The remaining wolves, rattled by Blaze’s fireball, backed off, their low growls echoing through the trees as they eyed us warily. With the smaller threats thinning out, I shifted my focus to the pack leader—the hulking wolf with glowing amber eyes. It paced back and forth, calculating its next move, the muscles beneath its dark fur rippling in anticipation.
"Jun, Amara" Blaze shot me a Amara and Jun a look, his expression serious. “take down these stragglers fast we'll focus on that one.”
"Got it" they replied in unison and moved to attack.
"Alex and Mia, you guys are with me" he then turned to us "we'll try to defeat the big one or keep it at bay until Jun and Amara can help us again"
The smaller wolves flanked Jun and Amara, clearly testing for any gaps in their defenses. Jun moved with practiced ease, dispatching two wolves with swift strikes.
Amara, though initially hesitant, summoned a dark energy that crackled with destructive force, shaping it into a jagged spear. With a flick of her wrist, she hurled it at one of the wolves, and the moment it struck, the creature disintegrated into nothingness.
The wolves closest to it hesitated, clearly sensing the danger radiating from her.
She gave Jun a quick nod, her confidence visibly growing with each attack. He took advantage of the wolves' hesitation, quickly dispatching another one using his staff while Amara readied her next strike, her dark energy coiling around her hands.
Meanwhile, the alpha wolf’s gaze locked onto Blaze, Mia, and me, its eyes flashing with fury.
"Ready?" Blaze muttered, flames sparking to life in his hands as he prepared for the wolf’s inevitable charge.
“Let’s take it down,” I replied, summoning a shadow blade to my hand, its dark edge shimmering faintly. Mia created an orb of water and molded it into a whip-like weapon.
The wolf lunged forward, its massive paws thudding against the forest floor, aiming directly for Blaze, who unleashed a barrage of fire clones to intercept it.
The exploding clones briefly stunned the creature, but it recovered with a vicious swipe of its claws, the remaining clones exploded into embers.
While it was distracted by the fire, I darted forward, using my shadows to pull me closer in a silent, swift dash. With a flick of my wrist, I slashed at its side, scoring a hit just below its rib cage.
The alpha yelped in pain but quickly whirled around, its glowing amber eyes meeting mine. I felt a jolt of fear from the looks in it's eyes but I steadied myself.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Mia seized the opportunity, cracking her water whip around its hind leg. “Hold it!” she shouted, concentrating hard as the water whip tightened, keeping the wolf from moving.
“Now!” Blaze yelled, his flames roaring to life again as he prepared a powerful fire strike. But just as he thrust his arm forward, the alpha wolf let out a thunderous howl, shaking off the water whip and lunging toward Blaze with blinding speed.
His eyes widened as he braced for impact, but I launched forward, shadows coiling around me, and slammed into the alpha’s side, diverting its path and sparing Blaze from its deadly bite.
The wolf landed hard, momentarily disoriented.
“Nice save, Alex!” Blaze shouted, recovering quickly as he prepared another attack. He shot a fireball at the wolf, striking it in the chest and leaving a searing mark on its fur.
Just then, Jun and Amara joined us, the last of the smaller wolves taken care of. Jun shot us a quick grin as he moved beside. “Miss me?”
“About time,” I replied, eyeing the alpha wolf, which was now battered and weakened but still far from defeated.
Amara took a deep breath, her hands glowing with an ominous energy that crackled and pulsed with destructive force. She shaped it into a swirling orb that hovered above her palm, the energy humming with power. “Hold it still,” she instructed, her voice steady and certain.
Jun wasted no time, darting forward with his staff, aiming for the wolf’s exposed side. He struck true, his staff sinking deep into the creature’s flank, sending it flying with a howl of pain.
Amara took that chance to fire an orb of destruction at the wolf.
The destructive energy connected, and where it touched, the wolf's fur, flesh, and bone seemed to dissolve into nothingness.
The alpha wolf let out a final, agonized howl, collapsing as the light faded from its eyes, a hollow crater marking where Amara’s attack had struck.
Silence fell over the forest, broken only by the sounds of our heavy breathing.
Amara’s voice was quiet, almost in awe. “We…we did it.”
Blaze nodded, his usually stoic face softened with a hint of pride. “Good work, everyone. That was teamwork.”
Before I could reply, a system notification popped up again and I'm sure it also did for the rest.
[Level 3 Alpha night clawed defeated. Gained 20 exp]
[Exp: 70/100]
'20 exp? Since we killed it as a team, I guess the exp must have been shared amongst us all' I couldn't help but think.
I looked at my exp bar and realized I was so close to leveling up.
"Status" I opened my status page again, realizing it's been a while since I last checked it.
[Loading.....]
[Status:
Name:Alex
____________
HP: 100/100
MP: 100/100
LV: 1
Exp:70/100
Blessing: Thanatos' Chosen
_________
STR: 15
AGI: 30
STA: 25
INT: 30
END: 30
LUK: ???
_______
Free stat points: 0
_______
Abilities:
Nyx's gift (new):
Blessing of the night (Rank A) (new)
Description: The user's stats ar doubled at night. The user's Abilities gain a boost when used at night.
Mana cost: 0
Shadow manipulation (Rank S+) (new)
Description: It allows the user free control over shadows.
-----sub abilities ---
Cloak (Rank A)
Description: While in the shadows, user can completely conceal themselves and others.
Mana cost: 10 / minute
Shadow constructs (Rank S)
Description: User can create anything he can imagine from shadows. These constructs will be solid and can be moved into the light.
Mana cost: 10
NB: mana cost increases for more complex constructs.
NB: shadow constructs used in the light have lessened power and dissolve quicker.
[Level up to unlock more shadow abilities]
Thanatos' abilities
????? (Rank: ???) Locked
Description: ???? (Meet requirement to unlock)
Requirements: ??
????????? (Rank: ???) Locked
Description:????? (Meet requirement to unlock)
Requirements: ??]
Nothing had changed except my experience points. I closed the screen as I noticed Jun approaching.
"Great work! You've really proven that you're fit to be this great sage's sidekick," he said, looking smug.
"I never agreed to be your sidekick," I reminded him, but he ignored me and continued his rant.
I could only sigh and let him be.
"Let's rest and recover our mana, since the test has only just begun," Blaze said, sitting at the base of one of the massive trees. But before he could lean back properly, the tree split open and swallowed him whole.
"Blaze!" For the first time, I heard Mia call him by his name instead of "flame boy."
We all rushed toward the tree, and, just like with Blaze, it opened up and swallowed us too.