NOVEL NEXT Chapter 4: Wolf Extermination
"Hyung! Hyung!!" Il-hoon, Jun-su's younger brother held the weakened body of his elder sibling. He looked at the pack of golden-eyed wolves ready to pounce at them.
After narrowly escaping from a strike from the monsters, Jun-su had charged into the horde once again, telling the other two to prepare for escape.
One victim was better than four victims.
Since he was the one who made the decision to enter this dungeon, naturally he had to take responsibility and be the sacrifice.
He didn't even know if he was enough to stall the pack.
At the very least, his companions had to escape. His mindset was ready to face death.
Il-hoon and Seong-jin knew that their chances of surviving as a four was slimmer than ever. The trio had made countless promises over the time, one of them being to run whenever they had a chance if the situation couldn't be handled anymore.
No matter how many people escaped, it was fine. As long as one of them got out of the hellish life - risking scenarios they had to enter as a profession.
However, when Jun-su was taken down in less than ten seconds, the two naturally faltered. They hadn't even gotten the chance to turn around. Their brother was already on the ground, struggling to ward off the maddened wolf on top of him.
On an impulsive, fear-based decision, Seong-jin shot three arrows in total, successfully taking down one wolf.
With the collapse of that one creature, the others growled and burst in anger.
Their target changed.
They launched themselves to the man, taking a large bite at Seong-Jin.
Soon, they were in a situation where Il-hoon who had limited mana was the only one with the ability to fight.
Jun-su and Seong-Jin were already in the brink of death.
"..Please," Il-hoon shed tears. "Please.. anything, anybody, save us.."
Of course, no one would respond.
He slumped down in terror, ready to face his death.
The only one who didn't fight was Yoo Jin. He had been watching from the backline all this time.
Now, he pursed his lips at the turmoil with a grave look in his eyes.
"Enemies? Or your friends?" A voice spoke.
Yoo Jin, who had already given up turned to the voice in shock.
A fully naked woman who seemed to have come out of the movies appeared in front of him.
The beauty was rare, her features did not seem like they came from an Asian birthplace. Domineering.
Despite Aria's powerful presence, she felt unwell internally.
The hunger and thirst she possessed affected her. She asked once more.
"Enemies, or friends?" Aria cursed the boy. She was thirsty like never before, her words were more precious than gold!
"F-friends. Can you.. save them?" To Yoo Jin, Aria was the last speck of hope.
Although her appearance seemed a bit strange, she was unfazed even at the scene before her.
"Do you have food? Water?"
"No.. but those guys should have some,"
"Perfect," Aria walked towards the stunned trio, picking up Jun-su's fallen sword while at it.
'My first fight. How long has it been? Touching a sword and all.' The sword she held couldn't compare to the legendary weapons she once obtained after countless fights and battles.
'My former sword.. Eiddwen. How long did it take me to subdue that mischievous little one? Can I get it back?' Aria tightened her grip on the sword's handle as she recalled back to her figure wielding the spirit sword as she rampaged along with her summons.
"Surely..." Preparing to put all of her strength into a single blow, Aria closed her eyes and concentrated. Letting out a heavy sigh, she began to channel the 10 MP she had.
She was sure that her figure as the best summoner still laid deep inside her soul.
'10 MP. Strengthen the sword, nothing more.'
The Systems now prohibited her from using skills that she didn't acquire through the interface.
However, there were certain rules that she grasped to the highest level.
She knew magic like the back of her hand.
In magic, there existed spells called enchantments.
If you master it enough, the energy you wanted to supply to the enchantments could be arranged to your liking.
As such, she would be able to manage the mana output perfectly.
"My skills wouldn't have vanished altogether," Aria sucked in a sharp breath, propelling her entire body forward with a short dash.
The unsuspecting pack of wolves did not take Aria's incoming charge with much seriousness. They had suppressed Jun-su and Seong-Jin with ease, they didn't believe that Aria could make a difference.
There was a silent agreement that passed through each creatures' head.
Born from instincts, not logical thinking.
The foolish human before them would be dominated as well.
Slash!
A wolf stepped up to block the strike, but did not expect Aria to not only slash through its steel claws, but also pierce through its jaw and slice off its head into two parts.
[Insufficient mana. You have depleted your mana.]
[New condition: Mana depletion.]
"Hand me some potions! Fast!" Aria thanked the Gods for not forsaking her. The strangers seemed to understand what she was talking about, as proven with how she was able to talk with the kid.
"W-what? Potions??" Not only Jun-su, the other two were also puzzled. Aria's entrance was too sudden, and her state was even more... weird. They've heard of items like potions in games, but it didn't exist in the real world, even after the monsters emerged.
Aria frowned. 'Did the production of potions stop?'
Just as she was prepared to fight without strengthening her weapon, a System notification popped up.
[Level D Blue Wolf <Mad> successfully murdered.]
[Experience points increased by 1500.]
[Level increased by 1.]
[Status points restored.]
[Status conditions <Hunger><Thirst> eliminated.]
"...?" Aria felt strength come back to her without the consumption of potions.
The numerical bar that stated her HP and MP, which she assumed to be representing health and mana also rose.
"Well..." Aria still felt a bit of remorse due to not having potions on hand, but there was no time to think about that.
As the wolves crept in closer and closer, now a bit careful after their comrade's death, Aria knew that she was in for a long ride.
[<Blue Wolf> 1/50.]
'Fourty-nine.'
'I'll make it somehow.' Aria was determined to overcome this predicament.
'Strengthen. 20 MP.' Aria channeled her mana to the sword, creating wisps of blue smoke around the blade.
With another high momentum strike, she took down a blue wolf with ease.
[Level D Blue Wolf <Mad> successfully murdered.]
[Experience points increased by 1500.]
[Level increased by 1.]
[Status points restored.]
The mana she spent returned back immediately, just like what would happen if she drunk potions.
'Just like this...'
The familiar sense of battle slowly began to return.
Her movements quickened, becoming more sharp and concise. Aiming at the monsters' vulnerable parts, she fought off the wolves one by one.
Clang!
[Level D Blue Wolf <Mad> successfully murdered.]
Another one.
Slash!
[Level D Blue Wolf <Mad> successfully murdered.]
And another one.
[Level D Blue Wolf <Mad> successfully murdered.]
Before long, the wolves no longer wanted to contest her one by one and thought to charge altogether.
The wolves had low intellect. They realized Aria's peculiarity too late.
Half of their pack had already been exterminated.
'My mana is at 185.'
Every time she leveled up, she could feel herself getting stronger.
Her status would be refilled, scratches that the wolves made on her would disappear.
However, her mana cap didn't increase.
Her level had increased by 8 just by killing a little more than 20 wolves.
The level up rate had slowed down. What used to take only a single wolf to level up had increased to 2, then 3, and later 4 above.
The 'strengthen' effect she cast on the sword no longer faded after one strike and could be maintained.
She noticed the rapid improvements on her skill and thought of it as a bad joke.
It was that easy to increase the levels and get a power up, compared to the past where one had to train themselves to death to even get their hands on the pinnacle.
However, at this rate, she won't have enough EXP to jump into the next level before her mana runs out.
'185.. Can I cast an area skill?'
Aria thought up of the barrage of skills she had learned in the past, back to when she was still a budding rookie and not the demonic summoner she was.
'No, there's nothing efficient enough.'
'Summon..' Aria contemplated.
Her first spirit, Dianthe.
The path to becoming a Summoner was tough. If the summons didn't want to assist you, you'd be left with no arsenal. On the opposite side, if summons liked you, you'd gain powerful allies.
Amongst them, spirits were one of the hardest to contract, because they had their own minds and would reject the call of those they despised.
However, unlike the other spirits, Dianthe liked her to a high level right from the start. Not only that, she wasn't restricted by the laws of summoned creatures and could evolve.
She stayed in the mortal world and grew alongside Aria.
That same Dianthe, could she help her once more?
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She recalled that she summoned Dianthe right after a pinch, just like this time.
She was cornered and overwhelmed by numbers, and risked everything to summon anything.
Dianthe was the one who offered to help her, drowning her enemies with water.
______________________________________
'...' Aria debated on whether she could risk wasting all her mana into one summoning spell.
If it failed, she was doomed.
But her quick calculations had determined that it was impossible for her to reach the next level without running out of mana first. WIthout her enchantments, she wasn't confident that she could take on the wolves' pure strength.
She forced herself to believe. A risk had to be taken anyway, it was her only chance of winning.
'Dianthe... I'm counting on our luck!' Aria began to chant the arts of summoning.
Her magic circle was set.
She couldn't afford to choose the creature type, not even the category. Her mana was probably not enough.
The only thing left was for the unknown creature she connected with to respond.
'Help me and I will help you.' Aria was washed down by a wave of melancholic air.
The same sentence that she said to Dianthe in the past.
Help me and I will help you.
Indeed, they helped each other. They had a bond closer than that of a master and its summon, even closer than what Aria had with the humans around her.
The magic circle grew in size, and a transparent form was materializing in front of her.
Ding!
[You have successfully summoned a 'Lower Water Spirit.]
[The summoned creature wishes to form a contract with you. Would you like to contract the 'Lower Water Spirit'?]