Vol. 1 - Chapter 19 - Raiding the Lone Dire Wolf

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After he took off from the zone, the boars were slaughtered, he opened his status window and began to put the free stat points into the stats he found lacking.

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Status Window

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Name: Mathias / Class: Beginner

Level: 6(100/3600) / Title: none

Health: 393/393 (+78) / Mana: 222/222

Strength: 35 / Stamina:28 / Agility:16 / Intelligence: 35(+1) / Stat Points: 0

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"Ohh, great. Did I just reach the perfect balance with my INT stats? Should I keep my stats balanced like this or keep my STR higher?" asked Mathias while moving around the dark forest with careful steps, using the cover of the tall trees to check out for any dangers.

"It depends on how the magic spells I will learn looks like. If they give me an advantage in fighting, I could try a consensus and balance physical attack with magic power." continued Mathias contemplating on his character path while also taking the chance to examine the new item he picked.

[Boar Hunter's Cloak]

Rating: Rare

Durability: 75/75 Defense: 10

* Masking your presence against boar species

* Cold resistance will increase by 2%

A cloak used by the hunters to mask their presence and get closer to the Boar species for hunting.

The wearer can feel warmth wearing the 'Hunter's Cloak' because of the resilient boar hide it was made from. You will not feel cold in the cold seasons while wearing the cloak. The leather is thick and stiff.

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"Does it mask my presence against the boars? This means that debuff I got on me after I killed that boar is negated while I wear this cloak?"

As soon as he asked that, he tried the cloak himself, and on the top of his status window where all buffs and debuffs were gathered, Mathias saw the one he referred to in question having a red X crossing the icon as if negating the effect.

"This means I could hunt more boars without fear of being ganked by an entire herd because of having an unnoticed presence?"

No longer asking himself that obvious question, he used his ears to guide him in this large forest and less his sight that was disrupted by the darkness of the night. Where he was in a deeper part of the forest, the moonlight was blocked by the tall trees, which seemed to create a prison around their range.

After walking for some minutes without encountering any beasts, he heard the sound of pigs seeming to call out in the distance.

Mathias moved like a hunter in the direction the pigs were calling out, and as he got closer, he saw a lone wolf attacking a herd of 6 boars, 'Bristling Boars' at one, who were covered in their bone thorns.

Keeping his distance, he stared at the wolf with the name 'Dire Wolf', which was an ELITE- Lv. 10 monster that was currently trying to use his sharp teeth to bite at the throat of a weaker boar.

However, whenever this lone wolf would try this, two boars of the herd that seemed to be the males came to the rescue of the weaker one, using their bone thorns to shoot at the wolf.

The wolf moved swiftly in another direction, evading the thrown bone spikes, and after that, he used his claws to dig into the flesh of the boar he got hold of.

Those beasts kept fighting, but mainly with the 'Dire Wolf' holding the advantage of power and size, yet he could see that it lost some health while fighting those boars, getting to [65% HP] while the boars fighting the attack of the wolf, were lower at 30-40% HP, entering their enrage phase.

'Calm, be calm and keep waiting. Once the wolf gets those boars at 20% or lower, I will spring into action and do a kill steal with [Sweep Thrust] following the hunt of the 'Dire Wolf'' thought Mathias, calming his heart that was beating fast, his body being influenced by his adrenaline rush.

'Without a doubt, the 'Dire Wolf' is one of the top predators of this place. Otherwise, I can't see how he can take on a herd of boars by himself.'

In another two minutes of waiting, keeping quiet while those beasts had their showdown and with the boars reaching 24% HP and the 'Dire Wolf' getting to a [58% HP], he left his hiding place, activated Raven's Movement, covering his footsteps in shadowy feathers as he was moving toward the 'Dire Wolf' and the 6 'Bristling Boars' Mathias didn't even get noticed by the boars who were in their enraged state fighting the wolf.

Only the wolf sensed Mathias's presence and howled. Before he killed the boar, he was initially focusing, and after that, he moved a bit away, getting away from the spearman.

'Tsk, this beast is decently smart.' thought Mathias when he failed to get the 'Dire Wolf' in his sweep range.

"I heard you guys wanted to hunt me down? Here I am before you. Let's see who hunts who! Sweeping Thrust!" called out Mathias when he got to the 5 boars who looked left and right for the wolf, only noticing Mathias when he unleashed his attack.

(E/N: Pretty arrogant for someone hiding in the dark, sneak attacking with an stealth item specifically made for boars, as their health is low and to top it of, their currently fighting something -_-)

Shrieking with all their power, they sensed the danger of Mathias's attack and started unleashing their bone thorns on him.

Yet, it was late because all of them dropped on the ground when Mathias lowered himself, attacking their legs with a spinning sweep.

[You have dealt 145 damage to the five 'Bristling Boars'.]

Ending the spin and getting quickly on his feet, he impaled 2 boars close by using the [Thrust] of the skill, which killed the beasts, turning them into grey light.

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[Critical]

[You have dealt 428 damage to the targets.]

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[You have defeated one 'Bristling Boar' of the Empar Forest]

[You have defeated one 'Bristling Boar' of the Empar Forest]

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Ignoring all the notification windows popping up in his eyes, he turned to the other three boars devoid of much HP, and using his fastest skill, [Piercing Rain], he began slaughtering the remaining boars, who turned to grey light without much resistance.

[You have defeated one 'Bristling Boar' of the Empar Forest]

[You have defeated one 'Bristling Boar' of the Empar Forest]

[You have defeated one 'Bristling Boar' of the Empar Forest]

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Then as he was taking a breath from all the attacks he unleashed in rapid succession, he heard the movement of the 'Dire Wolf' dashing at him and attacking with the intent to bite his limbs off, but with the effects of the Raven's Movement that boosted his agility and movement speed, it was just in time for him to block the predator.

Taking the [Middle Guard] stance, he used the blade and the higher part of Ragnius's shaft to defend against this fast attack.

Nevertheless, even after he blocked the 'Dire Wolf' attack, he was still pushed by his strength, suffering some damage along the way.

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[You have suffered 56 damage.]

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'This wolf strength is bigger than mine by a lot. Even after I blocked successfully, I suffered some damage.' thought Mathias looking at the grey wolf face that looked at him with predatory eyes, not showing any signs of fear.

As the wolf moved past him, after failing to wound Mathias, it began circling around him, checking on his weaknesses. Doing this, it constantly had Mathias on the back leg, with his mind going overclock to calculate and guess the sequence of attacks the wolf would do after seeing him fight the 'Bristling Boars'.

He used a [Low Guard] stance and calmed down, and after 5 seconds that the wolf began circling around, it gave Mathias a chance to refill his mana, but simultaneously the health gauge of the wolf started to fill up, faster than his MP was refilling.

"Ahh, isn't this like cheating? You want to wait to regenerate your strength? No way in hell, you'll see such saintly act from me." cried out Mathias when he figured out what the wolf's plan was, then starting to charge after the wolf.

(E/N: As if anyone expected you to wait,duh?)

The wolf immediately howled as if displeased with Mathias's sudden movement, and decided to move after him, showing his bloody teeth to his enemy.

"That's more like it, beast. Let's dance."

"Piercing Rain!"

When Mathias said that, he started doing a three-combo piercing attack that targeted the incoming wolf. Yet when it came to hitting the target, he saw a graceful movement of the wolf who dodged the first spear attack, then following another swift evasion, dodging the second attack.

At that moment, Mathias looked surprised at the wolf and then focused on the last attack that nailed the beast's body perfectly.

[Critical]

[You have dealt 228 damage to the target.]

'Bad roll on the damage. This beast has a lot of HP compared to the owl or boars.'

Then drawing his spear back, he saw the wolf look enraged and him, no longer choosing to fight, evading his strikes. Instead, it quickly dashed toward him.

After it got in his range, the wolf used his claws to slash at Mathias's body, successfully bypassing his guard.

[You have been hit by the 'Dire Wolf' 'Rend' skill and suffered 190 damage.]

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"AHHH! How did this attack bypass my guard?!"

(E:N: idk perhaps the skill "Rend", Einstein /s)

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Mathias let out a scream of pain, questioning himself and how the wolf's attack succeeded in damaging him. He suffered from a nasty attack, where his chest was opened up, starting to bleed at the claw wounds.

Then, sensing that Mathias was close to death, the wolf howled excited, and with his top speed, he began to encircle Mathias and start testing his guard.

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After 30 seconds of circling around Mathias and feinting attacks, the Dire Wolf dashed toward him and seemed to use the same attack, [Rend], but when the wolf got right in front of this aspirant spearman, the first thing he noticed was his cold green eyes and steady spear stance.

Roaring at Mathias, he unleashed the 'Rend' placing all its bestial strength into it.

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Meanwhile, Mathias, who fought with the pain, was so pissed by how much pain he had to take in from a move that seemed like a bug that he only wanted to rip the flesh of this beast.

It was when he saw the 'Dire Wolf' try the same attack on him that he no longer tried to defend. Rather, he moved with a basic attack, thrusting the spear toward the legs of the wolf with the idea that it would disrupt his dash.

"You want to make the same bugged attack? Here let me see if you can reach me."

The wolf was taken by surprise, and the spear attack landed cleanly on the front right leg of the wolf, making him tumble on the ground, wailing in pain.

[You have dealt 175 damage to the target.]

Thenceforth, seeing the wolf fall as he had in mind, he drew Ragnius back and unleashed the [Piercing Rain] on the beast that was left open for attacks, dealing [227 DMG], [165 DMG] and respectively [106 DMG].

After those fast attacks pierced his body, the wolf howled madly in pain, and it started puffing his body, increasing his size by one time while using his claw to attack Mathias.

Getting away from the still struggling beast, he quickly checked his HP and MP and instantly felt the tension of fighting to a straw end type of battle.

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[Health: 143/393 / Mana:7/222 ]

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[Stamina: 24/100]

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"Hah, I have one more try at 'Raven's Movement' to dodge a grim moment that could endanger me." remarked Mathias, after checking how his status fared compared to his mental state.

It was the same, both his mental and character stats looked bad, strained from all this fight and intense, nerve-racking moments.

Mathias entered his [High Guard] and started to circle the enraged wolf, whose HP gauge was sitting at 18% HP and used the same dirty tactic the wolf initially tried on him.

Feinting with fast spears strikes that had the wolf flinch, a subconscious move of his body which started fearing the power Ragnius was holding in each of Mathias strikes.

Continuing the same strategy, Mathias saw an opening in the wolf and did a fast spear jab that stabbed a bit the wolf's skin and did half the damage the fully committed attacks would do.

[You have dealt 93 damage to the target.]

Yet, even this small attack was enough to take 1% of the Dire Wolf's health, which had Mathias increase the rhythm he kept the wolf in check.

[You have dealt 72 damage to the target.]

Another jab connected, piercing halfway the wolf's flesh that immediately reacted to strike Mathias back but missing him because of his defensive stance.

Hence Mathias maintained the strategy to a perfect momentum, always keeping himself busy, striking and feinting the Dire Wolf, until a red notification window popped in his vision, warning him of something he felt was a liability for a player, especially for someone like him who was fighting using basic attacks.

[Your stamina reached [10/100]. Once the stamina is depleted, your body functions will be disrupted!]

Then, he turned his gaze on the wolf's health that showed a 10% HP, point where he suddenly shifted his defensive stance, entering an attacking stance.

"The countdown has begun, beast. Let's see who collapses first, me because of my lacking stamina, or you? The last act of our dance has commenced! ROAR TO LIFE BEAST!" shouted Mathias, delivering a fast spear thrust that he fully committed.

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[Dire Wolf dodged your attack.]

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Still moving on instinct, the wolf dodged the first attack and rushed to end Mathias for good.

Not panicking, he unleashed another spear attack that grazed the beast's flesh, causing it just [37 DMG] but at this stage of the fight, all the attacks that connected, even if it was slightly, counted.

Nevertheless, the wolf also entered into a final stage, that he was throwing at Mathias with everything he had, but hardly connecting his attacks because of the way Mathias started using Ragnius to keep his range.

Howling, he moved, charging at Mathias, who began unleashing some spear jabs that slashed his flesh yet failing to connect fully.

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The things started to deviate from the plan when his Stamina started to drop low. When it reached [6/100], he felt his movements turning slower, feeling impaired, and that was a gap enough for the wolf to get to him and slash at his body using his claw.

[You have suffered 135 damage.]

The 'Dire Wolf' howled victoriously and turned to deliver the last blow to Mathias. The latter used his last second of 'Raven's Movements' and dodging the final attack of the wolf. He thrusted his spear with everything he had, not wanting to die and be eaten by the beast straight for the throat.

[Critical!]

[You have dealt 496 damage to the target.]

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With that spear attack stabbing into the wolf's throat, Mathias saw the beast's health gauge turning to 2%, an amount that he could take using just a direct attack.

However, his archenemy, the stamina status, had another idea in mind, dropping after he unleashed that attack to [4/100], making him feel like he was nauseated, barely moving his body.

"Damned Stamina system, not now. I need to connect just once more strike!'

Barely standing on his feet, he felt the pressure of the wolf moving toward him with red eyes and with a grey fur that turned crimson from all the wounds it suffered from his relentless attacks.

"After all this pain I have to endure fighting this beast, I'll be damned if I lose against it. DIE BEAST!" shouted Mathias with all the energy he got, turning his body to strike the wolf down.

[Stamina: 1/100]

When he made that move, his stamina dropped to the absolute limit, making his movement slow, but this slow, steady move connected right on the forehead of the rushing wolf.

[You have dealt 180 damage to the target.]

(E/N: wasn't that kind of cliche? "Last point of stamina") (A/N: Shh, boy. This how you tell a story. When you start writing, you'll also drop in the same vicious circle of adding things that seem cliche)

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[You have defeated the 'Dire Wolf' of the Empam Forest]

[900 silver coin has been acquired]

[3x Dire Wolf Fangs]

[15x Tender Wolf Meat]

[You have acquired 'Direwolf Handler's Gauntlets']

[8,500 experience has been acquired.]

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[Your level has risen.]

[Your level has risen.]

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Basking in the flood of notification windows popping up, Mathias dropped on the floor, recalling Ragnius to his inventory, and along with blasting on how stupid the stamina system was, he started to check his status window.

"This stamina system is so badly implemented that I bet you can't even play solo to raid bosses because of this exact problem. My mind can keep up with the pace of the fight, but this blasted system doesn't coordinate with me."(E/N: Thats because you shouldn't solo raid....)

"Hah, maybe I should add a ticket in this regard. Or, wait, what if those will make it worse than it is now? I need to consider this."

However, as he was standing there recovering his stamina at a snail pace, adding more salt to Mathias's problems with the stamina, he heard the movement of a beast in the vicinity, approaching more and more his location.

"Fuck, I am really not in the position to escape or fight." added Mathias, with a long sigh, trying to get on his feet.

Yet before he could do something, he heard the roar of a bear resounding around him, followed by seeing the giant claws of the beast attacking him.

[You have suffered 260 damage]

Once he got hit, all his pain sensors got activated, sending him into yet another hellish experience.

Looking up with his eyes wide open, he saw the large bear who looked to be mutated, his appearance really out of the ordinary.

Still, the beast didn't offer Mathias any chance to study him, as it did the laying man another devastating hit that sent him down the nirvana path.

[You have suffered 360 damage.] -> [You are dead]

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Entering the dimension of the death, standing alone in this dark room quietly contemplating on what just happened now that he calmed himself.

"Did I record this hunt?"

Checking his options, he saw that he was still recording, causing him to nod and pat himself on the shoulder while saying.

"Good for me, now I will study that beast's appearance, and once I find it, I will butcher it. I still haven't checked if my items are still in my inventory. If I lose any of Fayrene's clothes that she intended to gift her brother, I will probably slaughter all the beasts to get to that bear and repay the debt." (A/N: Meme- I will find you, and I will kill you, kind of tone on Mathias)

Waiting for about one minute in this dark room, he finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel that began increasing, turning his vision blind to the incoming light, until he found himself again in his spawning location, the main square of the Saharan Empire's capital, Titan.

"Hoh, you look angry, man. Are you fine? Did you lose any item?" asked a player that also respawned, seeing Mathias's cold frowning face.

Ignoring the guy, he checked his inventory and could see that Ragnius, Fayrene's clothes were still on him, with the only piece missing being the rare cloak he got.

"Argh, I lost an item." thought Mathias out loud.

"What rarity was the item?" inquired the player, who was resting, seated on the fountains rock construct.

"It was a rare graded armour piece." replied Mathias, massaging his forehead to ease his situation.

"Fuck, sucks on you, man. Those drops are tough to get at the starting levels, especially armour pieces.

"Hah, whatever, it is just the beta stage. We can't do much about it." commented Mathias while calming his gaze as he looked at this unknown player with the name 'Red'.

"Indeed, I heard from a close friend who has connections with the developer's team that they will turn down their game to work more on certain elements of the game. They will let us just get a tease of the game, so we beta players don't hold a big advantage over the starting opening players."(E/N: not like jesus -kun "the beater" , yeah that's right I'm looking at you kirito)

"Fair, I guess. If I was a normal player at the live version and knew that the beta players hold much more information than them, doing some monopoly shenanigans with the starting players, I probably would be pissed. So, yes, a good approach for the developers. Yet, I still hope they work on that flawed stamina system of theirs in the meantime."

"Is there something wrong with the system? I think it is well developed."

Mathias looked at this person's face as if he asked the stupidest question possible, asking him back.

"You found the stamina system enjoyable? Don't you lack stamina when you fight lots of monsters?"

"No, not really. I usually team up with others at my level and start clearing the zones as a party. Why ask, is there a problem on your side?"(E/N: Thats how you should do it 'nods head')

"Nevermind."

'I think I was right on my first presumption. It is only my playstyle that is heavily restricted by this flawed system.' thought Mathias, confirming his earlier presumption he had after killing the wolf.