Chapter 39: Chapter 39: [Silverbark Wolf Teeth]

The last survivor was a quivering girl pinned against the cave wall, hiding behind a set of three thick stalagmites that were keeping the wolves at a distance - for now.

They were wearing colourful, flowing robes that were so long they would be a chore to run in, and their hair was between white and blonde.

She spotted them when she heard voices coming from the cave entrance, and a spike of hope flashed across her visage, her bright green eyes searching their faces for mercy. "HIPLEASEHELPME! Idon'twannabeeatenbywolves! I'll pay you mooneeeeyyy!" She whispered shrilly in their general direction, as if that would keep the wolves from hearing. One of them twitched a long, canine ear and the girl's entire body tensed.

The silverbark wolves became momentarily distracted then, their wet noses sniffing at the meat on the floor and eating it up. They became mildly distressed when said meat fizzled away into nothingness in their mouths.

"Money?" Giga perked at the offer.
"I wouldn't turn down a request from a maiden in trouble," Phoenix agreed, and readied his weapon in his hand, steadying it.

Well, apparently they were helping the girl. Nikola saw little reason to argue; even if they hadn't happened upon the cowering robed adventurer, they would've still had to get to the other side of the room somehow.

And considering how the wolves were trying to eat the human flesh scattered about, the option to just make friends with the silverbarks had probs passed long ago. Was it just normal for people to beat up the local wildlife in video games? The others in her party weren't even thinking twice about it.

Luke started running in without a word, and Phoenix loosed an arrow alongside him; it hit its mark on the wolf's snout, digging in between its eye and the bridge of its nose. It yowled unhappily, pawing at its face in an attempt to dislodge the stabby stick.

Giga rushed in to back Luke up. Phoenix piled several arrows all in his hand and aimed them toward the ceiling, prepping for a [Volley of Arrows].

Nikola waited for the arrows to fall from the sky before joining in. They rained down on the enemies, piercing into their center mass. One arrowhead sunk deep into a silverbark shoulder, rendering the attached limb momentarily useless.

This thoroughly enraged the wolves. They halted their flesh feast and craned their heads up, loosing a high-pitched, threatening howl that woke the bats nestled in the ceiling of the cave, giving Nikola an easy in; she [Crushing Cleave]'d between them as soon as they swooped into her range, closing the space between herself and her opponents before Luke and Giga were upon them.

She [Crushing Cleave]'d into the ribs of one of the majestic dog-like creatures and it lost its footing, its paws slipping out from under it as it began to nose around for the source of the injury, confusedly poking at its body for answers. It was the same wolf that had taken the arrow to the shoulder; Nikola almost felt bad for the thing.

The other wolf rushed Luke and Gold. The two screeched to a halt and tried to compensate and loose their prepared attacks early, but it was only Luke who procced his [Sword Dash] before getting a wall of fluff to the face.

He dashed tip-first toward the canid, and Nikola joined him with a [Crushing Cleave] after having left the first woof [Crippled].

Giga, being much less heavy than a full-ass wolf, was easily sent flying and continued flying as the wolf didn't even slow down on impact, grabbing onto his shoulder with its massive set of teeth. They dug into his flesh and the canid began to [Death Shake] him once its grip was sure enough, his body flapping uselessly through the air..

It was on the creature's second shake that Luke's [Sword Dash] and Nikola's [Crushing Cleave] connected, and the yelp that ensued had the creature dropping the golden Warrior. While he had been gracelessly shaken around, his armour helped him immensely; he had taken a great deal of damage, but its Damage Reduction had kept him alive.

His bones felt like jelly, but he made his way to his feet.

Wounded and seeking to recoup, the two wolves snarled and backed away together, many arrows sticking out of them line the silvery spikes in their fur. Nikola glanced over to check on the robed figure and they were hunched to the ground, holding their face in their hands.

"I am unsure how you are the one who survived," Nikola stated dryly, but upon seeing the streaks of fat tears running down the girl's face when she looked up, her voice softened. "You will have more time to cry later. If you wish to be alive to mourn them, then we need to all participate in this battle."

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With a sniffle, the colourfully dressed girl rose shakily to her feet. "O-okay, yeah. I'm sorry..." She reached out and began to draw a sigil Nikola didn't recognize, and when she finished her drawing an array of spike-shaped ice spewed out and stuck in the faces of their enemies, causing them to loose yet another set of yowls.

Phoenix was already rushing up from the back to check on Giga, who waved him away and snapped his fingers. His stance immediately strengthened. "Let's pretend that didn't happen."

The Silverbark Wolves continued to back away in unison, indicating they were low on HP. Nikola knew her [Crunch] would be unusable so soon after [Crippling] one of the wolves, so she would have to go about this the old-fashioned way and rend the flesh of these beasts from their bones.

She took a step toward them, and they took a step back. And again, and again the wolves retreated.

Phoenix drew a bundle of arrows back and loosed them, and the light whistle as they moved through the air was the last thing their enemies heard before their defeat. Each canine fell to the ground, their energy leaving them as they succumbed to their wounds.

"Nice," Giga and Luke said at the same time, warranting a chuckle from Luke.

The blonde-haired Mage used the sleeve of her robe to clean her face, and slowly approached the party. "So, you're not gonna kill the fuck out of me, are you?"

Phoenix gave her a warm smile. "It would be unimaginably rude of us to do so, given the state we found you in. Let us search the wolves for any drops, and then we'll discuss the matter of payment."

Luke and Giga got to work turning over the bodies. Luke pulled up his still-Red Box and grinned. "Hey, looks like I've already got two levels. Nikola, that means you've also leveled up - but it's probably not safe for us to be rifling through our menus right now."

Before he dismissed his menu, he checked the [Party Inventory] screen and found several [Bat Wings] distributed among them, as well as to [Silverbark Wolf Teeth]; an ingredient he knew could be used to craft all sorts of goodies. It was sitting in his Party Inventory, though they could shuffle that loot around before it truly got distributed.

Just as he listened to his own advice and dismissed his menu, many sets of footsteps began to echo through the tunnel.

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