Chương 62: Wind Wolves

"I hardly think a knight could have more mana than me, an S Rank magic talent," Theodore boasted. Arica was about to chastise him, but Damion spoke up first, "Arguing is pointless. Arica, what is the best approach for us in this dungeon?"

"Slow and steady. Previous reports indicated that the Wind Wolves and Stone Bears tend to roam in packs ranging in size from three to ten."

"I'll take point," Damion announced.

"Ethan, Christine, you two flank Theo, make sure nothing sneaks up on him. Arica…"

"I'll bring up the rear and collect all our spoils as we go," Arica said before Damion could assign her the role. After she spoke she pulled Damion and Ethan's bags into her personal storage space.

"Well, I don't see any point in waiting around any longer. Shall we get started?" Damion said as he unsheathed his sword.

"Yes, I'm eager to tryout my new daggers," Ethan said as he twirled the dagger in his right hand. No one else spoke up, so Damion started forward while everyone else fell in behind him. Damion quickly checked the quests the Magic System had given him.

[Quest Status] [Kill Ferocious Beasts or Demonic Beasts- 24/25 (Repeatable)] [Quest Status] [Kill E Rank Ferocious Beasts or Demonic Beasts- 2/20 (Repeatable)] From his experience in the graveyard, Damion discovered that he did not have to make the kill to get the credit, as long as it was someone in his party that made the kill.

However, he did have to be considered in combat with the creature when it died and so unfortunately, as far as Damion could tell, he did not get quest credit for any of the C Rank beasts that Justiciar Mathis killed since he was knocked out and then Justiciar Mathis killed them by himself. This dungeon would only have E Rank Demonic Beasts, but he would still be able to advance his kill any beast and kill E Rank beasts quests. And hopefully, he would be able to level the Magic System up.

The group did not have to travel far before they saw the first signs of Demonic Beasts. However, unlike the graveyard dungeon, where as soon as they entered the graveyard proper the beasts started coming after them, here the beasts seemed to lurk in the shadows. It almost seemed to Damion that the Demonic Beasts were watching and studying him. Damion was not far off, as the Demonic Beasts in this forest were predators.

Even if they were not as intelligent as people, they still had instincts they followed, unlike the undead in the graveyard that just attacked. Here the Demonic Beasts were sizing up their prey and deciding if they had the numbers to face off against Damion's group.

"Any chance you can pick off one of the Demonic Beasts lurking in the shadows Christine?" Damion asked. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. If they could injure one beast it would result in one of two things. They would flee or attack. Either way, it was better than standing around waiting.

"I can try," Christine said as she took aim with her bow. The whole group watched as Christine drew the string of her bow back. She had no arrow, but as she pulled the string an arrow began to materialize and by the time her bow was fully drawn an arrow was there ready to be loosed. A moment later, Christine released her magic arrow, and it flew out into the shadows and the group heard a yelp from whatever Demonic Beast she had managed to hit.

Any other Demonic Beasts in the shadows did not immediately attack leaving Damion to think that Christine's attack had frightened them off for now.

"Nice," Damion said.

"Let's go take a look." The group moved in the direction Christine sent her arrow and found a Wind Wolf laying on the forest floor with a hole in its throat.

"How long do your arrows last?" Damion asked.

"They'll last as long as they are within a certain range of me and I have mana to power them. The further they travel from me the harder it is to keep the spell active. Right now, my range is about 20 meters."

"What happens when they move out of range?" Damion asked. It was a personal question for a mage. Revealing the limits or effects of a spell could inadvertently let an enemy know the best way to counter the spell, but for the dungeon run, it was important for each of them to understand each other's powers.

"There are three things I can do before the arrow moves out of range. I can recall my magic, which lets me recover some of the mana I spent and causes the arrow to vanish. If I hit something, I can will my magic into the creature I hit, which will further injure the target. Or I can cause the arrow to explode. Though I only do that when I'm against a strong opponent, since it costs more mana. Once it moves out of range though, the magic begins to dissipate, and I lose control of it."

"I take it you recovered your mana this time?" Damion asked. The dead Wind Wolf did not appear to have suffered more than the single hole in its neck, which likely killed the Demonic Beast quickly since the hole appeared to bisect the beast's spine.

"Yes. I did not know the extent of the injuries I caused with the arrow, so I wanted to recover my mana quickly, in case the beast was able to flee."

"Well, I guess that is one Demonic Beast down," Damion said as Arica sucked the beast into her personal storage space.

"Now that we have killed one, it will either become easier or harder for us to find more," Arica told the group.

"You mean they will either hide from us, or attack us in a rage," Damion clarified.

"Pretty much." Before anyone else could add to the conversation, a single howl erupted in the distance that was quickly joined by several more that were quite a bit closer.

"It seems they have chosen to fight," Theodore said. Damion readied his sword and began channeling mana into it and his armor. Looking around, Damion tried to find a good defensible position. He could not guard from every direction at once, but the only obstacle large enough that Damion thought would work was a large tree. The tree would at least help protect their backs, so he started moving towards it.

"Use the big tree there to protect our backs," Damion called out to his teammates. If they were all capable of fighting the beasts at close range, Damion would have called for them to circle up. Unfortunately, only Damion and Ethan were melee fighters. When they reached the tree Theodore put his back to it and Arica stood a few steps in front of him with Damion a good two meters from her. Ethan and Christine stationed themselves on either side of Arica.

Damion was not sure if the Wind Wolves would come all at once, or if they would come in smaller numbers or just one at a time. What he did know, was that they were coming. He could hear the Wind Wolves as they ran. Ordinarily the beasts were nearly silent, but Damion could tell they were running and running quickly towards his group without caring about stealth like a predator normally would.

"Get ready!" Damion shouted as the sound of wolves' feet was almost on them. When the first Demonic Beast leapt out of the forest towards Damion, he had no choice but to dodge out of the way since the Demonic Beast that lunged at him from the underbrush was not a Wind Wolf like he had expected.