Jumping up, I land on a fallen tree that's half-rotten. Fortunately, I already knew the trunk wouldn't cave in with my landing and continue. At barely seventy pounds, I'm light enough that some things wouldn't be feasible if I were a more healthy weight. One of the wolves that is chasing me, however, isn't so lucky.

The partially-rotted trunk caves in under it. I don't have to look back to know this, I can hear the trunk cracking, the wolf yelping as it falls. Other wolves snarl as they continue to chase me. A small whistle sounds out, and I jerk to the left, stumbling a little as I keep running. A green-tinted bolt slams into a tree ahead of me, penetrating about four inches into the trunk while sending tree debris outward.

Rather than retaliate, I continue onward. These wolves found me a little bit ago and started chasing me when I ran. I wasn't trying to hunt down a pack of airbite wolves, but they decided to come after me anyway. They're all monsters, not just magical animals, and there are seven of them chasing me.

Well, six, but I'm sure the seventh won't be stopped by the tree for long.

At least I've learned how to use my high Perception over the last few days. Ever since I fought the goblins the first time, Thomas has put some emphasis on my reaction speed and using my Perception. It doesn't increase how much I take in through my senses, instead, it increases my ability to process what I take in through them. It's an awareness of the stuff I'm already taking in.

However, I have to get used to actually using it, which is why Thomas is putting an emphasis on doing so in our training over the last several days.

That's why I noticed that [Air Bolt]s emit a faint whine. Not all of them do, though – mine don't, and nor do Colt's. Only about half of the air slimes I've fought generate [Air Bolt]s with a whine. Thomas told me yesterday that it's because the spell's improperly made that it releases a whine. There's a flaw in it.

Often, that happens if there's something else in the bolt, though the more powerful the monster or caster, the less likely adding something extra to the bolt will create an imperfection.

In this case, the bolts have a heat element to them. Rather than just shooting me with [Fire Bolt]s, the wolves are basing it in a bolt of compressed air for the impact element, with the heat element from fire magics being to burn the wounds. It's an attack that's less likely to start a forest fire.

Another whine lets out, and I dodge that spell, too. I'm still not too good at this, but after about two weeks of training my body, I'm getting better. Thankfully, my high Strength and Agility are helping me. Strength for the actual running speed, and Agility for my body's ability to react and change directions. Thomas has been teaching me how to use that as well.

This dodge involves a spin, and I continue the movement, kicking off a tree to change direction. The wolves quickly shift to continue their chase. I'm glad my pack is light and mostly empty right now, else I'd probably be messing up some of these movements.

I'm kind of frustrated with myself. I took a wrong turn somewhere and now don't know when I'll get there. Hopefully, another good spot comes up soon. These wolves won't let up their chase and they're fairly fast. They dodged my attempts at retaliation, and the ones they couldn't dodge, they used my trick on! They sent their own [Air Bolt]s at it to stop them!

Well, their attempts weren't completely successful. My bolts were strong enough to continue on, but they were knocked off-course a little and slowed some. The damage to the wolves was reduced because of that on the bolts that did strike.

They're angry now. As if I'm to blame for defending myself against an unwarranted attack by monsters.

An opening in the trees to my left catches my attention. Perfect. I charge for it, pushing off a tree for a sudden direction change. One of the wolves howls as some of the others snarl. When I reach the opening, I find myself in a clearing over forty feet wide at its shortest. This is even more perfect than the one I found for my original plan – that clearing was half the size of this one.

The moment I'm in the clearing, I put on real speed, zipping to the other side of the clearing in under a second. I use a tree to turn myself around, though I hear a cracking when I hit it. Whoops. Too much speed.

Landing on my feet, I put my hands together in front of me, the wolves only starting to realize something's wrong once all seven are in the clearing.

Light swirls between my hands as I feel the light breeze suddenly shift directions, the wind drawing into the spell I'm casting. This is my first attempt at casting this spell, so a bigger area to cast it in is better. Less chance of getting hurt if something goes wrong or it's more powerful than I expected.

The orb reaches six inches in diameter as the wolves reach halfway into the clearing, the seven of them doing their best to stop running toward me.

[Flashbang Bomb] Learned!

"Too late," I tell the wolves. "You attacked the wrong kid."

I throw the [Flashbang Bomb]. Normally, the bomb-type spells activate when they hit something, usually either their target or the ground. Rather than letting that happen, I shoot an [Air Bolt] after it once it's almost there, conjuring up an [Air Barrier] in front of me.

At the same time, I put my thumbs together with their corresponding forefingers, placing the created circles over my eyes as I generate a film of shadows within them. The world takes on an appearance of being in shade as I do this, an experience that's super strange to me.

I'm glad I summoned the violet-tinted barrier of compressed air in front of me and the shadow film over my eyes. The moment my [Air Bolt] hits the [Flashbang Bomb], the spell goes off better than I expected.

A bright, intense light illuminates the area, and it would surely have blinded me if I didn't create the shadow film over my eyes to block out most of it. At the same time, I hear a loud, concussive boom that causes a ringing in my ears. The wolves are probably whimpering, howling, crying, or whatever.

At least, the ones still alive. The reason it's a bomb spell is because of the core of the spell: compressed air. I didn't just manipulate the air in the spell to create a loud boom. No, I created a bomb of compressed air that also creates a loud boom.

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Dirt and debris fly everywhere, slamming into my barrier and shooting past its edges. There aren't any Experience notifications, so all of the wolves are still alive.

As the dust settles, I make out the wolves. They're all wounded, some of them limping, a couple of them just laying on the ground. My ears are still ringing enough I can't hear anything, but I'm sure they're whimpering.

I walk closer, conjuring up [Air Bolt]s and shooting them at the wolves. Due to how wounded the beasts are and how much more powerful I am than them, they're unable to fight back. I wasn't going all-out earlier, I was holding back because I wanted to try that spell out. I've learned a few different bomb spells over the last few days and I wanted to give mixing some together a try.

That said, I did actually have to use more power than I expected. These wolves were a little on the tough side.

Only once I'm done killing the seven wolves does the Experience notification appear. Thomas taught me a few days ago that I can have it condense everything down into a single notice, as long as the kills are in a short time frame or a single battle.

+84% Experience! +72% Experience! +63% Experience! +58% Experience! +41% Experience! +39% Experience! +40% Experience! You have gained four Levels!

That. Was. Awesome! Four Levels for seven kills? These wolves actually were pretty tough, I was just stronger than them. I was using about 30 Magic less than I could. The reason I knew about the heat aspect to their [Air Bolt]s was because a few of them actually hit me. Most of my dodging was to avoid damaging my tunic or pack.

While I will replace my gear with better-quality stuff soon, I don't want to replace them now just because they were damaged.

Before assessing my loot, I check out the new spell. It's listed as a Tier IV spell in the Air Spellbook. I suppose it counts as an air spell because that's it's primary element. There not being a new category for air-light spells disappoints me, though.

Next, I check out my Status.

Name: Maxwell Zanroval Age: 12 years Species: Human Sex: Male Level: 16 Experience: 31.72% Mana: 193/289 Mana Regen: 0.289/second Strength: 279 Constitution: 280 Agility: 280 Perception: 281 Magic: 289 Vitality: 282

I'm definitely getting stronger. In fact, I'm well beyond the point where a one-affinity could hope to achieve, and I'm only Level 16. Very few ever pass up Level 50, and someone who's reached Level 75 is considered exceptional and are likely old.

A one-affinity would need to be at least Level 89 just to match my lowest Attribute in their strongest, assuming their affinity is for a basic element.

A five-affinity would probably not need many more Levels than me, though, especially depending on their affinities. Probably no more than ten Levels above me.

Not strong enough. If I'm to journey out, I need to be stronger than this so that I can handle most of whatever comes my way and get stronger for that which I can't. I may have to cross vast wildernesses of powerful monsters to find wonders. Right now, I'm powerful enough to travel maybe thirty miles into the great forest here.

I close my Status and start examining the wolves. They're all rather dead, and most of them don't have much damage other than the bolts I used to kill them. At least, not externally. Most of their damage must be from the impacts, those can break bones without breaking skin. That's something I know all too well.

"Max?" A familiar voice calls out, and I look over to see Thomas and Colt standing at the edge of the clearing, Colt looking out-of-breath.

"Hello, Thomas, Colt," I say. "Training hard, Colt?"

"No," Colt gasps for breath. "We… rushed over… as soon… as we heard… the boom. Went… as fast… as I could… go."

"Oh," I say as I pull off my pack. "That was me playing with magic. I didn't know you were training around here."

"We were over three miles away," Thomas says. "That boom was quite loud. I thought it was a potent flashbang grenade, they're often used to signal trouble in case someone nearby can hear and come rescue. We would have been here faster, but Colt's not used to running at high speeds in this terrain."

"Oh," I pull rope out of my pack. "No, that was just me. It was that loud? No wonder my ears are still ringing a little."

Though I can hear well enough to hear them, so I guess it's faded enough. I'll need to tone down the boom portion of the spell, then. If it's loud enough to be heard more than three miles away, then I can reduce it a lot and still deafen my opponents. I'll need to find a way to deal with it so that it doesn't deafen me, though.

"You were playing with magic?" Colt asks.

Seems he's caught his breath back.

"Sort of," I say. "I wanted to try out a concussive bomb spell that emitted a bright flash. What are grenades?"

"Alchemy creations," Thomas says. "Small little balls that release their effects when they break."

"Oh, so like the bomb spells, but with alchemy instead of magic?"

"Alchemy is a form of magic," Thomas says. "And they're significantly weaker. You need to collect reagents to make them. The cores of slimes are often used for them as well."

Slime cores are very versatile things.

"How much do you think I can get for these wolves?" I ask Thomas.

"If I'm not mistaken," Thomas says. "These wolves have fire and air magics, yes?"

"Their [Air Bolt]s had a high heat element to them," I say. "I was worried it was going to set my tunic on fire if I didn't dodge them. Based on their looks, they're airbite wolves."

Nina, a friendly clerk at the guild, told me about some of the monsters here in the forest. Airbite wolves were one of the ones she mentioned, and she did say they could imbue their attacks with heat.

"These will sell for a decent coin," Thomas tells me as I start gathering the wolves and tying them together. "Especially since you were able to avoid damaging their pelts for the most part. You're not going to gut them first?"

"Should I?" I ask. "I always just bring things back and sell them."

"It will help keep the meat from going bad," Thomas tells me. "Want me to show you how?"

He's probably going to want a cut of this, and I'm not sure I want to know what he'll do if I refuse to his help.

"Is it like gutting a rabbit?" I ask.

"It's a little bit different from that," he tells me.

"Then yeah, I don't mind if ya show me."

I'm going straight back to the guild now, because this is a great haul and will probably earn me a lot. Being a seven-affinity is awesome, and I might have the funds to begin my travel sooner than I expected. I still want to learn how to read and write better before I leave, though.

"Max?" Colt asks.

"Yeah?"

"How are you going to bring those all the way back?" He asks. "I know you're strong, but are you planning on dragging them the whole way?"

"I was going to use an [Air Barrier] to carry them," I tell him. "If I run out of Mana, I can take a short break, it takes less than seventeen minutes to recover my Mana from empty. Or I could figure out how to use wind to fly."

I look at Thomas.

"When we're done, can you point me in the right direction to return to the city, please?"

Though I'm fairly sure I won't get lost today, I'll see how honest Thomas is with his directions.