Bibliomancer

by James Hunter

  Then, bellies full, they packed up and set off again, heading further and further north and west. The landscape hadn’t changed much so far, although there were pine trees not far off on the horizon. According to Kai, that was the hallmark of wolf territory. Where there were wolves, there was also a high likelihood of finding Wolfmen.

  “I’m seeing some movement up ahead,” Sphinx called in a low tone that carried only to the edge of the group. She raised a closed fist. Halt. “Gray fur, and more than one. Definitely wolves, but I don’t think we’ve entered the aggro trigger zone yet.”

  Sam squinted, brow furrowed, trying to spot whatever she’d seen. To him, everything just looked like a blob of green and brown marring the horizon. She must’ve had crazy good perception to see anything from this distance, but then he supposed that made perfect sense. A would-be Assassin probably needed a healthy dose of perception to blend in seamlessly with a crowd and trail potential marks without attracting notice. Kai just grunted and nodded in agreement, rubbing thoughtfully at his chin.

  “Okay, you handled yourself against the bun-buns and the fox-bros,” he stole a sidelong glance at Sam, “but these wolves are a different story, my dude. We’ve squared off against them a few times, and these hombres are serious business. The terrain doesn’t favor us here, and the wolves won’t come at you one at a time. They fight in a pack. First, they totally surround you, and then they’ll harry you from every side—wear you down and bleed you dry one bite at a time.”

  “So far, you’ve done well because you’ve been able to kill at range, but these things have high health. There’s no way you’ll be able to one or even two shot these bad boys, and they’re fast enough to get all up in your grill. Which means you’re gonna take hits. Do you have any sort of defensive abilities?”

  “Mage Armor,” Sam replied with a nod. “I have a dagger too, for close combat; though… hopefully, it won’t come to that. Never used it before.”

  “It’ll come to that,” Sphinx promised with crossed arms, eyes trained on the tree line.

  “Probably best if we don’t let you solo these guys.” Kai nodded as though finally coming to a firm decision. “If they get close, they’ll shred your health before we ever have a chance to intervene. That happens, and the AI will totes punish you for dying a stupid death.”

  “So, we’ll play it safe.” Kai turned in a slow circle, surveying the landscape. “There.”

  About fifty feet off was craggy boulder jutting up from the swaying sea of grass like a broken tooth. The boulder wasn’t large, maybe six feet high and five wide, but it did offer a certain vantage over the battlefield.

  “We can make that work for us. Dude,” Kai lightly thumped Sam with the back of his hand, “I’m gonna have you post up on top of that thing. You’ll be skylined, which will make you the target, but since we’re dealing with wolves, we should be able to handle it like a boss.”

  “I’ll tank about eight feet out, and you’re just gonna rain down your air slash thingy. Sphinx,” Kai shot her a look, “you’re gonna pull the fur bros while we set up, but then you’ll get over directly in front of the rock. Sam’s gonna be laying down hardcore suppressive spellfire, so you’ll be our mobile defender. I want you moving left and right, playing a wide range so the wolves can’t flank us from the sides.”

  “Okie-dokie, artichokie!” Sphinx nodded in agreement, extracting a gleaming knife from a sheath and spinning it nimble in one hand. “That sounds like a good plan, but there’s a good chance this still goes wrong. I’m counting at least four wolves. If we don’t play this just right, these fellas are gonna chew us up. We sure we want to try this?”

  Interestingly, she turned a questioning gaze to Sam, not to Kai. Sam didn’t even have to think about it. “Go big or go home, right? I haven’t earned enough experience yet to go home, and home is the Mage’s College. Bleh. Let’s do this.”

  “My dude.” Kai nodded in appreciation, then offered a fist for Sam to bump. The two of them immediately set out for the boulder, slipping through the tall grasses and around the occasional, low-lying scrub bush. Kai got into position in seconds, but scaling the rock proved to be far tougher than it should’ve been for Sam.

  The lip of the boulder was a little higher than his shoulder, but the rock face itself was almost perfectly smooth, so there were no good finger or toe holds to boost himself up with. Although he wasn’t much of a sports enthusiast, he and his dad had done some rock-climbing classes on and off throughout his high school years. This should’ve been nothing, but his mediocre strength and remedial constitution increased the difficulty a hundred-fold. He could’ve just asked Kai for a hand up, but he didn’t think his ego could take the blow, so he stuck it out. A rock bit into his hand, and he realized he should probably get his defenses in place.

  With a thought, he conjured Mage Armor. A semi-translucent blue barrier shimmered to life around him before vanishing from view, leaving only a faint glow in its wake. He devoted two hundred fifty Mana to his spell, nearly draining himself. Ten percent of the allocated cost wouldn't regen while it was active, but twenty-five Mana locked away to prevent something like a hundred twenty-five physical damage was well worth the cost. He looked forward to increasing the spell rank so that it would have a better conversion.

  A wave of fatigue almost made him miss his next handhold, but that cleared up as his Mana started to regenerate. He might not need the protection, but in a fight like this, it was better to be safe than sorry. As his dad often said, Semper Prepared, the real motto of the field Marine. It took a solid three minutes—which let his Mana regenerate to normal levels—but at long last, he crested the summit of the boulder and even managed to earn a notice for his trouble and persistence.

  I’ll give you one thing; you don’t like to quit. For reaching the top of the highest peak, here’s some experience. 100 experience. But maybe next time just try to keep a little dignity? Because, Sam, this is only the highest peak for you.

  With a grumble, Sam dismissed the overly judgmental message and prepared himself for the battle, which was already roaring toward him. Sphinx was nowhere to be seen, probably cloaked in stealth, but the gray blurs blazing through the grass like low-flying fur missiles were obvious even with his terrible perception. He counted four quick-moving shapes.

  Each one was the size of a small horse; wiry muscle curled and flexed beneath silver pelts; lips pulled away from great fangs custom-built for ripping flesh and tearing muscle. They were crossing ground at an absurd rate, and for the first time since leaving the city’s fortified walls, Sam was starting to think he’d made a mistake. The bunnies and foxes were one thing, but these creatures were on a different level entirely.

  “Get ready, dude!” Kai called as he dropped into a horse stance, one hand extended outward, palm open, the other curled up and ready to block. Fear gnawed at Sam, but he pushed it away—not so much for himself but for Kai and Sphinx. Sam was a killing machine, and though they were outnumbered, he could level the playing field with his sorcerous arts but only if he remained as focused as a laser beam.

  If he slipped up, even for an instant, the wolves would outmaneuver Sphinx and overwhelm Kai with their sheer numbers, killing the party in one fell swoop. That he wasn’t going to let happen. Sam hadn’t known these two for long, but they were his team; he wasn’t going to fail them against their first real opponent.

  Sam planted his feet and raised his arms just as the first two wolves arrived. The first, a big male with a scar running down its muzzle, leaped high, jaws snapping as he went for Kai’s throat. The Monk blurred with an unnatural speed of his own, sidestepping the lunge and lashing out with a closed fist, his hand thudding into the wolf's throat and knocking the creature to one side.

  The second wolf—a smaller female with a lean frame—bolted in low and from the left, tearing into Kai’s unprotected side. Teeth sank into vulnerable flesh—or tried to, at least. Instead, the she-wolf’s attack failed to find purchase, as though Kai’s skin
were covered with hardened steel instead of simple cloth and silk. Not wasting a moment, the Monk struck with a thunderous side kick that hurled the she-wolf back half a dozen feet, clearly sapping a good chunk of the creature’s health in the process.

  Sam’s time to shine had arrived. He started casting Wind Blade, sending deadly arcs of sharpened air at the female still reeling from the Monk’s blow. The razor blades of compressed air sliced through fur and skin, leaving deep furrows in the flesh beneath. Unfortunately, Sam’s attacks just weren’t doing enough damage to take the wolf out of the fight for good. The she-wolf quickly recovered and broke into a series of nimble, evasive maneuvers, bolting left and right with ungodly speed.

  Sam tried desperately to follow—hurling wave after wave of magical attacks—but she was too fast, and his dexterity and perception were just too low for him to aim with the kind of precision he needed. His spells plowed harmlessly into the dirt and grass, shearing stalks of green and kicking up bursts of brown earth but not yet shedding another drop of blood.

  Meanwhile, the big alpha male was circling Kai, playing things a bit more cautiously this time while the two remaining wolves closed in. They’d taken longer to enter the fray, and the reason why quickly became apparent; they’d circled out and around to the flanks so they could come in hard from either side.

  Sphinx appeared like a puff of sooty smoke, her legs cartwheeling through the air with uncanny grace as she hurled slim, night-black daggers at the incoming wolf on the left. Her blades scored a direct hit, one digging into the creature’s chest, the other slicing one of the wolf’s triangle-shaped ears clean off. The injured beast faltered and let out a yelp of panicked pain. Sphinx capitalized on the moment of hesitation, closing the distance in an eyeblink and pulling a fighting knife from the sheath on her belt.

  That left the other encroaching wolf flanking them from the right. Sam simply couldn’t allow that to happen. If the wolf managed to get behind Kai, it could hamstring the Monk, and then it would be game over for the front-line fighter. That, or it would throw itself at Sam, which would be just as devastating—at least to Sam.

  He had kept up his barrage of Wind Blades on the rangy female. Though he hadn’t hit her again since his first wave of attacks, the onslaught had driven her back, buying him a little breathing room. Not enough breathing room to take the pressure off completely, but still… maybe enough to get creative.

  Since he could dual cast, it was at least possible for him to put pressure on both the lean she-wolf and the incoming canine menace. His accuracy would be garbage, and the chances of actually landing a hit—especially with the increased spell failure rate while Dual casting—were low. That was fine with him. Sam didn’t need to put both wolves down by himself; all he had to do was lay down enough suppressive firepower to give Kai and Sphinx the time they needed to dispatch the first two wolves. Sam let out a primal yell while he jackhammered his arms back and forth, aiming in the general vicinity of the two wolves.

  The encroaching wolf on the right flank wasn’t prepared for Sam’s fury, and he managed to land a lucky blow across one leg, slowing the furry critter down, though failing to hobble the creature. The she-wolf, however, was as quick as ever, almost effortlessly dodging Sam’s attacks as she maneuvered closer and closer to his boulder-turned-perch. She hadn’t been able to gain ground before, but then Sam hadn’t been dividing his attention before either. She was slowly gaining on him, and there was nothing Sam could do about it except hope that Kai and Sphinx were winning their respective battles.

  A sharp *squeal* raked at Sam’s ears, the sound like nails on a chalkboard, and he chanced a look toward Sphinx. Yes! The Infiltrator had taken down the wolf down, its furry body covered in blood and lying in a heap in the tall grasses. One down, three to go. Sam tore his eyes away from the scene of victory… oh no.

  He’d lost track of the she-wolf. He’d taken his eyes off her for two seconds at most, and somehow, she’d exploited his minor slip in focus. The wolf angling in from the right was less than ten feet out. He knew it was a risk, but he brought both hands to bear on the creature, concentrating all of his magical prowess on the single beast. He needed to take it down before she mauled Sam like a rabid… wolf. Right. The consecutive blasts tore through the air. His poorly-aimed wind rent the ground and various landscape features, but thankfully, the wolf took the brunt of the assault.

  It was simply too close to avoid the attacks completely, and unlike the lean wolf who’d managed to slip Sam’s notice, this creature had yet to experience Sam’s full attention. His Wind Blades devastated the creature at this range, and after several consecutive hits, the beast toppled, a pool of blood turning the churned earth into crimson mud. A few more puffs of air tore up the corpse before he was certain that it wasn't moving anymore. “Howl you guys doing?”

  Sam looked away, which is when something hit him from the side like a sack full of furry bricks. His Mage Armor flared to life with a brilliant explosion of blue, absorbing most of the damage, though swiftly running through the Mana that had been used to power it. Sam toppled from the rock, flipping ass over tea kettle, the world spinning in flashes of blue sky and green earth. A lance of pain did a fun, little jig along his ribcage; abyss, that had hurt. Then he hit the ground like an asteroid, a dust cloud mushrooming up around him as the air filling his lungs *whooshed* out. He struggled to breathe—every inhale felt like sucking through a wet towel—and his mind frantically worked through what had just happened.

  The answer came quickly; the she-wolf had made her play. With a grunt, Sam pushed himself up on to his palms, his head still spinning from the tumble, and immediately spotted the furry adversary. “I’m gonna call you Mozart ‘cause you’re hanging out in a wolf gang.”

  Skill increase: Mage Armor (Beginner III). Getting hit makes you better at getting hit without getting hurt!

  She was crouched low on her haunches, her hackles raised, her fangs exposed. Something told Sam that the only way she would appreciate his wit was if she was enjoying it as a snack. She was less than four feet away, well within striking distance, but she was waiting… almost as though she were trying to decide if he had any more nasty tricks up his sleeves.

  Unfortunately, he didn’t. Not really. The Mage Armor had kept him alive and more or less intact, but he’d still lost a solid quarter of his minuscule health pool from the fall. Terrain ‘true damage’? Sam’s mind buzzed; he had more than enough Mana to dual cast Wind Blade, but at this range, his spell would do next to nothing.

  He could hit the she-wolf but probably only once. Then she would be on him, tearing into his throat and face. The Mage Armor was a helpful skill, but if there was one thing his Art of Defensive Magic Professor had taught him, it was that Mage Armor could not stand up to sustained melee damage—not for long, at any rate. It was built to protect the user from the occasional stray arrow, dagger strike to the back, but apparently not a tumble off a large rock. It was not Mystic Plate Mail, capable of keeping someone alive through a full-on animal mauling.

  Sam did have his blade though, and if he was going to die… he planned to do it on his feet and swinging with everything he had. Sam snarled—knowing from his Wolfman course that the creature would take it as the threat it was—and regained his feet. He drew the dagger from the sheath at his belt and waved it around. He had no idea how to use it, but the wolf didn’t know that. Maybe he would be able to bluff his way out of this situation. He dropped into a back stance and raised the knife in his right hand, his left hand out with his palm open.

  “Come on, then,” he spit, simultaneously launching a Wind Blade with his free hand. The she-wolf charged, taking the spell on the chin like a prizefighter and running even though her face had been gouged by the compressed air. Welp. So much for bluffing.

  Sam screamed, striking with the knife, a clumsy blow that wouldn’t hurt a wet paper bag. As the short blade cut a path through the air, Sam instinctively channeled Wind Blade through his right arm, directing it in
to the dagger and out through the blade. Sam was completely taken aback as a ghostly blue curve extended from the end of the dagger, turning the simple weapon into a cleaving saber. The trick caught the wolf completely off guard, and as a result, the creature zigged left when it should’ve zagged right. The conjured blade sunk into the wolf’s skull with a meaty *thunk*, a stroke of pure luck rather than any skill. The game confirmed this for him in the next instant.

  Luck +1! That was terrible. Wow. You had a six percent chance of pulling that off. Just wow.

  Skill increase: Wind Blade (Novice IX). Getting pretty good at this, aren’t you?

  The wolf’s eyes glazed over as the last of her health disappeared in a blink. A raging inferno of golden light exploded all around Sam, gently lifting him into the air, caressing him with golden fingers, obliterating the dirt and blood splattered across his clothing and skin.

  It seemed that while he was tumbling and fending off a wolf, the fighting had finished. He only knew this because golden light started flooding out of him. What was…? He gained a level! Sam reveled in the moment, basking in the glorious, euphoric feelings, not caring at all about what he had needed to do in order to get to this point. Still, the feeling fled far too quickly. He heard hoots and whoops coming from both Kai and Sphinx, who had apparently joined him after their fight completed. They were currently crowded around him, clearly enjoying the area effect of the leveling up process.

  Sam didn’t blame them in the least. While his new teammates celebrated the kills and set about looting the corpses—Kai insisted that both the meat and non-ruined pelts would go for a decent price back in town—Sam took a minute to glance at his stats and the new skill he’d unlocked during his final showdown with the deadly she-wolf.