“Stacey, climb into the tree onto the left and use [Fire-Bolt] on any wolves you see coming. You should be safe up there,” William said, summoning Absolution to hand and steadying his breathing.
Stacey didn’t argue and did as asked, taking Ashen with her in the process. The bird looked scared from the howling and William couldn’t really blame him, William was on edge too. His concern was more on the number of wolves as opposed to the predator to prey relationship. He would be the predator today.
It didn’t take long for the first few wolves to come charging from the trees. One to the north, two to the South and two to the West. William expanded his shield and looked over to check on Stacey. She had made it up the nearest tree and was sat on one of the thicker branches with Ashen. William began a head on charge for the two Wolves towards the South, readying his sword he noticed a yellow flash from behind him followed by a loud yelp. Stacey was hard at work and he couldn’t be a slacker here. The eyes of the two wolves nearing him shone bright blue. Their teeth were bared and razor sharp. The Wolf on the left leaped up into the air in a pounce, intent on tearing into his throat. William raised the shield above him and shifted his left foot into a pivot, capitalizing on the Wolf’s inertia, sending the beast’s trajectory off. His [Danger Sense] told him that the other wolf was going for a mauling attempt on his side. William lowered his stance, reversing his pivot and slapping the second wolf’s head off target with the flat of his blade. He threw out a kick that hit the beast in the ribs and sent it into a minor roll. He got to an upright stance as the first wolf had recovered and barreled for him.
He could have opened with a [Flash Stride], but he wanted to save it for the other wolves approaching. His run had led him slightly away from Stacey and their shelter, so the skill would allow him to get back quickly. With a use of [Vortex Thrust] William stabbed forward, taking off one of the frontal legs and a chunk of the connecting shoulder. This caused a loud yelp and the mutilated wolf to fall forward rolling over its own momentum and sliding on it’s side into William’s reach. A downward thrust buried Absolution into the wolf’s chest, ending the beast. [Danger Sense] flared again and William was clawed in the side failing to pull Absolution out of the dead wolf in time. He reacted to the best of his ability managing to turn a deeper injury into a light flesh wound. The momentum his attempt generated was enough for Absolution to be pulled free and William brought his arm across in a slash that severed an ear and part of the scalp on the beast’s head.
The attack bought William the brief moment he needed to assume a proper stance once more. He was able to swiftly finish the injured wolf off by dodging the next leap and using [Vortex Slash] in an upward diagonal stroke, the wolf’s life was extinguished, the two halves splattering on the ground. William looked over to check on Stacey. She was busy sending another [Fire-Bolt] into a barely moving wolf that was already charred across most of it’s body. The two remaining that he could see were at the base of her tree, slamming their sides into it in an attempt to shake her off of her perch. He wasn’t about to let his girl become dog food and decided that it was time to use [Flash Stride]. He appeared behind the last pair of wolves and in an instant, plunged Absolution into the base of one wolf’s skull, killing the beast in an instant. He re-summoned Sharpie then as the remaining wolf leaped back in surprise. William saw the beast let out a loud howl and grimaced. If video games told him anything, wolves howling typically meant reinforcements. He charged forward, making use of his high Dexterity to clear the gap between them and slashed out in a downward swing. This wolf was more agile than the ones before and leaped back with only a minor gash running along its snout. It growled in pain and anger, presumably annoyed its evening snack wasn’t in its belly yet. William didn’t want to wait for its friends to arrive before killing the beast so he held Sharpie in a one handed grip in his shield arm and summoned Flicker into his sword hand unsheathed. With [Flash Stride] on cool-down, he needed to clear the space fast.
William willed Flicker to activate, picturing himself appearing to the beast’s left flank. In an instant, he was at the point he pictured and without a moment’s pause, brought the two blades down in opposite diagonal slashes, carving a deep crimson X into the hind quarters of the wolf. He believed that something important was hit as the back half of the beast slumped to the ground unmoving as it tried to turn in a pained motion, a last attempt to kill it’s prey. William stepped around the beast in the opposite direction, and with two straight and symmetrical thrusts, plunged both blades into the side of the wolf, ending it’s life.
He didn’t hang around and stored both Sharpie and Flicker back into his ring as he wrenched Absolution free. He probably could have made quicker work of the wolves if he used [Mana Investment] in his attacks, but he had counted more howls than the number of wolves that appeared. He wanted to save his best stuff for the tougher part if such a thing came. William assumed that any onlookers watching him and his fight style would be confused why he had a sheathed sword at his side, and instead summoned other swords into existence. William’s logic was that it would imply his main sword he always carried was decorative or lesser in quality. It was his key to the explosive opener in his Alpha Strike. Hide your strongest weapon in plain sight and all that.
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“I levelled up William!” Stacey yelled from her tree.
William glanced at the cremated wolf carcass briefly before looking back to her and replying, “Good job, I get the feeling more levels will be coming your way tonight.”
She didn’t seem as enthusiastic at the implications William had made with that statement, and William kind of understood, but was actually getting pumped up for some combat. It felt like an age since he had fought something last.
“It’ll be okay, just stay up there and focus on trying to kill as many as you can, I’ll make sure they don’t get you,” William added, hoping to make Stacey more comfortable.
William smiled as he noticed her tense body language slacken slightly, her eyes turning to their surroundings. As if on cue, grey wolves started to appear in different areas around them. It looked to be three to the North, four to the East, three to the West, and seven to the South. Seventeen more wolves. The ones to the south were the nearest and William watched with bated breath as their charge started a sequence of the same assault from the other cardinal directions. William stuck Absolution in the ground beside him and put his hand on Severance to his side, ready to do his Alpha Strike. As the whites of the beasts’ eyes became clear, he crouched low and slashed at a perfectly horizontal angle, unleashing a full powered slash that destroyed every. Single. Leg. On six out of the seven wolves. The one at the far end was able to come away with three out of four limbs intact as the rest of the wave flopped on the floor in agonized wails and cries. The mostly whole wolf backed away and circled around the tree to try a flanking attack. William quickly sheathed Severance and pulled Absolution out of the ground and back into hand. The beast was more cautious with the use of probing attacks, acting incredibly wary of William’s range. Why wasn’t it running? He felt like the answer shad just slapped him across the face as he heard the patter of soft feet and heavy panting of the other oncoming wolves.
With a flash of anger, William used his [Flash Stride] as it had come off of cool-down. He severed the three legged wolf in half with Absolution and then witched it out for Flicker. He had two charges on the sword remaining until it was recharged and he needed at least one of them to reposition to a better angle. Before he did so, William caught a glimpse of another [Fire-Bolt] impact one of the crippled wolves he had gifted Stacey. He felt like giving six free kills to level from would be a good gift to give to his girl. The three other groups of Wolves had now become two groups with one being larger, forming an equal wave of seven, the same as the ones he had crippled, with the three eastward wolves still a good number of meters away from the larger pack. William needed to do another big attack with Severance and reduce the larger pack’s numbers before he moved onto the separate group. A plan began to form, and he had only just finished thinking it up as the Wolves were within biting distance.
William used Flicker to appear near the trees that the wolves had emerged from originally and smiled as the beasts looked confused for a moment before they put their noses to the ground. It took about ten seconds for them to pick up his scent and with several loud snarls, began their charge once again, the group of three only five meters or so behind the bigger pack. William did some mental guesswork and expected his [Vortex Slash] to come off of cool-down a moment or two before the pack reached him.
As expected, he felt the mental note that the cool-down had ended, just as they were upon him. He had put Flicker in his mouth, teeth gripping the sword by the handle as he readied himself to use Severance once more. With an exhale, he unleashed the second charge of Severance with [Vortex Slash] and [Mana Investment], dispatching three wolves outright, taking the right side legs off of another wolf and blinding an additional wolf. Two remained unscathed and William willed Flicker to activate once more, appearing to the left of the three wolf group. He then used a [Vortex Thrust] to kill the one closest to him. The other two were quick to react as the next closest one leapt over the falling body of its pack-mate, receiving a solid [Shield Bash] that sent the beast into a spinning barrel roll through the air for a couple of feet. As he heard a solid thud of wolf on dirt, the third wolf had charged from the first wolf’s flank, snapping its teeth forward to bite William. He replied with a straight thrust into its open maw. He regretted the decision as even though he felt the kill, that didn’t come before the left upper and left lower canines had plunged into his forearm.
William winced as pain lanced up his arm. It wasn’t bad enough to cripple, but it was bad enough to make him feel uncomfortable. He scanned the immediate surroundings for more and saw that the two unscathed wolves, as well as the one that had received the [Shield Bash] were cautiously padding closer, seeming guarded from another teleport style attack, as the had each other covered. “Clever bastards!” William cursed, frustrated at the situation. The three approaching wolves would wizen up soon and see he was being hindered, then William would be in serious trouble, as [Flash Stride] wouldn’t be off of cool-down before they realized his vulnerability.
William decided to stomp on the wolf’s Jaw, the force crushing it and freeing his arm. He was pleased with himself as he hadn’t expected enough force would come from him to snap the jaw of these beasts. William was however, annoyed at the two teeth still embedded in his arm. It was tolerable, but annoying nonetheless. He quickly wiped off Severance and sheathed it, pulling Flicker from his toothy grasp and assuming his stance.
There were only a few left, and William had no more patience left for the creatures. Most of his abilities were on cool-down, but he felt comfortable in his ability to kill three wolves without them.