So, about 5 hours after yesterday's chapter, I noticed I forgot a rather important bit of information in the chapter. I've added it, so feel free to search for it, muah ha ha. Two things:

1. Question: Why can I only see 8/23 reviews? I'm interested in reading all of them.

2.Is there anything that needs to be changed? I really enjoy reading the detailed comments the point out mistakes and possible future ideas, really helpful to me (less so smart people guessing my plot >.>)/ Thx for being such a great audience

Enjoy

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"Sir! What's wrong?" Olaf asked, hefting his ax and staring around wildly.

"It's the expedition! Without us scouting the way, they are going to be ambushed." Steel yelled, throwing himself off the carriage.

The men looked confused for a moment, as they were NPC's and didn't receive quest updates, but quickly leaped into action after Nina and Hunie jumped after Steel. Nina had obviously received something similar, and Hunie trusted Steel's judgement. They took off into the woods, eager to join a fight, and scared of the possibility of a massacre.

88/90 remaining

"Hunie, give us a heading!" Steel commanded as they passed trees and underbrush. Hunie began sniffing as she ran, her ears twitching in every direction until turning to her front right direction.

"That way Master! Hurry up, I smell blood." She said in alarm.

"Hunie, you go ahead, we'll catch up." Steel ordered. Hunie nodded, and with a burst of speed, she disappeared into the forest ahead. Steel turned to Nina.

"Your turn guardian assassin, use your speed and protect the members of the guard with your blade. We are right behind you."

Nina nodded, her eyes resolute and hard. She wasn't as fast as Hunie, but she still managed to out distance the four of them and disappear as well. He turned to the rest of his squad.

"Men, we are few, and as such cannot turn the tide of battle by just charging in recklessly." He said, dodging a low hanging tree branch, "As we get closer, use the element of surprise to kill off the closest enemies. That will allow for greater teams in taking down the rest of the enemy."

"Sir!" Olaf called, his ax swinging into the low branch, cutting it without slowing, "What if I can't be all stealthy like that?"

Steel grinned, "Then climb a blasted tree and jump on top of them you big oaf. Your weight outta kill a few easily enough." They all enjoyed a hearty, blood lust filled laugh as they approached the fighting.

They came across a large battle scene in the woods before the wolf lair. Devil wolves and demon wolves were fighting the expedition squads, biting and swiping men into the air. They had planned it out smart, for corrupted wolves anyway. From Steel's quick observation, he surmised the bulk of the wolf pack had come from the rear, attacking the weaker squads placed there by Hamilton. In the ensuing chaos, the squads had panicked and fled into the front of the group, disrupting the placement and spreading fear through the ranks. Thankfully, the alpha wolf was not in the battle, but a toll had been taken. Steel looked at the counter to his top right.

68/90 men still alive.

22 well trained men dead in the field. 7 devil wolves and 15 demon wolves were still alive. Not the best odds.

Steel welcomed the challenge.

Activating his Rallying Cry, he threw himself onto the back of the closest demon wolf, activating his shield piercer ability as he slammed into the demon wolf's back.

-20 piercing damage, surprise attack.

Howling in pain, the wolf tried to snap at him, but it's reach was too small. It resorted to trying to buck him off like a horse, with Steel holding on to the fur for dear life. Then, the wolf was thrown back as something hit it from the front.

-15 impact damage

A smiling Hunie leaped toward the flying wolf and punched it several more times in quick succession. With a howl, the wolf disappeared in a sparkle of light. Steel had jumped off after the first impact, so re rolled in, swiped the loot without seeing what it was, and moved toward his next target.

The demon wolves weren't too big a problem as long as groups attacked them. It was the devil wolf group that was ripping through the crowd. While blocking a drive by swipe, Steel saw Sergeant Hamilton.

The sergeant had managed to regroup a large group of the men, and was giving them precise orders for the battle. He had set up a defensive line, and was leading a charge against the pack. With his leadership, the group drove the wolves back toward the lair.

60/90 men were still alive, with two devil wolves and 8 demon dogs dead on the ground. Steel had Hunie stealthily gathered the ears as proof of their death. Meanwhile, a blood soaked Hamilton walked up to him.

"I ordered you to stay and protect the carriages scout." He barked, "What were you thinking coming in after us? Some misplaced sense of heroism?"

Steel snorted, "I had my orders to lead you to the lair sir. In fact." Steel raised his voice so everyone could hear, "If you had let my scout team work, you might have avoided this ambush and save your men."

Hamilton glowered at Steel, but he felt the eyes of the men on him. Even some of his friends were looking worried, it would do no good to cause a scene now. Justifying Steel's words would do him no favors.

He pointed his armored finger at Steel, "Lead us to the lair, but if one man dies from you incompetent scouting, you'll pay with blood."

Steel gave an exaggerated bow, before barking, "Let's go men!"

"Sir yes sir!"

They split into the 3 groups they had set up before hand: Olaf and James, Hawk and Nina, and Steel with Hunie. They headed out in the direction of the layer, climbing the rocks and keeping their eyes out while the expedition members recovered themselves.

Steel turned to Hunie, "How did they do, I wasn't able to keep track of them all."

Hunie, leaping over the rocks, replied in an informative voice, "They all did well Master. The practice from the trap plants payed off. Hawk and Olaf teamed up with some men to take down a demon wolf, James protected some of the downed men, and Nina killed a wolf by herself."

"How did she manage that?"

"Someone had hobbled it, so she took her time slicing it to pieces." She answered.

"Well, they all did their jobs, any significant injuries?"

"No sir, though Olaf did pick up a scratch on his arm, it won't hamper him too much."

Steel nodded, taking a leap down to the ground. They were approaching the lair. A cry to his left told him Olaf and James had found an opponent. A quick whistle, then the other four headed over to help them out.

Steel and Hunie arrived in time to see Olaf fly back against a rock and moan in pain. It was a devil wolf, and it's red eyes glistened at the sight of new prey. This was the first one Steel had been able analyze, and what he saw did not encourage him.

Opponent InformationNameLevelThreatHealth[tr]Devil Wolf7E130DescriptionThis is an advanced type of corrupted wolf. Devil wolves are the second form of corruption a wolf can take when exposed to darkness mana in the wild. After enough time, they either die from the over corruption and become zombie wolves, succumb to the darkness mana and become dark crystal mana, or very rarely become an alpha corrupted wolf. The corruption of magic has warped their minds full of pain, which makes them seek to inflict pain on others. Killing one is a mercy.

(shoot, I forgot my own ranking system >.>, means more work to do. just imagine F-S rank for now, and I'll fix later)

'No wonder so many men were sent on the mission' Steel's heart sank, 'These things would tear us players apart.' He took in the situation. James was protecting Olaf, who was knocked out for now. Nina and Hawk were on their way, but it would take a minute or two. Hunie was next to him itching to go.

Strength wise, Hunie was the strongest, but still sat at level 1. Steel had never found an exp bar for her, so his guess was she was dependent on his leveling up. Steel himself was level 2, Nina was 1, and the 3 NPC guys stood at level 2. The majority of the guard were in the 5-10 range, not counting the higher ranks. No doubt, the expedition would not find this a hard challenge, unless the alpha wolf was too much.

A quick push from Hunie saved his life as the Devil wolf surged onto the spot he had just been standing. Steel cursed himself for dwelling in such a critical moment.

"James, keep you shield up for Olaf and help him recover! Hunie and I will keep it off of you until the other two arrive. Then, we'll take this thing down together!"

James backed up until he was on top of Olaf, and took a shield position. Granted, all he he had was a large buckler, but it would do. Steel chugged a stamina potion and activated both his skills: Leader's Roar and Rallying Cry. The wolf was unaffected by the cc skill, but his rallying cry boosted himself and the other 3 who heard it. With a shout, Steel leapt into battle with Hunie, the devil wolf jumping at them, mouth wide.

Steel activated his earth armor, shield bashing the wolf with both the skill and shield piercer into it's face.

-10 impact damage

Missed

The bash connected, but the piercer hit nothing but the air between the teeth. Steel was knocked back as the wolf's body passed his, a paw pushing him back as it passed. Hunie's kick also missed, but she landed gracefully and launched another quick bunny kick.

The wolf dodged it, running behind the rocks and reappearing near Steel, throwing a body slam in his direction. He braced himself, and barely managed to avoid being thrown back by the force.

-5 impact damage

"This thing has some really high attacks." Steel shouted, "Avoid this guy at all cause!"

He punched ahead with the shield, but the wolf had already left, biting and swiping at the dodging bunny maid. She jumped back from rock to rock, avoiding the paws by a large margin. Rather, if she let them get too close, she wouldn't be able to avoid them completely. Cursing, Steel deactivated Earth Armor, he couldn't afford to waste mana.

As if it sensed it, the wolf immediately stopped going for Hunie and threw itself again at Steel. This time, without the Earth Armor, he was thrown back against the rocks and felt body shiver in pain.

-18 impact damage

-5 piercing damage

The wolf was trying to bite Steel now, only managing a small cut with one of it's teeth before Hunie drove it off of him. He cursed as he got up, staring at the creature.

"Damn, this thing is a lot stronger than the one I faced." He muttered, "I guess that's the difference between a new devil wolf and an old devil wolf." He wiped the virtual reality blood from his lips.

"We need to slow it down." He started thinking of a plan, knowing Hunie could only last a little bit before it overwhelmed her. A cry alerted him to Nina and Hawk's entrance into the fray.

The two of them jumped from a rock down onto the wolf, who jumped backwards and growled at the newcomers. Steel took the opportunity to cast Milna's Blessing on Olaf, using the last of his available mana, thankfully having a mana potion to refill it.

With all six squad members surrounding it, the devil wolf growled and howled into the air. At once, two demon wolves crept out of the shadows, their hackles raised and spittle coming from their mouth.

"Frac, the blasted thing has an ally call." Hawk cried out, turning to swipe at the demon dog that had jumped at him. Now the battle changed into each team facing their own opponent, leaving Hunie and Steel facing the devil wolf alone again,

This time, the wolf sucked in air, giving Steel a bad feeling, before shooting out a black smoke at the two, covering their noses and blocking their sight.

"Master, I can't find him!" Hunie cried out, followed by a cry of pain.

"Hunie!" Steel cried, activating charge as he headed toward the direction of the cry. He came out of the smoke to find Hunie in the devil wolf's mouth, being shaken back and forth. She punched at his nose, her weakening blows having no effect on her adversary. Crying in rage, Steel activated his best combo: charging shield bash with shield piercer with Leader's Roar activating every time it was up. His blow knocked the wolf back in pain, dropping Hunie from it's jaws as it roared. Steel kept up the pain, whacking at it over and over.

-20 impact damage

-24 piercing damage

+5 blood drain

'Crap, he has a life steal ability.' Steel thought, 'The bastard was draining Hunie!'

Crying out his last Leader's Cry, he shield bashed without the piercer, as he was out of mana.

-5 impact damage, daze

The bash and leader's roar combo finally activated daze, and the wold was disoriented for 2 seconds. Enough time for Steel to drown a stamina and mana potion, activating Milna's blessing to heal Hunie out of critical. He didn't know what would happen to her if she dies, but he had no plans to find out now or ever. He performed another charged shield bash as the wolf was recovering, slamming it against a stone.

-15 impact damage.

He checked the wolf's health:

(Can't wait to add this to the other chapters! Cool code)

The devil wolf had taken quite bit of damage. At this rate though, he'd have no potions to use at the actual wolf lair. Resounding battle cries answered his prayers, however. The four squad members leaped into the fray with him, attacking the devil wolf with their blood soaked weapons form the demon wolves. Steel smiled.

Why fight alone when you have subordinates to help?

A quick Rallying Cry boosted everyone's strength and endurance, and they fell upon the devil wolf with a vengeance. Olaf and Hawk hacked at the back legs of the wolf, seeking to cripple it. Nina used the rocks around as platforms to wall jump onto the wolf's back and began stabbing it. James attacked the head with Steel, forcing it to keep it's aggro on them. When the wolf opened it's mouth to call for reinforcements, the two of them shield bashed together with a Leader's Roar, interrupting the skill as the damage piled up. Finally, with a howl, the devil wolf fell to the ground, defeated by a slash from James.

Battle ResultsYou have won a battle against a 2 demon wolves and a devil wolf

+100 exp

+450 exp

+ 2 demon wolf fangs

+ 1 devil wolf fang

+3 corrupted wolf pelts

The wolves disappeared in a flash of light, leaving behind their pelts. Steel was getting annoyed by the system, he had wanted to skin them with his new skinning knife, not that they had the time of course, but it irked him the just the same. He resolved to figure it out later.

The 5 of them sat down and rested, catching their breath. Steel crawled over to check on Hunie. She smiled up weakly at him, a bleeding and an unknown status blinking over her health. Steel quickly bandaged her up, and healed her up to full with Milna's Blessing. The odd status didn't go away, however, but she got up and stretched like nothing was wrong.

"That was well done Master, I'm proud of you." She smiled at him, "And we are almost at the lair entrance. I don't think we'll encounter any more wolves, so why don't you call for the expedition guys to join us."

Steel smiled and patted her head, "Good idea Hunie, I'm glad you okay."

Hunie closed her eyes and rubbed her head against her hand, inspiring some annoyed looks from Nina, but she said nothing as she watched.

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And the first major action chapter is over! Feedback plz, how was it?