Chapter 4: A pound of flesh

Sarah could barely feel the pain coming from the broken rib and the chunk of her flesh missing from her forearm as she shoved the wolf off herself. Hastily jumping to her feet, she grabbed her dropped weapons and she moved past the bodies, fleeing out of the building and away from the approaching howls.

But in her wounded state, she wasn’t quick enough, and after barely making it 30 meters away she could see eight nimble figures quickly approaching her from behind. Seeing the speed in which they approached, she could tell that fleeing was no longer an option for her. While she still had some distance, she both began to form a demonic bolt in the air while taking aim with her gun, ignoring the pain in her arm. Her high intelligence and wisdom came in use here, where she was able to do both actions simultaneously while also keeping relatively calm in the dangerous situation.

She realized the loud noises of gunshots may have been more of a curse now, attracting too much attention, but it was too late for her to change that. The wolves quickly scattered as the gun downed the first, however their quick movements also helped in dodging the bolt that followed. Wasting no time, Sarah began casting her second and taking aim once again, flinging it at one of the wolves that had comes the closest. She knew this could become a desperate fight for her life and, suppressing any panic, she aimed and fired more of her enchanted shots at a different beast in the process of taking a leap at her.

With the grace of a clearly inexperienced fighter -in other words, with very little grace- she threw her body to the side as the wolf shot past her.

She followed this up by pushing herself to cast more spells at the beasts still in front of her and managed to form a third bolt in only a second. Flinging it quickly, she then again leapt out of the way as two other members of the pack had taken that opportunity where she was concentrating on her aim to jump at her.

But her dodge did not come quick enough, and one of the wolves was able to sink its teeth onto her ankle through the thoroughly bloodied and torn robe she still wore from the ritual that felt like so long ago. The injury caused her to trip and fall, and all five remaining wolves took this opportunity to claim their prey. In no time, she had three different wolves all biting her limbs, seeming attracted to her robe, and the remaining two digging into her arms as she tried to fend them away from her face.

Suppose it doesn’t help to be wearing a robe that stinks of sheep’s blood when you’re hunting wolves.

She attempted to fire another shot at the pack, but the gun quite literally exploded in her hand, burning her palm and causing her to drop the remnants of the weapon. Thankfully the noise startled the wolves and made them jump back from her, and with the pain somehow helping her concentrate she pulled at the mana inside her and in desperation she was able to for multiple bolts so quickly it was practically simultaneous, jerking her body to fling them at the wolves that were so close to her face she could smell their breath. In anguish but refusing to give up, she pulled and pulled, sending more and more bolts towards the beasts until she was no longer able to feel the mana inside her.

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With a gasp she felt empty, unable to form any more bolts. But still, one wolf remained, having held back while the others took their turn with her, but now it let out a howl as its brethren fell around it. Taking a leap towards her, with surprising swiftness she grabbed the knife off the ground where it had fallen and blindly swung at the beast. With a thump, the wounded beast was flung to the side and landed badly on the pavement nearby, no longer moving.

Gasping for breath and bleeding from practically all her limbs, and her torso, she decided now would be a good time to take a breather and lie there in pain.

You have levelled up.

Very cool Mr. System, but I think I’m about to bleed to death. Why can’t you have a full heal thing whenever we level up like games do.

“Put those points into vitality. How you are so injured against some wolves amazes me.”

All points to vitality, she thought, not needing to be told twice. And the extra clarity that came with it was a blessing as she felt the mana seep into her blood. She could feel this internal mana moving around her injuries, slowly repairing her body and keeping her away from death’s door.

[Demonic Mana Manipulation] Rank 1 Level 6 -> Level 7

She tilted her head to look down at her blood covered body, closer to resembling a corpse than a living being. With burns on her right hand from the gun exploding, and various small chunks missing from her arms, chest and legs, she was a sorry sight. However, the bleeding had stopped, and she could feel herself recovering. Getting half-eaten by a pack of wolves is a pretty effective way to lose weight I suppose, she mused to herself while cringing at her missing pieces of flesh.

Her half-mad chuckling was interrupted by another howl that filled her with dread, and while prone on the ground she could only turn her head in anguish towards the noise. How come every time I seem to be finished, another howl comes. Seems like bad writing to me. Confirming her fears, 12 wolves approached, one of them far larger than the others with a darker pelt and leading the pack. She could only watch as she sat there while they walked down the shattered road towards her, the lead wolf staring her down with a look that she could swear was filled with mockery.

[Identify].

Daughter of Fenrir- Level 10

It seemed the leader of the pack had arrived, and while she felt she felt herself recovering, an extra 11 wolves and their high-level leader was not something she felt she could handle, especially considering her gun had exploded and she could maybe pull enough mana from inside her to form two or three demonic bolts at most.

She had no chance of outrunning them, and injured as she was there was little way of fighting. Even armed with a knife capable of killing the wolves in a single hit, she lacked the skills and the speed necessary to fight twelve wolves at once while injured. Maybe she could kill the first few, but she would be quickly overwhelmed.

So, I’ve got to ask, do I have to go to Hell when I die? I mean I get that I am a demon but like I’m only HALF demon.

“Now that this world is part of the system your soul will explode, and your collected mana and experience will help nurture your world as fuel for its growth. Not that you are going to die anyway.”

A piercing pain filled her soul as something seemed to shove her from the inside. Taken unprepared, and as weak as she was, she was unable to resist the pressure and could feel the familiar presence that so far had previously been nursing itself inside her soul begin to take control. Her body started to twitch then move on its own, and her vision slowly turned to black as she could feel herself start to stand up right before her mind lost consciousness.

No need to sell your soul to a demon when they already have it.