“Horned wolves!” Brass gripped his sword tightly. “Stay close! These wolves will goad their target away from the safety of groups and attack with numbers advantage.”
“Like House Philius?” Dina joked begrudgingly. Nearby participants who heard it made noises of discontent. They were presumably from House Philius and did not appreciate being compared to beasts.
The horned wolves were closing in slowly. They looked on the participants with a fierce hunger.
Two bigger and menacing horned alpha horned wolves stood at the front of their packs. One had shiny coat of fur, the other had an additional horn at the top of his head.
The wolf with two horns growled a command and three wolves separated themselves from the pack. They zigzagged towards the nearest participants. The unexpected astrals were occupied with Cheshires that were terrifying their backline and did not notice the horned wolves’ attack until it was too late.
The three horned wolves took turns nipping and clawing the participant wielding a shield. The defender struggled to block the incoming attacks. It was not long before he turned into a ray of light. The last thing he saw was a horn sticking out of his chest.
With the Cheshires drawing most of the defender’s teammates’ attention, they could not resist the horned wolves’ attacks and were soon turned into rays of light too.
Those that saw what happened grimaced in fear. Some chose to ignore the floating wide-smile cat faces as best as they could and raise their guards against the horned wolves.
It was a foolish and desperate decision. They had to be on guard against the two packs surrounding Point 142 while bearing incredible unease inflicted by the Cheshires. Participants who had no prior knowledge of the matches hosted by ARMA thought that it was cruel to release the third wave of Obscurities before the second one was cleared. But little did they know, ARMA was famous for its subjectively interesting in-game irregularities.
“Ahhhh!!”
“Gahhh!!”
The two thugs from House Oxborn suddenly attacked Reiz. The thin swords they wielded had a dangerously glint as they sliced towards him.
[Battle forks are 10% charged.] ELZB notified.
Aisael immediately leapt in front of Reiz and slam his battle forks at approaching thugs. Loud humming followed the release of destructive astral waves when the battle forks clashed together.
*Hmong… Hmong… Hmong…*
The two thugs along with their swords were turned into rays of light as astral waves came into contact with them. The four participants behind them tried to block with astral shields but the incoming waves were not in the slightest bit obstructed. They soon found themselves turning into rays of light too.
What power at just 10% charge! Aisael gulped.
“Whoa…” Toby was awestricken.
Many others felt the same too. In fact, the whole of Point 142 was surprised. Even the Cheshires and Horned Wolves ceased attacking as they felt threatened by the strange humming.
“Is that a cheat weapon?”
“Never mind that, Blue One just KO-ed 6 astrals instantly!”
“Is this really House Clovis’ infamous slacker?”
Blue One belonged to the Zhang family, which was recognized for their loyalty to House Clovis and huge contribution to Milestone City’s financial stability. Although his ancestors were known for their efforts, Blue One on the other hand was but a hedonistic youth. The sum of Digeets he leeched off House Clovis the past few years was in the millions!
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
It was no secret that the elders of House Clovis wanted him ostracized. They would have found it acceptable had Blue One invested those Digeets to improve his astral circuit. But every single Digeet was wasted loitering at Milestone City’s notable pub, Uroko’s. It did not take long for Blue One’s reputation as “House Clovis’ slacker” and “Uroko’s favorite” to spread throughout all of Milestone City.
Hence everyone was shocked and in disbelief by how seamless he fought. The impression Blue One gave was that of a shameless person who constantly pays his way to participate in ARMA. They even attributed his First Blood on House Magnum to beginner’s luck. But there was no way they could deny his strength after witnessing how he faced Young Master Yun and the thugs from House Oxborn.
“Could he actually be a talent hiding all these while?”
“I’ve gotta admit Blue One is a really good actor.”
“He can’t be. He spends all of his time at a pub, not drama school.”
The participants could not help that their perspective of Blue One wavered. If Aisael knew what they were thinking, he would have behaved in a manner that drew less attention.
The two big horned alpha wolves howled and their pack split off in groups of four or five. The group of horned wolves then circled around the participants, scratching, biting, and piercing wherever an opening presented itself. Existing Cheshires resumed terrifying the participants around Point 142.
“Huddle up!” Brass instructed just as a group of wolves approached them. Aisael, Toby, Reiz and himself took positions around Dina. Fortunately, no Cheshires came their way.
“⟨⟨Crescendo⟩⟩.” Reiz quickened Dina’s ability casting speed.
“⟨⟨Blind⟩⟩.” Dina impaired the vision of a wolf that leapt at Toby and Reiz sliced at the wolf’s face while Toby blocked it with his shield. It yelped and return back to its group, which were now circling them at a wider distance, wary of counterattacks.
“⟨⟨Boost⟩⟩, ⟨⟨Focus⟩⟩.” Aisael increased his own agility and precision.
“⟨⟨Parry⟩⟩!” Brass returned the damage from a vicious slash back to an attacking wolf. It howled and turned into a ray of black light. Four wolves circle them, one of which was trying its best to hide its limp.
Dina released a blast of astral energy from her wand at the injured horned wolf. It knocked into the wolf in front while nearly avoiding the beam of energy that left a deep pit where it once was. The wolves’ formation broke and an opening was created!
But just before either of them could act, a howl that shook their bones filled their ears. The horned alpha wolf with shiny fur was making its way towards them. Surrounding astrals were pushed back by its pack, making a clear path for their leader.
“Why is it coming here?” Toby’s knees started shaking.
“It must have sensed that our group posed a bigger threat than the others.” Reiz gripped his daggers tightly.
“Or someone in ARMA is playing with us.” Brass readied his sword.
What differs this wolf from its pack? Aisael asked ELZB.
[Aside from being stronger and faster, its shiny fur nullifies 40% of incoming astral attacks. Its fur also paralyses briefly upon contact. Its vital points are its eyes, nose, and paws.] ELZB finished analyzing the characteristics of the boss in front of them.
Basically anywhere that isn’t covered in wolf fur. How annoying…
“Stay here. I’ll deal with the boss.” Aisael stared into the alpha wolf’s eyes and strode purposefully towards it.
“Kid, come back! You don’t even know how strong it is.” Brass thought that Aisael was being unnecessary reckless again.
Toby, Dina, and Reiz could only watched Aisael helplessly. The approaching horned alpha wolf gave off a petrifying aura that rooted them. The surrounding astrals and wolves in a hundred-meter radius were affected by the aura too. They stopped fighting but still had their guards up.
“⟨⟨Trailblazer⟩⟩.” Aisael, who was not fazed by the petrifying aura, casted an ability that increased his movements drastically. He then took the initiative and ran forwards. A lingering trail of extremely hot fire burned where his feet touched.
The horned alpha wolf was surprised that his aura did not seem to affect the swift moving Aisael. It growled and bite at him. The latter sidestepped without much effort and retaliated with a swing of his battle forks at the beast’s horn.
An ear-splitting clash resounded and temporarily stunned everyone in a fifty-meter radius.
Okay. Not doing that again.
Aisael thought to himself as he recovered and flanked the horned alpha wolf’s side. It just recovered too when it felt an unpleasant premonition towards his rear. Shortly after, it felt tremendous pain on its hind legs. Aisael swung his battle forks heavily onto the horned alpha wolf’s joints as he ran in an unpredictable pattern around it.
“Did Blue One take private lessons from a Motionman?”
“How does he maintain his momentum while moving so fast?”
“Is this the rise of House Clovis’ notorious slacker?”
The tall fiery trail made it hard for the surrounding participants to keep up with Aisael’s position.
“⟨⟨Track⟩⟩.” Dina tracked Aisael and was surprised to sense that he was not breaking a sweat all while swinging his battle forks at the horned alpha wolf’s body and avoiding its retaliation.
“Is this really Blue One?”