The ram, totally beside itself, was charging towards the elf, with the lynx on its back. She jumped away, chased by the snake, which was trying to seize the opportunity to gobble up its prey. But its attack was abruptly interrupted by the strong collision with the ram.
The feline was thrown forward due to the speed she carried, while tearing the skin of the ram from which she was being expelled. With incredible agility, she turned on herself, propelled herself against the wall, landed on the snake’s tail, nailed her claws into it, and then her jaws. With one end pinned by the feline, and the other embedded in the stone wall from the impact with the ram, the snake was immobilized and couldn’t defend itself.
Its open mouth, just inches from the point of impact, was suddenly pierced by arrow after arrow. The archer had seized the opportunity to increase the distance and wield the bow, and was now attacking the vulnerable snake’s insides.
Wounded by the ram, by arrows, and by claws and fangs, it soon succumbed and disappeared, leaving the stunned ram two-on-one. Furthermore, despite its powerful horns and a head prepared for terrible impacts, hitting the rock had also deepened its wounds. It staggered back toward the rain of arrows that was plaguing it, carelessly leaving its other flank uncovered, an opportunity the lynx took to bite where the jugular must have been, although, now, what was circulating inside wasn’t exactly blood.
Its legs yielded, and though it tried to fight, it couldn’t shake off the tight grip of the fangs closing on its neck, so it died, and faded away soon after. Then, the elf began to shoot in the distance at that red-eyed black horse that was crawling towards them, wanting to attack them even in their state, and while a fairy was collecting the scattered arrows.
She kept firing until it vanished, at which point the elf felt she had reached level 5. Shortly before, the lynx had reached 4. She didn’t hesitate to swap the rookie robe and outfit covering it for a level 5 armor, with some bonuses and much more protection.
She also swapped her weapons and arrows for level 5 ones. Although their quality was average, as they were equipment available in merchants, the difference with her precarious level 1 equipment was remarkable. Now, her arrows could pierce her enemies much more easily.
Additionally, she had unlocked a defensive spell called Cyclonic Barrier, which could cover her or her sister with something akin to a miniature tornado, capable of cushioning enemy attacks, and even interrupting them, by being struck by a powerful wind. However, it has a short duration, and a high mana usage, so it was necessary to use it at the right times. It was at 8, since she had used it often, but it wasn’t one of her most important spells.
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And also Unsheathe, at 6. Goldmi smiled while remembering that it was a skill Eldi loved, mostly because of the visual effect, rather than its effectiveness. It consists of quickly unsheathing the sword, using the sheath as a kind of spring to accelerate it, so decreasing the response time and increasing the damage.
They took refuge in the cave as soon as the fairy finished collecting the arrows, some of them destroyed. They recovered their mana and energy there, and took the opportunity to have lunch. It is true that Goldmi had lost her appetite for the corruption in front of her, but not her sister, who insisted that she needed to clean the bad taste in her mouth, thus making the elf laugh and lighten her heart.
She forced herself to eat, remembering the bittersweet feeling of releasing the souls locked in bodies that had been corrupted. Sweet from the feeling of their thanks for being freed. Sour from their suffering until then, and for all those which were still suffering.
In the distance, more corrupted beings appeared, several at level 6, even one at 7. There were quite a few more than before, but they had also leveled up, and were better equipped, in addition to having recovered their mana and energy.
The two came out, and, this time, Goldmi Hovered to a ledge on the rock wall. From there, she used Hawkeye to pierce the wing of a kind of corrupted pterodactyl that was watching from the sky. There were three of them, two level 5 and one level 6, and one after another lost control after a wing was ripped, so crashing to the ground and fading on impact.
The rest of those beings were disturbed, but they didn’t know who or from where had attacked. An arrow pierced the neck of a kind of giant tortoise, and the tip protruded from the other end. Instinctively, it tried to hide its body inside the blackened shell, and whose touch was poisonous, unlike when it had been alive. However, the nailed arrow not only prevented it from doing so, but it enlarged the wound as it was trying.
The wound had been severe, though not fatal to the corrupted being. But, while trying to force its head back again and again, all it managed to do was kill itself, disappearing and leaving a single arrow as a witness.
Meanwhile, other arrow had stabbed into the neck of another one of those black horses. And another one pierced the jaw of a kind of giant insect that was somehow a mix of a grasshopper and a beetle. One pierced the eye of a wolfpine. Three other anchored a snake to the ground. A wolf with huge fangs found one of its knees pierced.
Before they discovered her, at least six had died, and more than twenty were wounded of greater or lesser severity, wounds that reduced their mobility. And thanks to that, the lynx had leveled up to 5, matching her sister. The experience was gained by both at once, regardless of who did more or less damage.