Chapter Six – A Fighting Chance

Jon felt the night was wasted away.

Every time he tried to leave, Ballard stopped him and urged him to keep shooting.

He shot far, he shot near, he shot at standing targets and at moving ones, he shot at sky and at the ground.

He told Jon to try shooting multiple arrows at once for a while, but when Jon failed to hit even the closest target Ballard gave up.

"We'll try that again when your mastery is higher," he said.

Ballard made him fire arrows nonstop for half an hour, so he could measure the firing speed. Even though a few years had passed since he last used bows, he fared well.

A good longbow's man can fire twelve to fifteen arrows a minute. Jon managed eight to nine per minute.

The artificial light inside tempered with one's feeling of time. If the boy shooting next to Jon didn't mention he had to log out as it was morning soon Jon would've just stood there the whole day, firing the way Ballard told him.

Archery Mastery Levels Up

Dexterity Rises By 1 (+1 Dex)

Perception Rises By 1 (+1 Per)

Perception Rises By 1 (+1 Per)

Five hours of shooting left their mark on Jon. The skill and stat rising weren't so important as him getting used to the bow again.

The archery mastery skill worked by subconsciously correcting Jon's hands into the right position. The higher the skill level the more accurate was the correction.

However, Jon's precision was pretty good to begin with, and amplified by his low level mastery he succeeded in satisfying Ballard's expectations of him.

He didn't need to come back tonight, he had other plans, so before leaving he stocked his inventory with ten bundles of arrows. They were all simple, training arrows but they were free.

Work passed smoothly. He had already got used to the kitchen's fast pace and even managed to predict Burka's needs from time to time, which lowered the amount of times he got screamed at.

During his break, he mounted the grinding wheel on one of the tables and slowly went through the arrows in his inventory.

They were so dull, that when he checked their attack power it was at zero. Grinding the metal tips until they were sharp again returned the attack power to one.

Compared to the twelve attack power knife, Yarel was kind enough to donate to him, it was nothing. But Jon didn't care as the monotone act of sharpening appealed to him.

Sharpening Skill Levels Up

There were thirty arrows in each bundle. It took him ten seconds to sharpen an arrow and before his work was finished all ten bundles had been finished.

"Good hunting." Burka wished him as Jon ran off the second his work was done.

The sun had already set and the only light came from the moon and the star filled night sky.

Jon was standing at the edge of the forest, only a few bushes and a tree separated him from the grassland where numerous players were busy chasing helpless animals.

The citadel gate was about two kilometers away, only the burning fire and torches were visible in the night. He couldn't see the guards and that meant they couldn't see him.

Equipped with his bow and fitting an arrow, he waited.

There was a party of four moving close to the edge of the forest towards the place he stood, hidden in the dark between the trees.

The party consisted of a warrior, two mages and a bowman. The warrior was stepping on the bushes, making noise on purpose, while the other three walked some distance from him.

When the warrior was less than fifty meters away from Jon, he suddenly began sprinting towards the citadel.

A wolf jumped out of the thicket chasing him.

He heard the murmur of the casting mages and saw the bowman draw his bow.

Jon drew his bow and let go of the arrow. He was faster than the bowman and as he released the arrow he didn't look at it to see if he hit his target. Instead he quickly materialized the floating ball of mana before the bowman's face.

He heard a scream of pain that meant his arrow hit its target and saw the bowman drop his arrow to cover his eyes from the sudden bright blue light.

Looking back at the warrior he saw him standing with one knee on the ground clutching his hip where an arrow was sticking out.

The arrow dropped very little of the warrior’s Hp but it made him stagger and fall. The running wolf did the rest. It jumped to the air and flew at the warrior, snapping its jaws on the warrior's neck, breaking his Adam’s apple and cutting through the main jugular vane.

Once the warrior turned grey and disappeared the wolf changed its target to the bowman, who was struggling to fire because of the moving ball of light.

Three quick jumps and the wolf was under the bowman's feet slashing the torso with its talons. The bowman turned grey after two slashes.

As the bowman disappeared and the blue light covered the wolf, Jon thought he saw the wolf get bigger.

The two mages, now defenseless, forgot about their incantations and started running, with the wolf following after them. He strung another arrow and took aim at the farther mage of the two.

The wolf reached the first mage while Jon's arrow was still in the air.

One swing of the wolf's paw was enough to get rid of the little Hp the mage had.

Critical Hit

The arrow went through the mage's throat, a part of it poking out on each side. The mage tried to complete his incantation but blood filled his mouth and he started to choke. The wolf slashed his stomach open a second later.

Lit by an incomplete fireball in the mage's hand, Jon could see clearly this time. As the mage died the wolf suddenly grew in size. He dispelled his magic and looked at the wolf.

From what he had seen earlier, when a player managed to escape from a wolf or when a wolf managed to get the kill, it would immediately go back to the forest. This wolf didn't.

It walked up and sniffed the arrows that fell to the ground once the bodies disappeared. Finished with the arrows it lifted its head and began sniffing the air. Done, it looked at where Jon was hiding.

Even though he couldn't see them, he could feel the wolf's eyes staring at him and he gazed back unblinking. After a minute or two, the wolf slowly trotted aside and sat down on its hind legs. Getting comfortable it again looked at Jon.

Ten minutes passed like that. Both Jon and the wolf seemed frozen in place. Even the sound of another party not far away didn't make the wolf flinch.

Jon was trying to remember something Gorge mentioned to him. It took a while but he finally remembered.

"Monsters in Royal Road can level up and become stronger the same way players do." Was what Gorge said to him during dinner.

He stepped out into the grassland and headed to where the warrior died. In his place were lying a fox pelt and an arrow, which he picked up before continuing to the place the rest of the party died.

Three fox pelts and rabbit meat were his reward for helping the wolf. He threw the meat to the wolf, which was following him with his stare all the while. The meat fell next to him but he didn't move, he just kept staring at Jon.

Making sure he picked everything up, Jon dispelled the ball of light and returned to his spot in the forest. Once safely hidden from sight, he watched the wolf devour the rabbit meat and lay down to wait.

"Are you sure it was there?"

"I'm telling you I saw something bright floating around here!"

"Maybe it was a fairy?"

"Are fairies considered monsters? I wonder how much exp they give…"

"Who the fuck cares, man. It's a freaking fairy! I'm tired of fighting animals; I want to kill something cool."

A party of three was heading to where Jon had picked up the loot. Attracted by the mana ball he used to light the ground, they risked getting close to the forest edge.

Jon glanced at where the wolf was and only managed to notice him because he knew where it was. Crouching flat against the ground, the wolf looked ready to attack.

He wasted time no more. Summoning the ball of bright blue light again, he drew an arrow and took aim at the same time.

"There it is! I told you I wasn't seeing things!"

A player wielding a sword ran away from the group to where the ball materialized.

Getting closer he suddenly said:

"Guys, I don't think it's a fairy… I'm pretty sure this is some kind of maAAUUGHHHHHHH"

Critical Hit

Focus Rises by 1 (+1 Foc)

The scream of pain was heard all the way back inside the citadel.

The player fell to the ground clutching at an arrow lodged inside his eye socket. No blood was flowing as the arrow was stopped by his skull. Nonetheless his face was wet. The fluids of his eye dripped down his face, reflecting the light of the floating ball, allowing Jon to see the expression of pain that covered it.

To Jon's disappointment, the bow was so weak that even a critical hit wasn't enough to kill a player.

"What happened?" The other two yelled in a worry.

The mana ball floated towards them and one of them tried to cut it with an axe but missed. Both of them now had their weapons in their hands but the ball rose high, out of their reach.

It served its purpose, by distracting them from the sprinting wolf who had already disposed of the screaming friend.

Another arrow pierced the hand of the axe wielder, making him drop his weapon to the ground.

"It's an ambush!" He started to scream, but was silenced by the wolf's claws reaping out his throat.

He fell to the ground choking with his own blood as he slowly bled to death. He lived long enough to see the wolf gnaw his friend's head off his shoulders.

All three players were gone and under the bluish magic light the wolf became bigger again.Jon canceled his magic and was looking around to make sure there was no one to see him when he noticed the wolf walking towards him.

It stopped before Jon. With only a couple of bushes and a tree separating them, he could smell the animal odor that came from it

It was holding something in his mouth, and when it let go, Jon saw it was the loot.

Three pelts and two arrows lay between him and the wolf.

He picked them up and tried to pat the wolf, but as his hand rose so did the lips of the wolf and it began to snarl. It stopped only when Jon went back into the darkness. The wolf sat there, as if waiting for Jon to do something.

Jon didn't take Star Piercer for nothing. His main goal was to help animals defend themselves. The wolf distracted him from it, but now it was time he began.

What Jon wanted to do was the same he did with the wolf, distract and hinder the players' movements to give the animals a chance to run away or retaliate. He couldn't do it in the day time and it had to be from afar, so that the players wouldn't turn on him.

Shooting from inside the forest hidden by the darkness of the night made him feel good. He felt like he was handing out justice. Lusting after the higher exp reward that monsters gave during the night, the grassland was full of players. This worked to Jon's advantage in two ways.

First of all, it meant he had a lot of targets to choose from. Second, monsters were stronger and more ferocious during the night.

Jon picked a player who was fighting something small around three-hundred meters from him.

He took aim at him and fired four arrows in a row. The fourth arrow left his hands right as the first fell down.

He looked to see if he had hit his target and saw that the first arrow didn't even come close. In the time it took the arrow to fall the player had already moved away. The other three arrows glittered through the sky, reflecting the moonlight of the sharpened tips, and buried themselves into the ground around the first one.

-Can't fire in an arc…'-

The way he fired didn’t work. He shot them high into the sky and let them fall down in a high arc to the ground. It took longer for the arrow to fall but it was the only way he knew of that allowed to shot at these distances.

But who was he kidding?

This wasn't real life, this was a game, and games followed their own rules!

He was holding a bow in his hands that could throw an arrow half a kilometer with ease. He needed to forget about real life limitations soon, as those were what made him want to play in the first place.

He picked a different target, a bit closer this time, took aim, and instead of lifting the bow at a higher angle, he simply drew it back harder.

The arrow flew out at an incredible speed. Slicing the air it whizzed by his target, making him turn around in surprise. There was no chance he could see him from almost two hundred meters away, so while the player looked around to see what startled him Jon was already taking aim again.

It took some time getting used to, but when the whole bundle of arrows in his quiver was gone he felt confident he could make it work.

He refilled the quiver and chose a target a little bit closer this time.

The first arrow missed but only by a small margin. The second arrow missed as well.

On the third try it struck true.

It struck the player’s left shoulder with a metallic sound and made him stagger. Unfortunately it didn't have much affect as the shoulder plate stooped the arrow from going deep. Although only a flesh wound, it managed to stun and distract, giving the fox the player was fighting a chance to counter attack.

The fox jumped and bit the player's hand. He thrashed around and flung his arm from side to side, but the fox hung on.

The surprise passed and he managed to regain his calm. He stopped flailing around and took out his belt knife. He lifted the knife over his head and was ready to part the fox's body away from its head when he noticed the white teeth that came flying at him from out of nowhere.

The wolf's body struck him full force. Its claws ripped the flesh of his arms and the teeth dug deep under his clavicle bone.

This caught Jon by surprise. Not only did the wolf sprung into action as soon as his arrow connected with the player but he also brought the arrow back together with a silver coin.

The fox ran off somewhere when it saw the wolf.

-'It's like playing catch.'- Memories of playing with the mansion guard dogs resurfaced.

-'Only this is better!'-

Dexterity Rises by 1 (+1 Dex)

Focus Rises by 1 (+1 Foc)

Dexterity Rises by 1 (+1 Dex)

Strength Rises by 1 (+1 Str)

Perception Rises 1 (+1 Per)

By the time the sun began to rise, more than four hundred arrows had been fired. And even if about ninety percent of them were misses, as the first rays of sunshine illuminated the vast grassland, Jon could swear there were more animals running around than the day before.

It was time for him to go back to the kitchen.

He was waiting for the wolf to come back with the loot. It was running up the field, an arrow held between its teeth with a pelt jumping up and down with the rhythm of the wolf's movements,

Jon had the items dropped into his hands.

"Thank you."

The wolf still refused to be touched but it would now drop the stuff into Jon's hands…

"I'm glad you're fine." Burka said with an unusually quiet voice. "I heard there was a wolf that strayed from the forest and attacked people last night."

Jon stopped working and looked at him in wonder.

"I think you shouldn't go hunting tonight. If our idiotic doorman can overpower you, a wolf might kill you."

"Don't worry." He went back to working.

"I'm not worried about you, you fool!" His angry voice returned. "If you go and get mauled by a wolf my workload will grow!"

"So you better be careful out there!"

"Nine days left before the dragon meat arrives, you shouldn't even waste your time hunting!"

Burka started tendering the meat with a hammer, with more strength than he needed to.

Compliments from the customers that night, praised the meat for its tenderness.

Before going back to the forest, he stopped by the guild and restocked his arrows. Ballard tried to question him on how his bow worked but Jon managed to sneak away.

He walked to the spot he used yesterday and observed the grasslands before him.

It was a cloudy night and visibility was low.

He couldn't tell clearly, who was standing where after fifty meters, so he targeted mages.

When a mage began to cast his magic, a glow emanated from the part of body the magic would be focused on. At night, that glow could be seen from afar.

It was good for Jon that more than half of the players started out as mages. However most of the players were school or university students. So the majority of beginner mages changed their classes to a fighting class once they realized how much studying and reading, getting stronger as a mage involved.

Wherever he looked there were small puddles of light of different color. The red color dominated as the fireball was the most common beginner spell.

He drew an arrow and took aim when he suddenly thought of something.

-'Silent Strike'- he initiated the skill and his arrow began giving off a faint bluish glow from the forty five Mp that went into it.

Critical Hit

-'Cool.'-

He took aim was was about to release another arrow when he saw the red light go out suddenly.

There was no kill massage and the fireball disappeared too suddenly for it to be canceled.

A few moments later he got his answer in the form of a wolf. It brought back his arrow together with a few silver coins.

He wiped the coins on his pants and put them in his inventory. Out of the inventory he took out a large chunk of cooked meat and gave it to the wolf.

It hesitated at first, smelling cooked meat for the first time, but devoured it with pleasure after he risked a bite.

-'I wonder if the bonuses of the meat will affect him?'-

It was meat prepared by him, and it gave a bonus to the dexterity and strength stats. Small bonuses as his cooking skill was still low, but bonuses nonetheless.

Joined by the wolf, Jon began playing catch.

Silent Strike Levels Up

Level 3: Deal 15% more damage.

Chance of a critical hit increases by 40%.

Cost: 45 Mp

Dexterity Rises By 1 (+1 Dex)

Morning came and he returned to work.

The same as yesterday, after work he stopped in the guild and restocked his supply of arrows before going to his spot in the forest.

It was another dark night, with the moon hidden behind the clouds. Tonight the wolf was waiting for Jon at his spot and as he greeted it, he also gave him another chunk of cooked meat.

The strategy of the third night was a little different, as last night's mage hunting was rather effective; there were hardly any mages left.

He would summon the ball of light and float it over the field. When the light revealed a player or a party of them, only then would he shoot.

The wolf no longer waited for the arrow to designate a target, but would begin running as soon as Jon began pulling back the bow.

Magic Mastery Levels Up

Level 4 effects: Can cast beginner level spells.

Casting speed increased by 8%

Focus Rises By 1 (+1 Foc)

Intelligence Rises By 1 (+1 Int)

Intelligence Rises By 1 (+1 Int)

Nothing changed until the sixth day.

The first players who had been killed by the wolf logged back in on the fifth night, and they were looking for revenge. They called their friends who called their own friends. The news spread like wild fire, and starting from noon players began to gather outside the citadel gates.

Looking at their gear it was clear they were all beginners, most didn't even have a weapon, and among those who did, wood was what they were made of.

The more experienced players seemed to distance themselves from the mob.

Seraborg citadel, being a starting city, was populated mostly by beginners and high level players.

Players leveled ten to sixty were usually adventuring the countryside in search of dungeons or were busy doing quests.

The players in the mob were attracted by word of a demonic wolf that could use magic and was as big as a horse. For many of them it was their first time hunting and the chance to partake in what they considered a boss hunt was too alluring to ignore.

As the sun hid behind the horizon they stepped on to the grassland in search of the enormous wolf.

When Jon arrived there were enough people to be considered a small army. More than a quarter of a thousand players moved about. The brave ones walked by the forests edge, trying to lure out the beast.

The search was concentrated around the place where he used to hide and shoot from. Not wanting to attract attention he entered the forest from a place the mob ignored.

He took out a piece of cooked meat and after a couple of minutes the bushes began to rustle and the wolf appeared.

It approached Jon and began licking his hand. He petted him and they shared the meat.

"I don't think we can play tonight." He spoke, scratching behind the wolf's ear.

"You've become big and strong, but there's just too many of them." The wolf licked his face in answer.

Even with Jon standing straight, all the wolf had to do to reach his face was lift its nose. The nights spent playing catch have transformed him.

"I want to play too. But even you can't take care of all of them by yourself…" he said, patting its fur.

The wolf backed away and walked out of the forests’ cover.

"Come back here, we can play tomorrow!"

The wolf didn't listen. Instead it got into a crouching stance to show its readiness.

Low level players usually ignored wolves and if they ever encountered one, they would run away.

If a party did decide to challenge a wolf, they would need an average party level of nine and at least four players. However, even then they would have a hard time and there was a big risk of someone dying.

That was what fighting a wolf in Royal Road meant. Wolves were the strongest beginner monsters and had a lot of Hp.

The wolf, so eager to play, was much stronger than a normal wolf. It had leveled up during the past five nights and had become considerably stronger, faster and smarter. If it wanted to play Jon wasn't about to say no.

He took out the bundles of arrows from his inventory and set them in the ground. This way he wouldn't run out of arrows no matter how many he let loose.

"Cerb, you ready?"

Cerberus lowered his tail, raised his head and howled at moon. The howl traveled far and got the attention of all of the players in the vicinity.

Wolf's Blood Lust Buff Added

For the duration of the next battle, the following bonuses are applied:

Attack speed increased by 30%

Movement speed increased by 15%

+30 Dexterity

+30 Strength

+100 Hp

Behind them the forest came alive. Something was moving through it fast and it wasn't trying to hide.

Out of the forest came twenty nine wolves who formed a line with Cerberus.

Snarling, barking and howling they got ready to face an oncoming army.

The sight of the ferocious wolves was more than enough to send chills down the players bodies; they would be fools not to run away.

However the mob effect kicked in, making them confuse stupidity for courage. Screaming and yelling the wave of people began running towards the wolves.

Jon laughed and got into firing position.

-'By the time they get here they'll be completely out of breath.'- The wolves waited for them to get closer.

He didn't need to aim. He simply went by the motions as fast as he could, letting the arrows fall like rain on the enemies heads.

Once he got used to the bow his arrow per minute rate became twelve to fourteen. Amplified by the Cerebrus's wolf pack buff he managed to fire seventeen to twenty arrows in a minute.

The arrows fell, crippling, stunning and maiming.

The faster players who got closer first were killed by the wolves with ease.

A moment of silence passed the scene.

The players were running almost silently, the wolves froze in a crouching position and Jon had finished his second bundle of arrows.

Suddenly it all exploded.

The wolves sprung into the oncoming army with grace and coordination. Magic and arrows came flying at them. Jon was sweating, with an incredible rush of excitement building up inside of him.

>>>>>>>>>>>

The system detected the start of a major battle.

You will not be able to disconnect until the fight is finished.

Death and kill penalties will not be applied.

Warning: Only the winning side will be rewarded. Staying alive is not a must and dead players will be rewarded when they reconnect.

The wolves killed player after player with swiftness none could match. Arrows bounced off of their fur, fire balls singed it, ice darts froze it and lightning bolts simply gave them a little shock.

The hits kept coming, hardly leaving their marks on the wolves Hp bar.

Jon located Cerberus with ease. He was twice as big as the other wolves.

He ran through the middle of the field, a line of bodies left behind him.

Jon couldn't stay on the sides any more. This was why he joined. He wanted to fight in ways real life just didn't allow.

He stashed his bow and took out one of the swords he got in the library. In his other hand he was holding Yarel's knife. He walked out of the forest slowly. The sound of his heartbeat overshadowed everything else. He felt calm and couldn't stop himself from smiling.

-'Silent Strike-' His knife went in and out of a warrior’s neck, cutting the jugular and sending a spray of blood into the air.

Critical Hit

Continuing the motion he twisted the knife in his hand and stabbed the player next to him in the neck as well. He spun, slicing a third player’s head almost completely off and pushing the knife in a fourth player’s armpit.

Critical Hit

Critical Hit

Critical Hit

Level Up

He did it fluently, not even slowing down. A fountain of blood covered him in red.

He kept walking forward while he distributed the stat points.

-'I want to decapitate someone.'- was the reason he put all the stat points into strength.

Level Up

Level Up

Owl's Instincts Levels Up

Level 2: Critical Hit Chance +8%

Twelve more died, all of them critical hits. An arrow struck his chest. The metal tip got stuck in the leather armor while the wooden shaft broke off and fell to the ground.

Two more warriors fell and another arrow struck him.

He looked at the battlefield and analyzed the situation. Cerberus was making minced meat out of the long range players standing on the sides of the battle. The close ranged players ganged up on the wolves and Jon could see two wolves lying on the ground beaten to death.

-'Cerb will manage alone.'-

Helping the wolves was more important, as the arrows did little damage and magic could be avoided.

But that wasn't what drove him to a run. It was the sight of a huge amount of players gathered around the wolves that appealed to Jon. The wolves got surrounded by the players, with some fighting while others trying to get close enough to land a hit.

He sprinted towards them, putting ten points into strength. He reached the first player who, like the rest of them, was looking away from Jon, fighting to get closer to the center. The knife struck him in the nape of the neck and he fell down to the ground. Next to him players were dropping like flies.

"Traitor!" someone bellowed.

Those around him turned to stare at Jon. He was covered in blood, standing on a pile of dead bodies. They froze when they saw his smile but recovered when someone shouted:

"Get him!"

A dozen players went after him. Jon dashed at the closest one and REPLACEed the knife into his shoulder, climbed him and jumped using him as a spring board.

He flew through the air, the head of the players lifted to look at him pass into the center where the wolves were.

-'Silent Strike'-

He fell on top of a player, forcing his sword down the player's surprised mouth. With his flat side of the knife he managed to deflect an oncoming club. Following the wooden shaft of the club he sliced the fingers that were holding it. Drawing the sword out he was saved from a hit to the head by a bleeding wolf.

Jon was having the time of his life. He just wished his opponents had a bit more fighting experience. But he wasn't about to waste the moment away.

Like a whirlwind he began making his way outside the collar of players. The wolves followed, adding more bodies to the path. Pop-up massages telling him he made a critical hit flashed in his eyes.

Knife/Dagger Mastery Levels Up

Level 3: Attack Speed +10%

Attack Power +5%

Jon dodged a wooden training sword by crouching fast and sticking his knife into the swinging players boot. The player jumped in pain and a wolf trapped his neck between its teeth.

A path cleared before him and Jon dashed forward. Jumping high, he twisted in the air.

His legs pointing into the night sky, he turned around himself as if screwing into the ground. With the sword and knife horizontal to the ground he cut the knees of three players. Finishing his spin he fell on his feet in time to block a fist with the sharp side of his knife.

The players with the cut knee fell on their good knee and had their faces slashed at by the wolves.

Level Up

Speed Stab Skill Learned

The skill allows you to perform a stabbing motion with your weapon of choice, with a speed that far accedes your normal abilities.

The motion is so fast it allows you to perform multiple stabs in the time it would have taken you to make one.

Level 1: Number of stabs = 2

Mp cost: 20

They continued moving straight, receiving blows from all sides. The hits were weak and Jon's leather armor protected him from any serious injury, but the accumulated blows were starting to affect him.

Thoughts of losing passed through his mind and his moves began to slow down. He was starting to tire. A sound of a howl enveloped the battlefield and a moment later body parts began flying through the air. Cerberus was cutting his way to Jon and the wolves.

Cerberus was even bigger now. Jon could see the top of his head over the rows of players separating them. He was using his claws more than his teeth now. His front legs became longer and his torso looked wider. From time to time he even raised himself on his hind legs, swinging both his paws at the enemy. Each slash cut a player to pieces. A human head could fit in his jaws with enough room to move around.

Weapons broke off his body and magic couldn't even capture his attention. He looked feral, resembling a demon more than a wolf.

The sight of Cerberus invigorated Jon and fueled his hurting body.

-'Speed Stab!'- The player he aimed his skill at had both of his lounges punctured at the same time.

-'Speed Stab.'- -'Speed Stab.'- -'Speed Stab.'- -'Speed Stab.'-

By the time he joined Cerberus his mana was depleted and his level rose again.

Level Up

Jon and Cerberus fought back to back, with the wolves circling and killing random players on all sides. In the nick of time Jon noticed a strong light coming from afar.

A mage used all of his mana to create a huge ball of fire and it was almost ready.

Jon stepped in hard and put all of his weight forward. Without giving it a second thought he threw his sword at the mage.

The focus stat and the owl's instinct skill kicked in and the system made Jon let go of the sword at just the right moment.

It flew through the air, reflecting the red light of the fireball and looking like a sword made of ambers. It impaled the mage’s stomach and forced him to break off the casting.

The huge ball of flames exploded with enough force to blow away all the leaves from the trees behind it.

Mages and bowmen around it were burned to death as it exploded and some unfortunate warriors became stunned. A wolf that was in the radius of the explosion was running around with his fur on fire. In its frenzy it ran into players, setting them on fire as it did.

The explosion became the turning point of the battle.

While Jon and the wolves were much stronger than the rest of the players, the number of players would have overwhelmed them eventually. Fortunately, the explosion together with the sight of Cerberus’ flinging cut up bodies into the air with every swing of its claws, caused some players’ nerves to break down.

Most of the range attackers fled back to the citadel, and with every death, more and more players deserted the fight.

Level Up

Level Up

Speed Stab Levels Up

Level 2: Number of stabs: 2

Attack power +5%

Mp Cost: 20

As the sun rays began to show over the horizon the last players fell to the ground. It happened at the nick of time, a bit longer and the wolves' night time power bonus would have been canceled.

The sun rose over the field of battle bringing to light just how many have died. Jon and the wolves stood in the middle of piles of dead bodies.

He was bleeding hard but he didn't care as he felt better than ever. The way he fought would have never been possible in real life. The acrobatics and kill moves he used never worked when he tried them in the pit, but in this battle they not only worked but they worked well.

The wolves were howling at the pale remnants of the moon. Some members of their pack had died and the rest of them survived the battle with bad wounds.

The wolves began the battle the same size, but now out of the thirty who began only ten survived, each of them was a different size now.

They surrounded Jon and nuzzled him from all sides, licking his and each others wounds. Some wolves whimpered as the bigger wounds were licked clean.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The battle is over.

You have become stronger and will of today be known as the winner of the battle named "The fleeing of the newbies".

Level Rises

Fame Rises By 300 (+300 Fame)

Title granted: "Leader of the pack"

Title bonus: Charisma +10

Taming animals becomes 20% easier and faster.

Wolf's Blood Lust Buff Has Been Canceled

The bodies covering the grassland all turned grey at the same time and disappeared. No evidence that anything had happened at all was left. Only the dead wolves were left to lie in their own blood.

Jon began digging a grave and the surviving wolves joined in. They put the dead wolves inside and covered it back over with dirt. He gathered a few stones and put them in a circle on top of the middle of the grave. Inside the circle he drove his sword into the ground. He stood in silence, giving his respect to those who fought alongside him. The surviving wolves did the same by howling a sad howl.

Memorial of the Beasts Created

To remember those who have fallen to the human madness, the sword of a true friend to the animals will be engraved with the names of those who died fighting the humans.

A yellow glow enveloped the sword, and when it dissipated, runes were engraved into the blade.

The wolves went back to the forest and Jon went back to the citadel.

He passed remnants of the battle as he entered the gates. Players who had run away looked at Jon with fear and respect as he passed them. Some tried to attack him, but were saved from Jon’s wrath by the Npc guards.

He didn't go back to work like he was supposed to. He simply couldn't. The remaining wolves were left weak and hurt and any player brave enough could easily kill them all. Worry filled him and wandering the citadel streets, thinking of a way to help them, he saw the answer before him.