Wy had been wounded in one of his arms, and if he could retreat, he would. As brave as he was, he didn’t want to fight against wolves already injured. But it wasn’t a rational decision for him. His wife was in the village, and he didn’t have much choice.
“I can try,” said the man with the thick mustache and short black hair.
Jonn knew that Wy’s situation wasn’t ideal. But [Analysis] had told him that Wy had enough strength in one arm to deal a fatal blow to a wolf. “Very good. Let’s take care of the nearby enemies and return to the village. It’s possible that the enemy or part of the pack isn’t around. Then our chances might not be as bad as we thought.”
He looked at Petyr and said, “You should stay here and wait for us. If my plans work out, Wy will come and carry you back to the village, and I’ll take Uncle Beri.”
Petyr nodded in agreement, unafraid to be alone. Their situation wasn’t good, but if it could be resolved with Jonn’s plans, they had to try. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll go back to the village myself if you don’t. I’ll get to Beri and return with him.”
Jonn said nothing more and handed Wy the weapon that had belonged to Tedric, an axe he had found near East Lake.
“I still have my weapon,” Wy said as he led Jonn out of the dark cave.
“I know.” Jonn smiled, clearly seeing the sword hanging from Wy’s waist. “I want you to hide in the area as if you were hunting a wild creature. I will act as prey for the enemies and distract them from your position. When you get the chance, use the axe to give us the advantage. After that, you can focus on using your sword.”
Wy hadn’t realized until this moment that Jonn was so good at such plans. “That’s a good idea. Where did you come up with that?”
“I think desperate situations put us in a position to think like that or die,” Jonn said sincerely, recalling some instincts he had felt earlier against the wolves attacking his team.
Maybe it was just [Analysis] interfering with his mind, but during the previous fight, he had felt a supernatural instinct helping him, something he had never experienced before, even when using the Celestial Magnifying Glass.
But he didn’t want to dwell on it too much. He left Petyr’s hiding place and started with Wy, allowing the man to crouch beside the nearby rocks. He wouldn’t have to go far to notice wolves nearby.
Two minutes after leaving Petyr, Jonn heard the sound of blades scratching rocks and stopped. Looking up at the top of the small slope in front of him, he saw a creature appear in his field of vision, growing larger and larger. After the first wolf, the second and third presented themselves to Jonn, looking down at him as if they were superior to the mere human gazing up at them.
Like the previous wolves, the three creatures now had no mana traces on their bodies.
Good. Looks like this is a pack of animals, after all.
Jonn held his spear steady, not underestimating these animals, even though he had already sent one of them running and killed another.
The wolves seemed to find Jonn’s behavior amusing, opening their mouths with their tongues hanging out. One’s saliva dripped into a small puddle, sending a shiver down Wy’s spine.
‘The village elder is brave to be in such a position, or he’s one of those madmen who isn’t afraid of death.’ Wy couldn’t help but admire Jonn’s attitude.
He hid behind a rock gripping his axe, breathing as slowly as he could, 60 feet away from Jonn, motionless at the moment.
The three wolves didn’t watch for long. As none of them was the wolf that got away, there was no way they could have known about the mage in front of them. Jonn was just one of the humans their master had ordered them to kill, and the three set out to do it!
The biggest of the wolves ran ahead of its pack mates, making its claws bigger and more menacing, tearing at the ground as it ran towards the human 5 seconds away. Its two companions did no less, baring their fangs as they stared at their prey with bloodlust.
Their master had ordered them to do so, but they were hungry. The journey through the Barren Hills of Deepshadow was not a pleasant one. With a chance to fill their bellies, the three charged at the white-haired fool simultaneously, thinking he could not take them on with a simple spear.
Suddenly, Wy stood up and made a quick move, throwing Tedric’s axe into the side of one of the creatures closest to Jonn.
The sound of chopping air rang out nearby, causing the three creatures to shift their gaze to the man with the thick mustache, while the corner of Jonn’s lips lifted. Without hesitation, he circulated his mana through his spear and took a step to the side before jumping at one of the other two wolves.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Jonn didn’t need [Analysis] to see that Tedric’s axe hit the largest of the three wolves a second later, piercing it through the back in a position that was not at all comfortable for the creature.
“Ow!”
A bark of pain broke the silence of this mountainous area, echoing through the empty space and reaching the depths of the various surrounding caves.
But it would not be the last animal cry of the night.
“Ow!”
As Wy advanced with his old sword in hand, Jonn wounded the head of one of the wolves, slicing down the side of the creature’s face until he reached its neck.
But at first, he didn’t succeed in mortally wounding his opponent. Reaching the limit of his movement, he had to leap aside and dodge the creature’s instinctive counterattack.
The three animals felt the mana coursing through Jonn’s body, but with two of them wounded, they could only fight for their lives. The third, however, saw Wy attacking it and thought of nothing else but fleeing!
Animals loved mana. They knew absorbing mana was the only way to evolve into their bestial versions. It was something instinctive that even a newborn would know. But precisely because of their natural feeling for mana, they knew they had to respect beings capable of manipulating it.
Faced with a mage, there was only death for a being incapable of manipulating mana!
But the angry Wy, seeking revenge and protection for his people in the village, was no easy opponent, even if he was injured. Before the creature could escape, he attacked at a suicidal angle that was not favorable to him, but it was impossible for the target to escape in one piece.
As Jonn delivered the decisive blow to the less injured of the two wolves, he saw his companion overreact to the point that he felt a shiver run down his spine.
Shit! What is he trying to do?
Jonn charged a dagger with mana with one hand and threw it at Wy’s enemy, just after he had pierced his last target’s stomach with his spear.
This was no ordinary attack, but in the situation Wy was in, he had no way of recognizing Jonn’s superhuman feat.
He was slashing at the left side of the wolf that was bigger and heavier than him, expecting a bite that would probably knock him out. But then he heard a quick shot, followed by a muffled sound.
The wolf in front of him fell, the dagger buried in its back so that not even its tip was visible. To Wy’s surprise, the animal died as he watched it bleed internally.
As he fell to his knees, he felt an unprecedented sense of relief, followed by a victorious smile.
“Were you trying to kill yourself, Wy? Are you crazy?”
Jonn asked as he removed his spear from the wolf he had killed before helping his companion.
He strolled to the wolf whose spine had been wounded by Tedric’s axe; the creature had lost some of its strength and was now trembling as it slowly approached death.
Wy’s axe throw was perfect. It hit with the right power, at the right time, and in the right place!
As he watched the Village Elder kill the remaining wolf, Wy said with a twinkle in his eye, “It’s better that I die and my sweet May has a chance to thrive than that I stay behind in a world where she will suffer for my inaction.”
Jonn could only sigh as he listened to the mood of his fellow villager. What could he say to such a moving resolve?
“If you want the best for May, you’d better help me build a stronger Eternal Village. There are only 42 of us. Your downfall would only bring us weakness.”
“I’ll try…” Wy stood up with some difficulty, thinking about their original goal. “But where are the other enemies? There must have been at least twice as many of them when we were hiding earlier.”
Jonn’s expression turned as pale as a withered leaf in fall as he thought of the most likely answer. “In the village?”
The enemy man and the other wolves could be nearby. That was a possibility. But on second thought, Jonn doubted it. If the enemy was so close, why had only three wolves attacked them?
Feeling a chill of bad omens, the white-haired boy felt his heart beat like a violent drum.
“Let’s run to the village. It might be under attack right now!”
Wy’s eyes widened as he regained his strength, the image of his sweet wife flashing through his mind as he ran alongside Jonn, feeling less and less of his injuries.
They abandoned the idea of returning to Petyr and Beri.
----------------------------------------
Minutes later, Asher and Eliot climbed the last hill on their way to the village and saw the small houses of their village. The two still had Beri’s fishing net with them—now torn in pieces—along with the bodies of Tedric and the wolves.
The two were sweating from head to toe, having walked the entire way by the light of a small torch, afraid of encountering wolves again. Arriving near their home, they were almost relieved when Eliot narrowed his eyes and let go of the end of the net he was pulling in.
“Something is wrong,” said the young man with the bow on his back and a basket with four arrows.
Asher heard nothing more as he saw his companion run forward. He dropped the bodies and ran after Eliot, frowning as he saw wolves attacking the outside of the greenhouse!
In addition to the wolves in Eliot and Asher’s sight, they could also see a man in a black hood, a stranger, and some members of the village fighting.
The closer they got, the more details they could see. The two saw an arm of one of their people on the ground as the man lay bleeding on the side of Jonn’s plantation area.
Six men with damaged weapons in their hands fought their opponents for the mana crystals from the ground Jonn had prepared.
Asher and Eliot broke into a cold sweat at the sight, their hearts pounding at the thought that the night of terror was not yet over.
Without much thought, Eliot grabbed his bow and arrow and aimed forward as he ran.
‘100, 98, 96… 86…’
With each step Eliot took, he ran almost 2 meters, decreasing the distance between his previous location and the position he needed to take action. Instinctively, he knew that if he ran another 100 meters, he could shoot and reach his enemies!
In a few breaths, an arrow shot out of his hand and flew quickly from his position to one of the five wolves threatening the villagers.
At that moment, the man leading the attack looked back and saw that more enemies were coming. ‘Tsk! Damn bumpkins! They have a gold mine and they want to keep it for themselves? I’m going to kill you all until I get those Aether Tears!’
The man dressed in black drew his sword, revealing a weapon, with silver and gold details, and of a higher quality than anything these villagers had ever seen in their lives.
“You will pay for standing in the way of a mage’s wishes!” He brandished as he raised the weapon into the air, making Lance and the others around the outer plantation shudder at the red-eyed man’s words.
“I will spill the blood of all of you for this fucking land!”