by Konrad Ryan
Soft footsteps, barely audible, fell behind him. Had the scent from upwind been a distraction? Or had they recognized the wind and circled around? Either way, that showed intelligence. And intelligence was dangerous. He pulled on his perception and forced it the other way. It snaked out into the trees. Tad clenched the bandage-wrapped hilt of Meztlegoph’s Greatsword in both hands so hard that his bones creaked. He was on edge. Tight and wound like a twig about to snap. Tad closed his eyes to calm himself down. He wouldn’t be able to move as he wanted with this much tension. He strained his ears to track the footsteps of the two creatures. He could feel them closing in on him, slowly but methodically. Could hear a rustle in the forest, the scrape of something against wood. His perception chased the sounds, but he found nothing. He relied on his hearing instead. They were getting closer, first one, then the other. They moved in sync, almost like two limbs of a giant beast, each taking one step at a time, alternating who was moving. It was incredibly hard to keep track of both this way. It clearly wasn’t their first hunt.
He was being hunted. Maybe that’s why he was on edge. He had become used to being the hunter. What had he said during his warrior trial? The strong need not concern themselves with the gimmicks of the weak? Yet here he found himself vulnerable, not weak, no, but vulnerable all the same. Tad reopened his eyes to survey the battleground. There were trees everywhere. This was not the ideal terrain to be swinging a huge greatsword in the night. Should he use Raekast’s Fang? It might not do as much damage, but he wouldn’t have to worry about trees stopping his swings.
What a funny thought. With his immense strength, Tad doubted the trees would impede his swings one bit.
His perception tendril finally found his first enemy. He split it and searched for the other, finding it not too far behind the first. Tad turned toward the two creatures. Their footsteps stopped at the movement. He had no trouble seeing them, even in the pitch black of the undergrowth. His stealth vision revealed them as they stepped past trees. There would be no surprise attack. However, something was wrong. The two creatures emit some sort of mist in the darkness. No, that was the wrong way to describe it. Tad could see them disturb the darkness as they stepped between the trees, using them as cover. Was this stealth? Tad had never seen another creature use it.
Both werewolves howled toward the moon, then at the same time the two wolves disappeared. Both from his vision and from his perception tendril. Shock washed through Tad. It was stealth.
Bark exploded off the surrounding trees. Deep cracks, like bones snapping, encircled Tad while deep claw slashes appeared on several trees in the immediate vicinity.
Sharp fangs crunched through Tad’s leather armor and shoulder. *-149 health.* The werewolf was only visible for a split second after its fangs bit deep before it sprang off Tad’s torso, knocking him backward against the trunk of a tree. Crimson blood spilled down his chest, both from where the fangs had bit, and from the clawed kick, but he gritted his teeth without an audible yelp of pain. The image of the creature still burned into his memory, its yellow, stained teeth, were covered in a sickly green foam, its muzzle and snout pulled back in a snarl. Its body was smaller than Tad’s own, white foam, different from the teeth foam, spilled from its mouth onto its chest in a puddle where it rested on its fur. The creature was rabid, red moonlight reflected from its yellow eyes. Mangy and matted fur covered its body, but only in patches. Where the fur was missing, its skin was red and inflamed, slick and wet from a pustulant ooze that overflowed onto the surrounding fur. It wore scars, both old and new, like a coat.
Tad swung his sword with his might, to time it with the next attack, but only caught air. Bark exploded all around him once more, Tad held the sword at the ready. This time, a bite on his arm, *-102 health.* followed by another kick to the torso. Tad thrust his sword forward, but stumbled backward from the kick. The sword struck true, about to pierce into the chest of the werewolf. But then it was gone, his sword hit nothing but air. How had he missed? It had been right in front of him, had he swung at its after image? Tad searched each explosion of bark, but could never see the creature that caused it. Were they truly this much faster than him? The thought was short-lived as a second pair of teeth sank deep into the back of his thigh, *-123 health.* Tad swung a second time at the werewolf still latched onto his leg. This was a different werewolf, identical if not for the huge gash of a scar across its face, culminating where its right eye should have been.
Once again Tad’s two-handed swing met only air, but a trickle of warm blood flowed from his wounds. What was happening, why couldn’t he hit them? Were they going invisible? Or maybe teleporting? Or were they truly that fast? How was he supposed to fight something like that? His health had started at 950. He had already been down 50 from when he healed Liz’s poison and he was now under 600. Maybe he wasn’t ready for this.
Too late for thoughts like that.
In the darkness, Tad activated stealth. He needed an edge. At the same time something slashed through his leather armor, just under his ribcage, knocking him off his feet. *-84 health.* The stealth took, and the darkness kissed his skin, covering him in a misty film. The leaves of the forest floor cushioned his fall.
The two werewolf figures suddenly appeared in a gust of leaves and dust, visibly confused at where he had gone. Cold sweat dripped down Tad’s back as he looked up at the two creatures. They hadn’t been using stealth at all. They just had been moving so fast that Tad couldn’t even see them. He couldn’t even see a blur like when Bunta attacked. Instead, it had almost been like when Bunta had activated ‘speed of the conqueror’ and had tripled his dexterity. That should be impossible! They couldn’t be that much faster than him. The werewolves, like Bunta’s strikes, had disappeared completely, their attacks entering a realm that only God’s could follow.
And Tad certainly wasn’t a God.
Tad scrambled to his feet as silently as he could, heartbeat pounding in his ears. With Bunta’s ring equipped, he had ‘speed of the conqueror’, but only one cast of it. Could he really take down two monsters like this in ten seconds? If not, they would eat him alive. No. He should save ‘speed of the conqueror’, and start with ‘brilliant burst,’ minibosses at the warrior level might have a special skill at low health, he needed to save it for that. The 50% speed increase should get him closer to their speed, and it lasted longer. Somewhere along the way, Tad had become used to being faster than almost anything he had fought, and fighting two beings who he couldn’t even see was an intimidating prospect.
How do you fight something that fast?
The werewolves’ ears twitched madly in all directions. They sniffed the air in search of their prey. Eerily, they both turned their heads towards him. Their yellow eyes glowed in the darkness.
No more time to plan. Somehow, they had found him.
Chapter 26
“Brilliant Burst!”
Tad’s body felt light, but bark exploded off a nearby tree while simultaneously claws and fangs pierced his flesh. *-99 health.* His undershirt was already wet and sticky. A second explosion to his right was followed by a nasty bite on his calf. *-103 health.* He felt like a pincushion and there was nothing he could do about it. Tad yelled in pain and frustration, even as he followed their sounds, but the attacks came too fast. Even with brilliant burst, the werewolves were just too fast.
The surrounding trees were all but destroyed, gouges and scratch marks bit deep into their wood. Clearly the werewolves were using the forest trees as springboards, but how did that information help? An explosion of bark and wood came before their attacks each time. Could he use that? Tad tightened his grip on his sword, muscles in both his forearms contracting powerfully. What did he have to lose?
Bark exploded from his left. With full force, Tad swung Metzlegoph’s Greatsword, the giant mosquito needle flew at tremendous speed, thirsting for blood. But it still wasn’t fast enough, a new wound blossomed on his cheek *-74 health.* He probed at it with his tongue, past his missing
teeth, to find his tongue poked outside of his cheek, from a hole that hadn’t been there before. Tad spit blood out onto the ground and surveyed the dark forest.
The werewolves were attacking nonstop. Attack after attack fell upon him like a barrage of arrows. He had no time to even think. The assault was relentless. Desperation exploded in his chest as he glanced down toward his health bar.
*Health: 300/1000
Mana: 300/300*
Tad had one foot in the grave; he was already more than half dead and the battle had just begun. Tad cast heal, bringing his health to full in an instant, but losing 140 precious mana to do so. He could cast ice vortex on the two beasts if he could catch them, but ever since he first saw them they had stayed out of sight, or moved too fast to see. Wait… that wasn’t true. They had paused when he had stealthed. Showed in plain sight, as if confused. Tad forced his mind to calm. Panic served no slayer.
Tad closed his eyes. They were useless here anyway. Tension grew as he waited for their next attack, his body as rigid as a twig about to break. He didn’t have many chances to pull this off. He listened, it would be a contest of speed, but they had a tell: the explosion of bark and splintering wood that always preceded their attacks by a fraction of a hair.
Time compressed, slowing as far as his dexterity could push it. An eternity stretched before his mind as he waited. Cold sweat trickled down his side. Or was it blood? It didn’t matter. He cleared his mind once more and waited.
Finally, the familiar explosion of wood came. Flicking open his eyes, he searched the direction of the blast. Tad activated stealth and swayed just enough to swing his great two-handed weapon where his body had just been, his muscles strained with the effort. His blade slashed through empty air, but the werewolf’s attack had missed him. Instead, the werewolf’s claws cut the air above him with a sharp whip, its momentum carried it away from Tad. The second werewolf dropped from the trees, both sniffed like mad to locate him. Tad prepared his spells, mana flowed into both of his hands, he had to do this simultaneously or he would lose one.
“Ice Vortex!” Tad cast both spells, one through each hand. Immediately ice climbed the legs of the werewolves. They jumped back in surprise before they disappeared once more.
He had done it! Ice vortex lasted a minute and slowed their speed by 20%. Maybe it would be enough to catch a glimpse.
Bark exploded to his right, and he turned, sword at the ready. Tad’s jaw dropped at what he saw, the same moment fangs and claws pierced his abdomen, *-171 health,* knocking him back a step.
The exploding bark was a distraction.
The twin werewolves worked in tandem. One created a ruckus to distract Tad and grab his attention, while the other werewolf, coiled like a spring, exploded from the darkness from further away. Their extreme speed made it incredibly effective. But no, even that was wrong. It was the other way around. The attacking werewolf sprang first, only then did the other werewolf leap from tree to tree noisily to cover up the sound of the attacker. Their timing was almost perfect, but their speed had dropped enough for Tad to see their blur, their afterimage.
A split second and their attack would come again. Where? Where was the attacker targeting? The tree had exploded to his right, but the attack had come from directly in front of him, in fact, taking inventory of his wounds, most of them were on the front of his body. He readied his sword, armed with his new theory. Tad clung to that thread of hope.
Once again the explosion of bark and wood came from the right. Tad activated stealth and swung the greatsword in a huge underhanded arc right in front of him, biting through earth in a deep gash. The blur of motion, that had to be the werewolf, hesitated once more as shadows kissed Tad’s skin. Tad swung the sword cleanly, right up the torso of the hesitating wolf. The warm blood that exploded in a cloud of mist was Tad’s reward.
Stealth dissipated as fast as it had adhered to his skin, dispelled by his flash of movement. A white number, *-375 health,* retreated deep into the forest. Tad caught a peek at the wolf’s health bar, a moment before it ducked behind a tree, it had dropped over thirty percent. Relief flooded Tad’s chest, displacing his desperation at the realization. They were like the fat crab, all of their stats were pooled into one. Their attacks, while damaging, weren’t immediately life threatening, but most of all, they weren’t very durable. They sacrificed it all for extreme speed. This was probably near the limit of speed for warrior rank monsters. At least, he hoped so. Tad watched the damage numbers retreat deeper into the forest directly behind a tree. He could even read them through the tree. That must be where the werewolf had gone! The damage display had always been over the monster’s heads, but he had never used it like this before. He had never fought a monster that used cover and attacked from the shadows.
Another explosion of splintering wood rocked the forest, this time from in front. Sharp fangs tried to clamp across the back of Tad’s neck, but he jerked forward and the jaws only scraped across, raking the skin. *-67 health.* The werewolf had just tried to snap his neck with a single bite, only Tad’s reactions had saved him. A thousand questions about healing broken necks jumped into his mind, but he forced them away. He needed to concentrate.
This was a completely different style of fighting than anything he had experienced, just like he had thought, their intelligence was dangerous. Up to this point, monsters had relied on their brute force more than any tactics. At least, besides bosses. Although that wasn’t completely true. The cockroaches had displayed some rudimentary strategy, but it wasn’t at this level.
The werewolves attacked and defended at the same time with their tremendous speed as they sprang off the trees to dismantle their prey. They hid from view between attacks so range attacks would never work. Spells either. Unless you could find them between attacks, or stop their movement somehow, you were helpless.
But now, he had a way to find them in the darkness. He just needed to land one more attack, and he was sure he could finish one of them off. His strategy of activating stealth to throw off their targeting was becoming less effective the more he used it. They were adapting, changing the timing of their attacks. He needed to land just one more hit, one more before they adapted completely. He closed his eyes, straining his ears once more in the darkness. The explosion came from the front once more.
Please be there!
Darkness enveloped his body as he twisted, dropping to a knee, stabbing his great two-handed blade directly behind where he had been. Even with pushing his speed to the limit, he barely got his blade into position. The agile werewolf’s momentum drove him onto Tad’s blade. Tad felt a satisfying crunch as the blade punched into the sternum of the werewolf. It yelped in pain and kicked off the forest floor, retreating off the blade and back into the forest. Tad pursued the floating *-418 health* text. He had gotten lucky; it was the same werewolf that he had attacked before, the one with the scarred face. Its health was already under a third.
Tad could hear the werewolf licking its wounds behind a tree. Tad didn’t hesitate. He didn’t even circle around the tree, no he would take both the tree and the werewolf in one fell swoop. A howl of warning came from behind him, but it was too late, Tad’s sword sliced through bark, wood, and maggoty fur alike. He swung with full force, unlike the other attacks where timing was more crucial. An explosion of bark, wood, and blood filled the air. Split in half, just above the waist, the werewolf’s health bar disappeared completely. Red moonlight spilled from above, from the hole in the canopy, onto the corpse of the dead creature, it looked even more disgusting with the lights on. Its wounds were raw and red, clearly infected, with yellow pus and scabs matting its fur. The smell was unbearable, but Tad didn’t relax. Tad slashed downward once more, just in case, and split its head open like a ripe melon.
Chimes rang inside his head as his flesh knit itself together, the pure healing magic warmed and repaired his body. Someday, his healing would feel just like this. Like settling into a pool of warm honey during a blizzard.
&n
bsp; *You have leveled up!*
*You have leveled up!*
*You have leveled up!*
A feeling of relief washed through Tad as he looked down at his handiwork. The level ups had brought his health and mana to full and there was only one werewolf to go. He could do this. He was doing it.
A pained howl erupted behind him. He turned to look at the last remaining werewolf who had come out into plain view, rage filled its eyes. They narrowed, and it bared its teeth in the most gruesome snarl Tad had ever seen. Once again it let out a bone chilling howl, its head stretched up toward the largest moon, then the wolf disappeared, bark exploded around the trees surrounding Tad.
A sinking feeling deep in his stomach was the first sign something was wrong. The werewolf had abandoned its previous strategy now that its partner was dead, but what was its plan? A noise startled him from behind, Tad dove away from the noise, expecting imminent pain, but none came. Instead, he watched with horror and confusion as the top half of the headless werewolf stood, using its hands where it had no legs. The howling of the werewolf pierced the silence of the night. Golden essence spilled from the neck of the dead werewolf, pooling on the forest floor.
Golden streaks shot from the pool of golden essence where exploding trees shattered. It was going to the remaining werewolf. Strand after yellow strand disappeared, Tad swung his sword to where the strands were going, but his sword met nothing but air. Frantically, in some hope to stop the wolf’s plans, Tad chopped down tree after tree, but the werewolf just moved to other trees further away. Was this really happening? Was the werewolf absorbing the essence of its fallen comrade?