CHAPTER 18: FIELD FANGS

(A/N Big thanks to

Talvin_Shiji

For the power stones, they mean a lot. As usual, please don’t hesitate to comment or drop a review. ENJOY)

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-DETECTED HOST’S RESOLVE

-QUEST GENERATED

-BEAT THE ODDS:

Survive and prevail in your first real conflict.

DURATION: -

REWARD: REFLECTION

ACCEPT/DENY?

’Thanks for showing up at the party system, of course, accept,’ He replied in a sarcastic tone.

All of a sudden, he recalled the last quest he got and the reward.

’Fuck, how could I forget?’ He face-slapped himself mentally.

He looked at the wolves again, but this time something different came to his view.

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STATUS

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NAME: -

AGE: 5

GENDER: MALE

RACE: Field Fangs

ATTRIBUTES:???

ABILITIES:???

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’You have got to be kidding me.’ He thought with a resigned look.

’Acolytes really are the worst of the worst,’ He thought while looking through the panel.

He was currently looking at the head of the pack, which was similar in size to the last one.

’Field fangs, huh, must be their habitats, I don’t think wolves hunt in open prairies like this,’ He thought, still eyeing the pack leader, it was going to be the toughest opponent of this fight.

Then it came, the same overwhelming fear he felt from the previous ones; his knees buckled, his sword arm trembling. He hated it, he hated it so much, this distressing weakness.

’Focus, focus, Orion, ’ He thought, closing his eyes, combating the urge to flee. His mother’s words started ringing in his head: ’Be wise. ’

’Does being wise constitute fleeing?’ He thought, turning back to the group, he hadn’t noticed it, but everyone was watching him, the guards, the maids, he could see the distressed look on Isolde’s face, the stoic look on the guard that decimated the last pack.

’I really should ask that man’s name later,’ He chuckled, amused at his own useless thoughts.

He turned back. They were even closer now. They were fast, very fast. The group had spotted them quite a distance away, and they’d already gotten here in a span of a few minutes.

’Huuu, be wise, Orion, be wise. It’s still bright, so I shouldn’t have any problem with visibility. Their speed seems overwhelming, but should be manageable, faster than me, but manageable. He thought, analysing his chances.

’I have no idea how strong they are, but strength isn’t a deciding factor; weakness is. I just have to find theirs, for now, typical neck, head, and heart. I haven’t fought a beast before, but I should be able to get to them.

Their number is going to be an issue, though. My spatial senses should be able to grant me a degree of awareness in my blind spots, but it isn’t foolproof. I’ll have to do my best to keep them all in sight.’ He thought while counting the pack.

’’Eight, many but hopefully doable’’ He said, never taking his eyes off them while waiting. All of a sudden, the atmosphere changed again, and he felt something overwhelming behind him.

He didn’t need to look to understand what his father just did; he prevented the beast from coming near the group.

Orion was completely isolated now. The beasts stopped in their tracks. They were wary; they knew more than to overstep. What was behind Orion was untouchable, but they didn’t leave.

They were beasts, unrestrained but not stupid; they could tell Orion was being isolated. To them, it felt like Orion was being kicked out of the pack.

They could tell Orion himself wasn’t powerful, and being kicked out meant leaving the protection of the pack; all they saw in Orion now was a free meal, and so they limited their hunt to Orion alone.

Orion read all this, but he did nothing; he simply waited. The wolves saw this and thought Orion had willingly surrendered, preparing to rush at him, but the leader growled, stopping them.

Orion turned towards it, not really surprised. On a closer look, he could see various scars on the face of the leader, on the nose, and close to the eyes.

’Experienced,’ He thought, noting it.

The wolves started circling him, and he also turned around, never taking his eyes off the leader. He’d made sure to create as much distance from the group as he could, having room to execute whatever he came up with on the spot.

The wolves kept their circling distance, not too close to him at the behest of their leader.

’He’s careful,’ Orion thought, frustrated. Taking some out due to carelessness would have been ideal.

His hands were still trembling, much to his frustration, but he did his best to steady them, gripping the hilt till his knuckles whitened.

Then it came; he heard a low growl from the leader. By the time he reacted, all he saw was a huge claw coming down against his face.

’How!’ he thought, losing his balance while doing his best to dodge the claw. He fell to the ground, tumbling and scrambling to get up, his senses picked up from behind, but again too late to retaliate, all he could do was roll and dodge.

He flipped himself to his feet and stepped sideways, dodging another set of fangs. He wanted to engage with his sword, but movement behind again, this time, he wasn’t lucky.

The leader himself had attacked his heels, trying to get rid of his mobility; he got his legs out of the way, not before scraping them.

Another claw, another desperate dodge. Whenever he wanted to counter, another one would come, and then there was the leader. It was cunning and better; he could tell it was trying to wear him down.

It snuck in its attacks with the others, but unlike the others, he wasn’t able to completely escape it. Blood, he could feel it running down numerous parts of his body; he couldn’t escape the leader unscathed, and every encounter brought a scratch or tear.

At this point, he was gasping for breath. What he feared was happening; they were fast, no, not just fast, he had accounted for their speed, he had read how fast they moved earlier, this was different.

’They shouldn’t be able to overwhelm me like this, were they holding back earlier?’ he thought, bewildered, while wincing at another claw mark on his legs from the leader.

’If only I could see their stupid stats, I’d be able to tell their real speed,’ He thought, his frustration mounting.

For him to be unable to read their stats meant he was at a lower rank than they; he didn’t even know whether beasts had the same ranks they did. All he knew was that he was weaker, and the proficiency of the skill really limited him.

’Wait a minute, skill!. They have the ability tab on them, so beasts can definitely use skills. They might be using one right now.’ He thought while panting from exertion.

He quickly changed his approach; he did his best to prevent falling on the ground to observe the wolves more. Though he started accumulating more strikes even from the weaker ones, he endured trying to figure out their trick or pinpoint their skill.

The pack leader noticed this and thought Orion was getting tired. He snarled, signalling the rest to put more pressure.

The stalemate carried on with Orion accumulating injuries, but the wolves were getting desperate; it didn’t take long before one messed up.

Despite Orion trying his best to observe, the wolves didn’t let up he was fending off one wolf when he sensed one coming from his side. He was already used to it and was prepared to dodge, but something was off; it didn’t get there on time, and so he escaped unscathed.

He was sure he didn’t get faster, but he didn’t think the wolf got slower, he couldn’t see any signs of fatigue, so whatever trick they used for their speed didn’t work at that time, did it run out of mana, if so it wouldn’t take long for the rest to join, he thought hopeful.

He observed the same wolf, placing a mental marker of its location, while still fending off the others. Before long, it came again. Orion didn’t let his guard down and did his best to dodge; fortunately or unfortunately, the wolf got back to its peak speed.

’Was the earlier loss a fluke, or did he regain his mana that quickly? No, no, it can’t be mana loss, the wolves were pretty similar, it wouldn’t occur in only one. It was definitely a fluke.’ Suddenly, he tripped over his foot on uneven ground.

The leader didn’t hesitate to pounce, and he gained another scar on his arm. ’Tch stupid field.’ He thought, grimacing in pain.

’Wait, field,’ He thought, looking at the grass.

He checked the status of the wolves, and there it was under Race ’Field Fang’.

’I assumed they were called that because of their habitat, but why exactly do they stay in such an habitat?’ He was close, he could feel it.

He thought back to the fluke and tried to recall all that happened, where he was, what direction he was facing, and as he thought, ’There was no grass!!’