mouth open, pulled it back again like he had expected it to just disappear like a normal video game, and then, after another moment, actually bit down into the soft flesh like a real, well, fruit. His eyes widened slightly. He could really, honestly taste it, like he were eating an actual foreign fruit of some kind. It was so sweet and full of flavor! That was incredible. Apparently he should give this game much more credit than he'd been doing so; this game, whatever its goal was, was incredibly detailed. In a matter of seconds he'd scarfed down the fruit leaving only seeds and a bit of juice on his chin, and then snickered into his now empty hand.

"You weren't kidding. That was delicious!"

Futaba Hanno, this strange little fellow called himself. About on par with Aristides' own fanciful title, though he hadn't given any thought to a surname. Details. Unlike Futaba, though, Aristides wasn't sure where the accent they had came from. If it was American then it wasn't from the area he was studying in. Aristides gave a small nod and scratched lightly at his neck. Huh, his nails were sharpened, too. Had to be careful with that.

"Is it that obvious? I...yes, I'm from France. I'm not living there currently. Though I guess that doesn't matter."

Now what was he supposed to do? Go wandering about the forest, looking for some sort of new player hub, or the like? Were those still a thing? The last game they played had a big story mission setting up the plot, but this appeared to be much more free-form. Was that how games were these days? Was he going to wind up lost in these woods all day?

Would it kill him to ask for help?

"So, um. Do you have any idea where we're supposed to go, or where we are right now? I'm...clueless."

 

"Hahaha, I told you!" He said, sighing happily. This game should be super fun, to think the rumors were true.

"Just a little obvious. But it's fine, french accent is pretty." Hanno said showing how little it was with his fingers. "And nope, I have no idea... I think we need to look something by ourselves" He said looking around, it was still amazing how realistic this game was... It was almost like things that happened there would have real consequences.

'So that's the full potential of VR Adapter huh... Dangerous. Wait, wasn't there a few series and books about how ultra realistic VRMMOs killed the players that died inside of it?
He frowned a bit and opened the menu to see if there was a log out option... And it was there. 'Oh phew, for a second I thought I was locked here forever.' He thought and then noticed there was a Region description on the Menu.

He briefly read the description, noticing a very worrying word: 'Predators'.

"Ah- Hahaha." He laughed nervously. "That's not good..."

 

Theo had played a lot of video games in his day. In his hometown, it was really the only thing he cared to do with his small free time. After blowing probably too much money on a VR setup, he'd heard about Terrasphere being announced. When he figured out what that unknown email was about, he'd been ecstatic. Now, he tried to create his character. It was hard to sculpt a new person based on yourself. Theo thought hard about the things about himself he'd like to change. Really just, what things about himself could he make cooler.

I'm a little too short...and my hair's too short...and I don't like my glasses.

He went to work molding the copy of himself that sat in front of him, making small tweaks until everything was just right. Theo breathed a sigh of relief and confirmed that this would be his avatar: Rivers Asteire.

Welcome to Terrasphere​

The newly born Rivers spawned into Terrasphere. So...this was Brisshal, the starting area. Everything looked so...real. There were the sounds of town life all around him, the smells of people cooking in their homes, the familiar sight of people scurrying about their day. Rivers checked his inventory...there wasn't even a starter weapon. Wow, this was going to be tough. But the game was probably balanced around that right? Most starter quests involved killing some slimes. Figuring he'd get a head start and give those poor starter NPCs a break, Rivers walked towards the forest near the town. He'd kill five or ten starter enemies and then turn it in. Easy peasy.

Rivers looked high and low in the forest and wasn't finding anything that looked like a starter enemy. Were they hiding? Were there even starter enemies in this game? Of course, there had to be. This was an MMO after all. Rivers bit his lip. Maybe he was in the wrong place? Should he ask an NPC or another player? No. That'd be a bother and he could just figure that out himself...he moved deeper into the forest.

This was looking a lot more promising. Rivers was sure he'd find proper starter enemies here...any minute now...any second now...This wasn't working. He just found some docile looking animals that didn't at all resemble starter enemies. This was a bit frustrating, but he wouldn't bother someone else with his problems. Rivers checked the map for the region information. There were supposedly slimes around, but he hadn't found any. There were also wolves with a word next to them..."Predators".

"Heh...like I'd be scared of some lame-shit wol-"

Rivers paused for he heard growling behind him. Turning around slowly, he saw not one wolf, but many wolves staring him down. Oh yes, wolves hunted in packs. That's why he should be scared of them. Rivers didn't even have a weapon to defend himself. He had two options: befriend them or run. They weren't looking very friendly...run it was. Quickly, Rivers turned and ran towards the town. He ran for several minutes and didn't feel anything biting him. That was a good sign.

As he neared the edge of the forest, he saw a pair of players talking under a tree. They both appeared to be male, but Rivers couldn't remember the races. Wait. That didn't matter now! They were in trouble!

"YOU NEED TO RUN! WOLVES! NOT FRIENDLY!" That conveyed his message surely. Would they be able to keep up if they started running now? He was a rather tall character with a large stride, and one of them looked small. He slowed his pace. If Rivers was the slowest, he could hold off the wolves for a few minutes while the others escaped if need be. He was sure they'd bring back help if it came to that, though!
@Aristides

 

Well, free-roaming in a virtual forest in an entirely new fantasy wasn't the worst way to spend the day. At the very least he wouldn't be alone if he stayed by Futaba's side. It was a little strange to just meet somebody new and start talking to them like it was nothing, but hey, company was nice sometimes. Once they reached a city or the like they could go their separate ways and that would be that. He had to find Joyce. Somebody had to know where she was, didn't they? Or maybe she was near this spawning area, waiting? Otherwise what would be the point of sending him the client?

Futaba was looking at something in his menu again, laughing wearily at something, when Aristides' thoughts were interrupted by a noise that his sensitive ears managed to catch in the distance. Footsteps and scrambling and the sound of growls. Although he didn't see it himself his pupils shrunk and his tail--which was, to anyone approaching from behind would see, rather fluffy--tucked closer to his thighs. Something nearby was coming. Fast. Bad-fast.

"Futaba, I think we need to--"

"YOU NEED TO RUN! WOLVES! NOT FRIENDLY!"

Aristides jumped nearly out of his skin as a new voice shouted through the woods and he turned his head to see another person sprinting through the underbrush. Behind them he could hear more footsteps, smell something musky with foul breath, and he didn't waste a single moment. In the same action as standing up Aristides grabbed Futaba by the wrist and tried to pull the much smaller person in the same direction as the stranger; that being the direction opposite from where the wolves were quickly and angrily approaching. He had a much larger stride after all, and Futaba weighed hardly anything. He could probably even carry him on his shoulders. Though right now the best he could manage was pulling him along.

A funny thought did occur to him, however, as he began to flee. This was a video game. Sure, his senses were screaming at him that there was real, tangible danger fast approaching that would rip him to shreds given the chance, but it was just a game. It shouldn't hurt. If anything it would frightening to look at, but...

...wait, what setting had he set the damage taken aspect to again?

He remembered how much hitting his head on the tree branch had hurt, and ran faster.

"What the hell is going on?? Did you startle a whole pack or something?! Where are we even running to?!"

 

"YOU NEED TO RUN! WOLVES! NOT FRIENDLY!"

Hanno twitched his ears and turned to the source of the screams, seeing someone was in trouble. His fists clenched, how he could fight against those creatures without any weapons, he actually had to run? Or at least he could try to buy time for the person in trouble to save themselves... It didn't matter! This wasn't time to think, it was time to ACT!

Seeing that Aristides was going to grab him, Hanno crouched getting too low to someone as big as a Caenis reach him and instantly blasted off toward a Wolf.

Assist Mode Activated. Suddenly a warning popped up, when the Faerin engaged in the combat.

His charge became much faster, and he felt an powerful energy evolving his fist as he prepared to strike a punch on the wolf that was barely reaching the guy running away from it.

Heroic Strength. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

Finally getting in melee range, Hanno hopped a little swinging his arm with all might and connecting this clenched fist on the middle of the Wolf's snout, making a loud impact noise as the hitted animal got knocked down stunned.

But as Hanno dropped his defense, the rest of the wolves charged at him, growling and showing their might fangs.

 

"What the hell is going on?? Did you startle a whole pack or something?! Where are we even running to?!"

The larger man called back to Rivers, who was getting a bit tired of running away. He'd be running for several minutes, and it was getting taxing. But, his new friend had asked him a question. So Rivers was obliged to answer it. "IT WAS AN ACCIDENT! RUN ANYWHERE BUT HERE!" That conveyed a powerful message. Maybe he should've told him to run to the town...there would be guards and NPCs there who could take care of the wolves...and they'd actually have weapons. "RUN TO HONEYHOME!"

But, their plans for escaping would have to be delayed as the smaller of the pair darted past Rivers to attack the wolf. Despite his size, the small man smashed a wolf with his bare fists. Perhaps the three of them would actually fair well against the wolves. Regardless of the outcome, Rivers wasn't about to let his fellow player get pounced on! He turned as quickly as he could and charged towards the wolves.

Assist Mode Activated. His movements got easier. Actually, they got nearly automatic as he fell into the groove of a combat stance.

Parry. Rivers quickly redirected the lunges of two of the wolves into the ground as they charged towards the smaller man. Rivers's eyes widened and he flashed a grin. This was so cool. He was so cool. Now he had to sell it. "If you aren't running than neither am I. The name's Rivers." He must've looked so cool deflecting those wolves, his new friends would surely agree once this was all over.

But, Rivers was getting ahead of himself. He hadn't defeated anything and really just placed himself in front of his small friend. Now the wolves directed their malice at him instead. He hunkered down.

Heroic Strength. "Come at me."

 

Oh lovely, everyone was turning around to face the pack of oncoming wolves now. Brilliant.

Aristides came to a skidding halt in the grass--he needed to actually turn around and dig his sharpened claws into the earth to slow down, now that had to be one of his skills shining through--and stared at Futaba and River preparing to take on the beasts without weapons, without armor, without anything one might want before engaging in combat. Here he'd been ready to just run to the river and hope that there'd be people close enough to help. Instead he was faced with a choice. Turn an keep running, not look back, and chalk it up to poor choices on everyone's part; or go forward in the direction of danger and see what he could really do.

Like there was really a choice.

MASTERY ACTIVATED: ACROBAT - AGILE MOVEMENTS
WEAPON: BARE FISTS

​

A slightly fanged grin spread over Aristides' expression and he burst forward with speed he hadn't known he had in him, right into the face of third wolf lunging through the bushes at the make-shift party with his fist. It was like his body was being pulled through the movements, but Aristides was no stranger to a real world fist fight...or at least Vivienne wasn't. His knuckles collided with fur, taunt muscle, and likely more than a couple teeth, and the wolf let out a shocked yelp as it was thrown off it's leap and slammed into the earth beneath it. It wasn't dead, but there was some red mixed in with the fur around its' muzzle.

Aristides growled--actually growled--at the wolf, then turned his eyes on Rivers and Futaba with a wider grin, canines gleaming.

"You were saying?"

More wolves burst out of the brush, earning another low rumble in Aristides' throat, and he readied for a second strike.

 

Rivers's grin widened as the last of the trio joined the fight with him. The furry man delivered sickening punches to a wolf that was about to make a meal out of him. "Thanks for the assist." A few wolves which must have been hanging back jumped from the brush and growled at them. Good. It'd be a shame if the fight ended so quickly. Rivers's new friends seemed to be ready enough to handle themselves. Maybe there wasn't a cause for worry with them around. He should just hold his own and everything should turn out alright.

"You know," he looked towards his new friends. "I think I missed your names." He flashed each of them a grin before he regretted his decision. In faster than the thought possible, a wolf snapped down on his lowered arm. "Cockdamn wolfass wolf!" he cursed aloud. It really hurt. This is still just a game, but the pain felt real. He winced but tried not to show too much. This was really ruining his "cool" image which he'd like...just established.

As he moved his knee to attack the wolf, he felt it lock into a motion on its own.

MASTERY ACTIVATED: PIERCE - WEAKNESS SEEKER

Rivers's knee collided with the wolf's throat and sent the small beast coughing to the ground. Rivers followed it down and landed punch after punch on its body. He wasn't hitting bone at all, all of his attacks were landing on vitals. Theo had no clue where the vitals were on a wolf, this had to be the mastery at work. After making somewhat quick work of the wolf, Rivers stood up again. He wanted to say something cool like "Choke on that" or "Let's hope all dogs go to heaven". But after "cockdamn wolfass wolf", it felt a bit forced.

The wolves in the brush had come out into the opening fully now and other wolves who hadn't been finished off were back on their feet. It was beginning to look like a fight.

 

Hanno grinned at both, he was ready to protect River, but he didn't expect they would come to fight too, so this made him very excited. "The name is Futaba, Hanno Futaba!" He exclaimed and charged to one of the wolves that went back to their feet, clenching is fists together.

'This is awesome! This feeling of fighting. It feels so real, so epic!' He thought while jumping toward the wolf.

Heroic Strength.

Once again the powerful feeling came back, energizing his hit, connecting a powerful slam as Hanno landed with all his strength and weight on the wolf's skull, that didn't have any time to react or yelp before falling lifelessly on the ground. "Nice to meet you, Rivers!" The Faerin said, looking back to his new friend. But hearing the sound of another wolf coming from behind, he turned around and crossed his arms in front of him, like he was preparing to take the hit.

Defens-

The wolf striked Hanno's arms with a ferocious bite that pierced through his flesh, before he was able to active his mastery, making him let out a pain scream "GRWAAAAAH!". 'That hurt!' He thought frowning, while attempting to release his arms from the animal's fangs.