The wolf's tail stiffened, its body crouched low to the ground—then suddenly, it burst forward.
The motion was nearly invisible.
Its speed doubled in an instant, becoming a blur of gray-white fur and snarling fangs.
Riley's eyes widened as he barely managed to react in time. His instincts kicked in, and he threw himself into a roll just as the wolf's claws slashed through the space where he'd been standing a heartbeat ago.
Dust and loose leaves scattered from the impact.
Even before he'd finished rolling, Riley snapped his right hand forward, towards the monster.
"Spike Shot!"
Swoosh!
A thin, metallic brown spike erupted from his palm, streaking toward the Dire Wolf with a faint whistling sound.
But the wolf wasn't standing still.
Its body twisted mid-run, sliding with the grace of a predator born to kill.
The spike missed by a wide margin, embedding itself in a tree behind the monster with a dull thud.
The wolf growled—then vanished.
Not literally, but its movement was so fast that it felt that way.
It became a blur once more, rushing at Riley with terrifying momentum.
"Tch—!"
Riley tried to leap out of the way, but before his body could even fully shift, the wolf slammed into his side with crushing force.
Boom!
It felt like a boulder had struck him.
The impact sent Riley flying through the air. He crashed through a thick bush, branches and leaves whipping across his face, and landed hard on the forest floor with a painful thud. His back hit a root, knocking the breath from his lungs.
[–20 HP]
A notification flashed across his vision, but he ignored it.
Riley groaned, pushing himself up with shaky arms. The taste of dirt filled his mouth, and for a second, his vision blurred from the pain.
Then—
A howl cut through the trees.
Loud, guttural, and commanding.
The bushes around him rustled again.
Not just one this time.
Rustle. Rustle. Rustle.
Three more wolves burst out of the surrounding bushes, each a little smaller than the first. However, their eyes gleamed with the same hunger, ready to pounce on him any second.
[Dire Wolf]
[Level: 5]
[HP: 75]
[Dire Wolf]
[Level: 5]
[HP: 80]
[Dire Wolf]
[Level: 5]
[HP: 70]
Riley's jaw tightened.
"This is bad," he muttered under his breath, rising to his feet and backing away slowly. 'It pushed me to its pack, what a sly wolf.'
His daggers were still in hand, but facing four Dire Wolves at once, especially after taking a hit, might be suicidal even with his experience.
Their growls filled the clearing. They began to spread out, encircling him.
The alpha wolf, the one that attacked him earlier, appeared through the bushes in the front, licking its lips as it stared at Riley.
'You think you've won already?' Riley thought, letting out a light scoff.
His eyes darted around, gauging the distance between each wolf.
'I can't take them all head-on, I'll get ripped apart for sure, but then, who says there aren't ways to take down a pack of wolves?'
His fingers tightened around his daggers, but he didn't rush forward.
Instead, he took a breath—then activated his stealth skill once again.
The skill came undone when the wolf struck him, but fortunately, the three second count-down was already over, so he could activate it again.
"Stealth."
His figure shimmered and vanished from sight.
But the wolves didn't panic. Not this time.
They snarled and growled, pacing and sniffing the air, eyes twitching to catch movement.
'Your noses might be sharp, but you can't catch me.' Riley thought.
He crouched low and moved swiftly, circling to the left. The alpha turned slightly in his direction, ears twitching.
Riley burst forward from stealth, targeting the Level 5 wolf to the left.
He swiftly slashed a dagger forward, aiming for the monster's hind leg.
His blade tore through the Achilles tendon easily, landing a clean cut on the wolf.
—40![Critical Hit!]
A notification appeared above the wolf, and it howled in pain, stumbling slightly.
But Riley didn't stay put.
He rolled backward, stretching a hand at the wolf.
Swoosh!
A thin spike shot out, piercing through the beast's head in the blink of an eye.
Spurt!
A gush of crimson sprayed from the wolf's head, and its body shook for a few seconds, before it finally dropped to the ground.
[You have killed Level 5 Dire Wolf]
[+40EXP]
At the same moment, another wolf lunged toward him, growling furiously.
But Riley quickly moved away, slashing at the wolf's leg.
—30!
The wolf's jaw clamped on thin air, and it immediately howled in pain, feeling a stinging sensation from its legs.
Riley smirked, his gaze drifting up the side, where the third wolf was already charging at him also.
But instead of backing away, he stretched a hand at the wolf, shooting a thin, brown spike at it.
Swoosh!
—40![Critical Hit!]
The spike stabbed through the wolf's hind leg almost instantly, tearing through its joint and tendons.
Howl!
The wolf howled in pain, its body instantly crashing to the ground, with blood gushing out of its leg.
[Spike Shot level up!]
[Spike Shot now level 2!]
[Description: Conjure a thin metallic brown spike and shoot it. Deals 70 points of damage to opponents. Cost: 10 Magic Points. Cool-down: 5 seconds]
A notification flashed across his eyes, and Riley smirked.
'Nice… it's levelled up.' He thought, swiftly stabbing a dagger into the throat of the wolf in front of him, before pulling it back out.
Blood sprayed from the wound. The wolf twitched once, then collapsed.
[Level 5 Dire Wolf Killed!]
[+40EXP]
[Stealth Deactivated!]
At that moment, stealth came undone and went into cool-down.
Riley's body shimmered once more, fully coming into the view of the wolves.
One of them was injured, barely able to even stand on its feet.
The spike still jutted from between the legs, blood slowly oozing from the wound.
The alpha wolf slammed his paw on the ground, growling furiously at Riley.
"Come on… don't tell me you're scared, little wolf?" Riley taunted.
The wolf's growls grew even fiercer, almost like it could hear Riley's taunt.
Swoosh!
It pounced forward, leaving a sharp streak of gray and white as it charged at Riley.