Jake’s feet dug into the loamy soil of the forest as he ran, jumping over roots and dodging around trees as he went. The howls of the five wolves chasing him sounded just behind him, making him force himself to run faster, his breath already burning in his throat even as he drew closer to his goal. The sound of a snapping jaw almost made him stumble as he glanced behind him, spotting the wolf just as it faded back into the shadows. Sweat dripped down his face, Jake turning to look back in front of him as he spotted the piece of rope hanging from a branch, a stone tied to the end to keep it hanging down.
“Got you,” he breathed, leaping forwards as he reached the edge of the disturbed soil just beneath the hanging stone, catching the knotted rope and scrambling up it as it swung wildly through the air.
Jake looked down as the rope swung about, dangling him above the pit trap as the five wolves circled around him, saliva dripping from their mouth as they eyed him hungrily. Swallowing nervously, he watched them back, the beasts surrounding him as he hung between them. One of the wolves stepped forwards, pausing as its foot sunk into the ground just beside the hole, looking down in confusion. Jake swore under his breath, he couldn’t afford to let the wolves discover his trap before it had even caught one of them.
“What are you waiting for?” Jake shouted, the wolves all looking up and glaring at him, “Don’t you want a piece of me, you stupid mutts?”
The taunt seemed to work, two of the wolves backing up slightly as the darkness in their eyes shimmered, the one that had apparently noticed the trap barking at them. It seemed that the warning was too late though, both wolves leaping at Jake as he yanked himself further up the rope, swinging a leg out at one of the wolves. The kick connected, knocking the wolf off course just enough that it slammed into its comrade, both yelping as they collided and fell to the forest floor, crashing through the carefully hidden trap.
Howls of pain came from the hole as the wolves collapsed onto the spikes, immediately trying to tear themselves free as they dug at the walls of the pit. The three remaining wolves just glared at Jake, circling around the hole as he clambered up the rest of the rope, climbing onto the sturdy branch he’d tied the rope to. It took barely a moment for the three wolves to identify the tree he was in, moving to circle its trunk as he tried to hide a grin, their black eyes locked onto him as they snarled and snapped at him.
The wolves were so focused on him, that they didn’t notice the hanging rope beside the tree, Jake watching carefully as they moved around the base, trying to figure out how to get to him. Reaching up, he grabbed the rope hidden in the branches, waiting patiently as the three beasts continued to glare at him. After five minutes of tense stand-off, Jake grinned at the wolves, seemingly confusing them as they stopped, before he yanked down on the rope in his hand, sending a bag of rocks crashing to the ground.
Two of the wolves jumped back in surprise at the appearance of the supposed trap, the third yelping at the noose shot up behind it, closing around its hind legs and yanking it into the air. The trapped wolf struggled as it was lifted into the tree, snapping and snarling at the rope around its legs as Jake watched, a slight pang of guilt in his chest. Shaking the feeling off, he quickly drew his bow, pulling out one of his arrows, the end glistening with the poison he’d poured into the bottom of the quiver. Taking aim, he fired the arrow, hitting the wolf in the side, making it growl at him as it continued to struggle against the trap. Jake quickly checked its Status as he drew another arrow, preparing to shoot it again.
Shadow Wolf
Beast
Level: ??
Corrupted, Poisoned
Jake sighed in relief as he saw that the poison had already taken hold, meaning he didn’t need to use another arrow to shoot the wolf again. Below him, the two remaining wolves glared, barking and snarling as they tried to scramble up the sides of the tree, their claws scoring deep marks into the bark. Looking down, Jake took a deep breath, calming himself as he prepared for the next step of his plan.
Looking around, he spotted the next branch, marked with a piece of rope, and jumped.
------
“Hey! Watch it!” Shadow shouted as the bolt of flame slammed into the goblin, immolating it as the Rogue appeared behind the corpse, “That was my kill!”
“No, it was mine,” Sophie huffed, “It’s not my fault that you were too slow.”
“Slow?” the Rogue growled, stalking towards the Mage, “I’ll show you slow!”
“Enough!” Andy shouted as the party stood outside the cave, having just cleared out the four goblins standing guard, “We’re meant to be a team! So quit arguing! Both of you!”
“Sorry, Goldy,” Shadow sighed, still glaring at the blonde as she scoffed.
“What?” Sophie said, “It’s not my fault your Rogue is doing a half-assed job.”
“Half-assed?” Shadow snarled, “You think that just cause you can throw around fire that you’re better than me? I attack you and you’d be down in one shot!”
“That’s only if you could hit the attack,” Sophie countered.
“I said enough!” Andy shouted again, turning to look at the Mage as she blinked in surprise, “Sophie, enough with trying to antagonise Shadow. You’re a guest in our party right now, so you need to be nice.”
“Pwned,” Shadow chuckled, getting an angry glare from the Mage.
“And Shadow,” Andy continued, turning to look at the Rouge as well, “Sophie’s right, you do need to be a faster. Why did it take you so long to go for that goblin anyway?”
“What?” Shadow blinked, scowling slightly as he muttered, “My [Backstab] Skill takes a bit to target fully.”
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“Then don’t rely on the system prompts so much,” Sophie huffed, “If you just learn how the attack works and where to aim, then you should be able to do it without the targeting.”
“Huh?” Shadow blinked, “Wait, really?”
“It makes sense,” Holi hummed, joining in the conversation, “You can’t rely on auto-aim in an FPS, so why are you doing it in this game?”
“Didn’t think of it like that,” Shadow muttered, “But if I do that, then…I could probably attack way faster!”
“That’s what I’m saying!” Sophie sighed, throwing up her hands in frustration, “Anyway, are we going to keep standing out here arguing while the goblins inside the cave prepare for us, or are we going in?”
------
Jake panted as he looked down at the final wolf, the beast snarling at him even as several arrows stuck out of its sides. The second wolf was growling not far away, trapped beneath the spike trap it had triggered, the spikes having pierced straight through it, pinning it to the ground even as it struggled. Jake felt the feeling of guilt return as he watched the beast suffer, forcing it down once again as he watched the final wolf stagger slightly, before collapsing, its breathing growing shallow.
Jake waited in the tree as he watched the pair, glancing at the blinking icon in the corner of his vision as the notifications popped up in front of him.
You have gained Experience.
Experience modifier detected.
Calculating…
You have gained a large amount of experience.
You have gained Experience.
Experience modifier detected.
Calculating…
You have gained a large amount of experience.
The two screens meant that at least two of the other wolves had died in the time it had taken for him to lead these two towards the last of his traps, though the pair had managed to avoid most of them, only a bit of luck seeing one of them triggering his spike trap, while the other had been hit by several poisoned arrows. Shaking his head, Jake sat down on the branch he was standing on, waiting patiently until the two beasts below him finally stilled.
You have gained Experience.
Experience modifier detected.
Calculating…
You have gained a large amount of experience.
You have gained Experience.
Experience modifier detected.
Calculating…
You have gained a large amount of experience.
The two notifications seemed to confirm their deaths, Jake sighing again as he dropped out of the tree, approaching them carefully. He snuck up to the wolf with the arrows first, gingerly touching its side, the body still warm even as the ‘loot’ prompt appeared in front of him, Jake accepting.
Items Gained:
Wolf Fang x4
Corrupted Wolf Pelt x1
Moving to the next wolf, he paused, watching it for a moment to make sure it wasn’t pretending to be dead, before walking over and touching it as well, the loot notification appearing as its body burst into light.
Items Gained:
Wolf Fang x3
Corrupted Wolf Pelt x1
Letting out a relieved sigh, Jake stood, looking around the area for a moment before starting to walk back in the direction of the pit, freezing as a prickle ran up his spine, making him dive to the floor as the dark form leapt out of the shadows straight at him. Rolling away, he looked up to see the wolf, its eyes completely black as it spun to face him, Jake blinking in confusion. Where had it come from? Only five wolves had chased him into the woods, so why was there a sixth all of a sudden? Had one of the wolves from the pit managed to escape?
Looking over the beast, Jake couldn’t see any wounds on it, meaning that it probably wasn’t from any of his traps, even though it seemed to be favouring one of its front legs. Jake blinked as he suddenly remembered the wolf the Alpha had struck; the beast having run into the forest earlier. If that was this wolf, then Jake was in big trouble. Even if it was injured, Jake wasn’t sure that he had much of a chance against the beast, which was already stalking towards him as it snarled. Jake swallowed as he reached for his Ritual Dagger, the eyes of the wolf locked onto his hand as it paused, letting out a low growl.
“Sorry,” Jake said, unsure as to why he was suddenly talking to the wolf, “But…but it’s you or me, and I don’t plan on dying again.”
The wolf snorted, seeming to scoff at his declaration, before it suddenly charged forwards, Jake drawing his Dagger and jumping back as the wolf snapped at the air. Jake swore as he narrowly avoided a swipe of the beast’s paw, almost tripping over his own feet as he scrambled backwards. Gripping his Dagger, he managed to stabilise himself, just in time to throw himself back to the floor as the wolf leapt at him. Rolling onto his back, Jake gasped as the wolf landed on top of him, barely able to keep the snapping jaw from biting into his face as he held it off by pressing his free arm into the large beast’s throat.
Jake gritted his teeth as he swung the blade in his right hand up, stabbing it into the side of the wolf’s neck, making it yelp as it tried to jump back, only succeeding in causing the sharp blade to slice a deep cut into its throat, black and red blood pouring from the wound. Staggering back to his feet, Jake watched as the wolf tried to reach for the wound, before it turned back to face him, fury in its shadowed eyes as it let out a strangled howl, before it charged him again.
Jake leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding the charge as he slashed at the wolf’s side, scoring a deep cut along its ribs as it yelped, spinning to face him once again. The pair stared each other down, Jake gripping the handle of his Dagger tightly as the wolf snarled, before leaping at him once more. Jake ducked under the attack, twisting around as the wolf sailed over him, stabbing up into its soft stomach, blood spilling out of the wound onto him as the wolf hit the ground, stumbling. It turned to face him again, before its legs suddenly gave out, making it collapse to the floor.
Jake stared in surprise for a moment, before quickly using [Observe] on the beast.
Shadow Wolf
Beast
Level: ??
Corrupted, Bleeding, Blood Loss
“I see,” he muttered, watching as the wolf got unsteadily to its feet, before collapsing again, “You’ve lost too much blood. It’s best to just give up.”
The wolf snarled at him as he approached, still struggling to stand even as the red and black pool formed beneath it, already sinking into the loamy soil of the forest. Jake paused, watching the struggling beast for a moment before he shook his head sadly. Kneeling beside the dying wolf, he pressed the blade of his Dagger to its throat, easily slicing through the flesh and hide as he brought its life to an end. The wolf shuddered one last time as he laid a hand on it, its body already starting to cool as he got the loot prompt, accepting as the beast vanished into a cloud of light.
Items Gained:
Wolf Fang x4
Corrupted Wolf Pelt x1
“You’ve suffered enough,” Jake muttered as he stood, “All of you. If this is all I can do for you, then so be it. I just hope you can rest well and find peace wherever you end up.”
The loud howl shook the forest as Jake looked up, the mournful sound full of challenge and rage. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Jake started walking towards the pit once again, his mind made up as he steeled himself for what was to come next.