Clack! Clack! Clack!…
Sending its saliva everywhere, the werewolf continues snapping its maws away at Straf.
「It's not fair that you get to have opposable thumbs and a fucked up bite force!…」
Straf shouts at the beast while it's trying to force him to the ground. When it momentarily pauses its attempts to bite him, he glances downward.
THWAP!
He delivers a quick kick right between its furry legs, causing the werewolf to jump up with a yelp and let go of his hands, clutching at its groin instead.
TWHACK-FWOOOP!
While it's still reeling from the previous blow, Straf delivers another kick, this time to its stomach. With another whine, the beast is sent flying back towards the edge of the village.
「…Serves you right! I knew you had something dangling under all that fur!」
Straf smirks while the werewolf is still unsteadily picking itself up off the ground and clutching at his groin. Its furry face is twisted both into anger and pain at the same time.
《…That being said, I gotta do something about this asshole. It's an even fight, and I don't like even fights…》
His smirk fades, and he glares at the beast. It glares back, slowly recovering, baring its teeth with a low growl.
《…Do I just say fuck it and up my stats?… Nah, I didn't do that for the wraith, I'm not doing it for a fucking carpet with a tail…》
Straf clicks his tongue with a light shake of his head. One of his hands opens up.
「Stats.」
《…Though I might as well get some new skills with all those saved up points.》
He opens up his stat screen, and begins looking through the list of available skills. When the werewolf notices Straf is no longer paying attention, he lunges forward on all fours.
「Ah, for fuck's sake!-」
CRACK!
Frustrated, Straf leaps sideways out of a sudden claw slash, forcing his attention back to the werewolf through the partially transparent status screen.
The shaggy beast winds up for another attack. An annoyed wince appears on Straf's face.
《Let me pick my skills first, you fucking pest!》
CRACK!…
Straf leans out of the way while he taps [Portable Storage] on his screen. The wolf's attacks keep coming, Straf's attention is split between dodging, and quickly picking his skills.
CRACK! CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!… CRACK!
《[Portable Storage] upgrades, sounds good!… What else is there?》
Straf thinks, rubbing his chin while supersonic cracks of the werewolf's hands ripping through the night fill the air.
「Straf! Do you have a plan to defeat it!?」
Cycelia calls out from between buildings some distance away with a concerned grimace on her face.
CRACK! CRACK-CRACK!…
「Lia, I can't do three things at once! Let me focus!」
Furrowing his brows, Straf sneaks a quick glance at her.
「R- Right! Sorry!…」
She nods, shouting back in an apologetic tone while he continues narrowly evading the vicious slashes.
《Right! [Discerning Eye] upgrade! I've been meaning to get this for a while now!… The next level will let me see subspecies?… I'll leave the rest of the points for later.》
Straf taps his skill and confirms its upgrade all the while dodging another blow.
「…Now let's see how tough you really are, you fucker.」
Focusing his eyes on the beast, he jumps a few paces away with the werewolf in hot pursuit.
Werewolf
[||||||||||||||||||||||||||-----] Lv. 64
Strength: 92 [+10] Perception: 25 [-60]
Agility: 144 [-68] Endurance: 489 [+257]
Dexterity: 25 [-140] Willpower: 16 [-470]
Luck: 10 [-383] Intelligence: 12 [-130]
Charisma: 10 [-341] Wisdom: 18 [-117]
Straf manages to catch a glimpse of the screen that opens before the werewolf. He's forced to jump away again just a split second later.
CRACK!
《Man, what confusing mess of numbers!… Bracketed numbers must be stats relative to me, but in which way!? Do the positives or do the negatives mean that I'm stronger!?》
A lightly amused smirk of disbelief appears on Straf's face while he's dodging a blow after blow. He clicks his tongue and shakes his head.
「Tsk… I'll just have to go with my gut feeling on this! You really are one tough cookie, aren't you!?」
SNAP!
Straf asks, and the werewolf replies with a supersonic jab of its claws directed at his throat. Before they can connect, he slaps its massive arm aside.
Thudthudthud-THWACK!
Delivering a flurry of blows himself, Straf pounds the werewolf's massive, shaggy chest. Its fur almost acts like armor, being definitely thick enough to give a duller sword trouble.
With one last powerful punch to its sternum, the werewolf lets out a cough and stumbles backwards clutching at its chest. Its face twists into fury again, but its aggression tempers.
「What's the matter, forgot that I can use my hands too? Dumbshit.」
Straf lets out an amused huff, then focuses his eyes on the werewolf again.
Werewolf
[|||||||||||||||||||||||-------] Lv. 64
「Tsk…」
《…It barely moved, and I'm fairly sure that'd punch a hole in a fucking tank. I can't fight this asshole like this, it's going to pull some shit if I only give it a chance.》
His smug smirk fades when his eyes turn away from the healthbar back to the wolf's face. It is now trying to circle around him, walking in a calm, but fast pace.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud…
Keeping an eye on it, Straf counter-strafes, not letting it get behind him. The two continue walking sideways, trying to circle around each other, and neither succeeding.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud…
The werewolf treads heavily, glaring at Straf with its hateful eyes. Where previously they were filled with voracious hunger, they are now burning with hatred. Though Straf is taller than most, the werewolf easily dwarfs him. It continues pacing around the village with him. Its unkempt fur sticks out to the sides, making it look like an odd, animated, grayish-black spruce tree that sticks out above the rooftops.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud…
《I need to figure out a way to kill this fucking thing… But I'm seriously out of ideas.》
Straf abruptly halts his strafing, causing the werewolf to stop too.
「Hey, mongrel!…」
It looks at Straf with a wary gaze when he straightens out, places his hand in his pocket, and points his finger at it with his other hand.
「『Gate of Draconis』.」
Straf stays in a confident tone, smirking at the beast. Multiple purple vortices appear behind Straf's back and hover slightly above him.
「Straf, he'll just absorb that-!」
「No he won't.」
Cycelia warns, but Straf replies with utter confidence in his voice as sword tips emerge from each of the swirling vortices.
FWOOP-FWOPFWOPFWOPFWOP-FWOOPFWOPFWOP!…
The swords shoot out towards the werewolf. It has merely a split second to cover itself with its arms.
「How do you like that!? Bet you weren't expecting a reference so blatant and shameful without a warning, huh!?…」
…FWOPFWOPFWOPFWOPFWOPFWOP!…
Straf throws his arms aside and shouts at the cloud of debris rising up into the air as swords continue spewing out from each instance of [Portable Storage]. He cackles like a madman, grinning at the carnage. The cloud glows blue, and the swords keep coming. Without stopping the hail of metal for even a second, he returns his hands to his pockets.
「…I couldn't resist, despite the cost! You better look like a pincushion when I'm done, mutt!」
He calls out in the direction of the werewolf. Cycelia watches on with her mouth open in awe.
「…What is that? I've never heard of that spell.」
She thinks out loud while watching the ruthless downpour of swords. It stops as abruptly as it had begun. Straf watches the cloud with a disdainful look of superiority on his face.
As it clears, the glowing silhouette of the werewolf becomes visible. Straf clicks his tongue.
《For fuck's sake… He's still not dead? Granted, they were shitty mass-produced swords, but…》
Scrunching his mouth, Straf's frustrated gaze drifts aside.
「…You ungrateful prick. I let you taste my treasury…」
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
《…Actually Lia's.》
Straf turns his gaze to the werewolf. Surrounded by shattered and twisted metal, it clutches one of the swords and bleeds lightly from its arms. The blade in its grasp is badly crumpled like a mere can of soda, and the beast throws it aside with obvious anger. It bares its teeth at Straf once again and splays its fingers.
「…And you don't even have the courtesy to drop fucking dead already? I'll have to teach you some manners.」
《…But I'll first have to figure out a way to do that. Why aren't you dead yet, you asshole!? Those were all of my leftover reference swords!》
He adds, glaring at the werewolf. Cycelia clenches her dainty hands and runs in place for a brief moment, squealing from sheer excitement.
《Straf is so cool! He was just playing with it from the start! I can't believe I just randomly ran into him! How lucky is that!?》
A massive smile appears on her face as she watches Straf with stars in her emerald eyes.
FWOOM!
Powered by anger, the werewolf leaps straight at Straf, claws outstretched to either grasp or shred him. He steps aside.
FWOOPfwopfwopfwop!…
Almost like a mirror of a moment from a few minutes ago, Straf trips the werewolf again, sending it noisily cartwheeling through the air.
It manages to dig its claws into the dirt, and quickly recovers. It slides a decent distance out of the village perimeter back into the open field. Straf lets out a fatigued sigh.
《…Aaaand we're back to exactly where we fucking started. How long is this going to go on for?-》
「Hey!…」
With his hands in his coat's pockets, Straf looks at the werewolf with fatigued eyes. The innkeeper's voice coming from behind calls out towards Straf.
「…Hey! You asked for silverware, right!? I don't have any, but will silver coins do!?」
The shaved innkeeper shouts as he runs towards Straf, clutching onto something in his big hand. Looking at him over his shoulder, a massive grin appears on Straf's face.
「Hand 'em over!」
Straf stretches his hand out towards him. The innkeeper cocks his fist back for a throw.
「Catch!」
Still some distance away, the innkeeper flings three silver coins towards Straf.
They whirl through the air, spinning around, slowly scattering. Straf sneaks a quick glance towards his opponent, and finds the werewolf coiling up for another charge.
Clink!
He lifts his hand up and catches the centermost coin between his thumb and finger, ignoring the other two with a grin on his face as they sail over his head.
「…We can't possibly have runaway inflation if I'm happy to receive loose change.」
He remarks as he looks at the coin in his hand.
「Straf! Werewolves are-!」
A large smile appears on Cycelia's face when she sees the coins bounce off the dirt and land nearby. Straf quickly pulls his other hand out and holds his finger out in front of his lips.
「Ssh! Don't spoil it.」
He cuts her off with a smug smirk. Flipping the coin in his fingers, he turns his gaze to the werewolf.
FWOOM!
It leaps forward on all fours with a speed it has not reached yet before. The charge in its fur causes it to have a blue trail as it dashes forward, ripping away massive chunks of the earth out with each bounding hop. Its eyes are focused entirely on Straf. Cycelia and the innkeeper anxiously watch on as it zaps through the field towards him.
「Hey, doggie!…」
Straf exclaims as he rears his arm back and lifts his leg.
「…Fetch.」
PFWOOOM!
He adds, throwing the coin like a baseball just as the werewolf makes one last large leap and spreads its arms out, claws at the ready. The coin shoots through the air with a thunderous noise, zapping past Cycelia's hiding spot with a gray trail. By the time the werewolf sees it coming, it's already far too locked into its leap to avoid it.
PLINKKKkkkkk!…
It impacts the werewolf's skull with a high-pitched ringing sound before taking flight into the night sky at a sharp angle, taking some of the werewolf's blue glow with it. It sails through the air like a blue firefly, gently arcing as it slowly makes its way downwards somewhere far away. Meanwhile, the werewolf continues flying at Straf, who is still recovering from his throw. He turns his head and looks at the oncoming beast.
「Eh? Oh shit.」
Thud!
He utters out, and the werewolf crashes into him. They both land on the dirt and slide a few paces along, creating a shallow channel.
「Straf!? Straf, are you okay!?」
Cycelia's head perks up, and her green eyes fill with worry when she sees that the werewolf is on top of Straf, but she can't see Straf himself. The innkeeper gulps.
After a long moment of uneasy silence, the werewolf moves. The innkeeper jumps up in panic.
「Grrrragghhhhh… Fuck!…」
Straf groans heavily as he pushes the werewolf off to the side, freeing himself. The shaggy beast's arm flops limp down to the ground.
「…Are you okay? Is it dead?」
The innkeeper runs up and asks, staring at the werewolf lying beside Straf. Its tongue is hanging out from the side of its mouth, dripping with blood and saliva.
After a moment, clutching onto her medallion, Cycelia runs up as well. She lets out a sigh of relief when she sees no visible injuries on Straf.
「…I sure fucking hope so!」
Straf replies angrily and lets out a large sigh, making no effort to get up.
「Come on, let's get you up…」
The innkeeper says, and holds his hand out for Straf. He lets out another sigh and grabs it.
Pat.
「Hhhhhup!…」
「Ow owowow, fuck…」
Myria's father grunts as he lifts him up. Straf winces, cursing under his breath and rubbing his aching back.
「Are you sure you're okay, Straf?…」
Cycelia asks with a nervous gaze and her lips curled inward.
「I will be fine, but for now, I'm beaten up to shit… Fuck.」
He shrugs, stretching and wincing heavily with each motion.
Tfwap.
「Don't ever leave me, Straf… Okay?」
Cycelia suddenly wraps her arms tight around Straf's chest, and looks up at him with her brows lightly furrowed.
「Uhh… I wasn't planning to, but… Oookaay?」
Confused, he nods along, patting Cycelia lightly on her back.
「Okay.」
Cycelia smiles and lets go, taking a step back.
「Come, let's get you back to the inn. I'll help you walk-」
「No no no, not until I skin this fucking guy. I want his magic-absorbing hide.」
The innkeeper tries to give Straf his bulky shoulder to lean on, but Straf slaps his arms away while pointing at the dead werewolf at their feet. Cycelia nervously glances aside.
「Um, Straf…」
She meekly calls out with her index finger raised.
「Yeah?…」
Straf asks after a sigh while pulling a sword out of his [Portable Storage].
「…Werewolf pelts aren't actually any special.」
Cycelia says, and starts tapping her fingers together.
「…Huh?」
With a confused look on his face, Straf stares at her over his shoulder.
「Werewolves don't have a special fur or anything, at least not by itself. The werewolf has to be alive for it to absorb mana into its fur…」
「What?」
Cycelia explains while tapping her index fingers together. Straf's eyes widen, and his face gains a tight-lipped grimace.
「…I mean, look… It's not glowing anymore. Some creatures are special only when alive, Straf. Like slimes, for example.」
She adds, pointing at the corpse. Indeed, the werewolf appears very mundane, and very dead.
「…Are you telling me I went through all this fucking trouble, and I don't even get to turn him into useful stuff!?」
Straf exclaims, pointing his hands at the werewolf's corpse.
「Um, it's still valuable, Straf… It's like a big wolf pelt-」
「Lia, I don't want a rug in my room! I wanted something that would eat spells and make me stronger!」
Dismayed, he throws his arms aside, and discards his sword back into his [Portable Storage].
「But you're already ridiculously powerful, Straf. Most people wouldn't ever dare fight a werewolf.」
Cycelia shrugs, pouting a little as she turns her emerald gaze back to him. He lets out a large sigh.
「…Sure, but a magic-absorbing werewolf pelt has a theoretical room for abuse. Whatever… I'll go find the item it dropped.」
「Item?…」
Shaking his head, Straf walks past Cycelia towards the point of the coin's impact on the werewolf. He looks around the ground for a few seconds, and finds an ordinary-looking leather belt.
「Oh, it's a… Leather belt of…」
Squatting down, he picks the belt up and looks at it as it hangs from his hand. A moment later, he lets out a long, disappointed sigh.
「…Lia, do you want to be able to sense what hour of the day it is?」
Straf asks with an extremely tight-lipped grimace as he looks at her over his shoulder.
「Huh?… Sure?」
She shrugs and replies with a voice lacking confidence. Straf stands up.
「Here. Have fun. Put it on your waist like wrestlers, or something…」
He says as he hands Cycelia the leather belt, and shambles away in the direction of the belt. She tilts her head, then after a moment of confusion, slips the belt around her waist.
「Oh wow! It's really late!…」
She declares, then rushes to join Straf's side. The innkeeper backs away from the corpse and follows after them…