It was supposed to be a party to celebrate young men with two springs, so the number of young wolfs was high. However, Wail noticed something important. "There are no females," he thought, and apparently he communicated it without thinking, because Grul responded to his comment. "There's no way there are any, big brother. Even if a female had been born among us, Mother would never have let her participate in this type of event," Grul announced in an arrogant tone. Wail was about to kick him when a hiss was heard throughout the venue.
"Beep!"
"How annoying," Wail thought, and apparently he wasn't the only one. The band stopped playing, and everyone present focused on a young man in the middle of the place.
"IT'S TIME FOR THE BIG EVENT," he said in the language of the forest.
"The big event is for you to learn how to socialize. Many of these young wolfs will become your hunting companions," his father told them.
Soon all the youngsters were in a circle, standing in the middle was a young man. "My name is Gru," he introduced himself without speaking. It was the same one who had made that noise. "I'm forty-eight seasons old, it's a pleasure," which means twelve years, Wail thought. He would soon become a hunter. "Now you'll have to create teams of six people to defeat me, but don't get too confident, it won't be easy, pups." He let them all know. "By the way, you can't team up as a family," he announced while watching Wail and his brothers. "You have until the sand in this hourglass passes." He placed an hourglass on a post and left.
The pups who had gathered at the spot began to look for a team, walking around watching each other. "Thank God we don't have to smell each other's butts," Wail thought, although later he realized that everyone's sense of smell was so strong that it wasn't necessary.
After walking for a while without anyone approaching him, Wail decided to withdraw from the competition. He wasn't stupid; he'd seen how most of his peers viewed him. Wail looked weak, and he knew it, so he just stood there watching.
On the other hand, his brothers turned out to be quite popular; all of them got a team. Wail was happy for them; even the nervous Bru had a team, which made Wail feel relieved. Growl, Grul, and Quek had crowds at their sides, and a fight almost started when they tried to recruit Growl, who seemed indifferent.
On the other hand, Growl watched Wail. He didn't understand why no one was talking to his brother. "Is the world really that blind?" the cub thought.
When time was up, only a few were left without a team, so they were forced together. Wail ended up on a team with sick or weak wolves, some even more nervous than Bru, but Wail didn't seem to care. He just wanted to watch the show.
"Show me, Gru, the level we need to be hunters," Wail thought.
A total of 24 teams. That was the number Gru would face. The rules were simple: they had to get him out of the circle. They could use all their strength. Gru would do the same and get them out of the circle using whatever strength he deemed necessary. The reward was recognition and prestige, something gray wolves seem to value greatly.
More than one hundred wolves against one might seem very unfair, but in reality, it was like a twelve-year-old boy fighting one hundred two-year-old babies. And if we add to that the fact that they were divided into groups of six, there was no way any team could win.
Right now, Wail looked five or six years old, at least that's what he could tell from looking at his reflection in the pond next to his house. The rest of the pups looked to be eight, nine, or ten. "In just two years, they've grown as much as a human grows in ten," Wail thought.
Gru stretched out his finger and chose the first team that would fight with him. He didn't seem to have thought about it, he just picked it at random.
And so it began.
What had Wail expected to see when he learned they would be fighting a twelve-year-old wolf? He himself didn't know. But he knew it wasn't what he was seeing.
One by one, Gru took down the teams without even breaking a sweat, effortlessly. At some point, Wail even thought he looked bored. It wasn't his fault; the pups were actually weak.
It wasn't just their strength. It was everything in general: their speed, their reflexes, their inability to coordinate. The more he watched them, the more exasperated Wail became.
Finally, it was Quek's turn. While he didn't go hunting with Growl, Grul, and Wail, he did participate in the fights at mealtime. Wail knew that if anyone could put up a good fight, it was Quek.
There was just one problem: "Ho, no!" "He's not motivated," Wail thought, noticing Quek's face. To anyone else, it would be the same expressionless face as always, but to Wail, it was crystal clear. All Quek cared about right now was getting back to sleep.
"Okay, as soon as the handkerchief hits the ground, you can attack," Gru announced, his face already sleepy. And the moment the handkerchief hit the ground...
Boom!
Quek collided with his chest, Quek's team froze. Gru seemed surprised but not in trouble. Quek's surprise attack didn't move him in the slightest. But finally, since this little tournament began, he was forced to respond. Quek shifted his position, grabbed Gru by the waist, and with all the strength he possessed, managed to lift him up.
The six brothers knew what was coming.
Quek slammed Gru to the ground. The young wolf didn't seem to know what was happening. Quek picked him up again, and just as he was preparing to pummel him again, Gru spun in his arms and freed himself. He extended his palm toward Quek, and when he was about to reach him, he couldn't move anymore. To his surprise, Quek's team recovered from the shock and finally attacked Gru, who was unprepared. Unfortunately, they were still just pups, and as soon as he calmed down, Gru finished them off one by one. Quek's team devoted themselves to biting and scratching Gru, which made it clear they had no idea how to fight properly, and Quek, having lost the element of surprise, simply surrendered. "Just pups," Wail thought.
"Beep!"
The whistle blew again. "All right, twelve teams have been defeated. Let's take a break, halftime," Gru announced, and the pups began to disperse.
"What's the point? It's not like he's tired or anything," one of the pups on Wail's team announced. "It's for planning," Wail said. "He wants to see if the remaining teams will try to use strategy or just do the same as the first twelve," he concluded.
The pups on his team stared at him with as much disbelief as the gray wolf pups could muster.
"Your brother is great," one of them said.
"They all are," Wail replied.
"And you?" another asked.
"That's not for me to say," Wail finished.
Half an hour later, they were all gathered again. Quek was surrounded by admirers, which made him feel uncomfortable.
He was the only one of Wail's brothers who had participated so far.
Gru chose the new team, and it turned out to be brother Drok. The youngest of the seven. Wail waved, but Drok ignored him. Wail smiled and continued. He liked making Drok angry; this was his younger brother, after all.
Gru looked at Drok's team and threw his handkerchief. This time, he was prepared. They wouldn't take him by surprise again. The thirty-minute break was because a sign sent to him by the elders watching the small tournament. He had just been scolded. "You'd be dead out there," they told him. Gru felt humiliated. This should have been just a game, something unimportant, and that stupid puppy had to do something so unnecessary. So Gru decided to eliminate all the brothers from this tournament, starting with the youngest.
How did he know who they were? Well, as soon as his scolding finished, he asked his father for the information —Drog's son?— to his surprise, he was the son of a living legend. One of the greatest hunters who ever lived and one of Gru's idols, it was only because of this that he decided not to hurt the rest, but only to eliminate them from the tournament.
Drok and his team attacked in unison. Just as Gru thought Drok attacked differently than normal pups, trying to get behind his back —the same move won't work twice— he thought.
As soon as Drok approached, Gru was waiting for him. He reached out his hand to Drok, who took it, and with a hip thrust, using Gru's strength against him, slammed him to the ground.
"Oh yeah! I've used that against them, haven't I?" Wail thought, seeing the beautiful judo move.
Once on the ground, Drok tried to pin Gru down, but it was useless. Gru was too big and much heavier than him.
So once he got up, he defeated Drok's team in no time.
Everyone was ecstatic; two pups had landed attacks on a young wolf, and not just any wolf, but the best of his generation.
Wail just watched and laughed, while Drok and Quek became famous overnight.
Gru was annoyed; he had tried not to hurt his idol's pups, and they were humiliating him. "I think it's time to take this a little seriously," Gru thought.
The next one to be chosen was Bru.
Bru is nervous, was what Wail would tell anyone who asked him about his brother. But he's not weak. None of his younger brothers are. In fact, if Bru were to fight any of his brothers other than Growl, Grul, or Wail himself, there's a fifty-fifty chance he'd win. In short, he's neither the strongest nor the weakest.
But he is nervous.
Gru threw the handkerchief, and as soon as it landed, the pups on Bru's team surrounded the young wolf. This distracted him for a moment, which Bru used to attack.
Bru closed the distance in less than a second, possibly faster than Quek and Drok.
Boom!
Before most of the pups could react, Bru was lying several meters from the circle. His teammates didn't know what happened.
They were terrified. Gru was fighting seriously.
Of all the pups gathered there, only three possibly knew what had happened.
Grul, Growl, and of course Wail
Five of the seven siblings had gathered around Bru.
Wail didn't move; he just stared at Gru.
His father soon arrived, picked Bru up, and watched Gru. "Sorry, it was so fast it surprised me, my body just reacted that way!" Gru apologized insincerely.
Drog left the arena with Bru in his arms, but he didn't stop the event.
Quek and Drok followed their father.
The rest of Bru's team couldn't move in fear and quickly lost. The other teams were terrified. All the pups except the siblings.
Clak was growling loudly, Grul was frowning, Growl remained expressionless, but those who knew him knew he was about to go into a fury state, and Wail, he was still sitting there staring at Gru. But he wasn't smiling anymore. Now the expressionless one was Wail.
And to everyone's surprise, Gru then chose Wail's team.