I would have prefered for them to just surrender, or that it did not devolve to this. But they threw the first stone.
I decided to take the backseat and let him showcase his new powers. I wanted to help him, I've been in charge of those wolves for just 1 day, and I felt the heaviness of what their pact meant. They were going to serve me, it didn’t mean I had to not care about their lives. For me, it meant that I had the duty of protecting them.
So yeah, I wanted to see them pay for their crimes, maybe not as much as Fir, but I did feel angry at them. And I am sure that he wanted this more than me, so I let him take the honor.
“Master Alice? Who are you talking with?” the leader of that group asked, who I began to call Forehead because of that mark he had.
“Are your eyes under your tail? See that sword floating? That is our new leader! She will lead us to the promised nd!”
Stop giving me more things to do!
[But you were already doing that]
Yes, but only because I wanted to find another human! They were just throwing more weight on my shoulders.
“Heh… I knew they were going crazy after the attack. Take him down! We are taking them all back with us!”
“B-but boss… there is something about that human weapon that seems odd…” the scrawny spoke.
“Yeah… like… I cannot tear my eyes off it…” the other commented.
“Silence!” Forehead yelled, growling aggressively.
But what impressed me was not how loud he yelled. It was the burst of energy that came from under his legs that made both his goons shake in fear and overcome my awe aura.
[Warning… leader type enemy detected]
Oh, crap.
They turned their attention to Fir, only giving a small whimper before beginning to walk towards him.
“Hehe…” the leader closed his eyes, sitting proud, “now, these two idiots are not as strong as me, but you will regret having to deal with them-”
He got interrupted when one of his goons, the scrawny one, got thrown at him by Fir. It only pushed him for a couple of meters before, angry, he stopped the momentum to see his ally unconscious on the floor.
Fir, when the scrawny one aimed at his neck, took a step back and summoned a fire wall that advanced towards his attacker, sending him directly at his leader.
“Hehe… I have not felt this young in a couple of years!” Fir celebrated, “I missed what having a good back felt like!”
Then, unknowingly, I healed his arthritis and back. Good to know.
[You mean I fixed his joints]
Okay, okay… gheez.
“What the… we were told everyone in this cn was weak!” the young goon said.
“Stop messing around like him and take that elder down!” Forehead barked an order.
“The name is Fir, you insolent mutt!” Fir answered, smiling as he took a proud stance, “and you will respect our cn and Master Alice!”
“Silence!” the leader screamed, frustrated.
The young wolf jumped at Fir, who dodged with little effort. The elder was ughing, having the best time of his life in his newfound youth.
“You ck experience, young one! When I was your age, I used to rush ahead all the time, believing it was my time to shine!”
“S-shut up, old tail!” the young one yelled.
But Fir answered by turning around and kicking him in the shin, forcing him to nd on his back.
Fir immediately ran to stand over him, growling as a warning for him to stay put. And it worked! The wolf whimpered, looking completely afraid, closing his mouth to hide his teeth, tail between his legs and ears fttened. He submitted, afraid that Fir could hurt him more.
“Now, only the leader left…”
Before Fir could react, a bde made of wind moved towards him.
I jumped into action, and interposed myself against it, swinging my bde. The bde broke, but I still got a bit of damage, losing 4 HP.
“You damn coward… surrendering just like that?!”
“B-boss… did you try to kill me?!” the young one asked, eyes shaking.
The bde… it was going towards his neck. What was that?
[Analysing… most likely a wind based magic attack. It had full intentions to be a mortal hit against the enemy wolf]
“You upstart bastard…” Fir yelled, “is there no honor for you?!”
“I have no need for a weakling like him… if it wasn’t for that sword, I would have killed both of you in one hit.” the leader began to circle us, baring teeth and growling. “Now… you just made your suffering worse!”
“Silence!” Fir yelled, and rushed him.
Fir’s attack was swift, but that wolf proved to be faster, jumping over him, impulsed by magic!
“No!” Fir slid on the floor when he stopped, “this one is new…”
“Stop acting crazy!” FOrehead yelled.
Erika! Analysis, can Fir take on him?!
[Analysing… based on the power behind the spell… Fir has low chances of survival. I recommend direct involvement in this conflict to avoid his death]
I feared that!
The wolf’s next attack came in fast, and aimed at Fir, who began to dodge it just by a hair. Some of his were cut by another bde!
All of his spells were aimed at his neck, which made it clear he was intending to kill him in one cut. A rock was cut in half, then a burrow that thankfully was empty, making it cave in on itself.
I tried to attack him with a swing, but he blocked me with a magic shield! Then pushed me with another wind spell!
“I admit, mutt… you are strong.” Fir answered.
“Heh… as if I needed someone to tell me!”
He was capable of defending against us! We couldn’t just swing against him without tactics or some form of strategy! And if any of those hits nded on Fir, he was as good as dead!
“On it!” Fir answered after dodging. “AWOOOOOOOOOO!”
He hauled to the mushrooms on the ceiling, with an intensity that made even our enemy stop, trying to predict what was coming. But he stuttered the moment Fir began to shine in [Elemental Mode].
“Haha! You made me use my new skill, mutt! I am all fired up right now!”
“Gggrr…. you got skills, so what?! I still can-ugh!”
I hit him with my handle, and I sent him flying towards a rock, which broke on impact.
“Now, take this!” Fir yelled and stepped forward.
Ice appeared under him and made its path towards our enemy. On touch, it covered the area on a rge cube of ice, freezing him inside.
Fir, then, began to cast a bunch of fireballs like he was firing a gatling gun!
[Elemental Mode]
- Unique Skill - Fir’s unique skill. Allows him to improve his control over his elemental mastery. As long as it sts, the user has lower magic cost and faster casting speed.
What an incredible skill he had! What did Aspen get?! Too bad she was missing that fight.
When Fir was done, there was no more ice, and smoke was coming out of the impact zone, not letting us see inside.
“Hahaha! That is what upstarts like him get! Too bad I had to kill him, he had talent!”
There was no XP notification, no level up, no unlock of skills.
Nothing happened, which made me feel uneasy.
“Damn you two!” someone yelled from inside the smoke.
Two electric bolts came from inside and hit us directly.
“Agh! Dammit!” Fir compined, and he fell to the ground. He could not move, “M-my body is not responding!”
And me?
Somehow, it affected me as well. My metallic body fell to the ground, and I could not make it lift.
|H-huh?! Why cannot I lift myself again?!|
[Warning… you were affected with a Paralysis status]
[Magic is not straightforward. It doesn’t follow ws of physics directly. It follows the will of the spellcaster. In general, you are stronger than him, but your enemy has a much stronger elemental and ethereal affinity]
“I didn’t know… these spells could affect… a sword…” Fir said, still trying to stand up.
“Hehe… I am impressed. First time someone managed to push me into such a corner… but I am not done yet…”
He came out of the smoke, limping and bleeding, but still pretty much standing and with still intent to kill us.
I was careless… I did not expect to be damaged and stopped this way… there was still much I needed to learn about magic.
[Analysing…]
How, how? How was I meant to fix that?! I was observing how he approached Fir, with a wicked smile as if he was already tasting victory.
[Cast a spell]
[Do it! Trust me]
I did as Erika asked. While the wolf was already casting another wind bde, I threw a fireball at him!
Booomm!
It reached him, but it hit a barrier he summoned at that moment, the explosion consumed by his protective spell. I knew it, he was going to block it with ease, and he came unscattered from my st ditch effort.
“Huh… how annoying… to think these idiots decided to follow this stupid sword… it cannot even speak! How is this piece of crap even able to do anything!”
He approached me.
“How sad… I will have to teach all these wolves how a leader loo-”
Then it happened. I didn’t notice it, but when I saw the silver fsh pass by and take that damn wolf I knew this was what Erika was waiting for.
[My calcutions were precise]
Aspen, who came in like a blur and hit the wolf with her body, was standing and observing the injured enemy, standing tall over him.
“Hey! No one bothered to wake me up until you three made all that noise!” Aspen answered, baring her teeth to the wolf, “this idiot smells like West Cn… I seem to have missed a lot right now!”
“Silence!” Forehead yelled and used the electric spell on her.
But Aspen disappeared! And in the next second, she was behind him, opened her mouth and, before he could respond with a shield, she nded a vicious bite and pushed him forward.
Forehead escaped, but could barely stand on his four legs anymore!
“Dammit… who the hell are all of you?!” he compined, failing to get back up.