Chapter 97
“In the middle of the forest” Part 4
Four hours earlier.
Eric and Madha refused to leave immediately and leave her surrounded by so many wolves when the guards could barely keep them at bay.
“There’s something you should know," Eric insisted, refusing to leave without telling her. “I think they have a way to track us.”
“What, and you’re just telling me now?” growled Kalysto, worried about little Katia. But at that moment, the screams of Edward, whose leg had just been bitten by a wolf, caught her attention. “Ice arrows!” She shot, hitting the wolf in the neck, which, full of fury, ran to where she was hidden by the thick foliage, together with two other wolves. “Can you distract those two while I get rid of this one and set a trap for them?”
“Yes," said Eric, before blurring back into the shadows. Madha followed him shortly after. And although Kalysto at first thought that both young fellows would get in her way, she quickly realized that this would not be the case.
“Ice daggers, ice manipulation!” She whispered as she put away her bow and ran towards the wolf, swerving towards the thick trunk of a tree against which she jumped to spin in mid-air and land on top of its back, burying both daggers. “Sleep well! Sleep well!” She whispered before leaping away from the enraged beast.
But just as it had happened last time, it didn’t have the effect she expected.
[Warning: the skill level is too low to be used on this target!]
“Damn!” She growled, as the wolf pounced at her with its snout wide open and its sharp fangs bared. “Water blades! Ice blades!”
Immediately, Kalysto pulled another pair of daggers from her inventory and, after dodging the wolf’s attack, she counterattacked, burying the left dagger against its furry neck and slashing the beast’s side with the one on the right.
The beast’s blood splattered against her shirt and face, but she didn’t flinch.
“Why on earth is he still standing? Inspection!! she whispered. Not being able to believe the resistance of these wolves.
[Name: N/A
Race: Mountain wolf
Level: 19
HP: 4,810/25,000
MP: 0/0]
“What the hell do these things eat to have so much health?” She complained, this time pulling out a sword from her inventory and thrusting it against the beast’s back, then dodging another couple of attacks from its side and finally pulling out another sword with which she was able to cut its neck with a single blow.
[You have gained 400 experience points!]
Then she bent down and touched the ground with the palms of her hands on the blood-spattered earth. “Ice creation!” She whispered, creating two thin paths that made their way through the grass until they reached the hind legs of the wolves, freezing them on the spot. Both beasts began to struggle as they felt their hind parts stuck to the ground, but it was too late. ice manipulation! -She whispered, quickly spreading the ice across their stomachs until it reached their forelegs, freezing them and sticking them to the ground. “Now you can kill them," she said to Eric and Madha, who soon obeyed her.
It was after they had killed ten of them, following a similar strategy, that the great white wolf attacked them. A rain of lightning rained down on them as the huge creature extended its claws towards Kalysto, who could barely evade the blow. One of the bolts struck Eric in the chest, throwing him several meters away and sending him crashing into a tree. Madha’s arms were scorched, while only Kalysto’s left arm was damaged.
The saintess immediately took out two small vials of holy water and threw them at Madha.
“Drink one and give the other to Eric," she shouted, then ran to the other side, away from the two youngsters, to give them time to recover. “Ice blades! Water blades! Water arrows! Ice arrows!” It was strange to shoot the arrows without a bow, yet she could not afford to dawdle and get distracted.
The wolf ran after her, and just as her body began to charge with electricity, Kalysto incanted:
“Water creation!” A strong jet of water shot out of her hands, hitting the creature’s snout and body, causing it to electrocute itself. “It’s a pity its lightning isn’t as powerful," Kalysto muttered. It was more damage per quantity than per unit. “Earth manipulation!” A huge zigzagging line formed from where Kalysto stood to where her prey was and the earth beneath the wolf opened up, devouring the unsuspecting animal.
But the wily wolf was soon out of its sudden prison and pounced on its prey, believing it to be unawares.
But Kalysto was already waiting for him with the ground frozen beneath her feet.
“Ice manipulation!” she shouted, at the same time as several bolts of lightning discharged into her body. Kalysto gritted her teeth in pain for a few seconds as she ended up skewering the wolf into a huge ice spike that pierced her stomach. Immediately, the intensity of the lightning decreased, and the wolf, wounded and tired, tried to escape.
With trembling hands Kalysto pulled out a small bottle of holy water and drank it, feeling the itch that always came with healing, even so her hands didn’t stop shaking as she pulled a sword from her inventory and buried it in the beast’s neck after failing in her attempt to cut it.
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“Shit, I bet someone would be happy to create a suit of armor out of your skin!” She growled, as the wolf opened its jaws and tried to bite her. Idiot, give up at once!" And although he tried to electrocute her again, his rays were getting weaker and weaker. “You’re probably running out of mana,” said Kalysto. “Considering all the lightning you sent before coming here and your spectacular entrance, it’s no wonder," she muttered, and pulled out another sword from her inventory and buried it in his neck. Then she pulled out two frozen arrows, ”ice manipulation!” She whispered, burying them in the creature’s snout and elongating the ice on them so that it went through its snout to the other side, then she buried another two in its eyes, and pulled out a dagger. It was just as she touched it, seconds before the creature died, that a violet-colored sign which she did not expect, popped out in front of her.
[Does the user wish to absorb the skills of this mountain wolf (elite)?]
[YES/NO]
Kalysto blinked in disbelief.
“What?”
[Warning: if the user wishes to absorb the stats or skills of this beast, it must be done within the next three seconds. Does the user wish to absorb the skills of this mountain wolf (elite)?]
[YES/NO]
“...Yes," she said, but nothing happened. Absorb! -she said again, touching the wolf’s fur. But no sign appeared again. It wasn’t until she tried touching the crystal she had wanted to remove from the wolf’s head that a purple sign appeared again.
[Does the user wish to absorb this mountain wolf crystal (elite)?]
[YES/NO]
“... Yes," she whispered with dejection, wishing she had been quicker to answer earlier, too curious to know what would have happened if she had.
[Congratulations, the user has acquired a new skill: Lightning. Level 1!]
Immediately, the creature’s body was transformed into stone and reduced to ashes, in the same way as the crystals she had previously absorbed.
Still confused by what had just happened, it was the screams of Koden, Rita, and Edward that reminded her of the danger the others were in.
“You’d better leave” Kalysto said to Eric and Madha as she picked up the swords she had used earlier and put them back in her inventory, then ran to meet the others.
Chaos greeted her.
Two more guards had died, along with another hero. Sandra’s arm looked broken, while Edward’s was wounded and covered in blood, as were Koden’s chest and Rita’s cheeks.
Seeing the state they were still in, while two guards, one level twenty-five and one level twenty-three were still fighting the wolves, Kalysto immediately took off her boots and stockings and after feeling the cold ground under her feet, she conjured:
“Mana control! Mana manipulation! Mana manipulation! Ice creation!” And as she drew her bow again, she directed her mana towards her feet, creating a path of ice that reached one of the five wolves surrounding Edward and Koden, then forked and froze the paws of all five wolves. She immediately launched the first arrow. “Ice manipulation!” She said, as her feet touched the ice on the ground and manipulated the ice that had covered the paws of the five beasts, engulfing them up to their necks.
A slight dizziness enveloped her for a few seconds, however, she did not stop and continued to shoot a couple more arrows as a trickle of blood ran down her nose.
[The Ice Creation skill has leveled up to level 10!]
[Ice Manipulation skill has leveled up to level 10!]
[Congratulations! The user has acquired a new skill: Ice Resistance. Level 1!]
“Ice Resistance!” he whispered, and immediately the frost he had been feeling in his feet and legs disappeared, “Rita, cut off their heads, and choose fire!” She said after launching a couple of arrows with penetration stats at the wolf that had been attacking Rita. As soon as Rita was able to get rid of the furry beast, she cut the neck of the first wolf.
[You have gained 100 experience points!]
It was after Rita cut the throat of the second, that her gaze was lost in space in front of her for a few minutes before a small flare of fire shot out of her hands, burning the head of the third wolf.
[You’ve gained 100 experience points!]
[You’ve gained 100 experience points!]
And while Kalysto launched a rain of arrows at any wolf that moved, the guards fought against five other wolves.
[You have gained 500 experience points!]
[You have gained 400 experience points!]
[You have gained 600 experience points!]
[You have gained 100 experience points!]
[You have gained 100 experience points!]
[You have gained 100 experience points!]
[The user has leveled up to level 24!]
And while Kalysto picked up her boots, after refreezing the bodies of five other wolves, the new fire mage took it upon herself to bathe the rest of the monsters and the surrounding forest in flames, while Kalysto opened a small path of ice, through which they were able to escape.
It was while they were taking a break after fleeing the flames, that a group of soldiers passing by after conducting an inspection found them, and were able to take them back to the castle, where the new saintess was immediately summoned and came to heal them.
Later that night, when they were finally given permission to return to the safety of their rooms, Kalysto again brought out the crystal that the elven king had given her to communicate with Caranthir.
“Caranthir?” Kalysto whispered, but just like the night before, and the night before that, no one answered.
Annoyed, she pulled out a bottle of holy water and took a drink. She felt the usual itching all over her body, especially in her head and chest.
“I used too much mana today," she whispered, annoyed as she realized that her body had not yet gotten used to the constant consumption of mana. After letting out a big sigh, she decided to try one more time before giving up. “Caranthir?”
“Saintess?” The sleepy voice that answered from the other side of the crystal took her by surprise.
“We need to talk," she said, letting out all the temper she had bottled up.
“Of course," replied the elf.
“I’m on my way!” And without giving him time to refuse her, she put the crystal in her inventory and went into the bathroom, taking out the home stone that would take her back to the elves’ castle.
As soon as she got there, her feet slipped and her body was turned at a forty-five degree angle, just before a pair of arms caught her.
“Careful, there!" muttered Caranthir. Helping her regain her balance as Kalysto looked in utter shock at what had once been a beautiful city, was now completely in ruins, including the palace.
“ What the hell happened here?”
“ The fairy queen, that’s what happened," the elf explained in a low whisper.
Kalysto frowned in disbelief that her employer would cause such a level of mass destruction just because the elves had not kept their end of the deal. Her confusion must have been visible on her face, because Caranthir broke the silence that had gripped her as she examined the remains of what had once been houses.
“Why are you surprised?”
“I didn’t think she would do something like this,” she answered with complete honesty.
“What surprises me is that she hasn’t hunted us down and exterminated all of my race," he replied quietly.
“Isn’t that a bit of an exaggerated statement?” Kalysto turned to look into the dark-circled eyes of the elf, whose haggard face screamed something beyond exhaustion.
“Saintess, no god likes it when someone touches their avatar.”