In the Origin forest, by the field of the Sanctuary...

Time seems to stand still...

Actually, time is flowing normally. For the two Speedsters who have high Speed stat, when their perception is switched to battle mode, time becomes relatively much more slower. No one moves. One second feels like one minute. One minute feels like an hour. Though the actual ratio is based on their Speed.

The wolf growls. The lizard in defensive pose raises his dagger high to his eyes level. Although the lizard blocks half of his vision like that, his high DEX makes up for it completely. He is trying to hide where he is looking at from the wolf, a strategy to conceal his next move, not like a wild wolf can anticipate it.

A single light particle aimlessly floats over and interrupts their glare for a split second (in their perspective)...

The wolf, an animal who has no patience, makes the first move after what seems like an eternity. Its appearance becomes a vicious brown blur. It is fast but only predictably dashes forward.

The next split second where the light particle passes, the lizard is no longer in the wolf's vision. Without losing its calmness due to the surprise, it kicks the ground side way to blindly change direction to its left. Its instinct was right. A sharp object pierces its after-image and is followed by a green blur. The lizard calculated their speeds and made an arched jump to reach where the wolf would be. Although it was a missed hit, he has successfully got to the wolf's blind spot and is ready his next strike any moment.

The wolf knows it is at a disadvantage. Its prided speed is overwhelmed by the Lv31 Lizard who trained in both AGI and DEX. It feels lucky that the other Lv32 Lizard who is still in standing-up motion, doesn't seem to be a Speedster. Speed is a powerful stat, however if one does 10 hits in a second with only 1 damage each, that one'd still lose to a Strength trainer who can do much more damages each hit.

The next split second comes. The lizard turns his dagger horizontally in prepare for a side-way thrust. The wolf knows the best way to avoid the hit is to distancing itself further, but it also knows that even if it does so, it would only delay the inevitable. Getting hit then counterattack would be a better option. It has some points in Defense and its enemy might not have high Atk. After all, one can't train STR along with AGI and DEX, right?

The wolf's HP rapidly drops until [HP 507/542] appears in its vision before it could feel the sting on its side. The thrust was a 5x Atk Skill. Ignoring the pain, it swing its right front paw at the lizard, hitting with the back of its paw at 2x Atk. [26*2 Exp gained.] The wolf does not care enough to calculate it but it just did 22*2 damages although it only has 20 Atk.

The lizard's fang-like dagger is cursed. It brings both the user's and the enemy's Defense down. The user would be weaker the longer they wield it while chipping off its target's Def with each hit. Negative Defense would add to the damage received so it's a perfect weapon for someone with high Speed but low Atk.

The lizard, who is supposed to fly away due to the hit, kicks the ground the moment after he gets hit to cancel out the momentum. It brings some strain to his body but it doesn't stop him from swinging his cursed dagger again. The wolf expects another 7*5 damages...

[HP 387/542] The dagger's last thrust reduced the wolf's Defense by 5 points. Even worse, the 5x Atk swing-attack deals a critical hit of 24*5 damages and strips off the rest of its Def. It immediately thinks of retreating, however...

"Brother!"

The lizard grins as his second hit landed its mark. It took him 10 MP for the [i]Wind Walk skill he cast on his brother before chasing the wolf (which has wore off by now) then a total of 60 MP for the last three hits (including the first missed hit) and he has 76 MP left, which means he can use 5x Atk attack 4 more times. He doesn't know his enemy's HP and he didn't expect the first hit to miss, but he is sure a Lv25 Wolf can't take 4 more hits from his dagger. Even if he can't finish this in 4 hits, his bigger brother, a Trapper Ranger, could easily finish the job. Although the older lizard has lower intelligent, his Trap skill is the best of his tribe; especially Earth Trap as it's his second aptitude.

"Brother!" The older's voice gets the younger one's attention.

They have done hunting together many times before. He would use speed to surprise the enemy while his brother would prepare a trap; after considerably weaken the enemy down, the damage-type trap would finish the job. His brother's call just signaled that the trap is ready.

The wolf swings its right paw at him, this time with the right position to claw at the lizard's scale. [HP 454/618] The claw go through him like cutting through paper. It wasn't a critical hit but with his negative defense, the 5x Atk dealt 24*5 damage at him. He kicks the ground to distance himself from the wolf.

"Now!" Although his word was short, as per what they have done before, the older would immediately understand that it's time to trigger the trap.

"It iss not it!"

The speed-lizard has never doubted his brother so he believes that the trapper lizard has prepared a trap where the wolf is. The magical trap would be invisible to naked eyes but he who has high DEX could see a faint circle depicting the Area of Effect on the ground However, after distancing himself a few step, he notices no sign of trap. This is dangerous. His last action has made himself into a vulnerable position...

The wolf, on the other hand, doesn't take the opportunity to strike the fully-open lizard. It doesn't know why, but its enemy who is supposed to be in advantage has distanced from him and give him enough space to retreat. Wasting no time, it dashes toward its lair. After the battle, it knows that its speed is inferior to the lizard. If it'd been just as smart as a wild wolf, it would have blindly continued to fight. Although the lizard can easily catch up to him, the place it is heading is.. relatively safe.

Seeing the wolf runs toward his brother, the younger lizard, who is still confused by the other's action, makes another arched jump to pierce the wolf head-on. The light particles become more dense the closer he get to the tree but they don't hinder his perception even a little bit. The slowed time makes him feel like floating in midair toward the wolf. He aims his dagger vertically for a strike. In front of the wolf, his brother is trying to say something; however he doesn't have time for that. He'd land on the wolf before the slower lizard could finish his first word. Closer... closer...

[You've entered Vagabond Wolf's Sanctuary, erected under the name of the Origin Dragon!]

[Inside the Sanctuary, all violence is inhibited!]

He lands in front of the wolf, next to his brother. His perception of time becomes normal again. The wolf makes a sudden brake with its paws and stands a few meters away from the two lizards. It grins, a wicked grin of victory.

"Brother.. I can not cast Trap here." The older lizard explains in a rush.

When they got here, they was standing right next to the border of the Sanctuary but with only the older lizard inside the area of effect.

"I can see that but why didn't you tell me about the Sanctuary sooner, Brother?"

"Ssa... ssan... what?"

"Oh right, those words was too difficult for you.." The lizard looks at his brother as he pities him for his lack of intelligence.

Annoyed by being seemingly ignored, the wolf growls and steps a few steps forward to get the lizards' attention. It can't communicate but it can still understand what others say.

The younger lizard cautiously steps backward while pushing his older on the chest. His eyes are kept looking straight at the wolf, preparing for any surprise the wolf could have. He can't put the dagger into battle position and he doesn't know if the Sanctuary's effect would affect the wolf, hence the caution.

The wolf isn't in mood to play the staring game. It keeps casually walking toward the two lizards, grinning in amusement as it watch the two individuals stronger than it backing off.

"Just.. who are you?" Tired of being cornered by the huge wolf, the younger lizard stops. He grabs his dagger hilt by both hands, his arms shaking as he tries to lift it up to point at the wolf but a stronger force is keeping it down. The older lizard doesn't understand what is going on but he keeps on being silent due to the tense atmosphere his brother giving off.

"It is the servant of the Origin Dragon." A voice startles both the lizards and the wolf. Looking at his right side, the lizards can see an unfamiliar brown haired male human in light-weight clothes walking toward them from the North.

The wolf, despite being a wild animal, recognizes the human that it "met" a few days ago. As it also remembers how that bare-handed fighter taste like, it unconsciously drools.