IBMAW 10

Chapter #10

It Seems I Can Use Magic

A short distance away, between the trees, a wolf stood.

It was enormous—like a Siberian Husky enlarged three or four times.

He didn’t know whether wolves were originally this big, or if the wolves of this world were unusually large. Either way, it was nothing like a dog. In both size and presence, it was completely different from the dogs humans raised.

The wolf stared straight at Juhwan. It showed no fear of humans at all. Its eyes weren’t looking at the lord of all creatures—they were looking at prey.

Keeping his face toward the wolf, Juhwan quickly moved only his eyes to scan the surroundings. There were no others in sight.

He remembered seeing in a documentary that male wolves sometimes leave the pack once they grow to a certain size.

Such wolves wander alone until they either join another pack or find a mate to form their own. Maybe this one was like that.

He wished he had something that could serve as a weapon, but there was nothing. Unfortunately, he hadn’t even thought he’d need one. Even though he had tried to be cautious, his mindset—accustomed to modern life—was clearly lacking.

The wolf’s nose twitched, its lips moved, and its teeth were revealed. It didn’t make a sound, but it was clearly growling.

Juhwan slowly lowered his body while keeping his upper body upright. The moment he grabbed a thick branch near the spring, the wolf began to make a sound.

Grrrr…

The low, threatening growl spread across the ground like a heavy fog. Though it was only one wolf, it felt as if the entire forest was growling.

The sound grew louder and rougher, and suddenly—the wolf moved.

Its massive body charged straight at Juhwan.

Almost at the same time, Juhwan sprang up.
He gripped the thick branch in his left hand and clenched his right into a fist.
Stepping one foot back, he lowered his body and took a stance.

As the wolf leapt to bite him, Juhwan shoved the branch into its mouth with his left hand and smashed its head with his right fist.

Thud!

The impact traveled through his fist.
At the same time, the branch snapped with a crack. Whether it was rotten wood, too dry, or simply the wolf’s strength, he couldn’t tell.

The wolf bared its teeth again and lunged to bite him. His fist was scraped by its teeth, and blood flowed. Wood splinters and saliva sprayed from the wolf’s mouth.

The wolf growled harshly and attacked again. The foul stench of a beast stabbed into his nose.

Originally, his plan was to make it bite the branch and then beat it during that opening. But reality was completely different. It felt like learning to fight from comic books and then getting beaten senseless by a real thug.

“Damn it!”

Panic surged. In a world like this, if he got bitten by a wolf, he couldn’t receive proper treatment. At worst, even a simple bite could kill him.

“Don’t screw with me!”

He had only just gained a family—was he supposed to die now?

Juhwan punched the wolf’s head again.

But after struggling with it for a few moments, his left arm was suddenly bitten. The wolf clamped down hard and shook its head. The pain was so intense his mind nearly went blank.

Grinding his teeth, Juhwan raised his right hand high and kept striking with his fist.

But the wolf wouldn’t let go. Instead, it bit down even harder.

It felt like fire bursting in his eyes. His punching arm began to lose strength.

Letting out a painful groan without realizing it, he still clenched his bitten arm, trying not to die. If he relaxed, it felt like the wolf’s teeth would dig in and break his bones.

Then—

The wolf suddenly yelped and released his arm.

“Gasp!”

Juhwan’s eyes widened.

Flames were blazing from his bitten left arm. His entire arm was engulfed in fire.

But there was no time to think or be shocked.

He immediately lunged at the wolf and mounted it, pinning it down and tightening his legs so it couldn’t escape.

Then he clenched his fist and began pounding its head. Once, twice—he struck it wildly until the wolf’s body went limp. Its skull seemed completely crushed.

Before he knew it, his left arm, which had been burning moments ago, had returned to normal.

His clothes were shredded from the bite, and beneath them, his flesh was torn deeply, exposing bone.

But there were no burn marks on his clothes. They were intact. Even though his arm had clearly been on fire, there wasn’t a single sign that the clothes had burned.

‘This can’t be a dream…’

Or… was it?

As he stared blankly at his arm, he finally noticed that it wasn’t bleeding.

There were definitely bloodstains—but the bleeding had already stopped. It was as if someone had applied invisible gauze and performed first aid.

That shouldn’t be possible. He had been bitten deeply enough to expose bone.

The wolf had shaken its head violently with its teeth sunk into his flesh. The wound should have been severe—flesh and veins torn apart, blood pooling on the ground.

‘Was it because of that fire?’

Then a thought suddenly struck him.

Wait… wasn’t that magic?

“…”

Since he had come to a world with magic, maybe gaining such an ability was natural. Wasn’t it common in novels for people to become powerful after coming to another world?

Juhwan stretched his arm out into the air. He hesitated for a moment, unsure what to say, then shouted despite his embarrassment.

“Fireball!”

Nothing happened.

Not even a spark.

“Fire Wall!”

Still nothing.

“Fire magic!”
“Fire Storm!”
“Fire!”
“Flame!”
“Magic!”
“Spirit of the vast earth, arise!”
“Spirit of fire, grant me your power!”
“Summon Salamander!”
“Dragon Breath!”

Nothing worked. Nothing came out of his palm.

Even when he recalled the earlier crisis and shouted, nothing happened. Even when he replayed urgent moments from his life in his head—still nothing.

Juhwan looked down at his arm for a moment and took a breath.

‘It wasn’t an illusion. Flames definitely came out of my arm. And it stopped the bleeding and healed the wound to some extent.’

If he could use magic, he wanted that ability no matter what.

He didn’t mind living as a simple mountain hunter—but as someone who had to support a wife and daughter, that power would surely help.

He could give them a better environment, better food, and a happier life.

He didn’t know much, but in a place like this, even if someone got sick, proper treatment would be difficult. Maybe only large cities had doctors. He had heard that medieval medicine was unreliable—but it was still better than nothing. Maybe there were even mages with healing powers.

Maybe… he could even heal his family himself, like his arm had been healed.

“…”

Take it slow.

If something happened once, it would happen again.

It had been like that before—after his parents died and he moved to his grandfather’s house.

As if he carried death with him, his grandfather died while living with him. Though old, he had been healthy—yet he died in a senseless accident.

After that, among relatives, Juhwan was treated like a plague of death. They openly said, in front of him, that living with him might get them killed.

If death repeated itself, then magic would too.

Juhwan glanced at the deep bite marks on his arm and turned his head. His arm throbbed, but there was no time to rest. There was more to do.

Before other beasts were drawn by the smell of blood, he had to deal with the wolf.

It would have been better to drain the blood with a knife first, but unfortunately, he didn’t have one.

‘Processing the hide will be difficult, but at least I can skin it.’

His grandfather used to slaughter chickens and rabbits he raised. Even in rural areas nowadays, people rarely butcher animals themselves, but his grandfather was from an older generation.

Though Juhwan had never done it himself, he had watched quietly from beside him, worried his grandfather might cut his finger or get hurt.

Even though he had watched over him, his grandfather still died unexpectedly—but back then, Juhwan believed that being bigger and stronger than an adult would be enough to protect him.

Thinking back on those memories, Juhwan hoisted the wolf over one shoulder. It wasn’t as heavy as expected. It looked big because of its fur, but it was quite thin.

There were bite marks on its front leg—perhaps it had been driven out of its pack. That might be why it had been starving and unable to hunt alone. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have recklessly attacked a human in the morning.

If the flames hadn’t appeared… and if the wolf had been well-fed… he might not have won.

Wolves were far more terrifying than he had thought.

‘I’ll need to prepare better from now on.’

Now he understood why the cabin was built away from water. Animals gather where there is water. There might be weak animals like birds or deer—but also dangerous ones like wolves, tigers, and wild boars.

He filled the water container only halfway. Carrying both the wolf and a full container would be too much—and the water would spill anyway.

With the container on one shoulder and the wolf on the other, Juhwan walked quickly.

His injured left arm throbbed as if it were burning. The wound had been sealed by whatever that magic was—but the pain remained. He might even develop a fever tonight.

‘But how do you train magic…?’

Like in martial arts novels—do you have to feel the energy inside your body?

Forcing his thoughts away from the pain, Juhwan quickened his pace.

The house was empty, but there were still a few things left behind.

If you looked around the corners, there were one or two bowls lying around, and outside, there were items people hadn’t taken with them.

For a while, Lizzie and Dorothy diligently searched and gathered such things. Dorothy moved with more enthusiasm than ever before, her thin body darting quickly from place to place.

In a rural village like this, children began helping with housework as soon as they were old enough to walk. They looked after younger siblings or pulled weeds.

Now that Dorothy was five and could understand speech, she could do more—and had to.

But while living with her, Lizzie realized that Dorothy was different from other children. She barely spoke and moved slowly. At loud noises, she would freeze or collapse, sometimes even wetting herself.

Considering the dead husband who had beaten her from the moment they met, it wasn’t hard to imagine what kind of life she had lived.

She thought Dorothy was similar to herself—but even more unfortunate. That might be why she felt more drawn to her.

‘But the child now…’

It seemed to be because she had been given a name.

Perhaps she was so happy about having a name that she kept bringing items to Lizzie and then quietly looking up at her.

Lizzie looked down at what Dorothy had brought.

It was a large wooden shoe used for walking in snowy mountains—half of it was broken and unusable.

‘But…’

Seeing Dorothy’s sparkling eyes, Lizzie smiled softly.

“Dorothy, thank you.”

“…”

The child’s face twisted as if holding back a smile. She quickly lowered her head to hide it and ran off again.

Just to hear her name once more, Dorothy kept bringing things.

For some reason, the sight made Lizzie smile.

Leaving the outside to Dorothy, Lizzie went inside. Now she had to unpack and organize the things the village chief’s wife had given them.

She dragged sacks of flour and oats from the bundle into the kitchen, then checked the remaining items one by one.

Fortunately, the most important things were all there: flint, a knife, a pot, rope, some salt, a set of men’s worn clothes, and—

As she was moving items, a scream suddenly came from outside.

“Aaaahhh!”

It was Dorothy’s voice.

Lizzie grabbed the knife and ran outside.

Maybe a wolf had come. Wolves rarely approached human homes, but winter was a season of hunger. A starving wolf was said to be the greatest threat in the winter mountains. Her husband had actually gone into the mountains and been eaten by one.

Her whole body trembled. Afraid she might drop the knife, she gripped it with both hands.

“Dorothy!”

As she shouted and ran out—

Between the trees in the distance, she saw a huge wolf running toward them.

Good heavens—it was a monster!

The wolf… had human legs.