Zaelen’s eyes widened in shock as the message opened in front of him. What?! There are rules?! This isn’t a playground, excuse me!
Nyx’s muzzle curled into a sneer right before he lunged, Aurora and the beta right behind him. Zaelen skittered to one side, barely avoiding the raking claws. He suddenly felt teeth sink into his tail. While he couldn’t feel pain, the feeling was still uncomfortable. He swung around, slamming his tail into the ground. But the wolf who had bitten his tail was already gone.
He narrowed his eyes as he glanced around, crouched in the ground. Zaelen noticed a flash of white in the corner of his eyes and swung around, firing [Dragon breath]. Aurora leaped away, getting only a piece of her tail singed.
Crash! Something cold smashed into his turned neck. Zaelen glanced back to see frostbite creeping over his skin from Lunaire, who was preparing to fire even more icicles. He lunged at her but then a body smashed into his side, diverting his path.
Zaelen slashed his tail blades at the bundle of white fur and felt them cut through fur. There was a howl of pain as Nyx staggered away. Zaelen took this chance to charge the alpha, but then both fangs and ice met his flank. My HP is definitely going down!
HP: 137/160
Mp: 114/120
Zaelen used [Wind Slash] at the beta, who was sniping him with magic, but she leaped away before the slashes met their mark. He soon couldn’t focus on the beta anymore as Nyx, who had braved the pain of his injuries, and Aurora bowled him over. The two wolves were smaller than Zaelen but that only meant they were harder to hit.
Zaelen slashed his claws at Nyx, managing to catch the tip of the slime’s ear. This is harder than I expected... am I seriously getting decimated by three slimes?
Skill [HP Regen] activated
HP: 127/160
Alright, that’s good, but they’re taking down my HP faster than it regenerates! Are my scales supposed to be this easy to cut?! Zaelen whipped his tail at Aurora, but the wolf dodged gracefully.
Eventually, both wolves lunged at him, and they were locked in a furious tussle on the ground. After slithering away, Zaelen decided that he would have to try a different way. He scampered away, the wolves on his tail, and leaped into the brambles. While his scales seemed to be good at protecting him from these claws, the wolves were having a harder time getting through.
“Get back here, you coward!” barked Aurora.
“Extremely sorry, ma’am, but I value my life more than my pride, thank you!”
Zaelen wriggled further into the brambles until he couldn’t see the wolves anymore.
HP: 132/160
MP: 109/120
Ok, time to outwit the slimes! I mean, do they even have brains? Zaelen clawed his way through the brambles until he found an opening and went into un-bramble-fied space. Zaelen judged the distance between him and the camp and decided it wasn’t all that much. He then looked at the steep sides heading up on one side which likely led to an overhang over the camp he’d seen.
That’s not too tall, thought Zaelen with the confidence of someone who’d never estimated distances before. Zaelen clawed his way up the sides, his motivation being getting revenge on slimes. However, the thought of slipping and falling all the way back down played a part too.
After he reached the top in a panting heap, Zaelen edged forward until he saw the camp. He poked his head over and saw Nyx, Lunaire, and Aurora pacing around the camp, noses to the ground. They seriously act like dogs more than slimes. Zaelen pinpointed Lunaire, who had been the most annoying since she had kept sniping him with ice.
He checked his MP before firing off [Wind Slash] several times.
[Wind Slash Lv5] -> [Wind Slash Lv6]
Yelps of alarm sounded in the camp as most of the slashes hit their mark. Lunaire howled in pain as rakes appeared in her fur. She fell to the ground. Some wolves started forward but stopped in their tracks as if by an invisible wall. So that’s what the system meant by blocking outer interference. But why’d they have to block [Space Pocket] too?! He sent more slashes down at Lunaire.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“Coward! Cheater!” howled Nyx as he furiously glanced around.
Uhh, no, you were the one who sent the request in the first place. And you’re a slime! I’m smarter than you! However, despite how much he wanted to, Zaelen wasn’t going to give up his position. Yet.
Aurora scrambled to protect Lunaire, but it was too late. Zaelen fired off ten more wind slashes. With Lunaire slowed from her injuries, this time, she met her demise. Hahahaha! cackled Zaelen in his mind as Lunaire melted into a puddle.
“NO!” howled Aurora as she pawed franticly at Lunaire’s puddle.
That’s right! Despair!
MP: 86/120
Where did my MP go?! Welp, guess I’m going down there. Zaelen shot a few more slashes, but they missed Aurora as the slime wolf dodged away. He then crouched, before springing.
“FOR SLIME-MURDER!!!” he screamed as he fell, abandoning his hiding place.
Purple flames licked Aurora as Zaelen cast [Dragon Breath].
[Dragon Breath Lv1] -> [Dragon Breath Lv2]
That’s what I’m talking about, old man! Oh, wait, can it even hear me? Zaelen whipped out a paw at Aurora as she started to back away. Zaelen suspected that she was probably still suffering from the shock of losing her packmate because she was slower than normal. Not that he particularly cared about a slime. His claws slashed her muzzle and blood splattered across the ground.
“Get away from my mate!”
Nyx threw himself at Zaelen and the drake yelped as he dived away. He rolled, assaulting the alpha with his tail blades. Nyx evaded, but Zaelen noticed that the wolf was somewhat sluggish now. Considering that his normal speed was much swifter, this was a wonderful improvement to Zaelen. He jumped back to his feet and snapped at Nyx. As his jaws closed inches from the white slime, he felt something leap onto his back and tear into his flesh. He curved his neck to see Aurora furiously pummeling and biting, anger burning in her eyes.
Zaelen soon realized that while the anger made the wolves lag in speed, which made it easier for him to hit them, it also made them reckless, which meant he was losing his HP faster.
HP: 98/160
Zaelen’s brain made the decision that it was time to evacuate again. He shook Aurora off before lunging into the brambles, spectating slime wolves parting to let him through. Though he was pretty sure that if the rules hadn’t been there, many of them would have sprung on him
“GET BACK HERE! WE WON’T LET YOU GET AWAY!”
Nyx and Aurora pushed into the brambles after him. While the brambles tore off fur and cut flesh, Zaelen realized they weren’t letting him go so easily as last time. Oh great, has the shock turned into adrenaline like in movies or something? However, the wolves forgot one thing. Zaelen had fire.
Zaelen wheeled around and sent a blast of [Dragon Breath] straight at the wolves. The brambles caught fire and flames soon raged around. Now, as you remember, earlier, Zaelen was also hurt by the fire. But one of the benefits of [Ash-Risen] was that it had increased his fire resistance to max. However, max-level fire resistance did not make him completely immune to fire, and the flames still ticked down his HP, albeit very slowly (especially with HP regen).
Zaelen did not worry that much about the fire, and watched the wolves struggle amidst the blaze. Finally, the wolf and the drake parted ways and Zaelen happily padded away. Another point for me against slimes!
⋆❖^⧫/-\⧫^❖⋆
The drake slunk quietly into the wolves’ camp in the middle of the night. Wolves are supposed to be nocturnal, but what about slimes? Are they nocturnal? I don’t think so. This was the fourth day after the battle had started. It was practically a small war between him and the wolf alphas. He had gotten in some major hits, but he hadn’t succeeded in killing any of the alphas.
Zaelen glanced around for the alphas.
“We knew you’d try underhanded tricks like this.”
Zaelen spun around to see the wolves glaring at him, their white pelt seeming to glow in the moonlight.
“Oh, sorry, I don’t have time for pleasantries this time,” chirped Zaelen before he rushed at Nyx, casting [Dragon Breath] to both sides of the wolf. However, he shouldn’t have wasted his MP, as the slime ran to meet his charge. The two collided, and Zaelen tried to rake his claws across Nyx’s face.
The wolf, however, proved to be the slippery blob of slime he was as he slithered out of the way and chomped Zaelen’s right paw. Where’s Aurora? They must have a plan if Nyx is acting like this. Zaelen knew from experience that the two wolves often formed plans to bring him down. While none of them had worked yet (obviously), some of them had come close to. The rest of the pack had also moved to inhabit the overhang.
In a sense, both sides were stretching the rules as much as possible to their benefit. Zaelen snapped his teeth at Nyx but only tore off a few tufts of fur. The wolf circled around him.
Zaelen scoffed. “Well, what plan are you planning now? You say that I’m underhanded, but here you are plotting like the slime that you are.”
“...”
Nyx didn’t deign to reply but his tail twitched. Zaelen’s tail struck out in return, grazing a leg as Nyx jumped sideways. As he landed, Zaelen lunged, claws extended. The two were soon stuck in a skirmish with each other. However, Zaelen had a constant nagging in the back of his mind reminding that Aurora had gone somewhere. Suddenly, a startled yelp told him that Nyx had slipped in the mud.
I got you now, you little worm! Zaelen raised a paw and slammed Nyx into the ground, casting [Dragon Breath]. The wolf cried out in pain as the flames blackened his pelt. He arced his neck back to deal the finishing blow when something smashed down on him.
“Kraaaaaael!”