It wasn’t long before the first of the wolves attacked.

The sun seemed to darken as they entered the territory of the ghost wolves. Shadows lengthened and the trees grew thicker, creating a nearly solid canopy that let little light through to the forest floor. Eleisa had to start flying much lower, since she could no longer see through the canopy if she flew above it. They traveled in relative silence, but it seemed their attempts at stealth were ineffective.

Eleisa shouted a warning as snarling beasts materialized from the trees, seemingly coming out of nowhere. The largest of them came up to Jared's chest, their ghostly green tinged fur ruffling in the cold wind that accompanied them.

[Ghost Wolf](lvl 17)

[Ghost Wolf](lvl 15)

[Ghost Wolf](lvl 14)

[Ghost Wolf](lvl 15)

In a heartbeat, Jared was surrounded, and barely had enough time to ready his spear before wolves were lunging at him.

He spun and stabbed with his spear, but it rapidly became apparent why they were called ghost wolves; anytime Jared’s spear was about to make contact with one, the creature faded, becoming intangible for a moment. He slashed and struck fiercely, but his efforts to harm the creatures were fruitless.

The wolves would dart in to claw and bite at him, then retreat just as quickly. Their intangibility made it almost impossible for him to block any of their attacks, and small injuries rapidly accumulated across his body.

“Magic, Jared! Remember? When incorporeal, they can only be harmed with magic!” Eleisa’s voice just managed to cut through the snarling and barking of the wolves.

In desperation, he flailed within himself, wildly grasping for the unspooling feeling he associated with his magic. He felt it sputter a couple of times, and he held onto the feeling, trying to breathe it to life before it slipped through his fingers.

Suddenly, as if suddenly released from some invisible force that was holding it back, energy exploded out of Jared’s core and flooded down his limbs and along his spear, settling like a second skin over him.

Jared was jarred as his strike slammed home unexpectedly, eliciting a sharp yelp of pain from the wolf he impaled through the shoulder. He only hesitated briefly, then took advantage of the creature’s surprise, withdrawing his spear and slashing it through the wolf’s throat.

Bright crimson blood poured from the wound, and Jared had no more time to spare as he turned to the next wolf that came at him. It leapt for his face, and he crouched and spun, thrusting his spear into the mouth of another wolf that was coming for his leg.

A heavy impact on his back almost flattened him to the ground, his hurriedly outstretched hand the only thing keeping him up. He rolled to the side, coming back to his feet.

The wolves backed off slightly, circling him warily, and Jared had a moment to take stock of the situation. Eleisa was holding her own against another group of wolves the same size as his own, about four or five, striking quickly then retreating to the air. She didn’t seem to be in immediate danger, so Jared returned his focus to his own attackers.

Now with a weapon he could actually hurt them with, he went on the attack, thrusting towards the middle of an uninjured wolf. Halfway through his lunge, the magic surrounding him flickered, then died, and a wave of crushing fatigue slammed into him. He stumbled, barely able to stay on his feet.

What happened?

He didn’t have time to ponder, as the wolves took his moment of weakness as their signal to strike, all three converging on him. He tried to keep them at bay, but fatigue weighed down his movements, and he couldn’t keep up. He felt a movement on his back, then a warm feeling slithered down his right arm, and suddenly Jared found himself holding Mimi. Her form was much different than usual, however.

The barrel and chamber were the same diameter, but the stock and barrel were considerably shorter and had reshaped to allow Jared to wield her comfortably with one hand. The scope was gone, but in its place was a small reflex sight. A bullet chambered itself, and instinct took over for Jared.

A wolf lunged, going for his throat, but he blocked it with his left arm, the wolf’s teeth sinking into his flesh. He brought Mimi’s barrel up to the underside of the wolf’s chin and squeezed the trigger. A thunderous boom accompanied the explosion of the wolf’s head, blood and brains showering Jared and the wolves.

The other wolves were startled at the sound, and the death of their packmate, and started to back off again, circling Jared and snarling. He wasted no time in taking aim again, firing at their centers of mass one after another.

Bang!

Bang!

A moment later, there were four wolves on the ground around him, either dead or bleeding out. Leaving them where they were, he went to help Eleisa who, though relatively unhurt herself, hadn’t managed to do more than annoy the wolves attacking her.

Jared dropped to one knee, and Mimi seemed to understand his intention, as she expanded to her regular rifle size. He watched Eleisa fight for a moment.

She would be obliterating those wolves, if she could hit them.

A thought struck him.

“Mimi, give me earth bullets.”

A new round chambered itself, and Jared took aim at the hip of one wolf. Letting out his breath, Jared squeezed the trigger. The wolf in question yelped as a sizeable chunk was blasted out of its leg. Eleisa’s next strike slowed significantly as it hit, and a wound appeared on its ghostly body where her spear had passed.

Jared grinned.

Just as I thought, the minor petrification forces them to be somewhat corporeal.

“Finish off the ones I shoot!” Jared shouted his plan to Eleisa, already taking aim at another wolf. This one, he hit in the shoulder, sending it stumbling to the side. Eleisa instantly followed up, pinning the creature’s head to the ground. It struggled for a moment, then went still.

Using this method, they systematically took apart the rest of the pack. When the last wolf fell, Jared slumped, exhaustion overtaking him. At that moment, the system decided he was out of combat, and his notifications arrived.

[Ghost Wolf] x9 Slain!

Your party gains EXP!

Level up!

You have free stat points to assign.

Your party members level up!

Skill Unlocked! Imbue (Unskilled I)

Crude Imbuement (Unskilled I) – In a moment of desperation, you learned to harness your mana, fortifying your body and weapons. At the cost of mana, you can overlay yourself with mana, increasing your physical Physique and Alacrity, and reducing damage taken, based on your magical Physique. Your strikes while imbued can hit incorporeal entities. Bonus increases and mana cost decreases per level of the Skill.

Skill Crude Imbuement has been upgraded from (Unskilled I) to (Unskilled II)

Skill Crude Imbuement has been upgraded from (Unskilled II) to (Unskilled III)

Skill Basic Spearmanship has been upgraded from (Proficient IV) to (Proficient V)

Jared forced himself to move, bandaging the worst of his injuries as Eleisa joined him, breathing hard.

Skill Battlefield Triage has been upgraded from (Proficient I) to (Proficient II)

He rolled his eyes at the system, dismissing the prompt. He looked over Eleisa, who didn’t seem super hurt.

“You okay?”

She nodded. “I have a few minor wounds, but nothing worth worrying about. And you? I see that you did not fare as well as I.”

Jared shrugged. “I’ve been better, but I’ve also had much worse. If Mimi hadn’t done… whatever it was that she did, I would’ve been a goner.” He turned his attention to the mimic. “I thought you couldn’t change yourself that much? What happened?”

She shifted to her doll form and back several times, changing size and material as she did so, gesturing wildly.

“So, you can only shift between those two forms, but you have more control over them, and there’s no cooldown. Interesting.”

Naomi stabilized in her doll form and nodded emphatically.

Eleisa cocked her head at him. “How did you understand that? I could not interpret even half of what you did.”

Jared shrugged again. “I don’t know. I’ve been able to understand Mimi’s intentions since I met her. Maybe it has to do with the title I got from saving her. My polyglot skill could also be helping.”

Eleisa nodded hesitantly, then changed the subject. “You should not have used all your mana at once. It left you vulnerable and tired, and made the rest of the fight more difficult.”

“You’re right, but at the same time, I didn’t really have control over it. It happened more as a moment of desperation than anything else. I’ll try not to use it much in live combat until I’ve practiced with it, unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Eleisa found that acceptable, and Jared decided to take the time to look over his profile and assign his stat points.

Name: Jared Moore

Primary Class: Big Game Sniper Lv. 15

Auxiliary Class: Ammunition Maker(Magical) Lv. 5

Ascension: Improved

Stats:

Free points: 2 ALA 1 PHY

Physique: 11

* Physical: 6

* Magical: 5

Alacrity: 23

* Physical: 12

* Mental: 11

Projection: 14

* Evocation: 4

* Manipulation: 10

Skills:

Primary Class (9/10)

* Sniper’s Marksmanship (Exceptional IX)

* Sniper’s Stalking (Skilled VIII)

* Sniper’s Spotting (Exceptional II)

* Sniper’s Focus (Proficient I)

* Big Game Harvesting (Proficient III)

* Big Game Tracking (Unskilled V)

* Battlefield Triage (Proficient I)

* Basic Spearmanship (Proficient V)

* Crude Imbuement (Unskilled III)

Auxiliary Class (1/5)

* Create Ammunition (Exceptional III)

General (1/10)

* Polyglot (Skilled I)

Titles:

* Spelljammer[Active]

* Offensive Powerhouse(+)[Active]

* Eye Hunter

* Naomi’s Savior

He placed his Alacrity points as he usually did, one in physical and one in mental, and put his physique point in magical, bringing it even with physical. It seemed he would be using magic more and more as time went on, and he wanted to stay ahead of the curve. Or at least keep up with it. A warm rush of energy signaled his increase in stats

He was also running out of primary class Skill slots. If he didn’t want to get locked into the same set of Skills, with little room for growth through combination, he needed his last Skill to combine with his existing ones to free up some space.

He had several Skills relating to fieldcraft, so maybe he could get those to combine. It was worth a shot, at least.

What fieldcraft skills do I have that aren’t Skills yet?

His stomach growled, reminding him that he hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and his eyes landed on the wolves.

“Hey, Eleisa? Are ghost wolves safe to eat?”

She frowned at him. “Yes, though I do not believe they would be very palatable to most humanoids. The meat of carnivores is usually tough, lean, and stringy. Why?”

“Because I just had an idea I need to test out.”

He took his knife and went about dismantling the corpses, having Mimi store everything he could save. Following the guidance of his harvesting Skill, he turned one wolf into several cuts of meat, and was gratified as he identified one.

Ghost Wolf Steak (Rare, Average) – A lean cut of meat from a ghost wolf. It has a pungent flavor. When cooked properly, it will randomly give one of the following buffs:

* Ghostly Presence: You become partially incorporeal, slightly reducing physical damage taken

* Vigor of the Lonesome: You require less food and can travel longer distances without tiring

* Strength of the Pack: You gain an increase to Physique equal to the number of allies nearby

Duration of buff is determined by the relevant cooking Skill used.

After dismantling the wolf corpses, he started a small fire. He figured that the sounds of their fighting and the smell of wolf blood would either deter or draw other creatures better than a fire would, and Eleisa agreed that if his gamble paid off, it would be worth the risk. They needed a small break anyway, to rest and recover from the fight. When he had some coals that were suitable for cooking, he made a makeshift spit out of some branches, and skewered a wolf steak over the heat.

He cooked it the best he could, though the smell wasn’t exactly pleasant. He expected it to be similar to the smell of cooking beef or pork, but it was closer to sweaty socks. Finally, he judged it to be done, and took it off the heat. He wasn’t disappointed.

Skill Unlocked! Field Cooking (Unskilled I)

Greater than Average competence shown… Assessing true skill level… Skill Field Cooking has been upgraded from (Unskilled I) to (Proficient I)

Skill Synergy Detected! Skills Sniper’s Stalking, Sniper’s Spotting, Big Game Tracking, Big Game Harvesting, Battlefield Triage, and Field Cooking have combined to create Sniper’s Fieldcraft (Proficient VII)

Sniper’s Fieldcraft (Proficient VII) – As a sniper, you have trained in all manner of fieldcraft, from stalking through the forest, tracking your prey, to cooking your own meals and caring for your wounds. You have everything you need to survive on your own in the wilds while pursuing your quarry. All effects improve with Skill level.

Why did six Skills combine? I expected two, three, or maybe five.

He did some quick calculations in his head. The levels of those six Skills added to one hundred. Did that have something to do with it?

He filed that thought away for later research and focused on the steak he had just created.

Ghost Wolf Steak (Rare, Shoddy) – A cut of meat from a ghost wolf that has been cooked by an amateur. It has a very pungent flavor that has only been exacerbated by cooking. Upon consumption, gives the following buff:

* Vigor of the Lonesome: You require less food and can travel for greater distances without tiring. Duration: 10 seconds.

Well that’s useless. But if I level up the Skill, there’s a lot of potential here.

He pictured himself downing a snack mid-battle and gaining a buff that turned the tides. But that would come later. For now, they had delayed long enough. It was time to continue on to Fangsguard, assuming they weren’t already too late.

They were almost through the ghost wolves’ territory when an eerie howl split the silence. They readied themselves for battle, and this time they weren’t taken by surprise when several wolves appeared from the surrounding trees. They circled Jared and Eleisa, snarling and barking, but something seemed to be holding them back from attacking.

Another howl filled the air, then a massive white shape landed in front of them. It was another wolf, though almost twice the size of the others, and instead of ghostly green-white fur, it had bone armor plating its body.

[Osseous Ghost Wolf{Alpha}](lvl 24)

As it appeared, Eleisa shot Jared a look. “I’ll distract, you attack.” She then took to the air, and the silver and black patterns on her wings started glowing brightly. Instantly, most of the wolves focused on her, leaving only a couple interested in Jared.

He focused on those two first, bringing them down quickly with explosive shots to the head. That turned out to be a mistake, as the alpha turned its attention to him. It leapt at him, going for his neck. He retaliated with a bullet to the wolf’s head, which deflected off the thick bone armor, exploding harmlessly in the trees.

He was forced to dive to the side, coming up in a roll. “It’s both incorporeal, and has bulletproof armor? How is that fair?”

He faked a step to the right then dashed to the left, barely avoiding the swipe that would have surely taken off his head. The wolf’s horse-like size hindered it in this case, as it couldn’t maneuver as well, allowing Jared to stay just outside of its reach. His mind whirled, searching for solutions.

“Hey Mimi, since you can make yourself small, can you also make yourself bigger?”

The mimic seemed to pick up on his train of thought, and the diameter of her barrel and action swelled to almost twice their normal size. A grey bullet, swirling with blue and red chambered itself. Jared did another zigzag, gaining a little space, and pointed Mimi at the wolf. He didn’t have time to aim properly, as the wolf was already almost on him again, so he pointed at its center of mass and fired from the hip.

The recoil of the shot sent Jared stumbling, and almost immediately a massive explosion shook the trees. Jared was thrown backwards, rolling to a stop several meters away, his equipment both charred and covered in frost. He looked up at the wolf, finding it lying on the ground, most of its chest missing.

Jared shook his head to try and clear the ringing from his ears and got to his feet. The wolves were all stunned, and several were injured. Jared took the opportunity to bring down another two with well placed bullets from Mimi, taking them out before they could recover. At that point, the remaining wolves scattered, apparently giving up for easier prey.

He looked himself over for injuries, and aside from minor heat and frost burns on his exposed skin, he hadn’t taken many more injuries. Eleisa, who had avoided most of the blast, landed next to him.

“That was… something.”

“It sure was.” He looked around, only then taking in the devastation his single bullet had caused. The ground around the alpha wolf was slightly cratered, and everything nearby was covered in a mottling of frost and scorch marks. Ice crystals hung from branches, while little flames burned away merrily along sections of undergrowth.

“I’m going to have to be careful with the munitions I create. The big bullets could almost be considered heavy ordnance, with how big that explosion was."

Eleisa looked at him quizzically. “Ordnance?”

“It’s a word we use back home for big weapons with high destructive capability.”

He looked over the notifications he had received during the battle and was surprised to see he had leveled again.

[Osseous Ghost Wolf{Alpha}](lvl 24) Slain!

[Ghost Wolf](x4) Slain!

You have gained EXP!

Level Up!

Your party members level up!

You have free stat points to assign.

Skill Sniper’s Fieldcraft has been upgraded from (Proficient VII) to (Proficient VIII)

Skill Sniper’s Focus as been upgraded from (Proficient I) to (Proficient II)

That alpha must have been worth a substantial amount of EXP.

He placed his points in ALA equally, and his PHY point went to physical. The warm rush of increased stats flowed over him.

I wonder if that gets addictive. From what I’ve seen of the GEAS so far, I wouldn’t discount the possibility. Maybe there are even classes and Skills related to being addicted to level ups.

They spent their self-allotted break time harvesting what they could from the wolves. Aside from the teeth, claws, and pelts which they had grown used to collecting from various types of creatures, they also had the [Osseous Bone Wolf]’s armor to deal with. It was quite difficult to remove, as it seemed to have grown directly from the internal skeleton. It was worth the effort to collect, though.

Ghost Wolf Osseous Plating (Scarce, Great) – The armor plating formed by an Osseous Ghost Wolf, a rare variant. It has supernatural durability and yet doesn’t seem to fully reside on this plane of existence. It can be used in many different crafting disciplines, but is most suited to armor.

After giving their loot to Mimi to hold onto, they set off once again, finally exiting the territory of the ghost wolves. The trees started to thin, and the forest brightened considerably. Jared released tension from his shoulders that he hadn’t realized was there as his sightlines expanded.

Eleisa once again took to the skies, but returned soon after with news.

“Fangsguard still stands.”

Relief flooded through Jared, tempered by his resolve to keep it that way. “How long ‘til we arrive?”

She thought for a moment. “I estimate another couple hours. At our regular pace, will should arrive shortly before nightfall.” Her estimate was apt, as the sun was just kissing the horizon when they approached the town gates.

Fangsguard was a larger town than Carrow’s Heath, sporting a couple thousand people, which, combined with the dangerous territory nearby, was enough to warrant a wooden palisade around the greater part of the town.

Despite how impressive it looked, Jared doubted the wall would hold for long against something like the osseous ghost wolf, not to mention the skorvok they were hunting. He imagined it was more of a deterrent than an actual protection.

As they approached the open gates, which were just a pair of large wooden doors, a young human man who had been leaning against the wall straightened up.

[Human Town Guard](lvl 10)

“State your names, where you come from, and your business in Fangsguard.”

Jared stepped forward, showing his Hunters’ Guild badge as he spoke. “I’m Jared Moore, this is Eleisa. We’re most recently coming from the ruins of Carrow’s Heath, and our business in Fangsguard is preventing it from suffering the same fate.”

The man chuckled but trailed off after a moment when he read Jared’s expression. “You… You’re not joking. Carrow’s Heath is…”

“Destroyed. No survivors that we could find. We believe that the creature responsible is on its way here. Now, I know this is probably way above your paygrade, so do you have a superior we can talk to?”

The man gulped, then nodded. “C-Captain Alexander should still b-be at the barracks. Ri-right this way.” He turned and headed off at a jog, Jared and Eleisa following behind. The barracks was fairly close to the town’s gate, which was almost certainly on purpose. It was generally a good idea to keep the town’s defenders near to where they would be needed.

As they followed the guard inside, a man’s voice blasted through the building. “Damn it, Garrett! What is it this time? Are you jumping at shadows again?”

The guard, presumably Garrett, shook his head. “No sir. These two say Carrow’s Heath is gone, and we’re likely to go the same way.” With that, he turned on his heel and sprinted back to the gate, giving Jared a sideways glance as he passed.