Book 3, Mountain Range of Magical Beasts – Chapter 11, Wolf Pack (part 1)
Still seated cross-legged, Linley’s eyes suddenly snapped open and he immediately stared southwards. But there was nothing to the south aside from a mass of vines and rattan growth. This was one of the reasons why Linley selected this location for resting. With so much forest growth, even if a magical beast neared Linley, they might not notice him.
“Two magical beasts are nearing me, and right now they are around forty meters or so away.” Based on the vibrations from the disturbances in the local air elemental essences, Linley was certain that there were two beasts.
Linley silently walked to the edge of the mass of vines. Peering through the vines, he saw that thirty meters away, a pair of powerfully built Windwolves were slowly pawing towards him. Based on their route, they would come very close to him. Suddenly, Linley felt a weight settle on his shoulders, and he knew that Bebe had already arrived on his shoulders.
“Boss, it’s just a pair of Windwolves. We’ve seen them several times at the Ernst Institute.” Not worried in the slightest, Bebe chatted casually with Linley.
Linley’s gaze was fixed on the two Windwolves. “Yes, they are Windwolves. Amongst the wolf packs, there are three major types: Fangwolves, Windwolves, and Frostwolves. Frostwolve packs are the strongest type, while Fangwolves are the weakest. Windwolves are squarely in the middle. In a pack of Windwolves, even the weakest will be a magical beast of the fourth rank, while elites might be of the fifth or sixth rank. Supposedly, the strongest a Windwolf can be is a magical beast of the eighth rank.”
Even an ordinary Windwolf was of the fourth rank. A Unicorn Boar simply wasn’t on the same level.
My power as a warrior is just of the fourth rank. Based on physical skills alone, I can’t overcome these two Windwolves.” Linley was feeling a bit excited. “But this will make it a challenge.”
Watching the two Windwolves draw nearer, Linley’s lips began to mumble the words to a magic spell as his eyes grew cold.
“Shrrrk! Shrrk! Shrrrrk! Shrrrk!”
A deep roar noise could be heard as within the dark night, ten or so large rocks, each at least one meter long and earthen-colored, suddenly flew towards the Windwolves, smashing at them. But the Windwolves quickly raised their head. Seeing the danger, they immediately began to flee at high speed.
The low thud of an impact.
In the short period of time before the rocks struck, the Windwolves were able to respond with uncanny swiftness. Of the two Windwolves, one had a back leg smashed, while the other managed to adroitly dodge every single rock.
“They live up to the name of ‘Windwolves’. They are so fast!”
Linley thought to himself, even as he began mumbling the words to another spell, the wind-style ‘Supersonic’ spell. Simultaneously, he pulled out his straight chisel blade, then charged directly forward at high speed at that injured, retreating Windwolf.
A warrior of the fourth rank, aided by the Supersonic spell, had roughly the same level of speed as the uninjured Windwolf. Naturally, the injured one was much slower than Linley. The injured wolf frantically fled in terror while baring its fangs.
“Swish! Swish! Swish!”
A string of knives of air appeared out of nowhere and hacked at Linley.
“Hrmph, all wolves have heads as hard as copper and tails as hard as steel, but their waists are as soft as tofu.”
Linley was extremely agile. With three simple motions, he dodged the wind knifes and drew even closer to the injured Windwolf. Like a tornado, Linley kicked out with his left leg, snapping forward viciously like a whip onto the Windwolf’s waist.
“Woooo!” The Windwolf was sent flying by the kick, and he let out an agonized howl.
With another step, Linley once again drew close to the injured Windwolf. The straight chisel in his hand flashing with a beautiful, cold, pitiless light, he chopped at the Windwolf’s chest. Linley felt as though the straight chisel in his hand had struck a tough, resilient cloth. He was only able to just barely cut through, causing blood to spurt out.
“The Windwolf’s waist is fairly weak, but its fur is quite tough. Or perhaps a better way to put it is my straight chisel isn’t sharp enough. It can cut through simple stone, but the fur and skin of a magical beast of the fourth rank is a tougher matter.” Linley thought to himself as he carefully kept his gaze on the other Windwolf.
The other Windwolf didn’t actually move. It was just standing there, staring at Linley. Within its cold green eyes was a murderous aura, and low growls were constantly coming from its maw.
“If the Windwolf isn’t injured, then just based on my prowess as a warrior of the fourth rank, there’s no way I can kill him. That’s just a dream.” Linley knew quite well that Windwolves specialized in speed. If he hadn’t been assisted by a wind magic spell, he wouldn’t be able to match it in speed.
Linley immediately began to mumble the words to another spell, but halfway through, his face suddenly changed.
“Not good!”
The low howl of the Windwolf echoed in all directions, and it was matched by howls from all directions as well. Linley swept his gaze across the area, and as he did, it was met by one pair of cold green eyes after another, hidden in the darkness.
“It isn’t just one Windwolf...it’s a pack!”
Linley’s heart immediately tightened. Even Bebe, who up til now had just been sitting off to the side and feigning boredom, sat up, all his fur straightening as well as he carefully looked in all directions.
“Boss, looks like it’s getting dangerous.”
“Grandpa Doehring, your prediction was way too prescient...” A bitter expression was on Linley’s face.
In the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, running into a pack of Windwolves was just as lethal as running into an extremely powerful magical beast.
“Prescient my ***. I was talking about encountering a pack of tens of thousands of Windwolves. In a situation like that, unless you can fly, there’s no way you’ll be able to survive. The current situation is a bit better. At most, there’s twenty or thirty of them.” Doehring Cowart’s voice was casual, but his face was solemn. “But Linley, you must understand, I’m just a spirit without any mageforce. I can’t help you. It’s all up to you.”
Linley felt miserable.
“Twenty or thirty Windwolves, all at least of the fourth rank. Windwolves are very fast, and they can use magical attacks. I’m just a magus of the fifth rank.” Linley felt enormous pressure. Right at this moment, the howls of the surrounding Windwolves ceased.
From within the pack of Windwolves, two exceedingly powerfully built Windwolves strode out. In terms of size, they were at least one size category larger than the previous Windwolves Linley had seen. The one which had been lucky enough to survive was respectfully walking besides these two, and even whining in a low voice, saying something to them.
Their body and even their eyes were a full category larger than the others. This made Linley feel even more nervous as he began to consider what to do next.
“These are definitely elites amongst Windwolves. At the very least, they are of the fifth rank. I hope they aren’t of the sixth rank!” Linley’s heart was tight, and he quickly began to contemplate how to deal with these opponents.
Even if they were just of the fifth rank, a pair of Windwolves of the fifth rank, with the assistance of a pack of magical beasts of the fourth rank, all attacking Linley...Linley didn’t feel too confident. Even a Windwolf of the fourth rank had the same speed as Linley’s absolute maximum. Most likely, even using the Supersonic spell, Linley would not be able to match a Windwolf of the fifth rank in speed.
The two leading Windwolves stared at Linley with their cold eyes, a murderous intent emanating from them.
“Looks like I’ll have to go all out this time.” Surrounded by a pack of wolves, Linley’s forehead and back were all drenched with cold sweat. His heart tight in his chest, he began to chant a magical spell with even greater speed.
“Hoooooowl!”
Of the two clear leaders of the pack, one of them suddenly let out a low howl. Immediately, the twenty or thirty powerful Windwolves charged forward, as fast as the wind. Their white fangs bared, they snarled at Linley as they ran. At the same time, over a hundred deep green blades of wind appeared out of nowhere, carrying great power within each blade.