Chapter 10 - The Boss Appears

The longer I looked out at the sinister figures, the more I realised that I didn’t know anything about those monsters. I decided to keep my distance while I figured them out a bit more.

The pit acted like a moat that stretched around the platform I was hit off of.

I ran along the rounded walls and dashed off into the centre. There was only one wolf inside the pit along with me, the rest pulled back. The shadowy creature followed up with a hasty sprint of its own, clawing at the ground with every kick from its legs.

Unlike the Rush Rabbit, this monster had deadly-looking claws and fangs…I didn’t want to think about what those would have done if they caught me.

I can't be afraid, not when I’ve come this far. I can’t pass up the opportunity of all this experience right in front of me!

I cast out my Chakram with a straight shot but suddenly the wolf had been completely encompassed in smoke.

The blade cut through the smoke and blew out of the other end. My chakram hit the wall of the pit and left me with my mouth hanging open.

“It disappeared, did it go invisible or teleport...?!”

I frantically jerked my head in every direction to find the missing wolf. Nothing to the left or right, behind me wasn’t anything either. Just as my nerves were at an all-time high, I felt the deadly stare burn into the back of my neck.

A sharp row of dagger-shaped fangs snapped down into my shoulder as I stumbled back. Even with my increased speed boost, I couldn’t react fast enough.

“Argh- Get off!” I yelled out in panic trying to break free.

With a flurry of bashes from my arm, I dug shallow stabs into the beast's chest and belly but nothing from that angle landed deep enough.

{Users HP has reached critical condition}

I know that dammit, I can feel all of the pain myself! It’s like a fire has been lit right under my skin-

My heart raced at a speed I didn’t think was possible. The muscles around my eyes twitched and my arms became erratic, slashing and gouging every angle I could.

Is this it…am I done for?

“…no- No- No- NO- NO!”

I struggled within the clutches of the shadowy wolf's jaw, but seeing no way of breaking free I clenched my teeth and widened my stance.

“If you won’t let me go, I’ll break free myself!”

A potent white aura surrounded my leg, creating a swirl of powdery white energy as my knee crashed into the bottom of the beast's jaw.

{Strike Kick activated}

Blood sprayed out from the gaps between the wolf's teeth and the shattering sound of broken teeth flooded the pit.

With its grip over my shoulder loosened, I quickly pulled away and put distance between us.

My health was in terrible condition…my vision became woozy and I could barely stand on my own. I needed to heal and fast.

With a swift strike from my blade, I lanced forward and pierced through the Shadow Prowler's chest. Its health dropped to zero once I forced the blade further in.

{500 Exp gained}

{Level Up}

My health’s recovered somewhat but still…I need to do something about that bloodlust they’re emitting!

I looked out further into the pit where the others lined up. They bared their fangs with a collective growl that nearly shook the ground.

“Wolves usually act in pacts don’t they, so then why didn’t they all jump me when this guy had me by the jaw? Could it be that he was just some kind of scout then?”

I grinned and held out my hand over the fallen Prowler's body.

“So this must make you pretty angry then, right? Devour!”

Shadowy mist overcame the body and was absorbed completely, triggering a new icon to form inside the skill menu.

The new icon displayed the wolf with many smaller bubble-shaped icons around it, connected the same way that the Rush Rabbit's skills were.

“If they have this many skills listed, that must mean they have a lot more abilities. I’ll need to be even more cautious than I thought.” I muttered.

I scrolled over the available skills but I only had one that wasn’t locked again. I focused over it by my attention was quickly pulled away.

One by one the wolves descended into the pit, they hopped over the half-buried pillars and wreckage until it landed in front of me.

I tried counting them all but it was impossible, their lean blackened bodies circled me like vultures. They closed in on me with steady steps and tightened the circle around me.

All nerves were at their peak and it seemed like they were just about to pounce, when suddenly a powerful bark silenced the pit. All the wolves halted in their advances and lowered their heads as a powerful presence presented itself.

A larger wolf, nearly twice the size as the others emerged from the back of the pit. It walked out of the shadows like an erected demon and emitted a heavy coat of smoke from its body.

{Shadow Howler Lv 12}

Unlike the others who were only skin and bones, that one was completely made of shadows. Its body moved like a restless spectre, each hair moved independently from its body.

{The Dungeon Boss has appeared}

Its bloodcurdling stare made my body freeze on the spot. It was a level of fear I had only felt once before. It reminded me of when I faced off against the Brancher. For it to emit that kind of danger, I knew I was outmatched.

Something was different though.

Even though I was terrified out of my mind, more than anything I got excited. I didn’t plan on running or hiding, all I wanted was to add it to my skill collection.

My mouth curled into a beaming smile from ear to ear and the wolf replied with a menacing expression of its own.

The Howler commanded the others with a mighty howl that forced me to my knees. A crushing force weighed me down as well as raised their bloodlust.

I can't move my body how I want…what is this?!

{Shadow Howler has activated Leaders Howl} – {Shadow Prowlers have become more aggressive}

{User has become intimidated and has lost 30% of speed}

Shit– this isn't good!

Suddenly all the shadowy figures around me closed in at once, it didn’t take long for three Prowlers to already be at my neck.

With a quick snapping motion I sliced the neck of one of the wolves closest to me. Its HP dropped by a small amount, but its health remained in the green.

I came to realise there were multiple levels of the health system, green being full, yellow being halfway empty and then red when it was close to zero.

I felt the presence of bloodthirsty jaws closing in on me from behind and I quickly jolted around. Unlike them, my health was in the red. I couldn’t afford to get bitten again, not even once!

I raised my free hand towards it and commanded the new skill I had gained. Right before it had the chance to reach me, I called out its name.

“Shadow Claw!”

A black aura surrounded my hand and created five sharp nails that hovered closely over my regular ones.

{User has activated Shadow Claw}

I slashed into the attacking wolf’s face and its health dropped by a significant amount. It dropped to the yellow with only one attack and cleared enough room for me to pull away.

That attack did almost as much damage as Strike Kick… some skills must just be better than others.

“Gyaaah!” A prowler appeared behind me in a puff of smoke. Its razor claws nicked my shoulder as I dodged out of the way.

Full panic descended on me as my health bar dragged dangerously close to zero. There was a small fragment of it left and I felt the full effects as my bloodied body rushed around.

I felt the difference in my lowered speed, I was moving way more sluggish than before.

I know I’m slower but aren’t these guys a bit too keen to attack, it’s like they don’t care about their own lives. If the effects of that howl managed to do that, then will it only stop if I beat the boss?

If that’s the case, I’ll need to get a little stronger. If I can only lower their numbers just a little bit…

The shadow prowler I carved up charged at me head-on. I pulled back but there was no room to escape into, so without a choice I challenged it. I buried my remaining chakram into its chest right before it could land a hit and the beast died.

My health raised quite a large amount but before I had the chance to celebrate, more arrived.

Up till then I had been dodging and slicing wherever I could, barely making a larger dent in specific monsters and rather just attacking them all as I went along. My goal was to bring them all down slowly without getting hit but without my regular speed…I was dancing outside death's door.

Suddenly a sharp thin object flew through the air and cut into my shoulder. I cried out in pain as blood fell down my arm.

My HP dropped to the yellow just from that…?! What was that just now?

My eyes raced across the pit and looked for where the attack came from but none of the Prowlers seemed to have been able to deliver an attack like that. It was so quick and it must have been from a distance, none of them showed that kind of ability yet.

Three more jumped at me from behind but I was already dealing with two ahead of me. In a matter of seconds, I was overrun.

“Get away from me!” I screamed in a fit of frustration.

{Strike Kick activated}

I blew away the Prowlers surrounding me and lowered them all to yellow health. It wasn’t long until they stood back up and attacked.

“Not even that was enough to kill them?”

Suddenly my head jerked back and a thin black whip cut through the air, inches away from my head. My eyes followed the whip back to its source and led me to the powerful presence that commanded the group from the back.

“Are you telling me that thing can reach me from all the way over there? That’s way more than a simple tail, it’s a weapon!”

The Shadow Howler stretched out its tail like a whip for what looked like an infinite distance. It waved through the air like a leaf and when it attacked, it nearly disappeared out of sight. Its speed was even more frightening than the Rush Rabbits.

There was only one way to deal with that thing, I needed to take the fight to it.

{Rush activated}

My legs were enveloped in the powerful white aura as I shot across the den. The debuff of my skill weighed me down before but using Rush seemed to have offset the effects slightly.

With the Howler in sight, I prepared my chakram and activated the Shadow Claw skill in my free hand.

“Hyaah!”

I swung wide and aimed for its neck but ultimately cut through a cloud of thick smog. I flew out the other end of the cloud where a Prowler pounced at me.

I blocked it with my arms, but my health dropped down to the red in an instant. The large claws forced me down and prevented me from moving. It took everything I had just to keep it from flattening me.

“Urgh– not yet! As long as I have skills, I’ll never be weak again! I can fight…I can…”

{The user has activated Strike Kick}

The white shadowy aura surrounded my leg but dispersed immediately after.

{User's mana has been fully depleted}

My body was heavier than what I could lift, I dropped to my knees in an instant. I felt starved and deprived of everything good in the world.

Why does my body, feel…weak…?