[Book 1] [31. A muddy fight]
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Author's note:

Hi! A reader asked me if there will be a fight and more blue-boxes. Well, there you go! ^^


It turned out that Wulves were almost like gray wolves’, but not quite the same. Instead of rolling in the mud, they bathed in a blood, so their crimson colored fur reflected the both moons light in a strange, almost dazzling way. Katherine's sword also glinted in the moonlight as she strapped on her shield, preparing for battle. With a fierce scream, “Come at ma!” she leapt into the darkness.

[Wulf Lv.10]
Type: 1-common | HP: 173/173

A gust of wind caught me off guard, and it hit me with the sickening smell of blood - we were not the first on their list. Not wanting to be ashamed, I followed her example, willed the shield to unfurl from my bracelet and gripped the handle of my whip. Wulves surrounded us - three in front of us, growling and baring their teeth, and at least two more lurking behind us.

System cast Princess’ grace - boost stats.

There was no time for learning the runes myself, or bashing myself to the head because I didn’t practise the inherent skill. No, I asked the system to cast it for me. My hand felt like it was being gently pulled as the system took control, and I watched in awe as six glowing runes took shape in a perfect circle before me. First try? Not happening.

Wulves didn’t wait for my spell and lunged towards Katherine, but she quickly back-stepped - two missed and her shield covered the third’s attack with a loud thud. When the system finished drawing runes, I pushed mana into it and shouted, “Princess’ grace!”

The entire circle of runes blazed in blue light and the energy surged towards the only ally I saw - Katherine.

[Player Katherine’s strength increased by 15!]

Without hesitation I jumped down, my feet met with a muddy ground, burring into it a bit and right away dodged to the right when I felt a warm breath on the back of my neck. My maneuver sent the slippery mud flying all around me, and a wulf’s crimson fur brushed over my arm as he missed and crashed headfirst into the mud. Mud wulf!

My next step was obvious - I needed speed!

[You have used the Agility Potion]
[Agility increased by 50]

Amidst the chaos, I could smell the sweat and fear of those stupid wulves as I searched urgently for Katherine. Keeping my gaze fixed on the enemy, I heard a wulf whimpering nearby, revealing where Katherine was stomping on them.

With a quick swing with my whip at the wulf between us, I cleared a way and sprinted a few steps. “Kit, hold ‘em! Casting!” I yelled for her help, my breath hot and labored. When I felt her back against mine, I finally felt secure.

Now I didn’t want any help from system and wrote Ice dance runes myself. At least that was my intention, but the wulves had other plans for our fight. As the first one attacked, I could hear the magic buzz of its claws hitting my shield. The second one lunged at me, its growl echoing through the area, and I could see the saliva dripping from its snout as it closed in on me. Sadly, I saw him too late. The wulf’s paw tore my robe at the left side and left a nasty, bloody scar.

[You lost 10 HP.]

Despite the distraction, I drew all the runes without error. On my first try. “Ice Dance, bastards!” I shouted and powered the runes. A blinding blue light cut through the night, followed by a slight cracking as everything got covered in frost. Except Katherine. “Wau Charlie!” That was everything she could say before at least four wulves continued in their onslaught.

“Kat, jump right!” I ordered and jumped left. She didn’t question my order and skittered nimbly in the same direction. “Attack, two hours,” I said after I stabilized my footing and raised my shield. The swift movement that saved us from two wulves was not enough to prevent their pack mates from circling around us and snapping at us from all directions.

As Katherine followed my command, the sound of her sword filled the air, and a pitiful whimper from the wolf echoed through the forest. Maybe because they thought I was an easier target, two of them attacked me.

Again, from both sides. While placing a shield in the way of the left one, I slashed my whip and scored a critical AP hit into second’s eyes!

[Block successful. Mitigated amount of damage: 4, other damage halved. Suffered amount: 3]
[You lost 11 HP.]
[Critical hit! Armor pierced. Target lost 30HP (6x2 normal + 9x2 ICE damage)]

System, stop notices, I can’t focus! Despite my successful hit, the stupid wulf still snapped at my shoulder and forced a lot of my blood out.

Wincing at the pain, I instinctively jumped back. That was a mistake, because there was waiting another wulf, which plunged forward. Mud flew everywhere as the move hit, and I cried out in pain as its jaws dug deep into my calf. I had to slash at him with my whip, even though it wasn’t the best solution.

Okay, time to stop playing around! “Kat, pull!” I shouted. Without waiting for confirmation, I sprinted from her as much as I could with my injured leg. The wolves separated from the group, and I could see their red eyes glinting as they closed in on me, delighted they separated me. My retreat wasn’t because I wanted to flee, but to solve this fight.

This wasn’t a random attack, that was for sure, and the only question was - who was their master? I glanced around the field, even at the small woodland south of us, but it was still dark and if there was someone hiding, I couldn’t see them.

Katherine raised her sword up and shouted, “Basterds! I’m yar enemy!” She used a warrior’s chant, the one I always ignored because I wasn’t playing in a group.

Her sword emitted a silver glow, and thin lines shot out, wrapping around the wulves and pulling them towards her as she slashed downward. The impact of the wulves slamming into her shield and armor sent her stumbling backward, but she remained on her feet.

Now was my time to help - faint outlines of runes appeared in the air as fast as I moved my staff. The practice with hard runes of Ice Dance and others helped me to nail this simple one. “Group Healing!”

[Perfect Runecraft! Healing x2 - 30HP]

After my gentle light restored our hit points almost to the max, I glanced around again and tried to guess where I would hide if I was the one attacking. Considering the lack of cover, the few trees to the south were the only logical hiding place. It didn’t matter even if I flushed them out - we needed to show our strength before trying to parley. “Focus at 10 hours, the one with a wounded eye.”

Katherine grinned madly, uttering an undecipherable roar and slashed with all strength down at its head. “Kit!” I yelled in panic because she forgot about her pull! Three wulves tasted her seductive body, but she ignored them as if they were only mosquitoes.

Damn girl! Instead of attacking that stupid dog, I created a rune of healing and raised her hit points back. It was a short-lived, because they continued their relentless attack. I could have sworn their growls turned into purrs of contentment as they eagerly tore into her.

“Katherine!” Now I pleaded, because my mana was going down fast; I couldn’t heal her like that. “Wake up! Defend!” She ignored my voice and destroyed the poor wulf with a mighty swing of her sword. The wulf collapsed to the ground, which was covered in its blood, but then its body vanished in a puff of pinkish smoke. Yeah, this wasn’t a natural wulf.

Only after that she finally raised her shield to defend from the other wulves, and looked at me with pleading eyes, “Sorry.” Instead of blaming her, I swung my whip at another wulf and tore a chunk of blood and meat from its back. Armor piercing weapon is awesome.

 

Our fight was a desperate one, but we held our ground and defeated one wulf after another. Between my whip and Katherine’s sword, the stupid wulves met their end. When I realized we had killed about half of the wulves, I shouted, “Hey, you there! Recall your wulves if you don’t want to lose them! Come here and tell us why are we fighting!”

Katherine's mouth hung open in surprise, her sword frozen mid-swing, giving the wulves the perfect opportunity to attack. Our enemy hesitated for a moment, then slowly backed away, their teeth still bared in aggression.

“Very well girls, let’s talk,” a female voice said from the direction I guessed. One point for Charlie! The woman walked slowly and stopped at least twenty feet from us, with both moons behind her, illuminating her hide armor. That meant we couldn’t see her face, but that wasn’t necessary - identification worked on her. “Your employer is long gone, isn’t he?”

[Bandit Leader Lv.13]
Type: 3-rare | HP: 246/246

With her prompt, I turned back to the road and saw that the man had vanished with his cart. Katherine was the one who stepped up and said, “Workin’? Nope! Only hitched ride to dungeon. Wouldn’t say no to slain’ ya tho!” To add more weight to her words, Katherine swung her sword and got rid of the blood still stuck on it, staining the Bandit Leader with blood of her own wulves.

As she stepped to the side, her pale face came into view, and we could see the surprise in her eyes as she observed us. For a long moment she was only blankly staring at Katherine, but then she grinned, lifted her staff and said, “Same. Wulves get ‘em!”

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