When Alger arrived at the source of the smell. He was shocked...
An entire pack of shadow wolves was slaughtered a few hundred meters away from the road. Some of the corpses were missing their heads, while others had nothing below their waists.... It was a horrifying scene. But that wasn't the reason Alger was shocked...
Near the pack of wolves was another corpse... the corpse of a deer.
A fresh corpse... Alger could still see the blood flowing out from the holes in its body.
Whatever had killed the deer was nearby... too close perhaps.
Alger quickly ran back towards the caravan to warn them of what he had just seen.
There was no point in scouting the road up ahead at this point, whatever was in the forest could be anywhere, maybe they already crossed it, maybe it is right next to them....
But his questions would be cleared when he turned around... he saw something...
Something that didn't belong.Something that made the silence feel heavier.A figure... standing just at the edge of the path, half-shrouded in mist, as if it had been waiting. Watching.
The air felt colder suddenly.And Alger, for the first time in a while, hesitated.
On the road, a beast was staring at Alger. It had fur as white as the snow itself, and even though it stood on all fours... it was still taller than Alger.
It resembled a wolf, but its jaw was built differently, broader, its fangs slightly protruding even when its mouth was closed. Its limbs were longer, and there was a subtle glow beneath its coat... faint lines of pale blue running along its body like streaks of lightning.
After seeing the creature's alluring fur and the bloodlust burning in its crimson eyes, the name of only one creature came to Alger's mind.A Tempest Conjuror Wolf.
Tempest wolves live in the Northern territory. They hunt in packs. But in front of him was a single Tempest wolf, in the middle of a spruce forest in the Eastern territory.
Impossible! What is one doing all the way here...
Alger was stuck. If he ran toward the caravan, the wolf might follow, and he would be putting everyone else at risk. But if he ran away from it, the wolf could lose interest in him and head straight for the others.
Alger had no choice but to fight it...
He wasn't stupid; he had a plan. If things got out of control, he would jump on the trees again. And he was fairly confident he could defeat the Tempest wolf, because they were both Conjurors.
Alger slowly unsheathed his katana as its sound echoed through the silent forest. He jumped down the branches, conjuring the wind around his legs to soften his fall.
He was now standing a few meters away from the wolf.
He was scared. He had never faced a carnivorous beast before, and the idea of fighting a Conjurer was beyond him. And yet, here he was.
Before Alger could react. The wolf roared, something Alger had never expected a wolf to do... Its roar was very loud, so that if Alger hadn't controlled the wind near his ear's his eardrums would have exploded... Alger heard the roar echo through empty forest.
The wolf was fast... it wasn't using its tempest abilities, but it was still as fast as Alger. The wolf was rushing straight towards him. Alger placed one of his hands on the ground and created a burst of wind that propelled him upwards, while simultaneously boosting his jump using the wind at his legs. A lot higher than Alger had expected, Alger could see the caravan from up here...
Huh?! I didn't expect it to make me go up this high!
When Alger looked down, the wolf had opened its jaw and was preparing a charge of wind within its mouth...
Damn it! For how long am I going to keep falling!!
The wolf unleashed the wind. Which Alger couldn't even see. Alger didn't even notice the charge until he realized his ear was bleeding a little. Alger had expected the wolf to be powerful. But to think it was to this extent!
The wind charge zipped right next to Alger's ears. If Alger had been even a few inches to his right. He might have died...
Alger slowly caressed the blade of his katana with one hand while holding onto the handle with the other.
Although Alger didn't have a Tempest katana, he could still imbue a little Tempest element into his sword to enhance the damage.
Alger used the wind to position himself right above the wolf. He aimed his katana right at the skull of the wolf while the wolf was preparing another wind charge in its mouth.
Alger's blade directly clashed with the wind charge of the wolf...
Alger got ended up being thrown sideways due to the collision. His blade had snapped in half...
I spent 4 whole years saving for that damn sword! Damn it. How can wind collide with wind!? It doesn't make any sense!
Alger slowly stood up. He checked to see if he had gotten any wounds. The wind burst had pierced through his shoulder... which meant he couldn't use one if his arms.
The wolf, however... was unfazed.
I thought we were both Conjurors.... how is that thing so strong?
Alger didn't have a weapon, which meant he had to run. He had to get on top of the trees as quickly as he could.
The wolf roared at him again and came straight at him. But this time it was faster... too fast for Alger to react. The wind was swirling around the wolf's hind legs...
Alger was sure he was as strong as the Tempest wolf, if not stronger, because they were both Conjurors... but his assumption was wrong, very wrong. The Tempest wolf was many times stronger than him... too strong for him.
The wolf grabbed him with its jaw and slammed him straight into a tree.
The tree creaked a little, like it was about to fall down...
Alger coughed up a lot of blood; he was bleeding from everywhere. His sides were being pierced by the large and sharp teeth of the wolf. The belt he wore had snapped in half.
Damn it! Damn it! Curse it all! This isn't how it was supposed to go!
Alger realised he was weak, and he was far too overconfident....
Didn't I say I was going to explore Unknown!? I have to live! I have to survive....
Alger was trapped in the maw of the beast... His broken katana had slipped out of his hand somewhere along the way...
He was helpless; he couldn't even move. He tried to conjure a wind burst to free himself, but was only able to slightly open the jaw of the wolf; he could still feel the teeth of the beast inside his guts. He couldn't keep it up for long... eventually the jaw was going to snap and he was going to split in half...
I CAN'T DIE LIKE THIS! DAMN IT ALL!
Alger was running out of Elemental Energy... and with it, his time to live.
But in the next moment, something unexpected happened....
In the blink of an eye, something resembling an arrow flew right in front of Alger before crashing into the dirt and making a small crater.
The maw of the beast slowly loosened and the beast fell to its side...
There was a huge hole near the neck of the wolf... its flesh was burning.
Alger had been saved... but he had lost far too much blood. His consciousness was slowly fading. His eyes started to flicker. But before they completely closed, he saw someone walking towards him...