Chapter 16: The Dire Wolves.
Outside the den, Max was standing beside Micah and Sylv. They were all waiting for a signal from the inside to finally make their way through the mouth and meet with Ethan and Sara.
But little did they know that they’d encounter multiple dire wolves. There are only two possibilities in this dungeon: first, that all the wolves would be resting inside the den alongside the boss,
Otherwise, half of them would go away to hunt. And unfortunately, more than a dozen such dire wolves had begun to circle around those three.
Max instantly removed the straps, which were helping his long sword hang behind his back.
He grabbed the sword’s hilt and swung it forward, directing the blade’s head towards the wolves. "Stay behind me, you two."
"Sylv, prepare your magic. I’ll buy you enough time for it." He said before looking at Micah.
"There will be no need for you to buff me, so don’t strain yourself and stick with Sylv."
Micah’s temple was filled with sweat; his hands were shaking slightly, but he still managed to give a weak nod in agreement to his words.
Without wasting any more time, Max dashed forward. His longsword was completely stretched to the right to exert more force when he swung it.
A few wolves attacked him, but it didn’t take him long to cut them all. He swung his sword once; it made an impact with the wolf’s body.
But the wolf still didn’t die, though the impact was hard enough to paralyze it. It instantly lay on the ground, howling lightly in pain.
Max’s swing carried enough force to easily cut through the wolf’s whole torso, but it didn’t because his sword’s blade was sturdy. There wasn’t any sharpness in it, just bluntness.
The wolves noticed that one of them was on the ground, begging for death to arrive earlier. The state of it made them a bit furious; a feeling of revenge erupted through them.
Still, they didn’t attack aimlessly. There were four wolves in each direction; some were standing on the rocks, and some were standing on the plain.
But each seemed as if they were prepared to attack any second.
Even Max was scanning them precisely; his gaze shifted from one direction to the other.
Soon, all of them attacked at the same time. There wasn’t even a single second of traction between them.
Max leaped backwards, widening the gap between them. The wolves landed where he was before, but it didn’t take them long to lunge at him again.
This time he couldn’t step away because there wasn’t any room left for him to do so.
If he moved to the right, there was the slope, and on the left were Micah and Sylv.
He clenched his jaw tightly and looked around him for a second as a thought appeared inside his mind. ’I should attack one side first and care about the rest later.’
Max directed his sword to the right, which made the wolves in that direction take their stance; they bared their fangs at him.
But it was all to trick them. Max jumped to his left as he swung his sword in a long arc, which resulted in slashing through all the wolves standing there.
The wounds still weren’t deep enough; they just made those wolves beg for death.
"Max, get away!! Don’t blame me if you get caught in my magic!!" Sylv exclaimed.
His head shot to his left; he noticed that a huge gust of fire was coming towards him, and alongside it came a spree of wind.
He leaped to the front right away, looked at the magic once, and then at Sylv. She was using two kinds of elements, fire with the left and wind with the right.
A small chuckle resonated through his mouth as he continued dryly. "You clearly are a prodigy in magic, huh?"
He crossed his arms before continuing. "Two elements, and you’re just eighteen. That’s clearly a heavy feat."
No reply came from Sylv; he didn’t care because she was completely focused on circulating her mana.
Soon, half of the wolves had been reduced to charred husks, while the rest were swept off the mountainside by the ferocious gale.
"Didn’t I tell you last time to never disturb me while I’m using my mana?" She scoffed.
Max’s mind drifted back to their last dungeon run. She had explicitly warned him not to call out to her, explaining that even the slightest distraction while channeling mana could trigger a dangerous backlash. That was why he knew better than to disturb her while she was casting.
He began scratching the back of his head, and a nervous smile appeared on his face. "Hahaha!! I clearly forgot about that."
Sylv turned towards the den’s mouth before replying. "Meathead."
Those words were loud, definitely enough for them to reach his ears. But he pretended not to hear because he knew that Sylv only tolerates it when it’s with Sara.
Micah and Max both followed alongside Sylv as they passed through the den’s mouth.
They walked for a minute before spotting Ethan and Sara; they both were standing right in front of a colossal Dire Wolf.
They clearly understood that each target inside the den was killed, and now only the boss was left.
Without wasting any time, Max stepped forward and stood next to Ethan.
Sylv and Micah stepped towards the corner to take cover because neither of them had to work to defeat this boss.