NOVEL NEXT Chapter 36: Rabid wolves
Chapter 36: Rabid wolves
Lumen realised that this dungeon would be even bigger of a challenge than he thought when he saw the levels of the first enemies he came across since entering the dungeon.
'Level 9, although it's not impossible, it'll be damned hard to come out of this fight without severe injuries.'
He didn't even consider the option of coming out unscathed, as the level difference as well as it being two on one was vastly different from his other fights at similar levelled beasts when hunting in a group with the others.
His confidence was especially low after his misjudgement of even thinking he could kill that level 13 deer earlier on.
However he pushed these condemning thoughts aside as he focused on the fight ahead of him.
The wolf that had pounced at his in the sudden sneak attack earlier had already recovered and had joined it's companion's side as now he had to face the two of them head on.
Lumen wasn't afraid though as he held his spear in front of him and pointed towards the two wolves.
[Mana reinforcement]
His mana reserves lowered by a little under an eighth as he activated one of his skills, increasing the damage output he could deliver with his spear with the enhancement of mana.
As his proficiency kept growing with the skill, he was able to handle the mana being injected into the spear more, with his control over it being a major factor in battle now.
He put this to use right at that moment as he focused on one of the wolves, deciding to single them out rather than focus on them both at the same time.
With no hesitation he took steadied steps towards the wolf as it growled and barked at him, looking for any chance to take a chomp at his legs.
His preciseness and level 2 basic mastery of his spear showed in this situation as although the wolf tried to dodge the attack, he adjusted his trajectory mid swing and caught it right in it's shoulder.
A whimper and even more growls came as the injured wolf backed off a little bit, showing an actual sign of intelligence that hadn't been shown in any animals he had seen until now.
But he didn't dwell on what made these wolves special for now as he took another swing at it.
Disappointingly this swing missed and instead took some slate from the ground and caused a few sparks as the second wolf took the opportunity to pounce at Lumen while his spear was lowered to the ground.
An intense brawl started between man and beast as Lumen lay on the cold, hard ground with the wolf on top of him, trying it's hardest to rip his throat out with his foamy saliva dripping down on his face with every growl and bite.
'Shit, this little fucker got the better of me!'
Lumen tried his best to keep the wolf's snout and razer sharp teeth away from his face and neck with the handle of the spear being the only thing holding it back.
Their strength was around equal and he knew that he couldn't let this continue any longer as the other wolf could come and join the attack at any time.
If this were to happen while he was in this situation he would be done for.
Without delaying any longer, he used his skill that had saved his life many times over the last few days.
[Mana bolt]
Even more of his mana reserves dried up as he could see his light blue bar in the periphery of his vision shrink once more.
The skill wasted no time forming in his hand as the ball of blue light once again showed it's grandeur to the world and blasted the wolf off him, in the direction of the other wolf.
With both of them now injured he knew this was his best chance to kill the two of them as he lifted his still mana reinforced spear and put all of his energy and bodily strength into one mighty throw of his spear right at the rabid wolf that had just been thrown back by the mana bolt.
What ensued was carnage, wails and whimpers as the wolf was unable to dodge or block the attack due to it's injuries and succumbed to it's fate as the spear penetrated deep into it's heart.
The struggling wolf flopped onto it's side, tongue hanging out of it's mouth, no longer breathing.
One threat down, now he only had to deal with the second wolf and he would be in the clear.
This other wolf didn't seem as injured as the other one as it only had a laceration on it's shoulder that hit no major bone or organ.
Any semblance of intelligence had left the beast now, as with every other beast it came running at him, this time with a limp.
It reached him in mere seconds as he jolted his body to the side.
The wolves' fighting styles revolved around aiming for the neck of the prey with their razor sharp teeth in order to suffocate or break the neck of their prey, delivering a swift death when successful.
Without his fast reactions and perseverance, Lumen would have been dead to such attacks already.
However a flaw in their fighting style was that unlike big cats, they don't utilise their claws on their paws as much and mainly focus on their teeth and powerful bite to kill.
Lumen made use of this weakness as he waited for the perfect moment when the wolf came in for another bite and slammed a kick down onto the wolf's snout from above, stomping it to the ground as the wolf was now unable to open its maw unless it freed itself from Lumen's death grip.
But unfortunately for it, it's chance of killing Lumen was quelled when the fight was reduced to a one on one. His equal strength to the wolf allowed him to keep his foot planted on the wolf's snout and use his spear to plunge deeply into the skull of the beast between it's ears.
All resistance was stopped as this wolf had joined it's comrade in death, also meeting it's end with Lumen's spear.