World Online

Jake pushed back, slowly getting his face away from that horrible abomination that was just inches away from gouging his eyes out.

It's roars did not have any effect, thankfully, and Jake wasn't on any debuffs. As he created some distance between the beast that tried to gouge at him, its claws kept at bay, he tilted back to avoid being mauled by its giant grinder like teeth.

And then, he kicked the wolf, or rather, the depraved wolf, away. The beast was huge, and it barely budged even though Jake kicked it with all of his power.

He used his hands to push back the sword from the blunt side, he tilted to the right and rolled on the ground. Without anything to push back, the depraved wolf fell on the ground, landing on its frontal limbs, completely fine.

But now, Jake was no longer at the mercy of his enemy, and he had some distance between him and the evil beast.

He pointed the sword at the wolf, which was glaring at him, thinking about where it would attack him.

Jake grit his teeth and jumped forward, skidding right as he landed. Because the depraved wolf was so big, it also had quite a lot of space beneath its underbelly where Jake could skid to.

"Despairing Strike!" His sword struck the underbelly, digging in and creating a slit as he ground to a halt right as he was about to leave the space below the wolf.

But now, the hind legs were right next to Jake's face.

Jake yanked the sword out and somersaulted out of the dangerous space that he was in before the wolf could do anything as a reflex.

[Critical Hit! -1479 HP]

It was a big attack, taking out maybe ten percent of the health bar of the depraved wolf.

Awooo!

The wolf howled with pain and glared at the opponent that did it so much damage. Jake could see the underbelly slowly repair itself.

Some dark light was stitching the slit together, forcing the blood to stay in. But the scar remained. It was still a wound that the wolf had to be wary of.

"They have support! Some evil mage or someone behind! They have a healer!" Jake shouted as he quickly moved to the side, dodging the lunge of the depraved wolf.

"Noted. Good observation kid." A gruff voice from somewhere around Jake acknowledged.

"Ha, they can take care of the mage then." Jake thought to himself. He then jumped forward at a confused wolf that did not meet its target, his sword trying to pierce its tough hide.

​ Unlike the underbelly, which was usually almost never protected, the sides were tougher to pierce.

So when Jake's sword struck the wolf's side, he met with some resistance. Still, his sword was sharp enough to dig it into the wolf once and draw it out.

Then, he jumped back.

[-542 HP]

These were smaller attacks, just trying to rater the wolf with wounds so that it would weaken over time.

Jake didn't want to force his hand just yet. His two special attacks were off the table for this fight where he knew that no matter what he would do, he wouldn't exactly be contributing much.

He twirled his sword and locked eyes with the wolf again. Now wounded and angry, this was the terrifying form of the beast that Jake had to be most wary of.

A wounded beast was most terrifying, and Jake knew that. It would avoid all reason and try to attack him at all costs possible.

The purple streaks started lighting up with a purple glow, small sparks of lightning appearing above them.

Jake's face changed as he brought the sword closer to him. He observed where the beast was moving.

"Left? Right? Where is it going to charge? Left!" Jake was shouting in his head, trying to figure out the next move of the depraved wolf, when he made a decision.

His brought the sword to his left flank, trying to use it to deflect the wolf that was going to charge at him.

And charge it did. But faster than Jake could ever imagine. All he saw was a purple streak with a red line that showed its eyes.

It dashed to his left flank, like Jake predicted, but his sword wasn't there yet. Jake could feel a sharp pain on his left shoulder.

Looking at it, he could see blood.

[-489 HP]

In one attack, he lost a sixth of his health. Seeing the blood forced him to remember that he was not invincible. He couldn't afford to keep losing levels. He had to stay alive.

But, to his surprise and much joy, a warm light dawned upon the wounded arm. He could feel the pain disappear and the blood stop flowing.

[+300 HP]

Jake turned to look at Annie, who smiled back at him.

Jake nodded at her before turning back. This was still the time of the fight, and he couldn't afford to get caught lacking at this critical time.

The wolf's left claws were covered with blood, Jake's blood, which it brought to its mouth and licked with its disgusting purple tongue.

Jake shuddered just thinking about what would happen if the wolf had him in its clutches.

"Come." He beckoned at the wolf, but it didn't respond. Instead, it turned around, looking up at the higher ground that the rest of the forest was placed on.

Jake also looked there instinctively. Just what was the wolf looking at?

And then he saw it. Just looking at it, he felt chills throughout his body. The terrifying thought that was on the back of his head manifested into reality.

The leader of this pack was not just a normal second tier monster. It was something much worse. It was something that would require a lot of manpower to defeat.

This was an existence in the fifth tier, at the least.

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