Chapter 0032

A loud bang shook the ice wall. Cracks slithered like a slow-moving snake along the once clear wall.

Most of the woman here came from the Magus Alliance. They knew the strength of an ice wall cast by a red mage. It was the third strongest barrier spell. The strongest wall type spell is the metal wall followed by an earth wall. At higher levels the other elements can overcome the defense of the material wall with domain type spells. However, at lower levels, metal, earth and ice walls are the strongest area defense type spells.

When cracks start appearing upon the once pristine walls, they knew it meant only one thing.

The Alpha Iron Clawed Wolf has joined the fight.

Wails of despair emerged as more silver coins were tossed into the air. Most of the mercenaries were thinking the same thing, if they can’t fight the Alpha Iron Clawed Wolf, then they can at least run. They are not far from their previous encampment or the Twin Tower City. With the help of either As Swift as the Wind or the Flash Step charms along with their abilities, they are confident they can escape. As for the slower members… well they can be cannon fodder.

Many of the mercenaries wanted to ask Tempest to open an exit. The first person who does so will earn the ire and hatred of the rest. When there is a chance to escape, they might be betrayed by the rest so they held back and hope someone else will do it for them.

As there are cowards in the group, there are the courageous. A few had no intention of backing off. Emery, the black hair trio, Jean, a woman in a green dress wielding a rapier and another woman holding a giant axe fought bravely at the entrance.

They realize one important fact of a cultivator’s life - the fight for resources is filled with dangers. Fighting for a spot as the disciple of the Brilliant Yin Sect is filled with dangers. The battles for treasure to improve cultivation doesn’t come free. When grabbing an herb, one must fight the magical beast guarding it. If the cultivator does not have the courage to take the resources, then they will never amount to anything. The same can be applied to their own cultivation path. If they back off now, they might as well pack up and go home.

Among the rearguard still casting spells, Tempest remain the strongest. Surprisingly, the annoying duo, Tilda and Wiminia continued to cast their spells, though Tempest can tell Wiminia can cast may be 7 more spells.

With another loud bang, the Alpha Iron Clawed Wolf broke the ice wall.

For the first time, Tempest understood why her spirits said she’d last about 3 seconds under the paw of a level 3 magical beast.

It was beautiful. Silver fur shone in the light of the sun, coupled with a sleek muscular frame, brilliant amber eyes and adorable triangular ears perked upright remind Tempest of the yippy but very friendly Pomeranian next door though about 10 times bigger.

“Kyyaaaa. So cute.” Tempest's exclaim was drowned out by the screams of fear from everyone else.

While Tempest saw a giant sized puppy, the mercenaries saw giant claws that can kill with a swing, gigantic fangs in an equally toothy snout capable of snapping a human in half.

“Get your eyes checked!” No wonder Aria Se Jivock showed interest in the charm seller. Aria Se Jivock saw the world differently due to her unique set of eyes. Tempest saw the new world through the lens of an Earth woman. The two women are of the same ilk, two odd balls standing out amidst the crowd. Birds of a feather do flock together.

Then the Alpha Iron Clawed Wolf attacked. Emery rushed to block it with her big sword. Iron Clawed Wolves was not renowned for their speed and this Alpha Iron Claw Wolf did not work on its speed either, hence Emery’s ability to intercept it. What they were known for is their large packs, their ferocity and their strength. With one swipe of its claw, Emery’s big sword cracked.

“Jean, Senna, Bailey, Amber and Ellen help me fight the Alpha Iron Clawed Wolf. Terra and other vanguard hold off the rest of the pack. Rearguard, help Terra.” Emery’s order range out through the clearing.

Ellen, huh? Tempest didn’t take note of an Ellen. Oh, the girl with the giant axe is Ellen and Terra is the girl dressed in green.

Interesting.

These two should be pretty strong, as strong as Emery or stronger.

Tempest thought process is very superficial, and she knew it. Considering this as her first outing-slash-fight in a new world, Tempest judgement about a cultivator’s abilities is very simple. The bigger the weapon, the stronger they are.

There is a saying, never judge a book by its cover.

Book, meet stupid book cover judge. The newly coined red mage knew her analyzing abilities is lousy at best, should have flushed down the eternal void, never to be seen at worst, but she had no other reference to go by.

Americans go by bigger is better. Bigger food portions, bigger cars (they really think like that, how do you think the gas guzzling hummers came into being?), bigger guns and bigger missiles are better. So the power ranking among the mercenaries goes Ellen, Emery, Jean, Senna, Amber, Bailey and then Terra.

Tempest is at the bottom.

She has no weapons.

One of these days, she is going to get the biggest baddest sword out there. Cloud, the main character in Final Fantasy VII or more like Final Fantasy Advent Children, has a bad ass sword. Tempest want that sword. Shoo, Cloud, shoo, your sword is mine.

As if they have practice it a thousand times before, Jean, Senna, Bailey, Amber and Ellen got into position with the black hair trio at the back, Jean to the right and Ellen to the left.

Terra is a good vice leader. She yelled orders after orders, sending people into key positions while fighting off the Iron Clawed Wolves that swarmed in with the alpha.

The rearguard did their best to assist Terra. Tempest… well Tempest turned her head away from cute puppy alpha wolf to kill the Iron Clawed Wolves. The Iron Clawed Wolves are ugly mutts, slightly better looking than insects and not as tenacious as the roaches that crawled over Tempest when she was a baby.

Things got better later. Her mother could afford roach bait.

“Tempest, go help fight the Alpha Iron Clawed Wolf.” Terra made the decision to cut down their fighting power against the wolf pack in order to kill the Alpha Iron Clawed Wolf faster. Once the leader is gone, the rest will scatter.

The puppy lover red mage lied her teeth off, “The Alpha Iron Clawed Wolf is too strong. My spells can’t do anything to it.”

Terra grit her teeth, threw a menacing glare at the disobedient red mage and started fighting the wolf pack.

Your spells are cutting the Iron Clawed Wolves like a hot knife through butter, how dare you say your spells won’t harm the Alpha Iron Clawed Wolf!

While there were a few silent protesters, the rest of the rearguard was happy Tempest was fighting with them. With her assistance, they have a higher survival rate and they knew it.

“Great Cleave.”

“Thunderous Strike.”

“Whirlwind Slice.”

“Arcane Thrust.”

The women fighting the Alpha Iron Clawed Wolf used their skills one after another. They knew they had to take down the level 3 magical beast fast. Their stamina won’t last long. The rearguard already taken up arms, physically fight the wolves instead of casting long range spells.

Tempest is the only one casting spells right now. Who knows what agenda the weird red mage has!

“Low-level skills won’t harm it!” Emery yelled.

The others came to the exact conclusion. They had no choice but to use their mid-level skills or trump card.

“Tripart Focus Cleave.”

Shing, shing, shing.

Finally, the level three magical beast shed some blood!

Emery manages to damage the Alpha Iron Clawed Wolf! With renewed determination, the other continued their attacks, adding more force or using higher levels skills.

Emery was glad her attack manage to motivate the scheming wenches to use attack with their full power. Previously, everyone was reserving their power to escape.

Mid-level skills take a toll on the body or have backlashes a cultivator must pay when they use it. When a cultivator temper their body well enough, the backlash is either reduced or eliminated completely.

The Tripart Focus Cleave is a mid level skill Emery received from the red hair cheap skate before they parted ways. It is a three strike attack that damages the opponent using momentum, attack power and mental power or qi of a cultivator.

The miser taught her a low-level mental cultivation mnemonic along with the Tripart Focus Cleave as a reward for services rendered. Lying trough!

When the miser requested an escort, he promised to impart the Tripart Focus Cleave at the end of the journey. After using her like a dog, he magnanimously offered the skill along with the mnemonic.

Emery sneered as she reverts her focus back to the continued fight. She gets angry every time she remembers the bastard.