Zaelen sprinkled some salt on a slime.
“Squeee?!” The slime melted into goop.
“What kind of magic is that?” asked Iceria, staring at Zaelen with intense interest in her eyes. “Wellll?”
“It’s salt?”
“Salt!” gasped Iceria. “It must be powerful to be able to obliterate slimes like this! I will live up to your example!” Iceria spotted a slime trying to sneak away. Boom! A flaming spear struck it dead.
Yeah... speak for yourself. You consider this powerful? How about those flame spears you’re throwing around casually?! A violet wolf suddenly flashed in front of him, catching a slime in his jaws and ripping it to shreds.
“Ohohoho! My old bones feel young again!”
Hey, system, look, he’s your fellow old man.
For the hundredth time, I am not an old man! Even if I were, would it make any difference to you?
Heh, of course not. I don’t really have to do anything now except the occasional salt-toss. The wolves do everything for me. Is this what it feels like to be royalty?
I highly doubt royalty would go around dissolving slimes in the first place
You can’t know that for sure. Zaelen scratched his head. But we’ve only seen blue slimes for the past week. Where are those pink and gold ones? As if answering his question, a giant pink slime slithered out of nowhere, followed by two more and a load of blue slimes.
Creature: Lower Radiant Devourer
System, why’d you name those things radiant anyway?
It was a mistake! Happy?!
Can’t you change the name?
No, I can’t. Look, I don’t know what I was thinking either!
Too bad. I guess old people shouldn’t have good memory anyway.
Hissss...
Are you impersonating a cat? “Hey, pack! Get the slimes!”
“YES, ALPHA!” the pack chorused back.
Almost immediately, just as the pink slimes’ tentacles started to shoot toward them, they were bombarded with fire. Fireballs, fire spears, fissures of fire, fire beams, you name it. A part of the wolves rushed forward and leaped onto the slimes. How do they not get hit by the fire?
The slimes stood no chance against the onrush of attacks. Since they have MP regen, they should technically be able to fire forever if they take turns.
He poked Iceria, who was in the middle of firing a spear. The spear veered off course and struck a hill as the white wolf jumped.
“H-huh? Oh, Zaelen. Do you need something?”
“About the wolves that are firing the spells, are they all doing it simultaneously?”
Iceria cocked her head. “...Yes?”
“Tell them to do it in turns. Like, half the wolves fire spells for a while and then let them take a break while the other half comes forward. That way, even if we have less firepower, we’ll be able to fire infinitely.”
Understanding shown in her eyes. “That’s brilliant!” Iceria made short work of relaying the message to the other wolves and splitting them into two prominent groups.
Heh, I’m pretty smart sometimes, aren’t I, system?
Er, no. I’m pretty sure that’s because Iceria has a high intellect
What?! Oh, I get it. You’re jealous that I’m smarter than you.
What - when did I ever say that?!
Heheh.
Don’t ‘Heheh’ me!
Zaelen sniffed and turned away to watch the progress of the wolves. Well, more like the results. Piles of goop were splattered around, with three large pink ones in the middle. Hey, that was quick! Maybe having a pack isn’t so bad after all! He glanced around. The wolves need to eat though.
“We’re taking a break from killing slimes to hunt food!” he called, using [Roar] to make his voice heard.
[Roar Lv2] -> [Roar Lv3]
Oh, more level-ups! Zaelen headed toward the forest, sniffing around for something to kill.
“Alright, split into groups everybody! Come back here when you’ve caught food,” yelled Iceria before she and Cryos padded to Zaelen’s side. The other wolves split up and headed into the forest, since the plains were infested with slimes, and you wouldn’t find anything else there.
Zaelen entered the forest, glancing around. Rustle. He pounced, his claws nicking fur.
“Kieeeee?!”
He drew back. Iceria and Cryos loped to join him, lips drawn back in a snarl. An ethereal, avian-like creature stepped out of the bushes, glaring. They spread brilliant wings, which shimmered fiery red.
“A CHICKEN! Again?!” squawked Zaelen in disgust. “I’m holding my promise and roasting it!”
“Kiier!” snapped the creature.
“It’s a kierin. It might not be so easy to defeat,” snarled Iceria. “But if you want to, we will do it!”
“Yes, Zaelen!” Cryos darted forward, lunging at the kierin.
The kierin hopped back and flapped its wings. The vegetation around Cryos darkened before crumbling into ash. However, Cryos’s fur only slightly smoldered, barely visible.
The kierin blinked in surprise. Cryos took this moment to lunge forward, slashing his claws at the bird.
“Keeerrr!” Cryos’s claws drew a long gash across the bird’s wing. The wounds hissed, smoke rising from them as Cryos leaped back.
As soon as Cryos’s paws touched the ground next to Zaelen, the drake darted forward. Heheheh, you’re becoming chicken tenders! [Wind Slash]! Blades of wind arced toward the kierin. However, it flapped its wings, and the slashes crashed into a shield of fire.
“Kier!” chirped the kierin smugly. Zaelen gained a whack on the head from a wing. He hissed and jumped onto the bird. They fell to the ground in a tussling heap of wings and scales.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Zaelen used [Dragon Breath] on the kierin, but the bird extinguished it with a ball of water. Arghhh, why are chickens so hard to defeat?! Zaelen scrabbled back. Crash! A spear of fire smacked into the kierin and it staggered. Zaelen took the chance to scratch one of the kierin’s eyes.
“K-keeer!” The kierin raised its talons. He saw white mist solidify into blue blades at the tips of the talons. The bird tore gashes into his side.
Gained Status: [Frostbite]
“Arghh, not the status effects again!”
Heh. Womp womp
Wow, that helps so much! The kierin, probably expecting Zaelen to be affected by the pain, tried to fly away. You are not getting away! Using [High Leap], Zaelen managed to bite into one of its wings and hold on. The kierin was bigger than him, however, and flapped furiously, still gaining altitude.
[High Leap Lv1] -> [High Leap Lv2]
[HP Regen Lv1] -> [HP Regen Lv2]
“Zaelennnn!” shrieked Iceria in horror. “Leave him alone, you – you chicken!”
An orange ball of fire formed next to the kierin and grew rapidly larger.
“Kieek?!” cried the kierin. Zaelen gnawed at the wing he was holding onto. Wow, this actually tastes like chicken!
ZAELEN, ARE YOU EATING IT ALIVE?! RIGHT NOW?! CAN’T YOU SEE YOU’RE IN DANGER?!
Just a wing... but Zaelen saw that, for once, the system was right.
What do you mean by ‘for once’?!
He raked his claws through the wings of the kierin a few more times. As the kierin turned to look at him, he jumped off. A brilliant flash of fire blinded him for a moment.
“KEEEEEERRR!” The cry rang through the skies before getting abruptly cut off.
When he squinted his eyes open, he smashed into the ground. I feel like I’m hurting even though I’m not... What is my HP right now? Actually, I haven’t even checked my stats in a while.
Horned Phoenix Drake (Medium)
Name: Zaelen
Status: Ash-Risen, Alpha of [Pack]
Level: 87/1500
HP: 125/200
MP: 155/155
SPD: 65
STR: 75
Skills: [High Leap Lv2] [Observe Lv--] [Dragon Breath Lv2] [Space Pocket] [Wind Slash Lv5] [Lightning Strike Lv3] [Roar Lv3] [System Interference Lv--] [Phoenix’s Light Lv1] [Flare Wind Lv1] [Blaze Strike Lv1] [Inferno Wings Lv1] [Shadow Tentacles Lv1] [HP Regen Lv2]
Resistances: [Traumatization Lv6] [Fire LvMax] [Lightning Lv3] [Wind LvMax] [Light Lv15] [Death Lv5]
Hey, I’m doing okay for once! I mean, I’m far away from Akyro’s level, but it’s still okay. I mean... I’m probably the weakest of the pack, to be honest. System, open Cryos and Iceria’s stats.
Infernal Lupis (Beta)
Name: Cryos
Level: 206/350
HP: 300/300
MP: 95/95
SPD: 250
STR:105
Skills: [Shattered Fire Lv4] [Molten Claw Lv6] [Solar Flare Lv3] [Inferno Summon Lv2] [HP Regen Lv1] [MP Regen Lv1]
Resistances: [Light Lv2] [Darkness Lv1] [Fire Lv5] [Ice Lv3]
Iceria (Ice – seria) [Servant]:
Infernal Lupis (Female Alpha)
Name: Iceria
Level: 210/350
HP: 200/200
MP: 350/350
SPD: 200
STR:70
Skills: [Pyro Chasm Lv3] [Flame Nova Lv4] [Scorching Chain Lv3] [Blaze Storm Lv1] [Flare Spear Lv5] [HP Regen Lv1] [MP Regen Lv1]
Resistances: [Light Lv4] [Fire Lv5] [Ice Lv4]
You know what? No! I’m not doing okay! Shouldn’t a leader be the strongest in a pack?!
Wow, you just realized?
You should get a reward or something for being the most oblivious lifeform on this world
Why so poetic?
To make sure that you understand how deformed your brain is
Zaelen’s response to this was to ignore it. He glanced up, expecting a cooked chicken to fall from the sky anytime soon.
“K-keer!”
Zaelen gaped as a ragged shape flew unsteadily out of the smoke.
“How the hell is it still alive! I wanted to eat chicken!” Zaelen reared and fired off a few [Wind Slash]s. However, they didn’t quite reach, and even if they did, they probably wouldn’t have hit since the ‘chicken’ was quite high in the sky.
Iceria bounded to Zaelen’s side. “Zaelen! Are you okay?!” she cried. “I’m sorry! We were incompetent and failed!” Cryos nodded furiously.
“We should get a healer to look at those wounds,” he suggested.
Zaelen glanced back one last time at the kierin. “YOU’LL NEVER ESCAPE ME!” he howled.
⋆❖^⧫/-\⧫^❖⋆
Zaelen limped back into the clearing, Iceria and Cryos supporting him on both sides. “I don’t need this, you know?”
However, the other wolves had the same reaction as they glimpsed him. Soon, Zaelen was surrounded by a mass of wolves.
“What happened?!” “Zaelen, are you okay?!” “What did it?!” “I’ll rip the fur off the creature that attacked you!”
Hey, but wasn’t it you that attacked it, and not the other way around?
Also, you should see yourself for once. You only think its minor cause’ you can’t feel pain
Well, if I can’t feel pain, it’s fine with me. Besides, I have HP Regen.
You still have frostbite. HP Regen can’t cure frostbite
Eh? Zaelen checked his HP.
HP: 76/200
Oh.
Wow, you finally realized?
“WHERE IS THE HEALER?!” shrieked Zaelen.
Two violet wolves pushed to the front. “Let me through, younglings,” called the one on the right. As soon as they reached them, both winced. “How have you not collapsed from pain?”
Iceria jumped forward to speak, eyes blazing. However, Elder 1 (the one who had spoken first) poked her back. “Let me treat the injuries first, then you may tell your story.”
Zaelen watched as their paws were enveloped in a white light.
HP: 107/200
Status [Frostbite] cured
Yippee! Healers are awesome! “Are there more of you?” asked Zaelen as a side thought.
Elder 2 shook his head. “No. The previous alphas forbid the teaching of healing as they thought it wasn’t necessary and would just take perfectly good wolves away from hunting and other duties.”
“Oh. Well, I’m the alpha now, so can’t you teach a few?”
Both elders gasped. “Truly?!”
“Err, yeah. Truly.”
Both elders nodded. “Yes, I have had a wolf or two on my mind.”
“We don’t need too many though. Five at max should be good.”
The elders bowed their heads. “We thank you, Zaelen! We were against the banning of healers greatly.” Then they trotted off, calling to a few wolves along the way.
Iceria prodded Zaelen. “About the kierin earlier...”
Zaelen turned to look at Iceria. “What about the chicken?”
“Chicken...? Ah, don’t mind that.” Iceria shifted uneasily. “Don’t take this to heart too much, but I believe that kierin have some sort of finding ability. I believe that if we somehow convince one to join us, we will be more efficient at finding the slimes.”
“What? The chickens are useful for more than eating?” Then the words finally entered his brain fully.
Welp, the ‘chickens’ are doomed.
“For finding slimes?! That would mean that...” Zaelen’s eyes sparkled. “YES! Heheheh... wonderful idea Iceria. Simply wonderful...”
Iceria’s tail thumped against the ground. “I am truly glad that I could be of use to you! However, you should rest first.”
“Eh? But--”
“I will not except any arguments!”
And that was how Zaelen was forcefully dragged to bed. (Not that there was an actual bed... you understand what I mean)