I jumped to my feet with Vel in my arms. My buffs flared to life instantly and I extended them to her. One of my mental constructs cast Arcane Eyes and sent the sensors towards the disturbances.

"Attack! From two sides." I shouted. I wasn't all that concerned about stealth at this point. I hadn't been able to pinpoint the exact numbers but it was more than last night.

Darrel and Gwynn prepared their weapons. The human pulled something out of his storage and threw it upwards. A small ball of light rose and became brighter every second. After five beats, it had reached half-way to the canopy and the area we had been sleeping in was completely lit up. In less than thirty seconds, everyone was awake and ready to fight.

"Another attack?" Hamak asked.

I nodded as my remote eyes found the two groups. There were five Stalker-Hounds this time, each pack was led by a larger specimen with a bone white horn on its forehead. I couldn't identify them to confirm but it matched the description of an alpha from the books I had read.

"Five on each side with one Alpha." I said.

"In formation!" Darrel shouted.

Gwynn sprinted to intercept the group coming from the east while the warrior braced himself to receive the one from the north-west. Katherine disappeared into the shadows behind him. Hamak summoned his wolf and bear companions and split them between both fronts. Elyssa was right behind Gwynn and I nodded to Vel who went to support Darrel.

Alan, go scout. My faithful familiar simply nodded and took flight. If there were more monsters incoming, we needed to know.

I stayed at the center of the formation and extended my buffs to the group with Mystic Aura. I chose to reinforce the two tanks with the lava enhancement to increase their durability and strength, Hamak and Vel received ice to increase their mobility. On top of that, I cast Divine Circle and Divine Armor. One of my constructs was tasked to monitor everyone and apply barriers or healing where necessary. Finally, I cast Telepathy.

Catalysts appeared around me and started to charge their attacks. Large spheres of sunfire, lightning, and ice started to form. We quickly exchanged a rough plan of action at the speed of thought. It was rough but we didn't have that much time.

"They're here!" Hamak sent through the network. "Brace."

I watched as both our tanks activated their skills. Darrel's blade and shield glowed with cool blue light while Gwynn's hammer was bathed in golden fire. As soon as the hounds crossed the threshold of our clearing, I fired my first spells towards each group.

Walls of solid wind rushed at them. When the spells met their targets, they shattered, their strength not enough to completely stop the monsters in their tracks, but they had broken the charge nonetheless. The miniature sun Darrel had thrown up earlier also interfered with their stealth skills. Instead of vaguely wolf-shaped blurs, the monsters were fully visible.

The human warrior slammed the guard of his blade against his shield. I could see a wave of mana expanding from him towards the five monsters on his side. When they met, two of them immediately bolted for him.

One of the stalker-hounds tried to circle the group but Katherine emerged from the shadows and sliced at it with her daggers. A deadly dance started between the two of them. Vel and Hamak's wolf focused on the last regular hound, she attacked it with grasping roots and thorny vines while the wolf kept it busy.

On Gwynn's side, the battle was a bit different. She was less geared towards being the center of attention so she opened with a smash of her hammer against the ground. The golden flames created burning cracks in the soil and erupted among the monsters. It got their attention.

What took my attention were the two alphas. They had stayed slightly back from their respective packs. Waited to see how we would react. Elyssa and I wouldn’t give them much of an opportunity to do so. She threw a large fireball at the one on Darrel's side. My catalysts fired their spells at the other one.

My first bolt of lighting was intercepted by a black barrier. The following three chipped away at the shadow barrier bit by bit.

"Shadow Magic," I sent. "Be careful."

Of course, I had more in stock. Spears of ice flew towards the horned hound. Two were intercepted but did their job, three more pierced the weakened barrier and struck their target. Their Void enhanced Destruction payload unleashed. The alpha yelped in pain.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

I was ready to unleash my third salvo but one of the hounds on Gwynn's side slipped through her defensive wall and nimbly avoided the bear. I made a beeline for Hamak who was unprepared to be attacked up close. He let go of his bow and drew his dagger but the monster was on him. I dashed to them, helped by my Mystic Enhancement, and kicked the monster away from him.

Unfortunately, this distraction was costly. The alpha had taken the lull in attacks to send his own magic at Gwynn. Globs of acid flew towards the dwarf and she was unable to dodge them. I threw up a Divine Barrier to intercept the majority of it but two of the projectiles hit her. As a testament to her resilience, she only let out a pained grunt and didn't falter.

The tide of the battle had shifted slightly. And the other alpha pressed its own advantage. With Darrel and Katherine occupied, Elyssa was the only one left to cover Vel and the wolf. I spotted the shifting of shadows at their feet.

"Vel, dodge!"

My girlfriend threw herself back and the area she had previously been in was filled with black blades. Only her left foot was caught. She finished her roll and stumbled up but another attack was coming. Both of the alphas were focusing on her. I cast Mana Burn at one of the alphas and it recoiled in pain. The spell in progress weakened and I finished it with Dispel Magic.

The catalysts around me glowed with another volley of spells and I used a combination of Spell Synthesis and Metamagic to create a miniature sun crackling with thunder. It was then multiplied with Spell Duplication and sent towards the alphas. I also dispatched the hound that Vel had been fighting with a powerful beam from Arcane Artillery.

We needed to finish the fight sooner than later. I used Psychokinesis to drag an injured Vel behind our shrinking defensive circle. She was already in the process of healing herself. Katherine appeared next to us as well. Her hound was dead but she had suffered a few scratches here in the process. My healing mana flowed into her.

"Katherine, can you distract one of the alphas?" I said of the telepathic link.

"If Liz gives me a hand, I can even kill it." She answered.

"Do it." Darrel said. "Liscura, can you focus on the other one?"

"Of course. Vel, focus on immobilizing all of them."

Vel nodded and the whole forest started to come to life. Animating an entire area took much more of her focus and she couldn't be as precise as against a single target. Hundreds of roots burst from the ground and tried to ensnare the stalker-hounds from all directions. Quantity over quality had some advantages.

Katherine vanished once again and appeared close to the alpha. It tried to attack her with shadow magic but she dodged it and Elyssa sent ice and fire its way. I moved all six of my thunder-suns towards the other alpha. I had been using them mostly as a way to keep them at bay and interrupt their spells with Mana Burn and Dispel Magic.

I triggered the second part of the spell, arcs of lightning sparked between the suns, forming a cage around the alpha hound. It formed tendrils of shadow around itself to push them back and it became a tug of war. I increased the pressure by using Earthen Orchestra to open a pit below its feet and Shadow Concerto to attack with the same blades it had used against Vel.

Despite all the pressure, it barely managed to hold on, until I used Gravity Well to pull it upwards. The second or so of confusion it generated gave me the opening I needed to fire my ice spears. This time, all of them sunk deep into the monster's corpse and it finally gave up and died. The notification rang in my mind.

"Killed one alpha."

Katherine sliced apart a barrier of shadows and her dagger sunk deep into the monster's skull.

"Two down." The rogue added.

There were only two hounds remaining. One was slowly limping away and the other about to perish under Gwynn's hammer. A few seconds later, none of them remained.

Your group has defeated [Alpha Stalker-Hound (Level 178, Rank 5)]

Experience gain reduced by 20% or fighting with a group

Experience gain increased by 100% for fighting a dangerous encounter

Experience gain increased by 100% for fighting an alpha

Essence Absorption collected 15 ES (5x3)

Your group has defeated [Alpha Stalker-Hound (Level 176, Rank 5)]

Experience gain reduced by 40% or fighting with a group

Experience gain increased by 100% for fighting a dangerous encounter

Experience gain increased by 100% for fighting an alpha

Essence Absorption collected 15 ES (5x3)

Your group has defeated [Stalker-Hound (Level 150-170, Rank 5)] x 8

Experience gain reduced by 70% or fighting with a group

Experience gain increased by 50% for fighting a dangerous encounter

Experience gain increased by 50% for fighting a group

Essence Absorption collected 120 ES (5x3x8)

Reached Level 153 (Rank 5, +8 levels)

Gained: 50 ES (3x8 + 12 + 14)

I let out a shuddering breath. That had been one of the more dangerous fights I had been in. Fighting waves of spiders and multiple alphas in the temple hadn't felt as deadly. We had been the ambusher that time and it had made all the difference.

Vel was hugging me tightly and I ran my hands through her hair.

"Let's move," Darrel said out loud. "The flare is sure to have caught some unwanted attention."

I had a feeling it wouldn't be the last night we would be attacked.

Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, …