Columns of bright orange-gold magma were descending from the sky on the horizon. Masked figures were spread around the large herd of animals. Weapons in their hands were glittering as they reflected the light from campfires around them.
Suddenly glowing red spots appeared on the nearby stone terrace, quickly closing towards them. The players tensed their muscles, their minds on full alert. The number of red spots kept growing, approaching in small groups of six from multiple directions.
Suddenly someone shouted, destroying the whole tension, “Prepare for attack! Remember, cows are more important than your life. Sacrifice your lives for the cows and sheep.”
The red spots already got close enough, revealing that they were red eyes. Soon whole beasts with the shape of a wolf covered in pitch black porcupine-like spikes revealed themselves. Their long, razor-sharp claws were bright red, contrasting with the black spikes, looking ready to turn their foes into minced meat.
“Grrr!” wolves opened their mouth, growling at the players, showing their red teeth.
At once first three wolves moved forwards, sprinting on all four of their legs, their claws scratching at rocks under them.
A wolf’s glowing eyes got glued on a nearby player, especially his shiny brass mask. It opened its mouth full of sharp red canines and jumped at the player.
The player immediately reacted, his short spear igniting in bright orange flames. He stabbed forward and the tip of the spear pierced through the wolf in the middle of the jump. Bright flames erupted inside of the wolf, blazing out of its mouth, eyes and nose. Booba retracted his spear, letting the cooked wolf fall to the ground.
At the same time, a bright sphere of magma formed on the tip of the staff held by a brass-masked caster with an alluring female figure. The sphere of magma quickly grew before flying out, blasting through the air.
The wolf bent, its legs jumping to the side as the blazing sphere of magma flew by its side. Its glowing red eyes immediately fixed upon the mage that attacked it.
Wolf rushed forward, saliva dripping out of its widely open mouth. It moved at an incredible speed, skipping a few meters with a long jump.
A new sphere of magma gathered on Lili’s staff, quickly growing. She remained standing there calmly, holding the sphere on her staff.
Then the wolf jumped again, showing its menacing teeth, ready to tear the small pesky caster. Lili released her spell, the sphere of magma flying out and hitting the wolf in the middle of the jump. Unable to change its direction in the air, the wolf’s eyes flickered as the magma sphere exploded like a water balloon, covering the wolf in burning liquid.
The wolf fell to the ground, twitching as the magma covering it burned through its body, with the disgusting smell of burned meat filling the air.
Suddenly a loud shriek came from their sides, grabbing the attention of all players.
A massive wolf jumped at a player in a wooden mask wielding a spear. The player stabbed his spear, piercing through the wolf. However, the wolf kept moving to snap the spear in half with its long claws. Finally, the wolf opened its mouth and bit into the player’s neck, its sharp teeth tearing muscles and crushing his spine. Blood splurted out as the player stopped moving, a puddle of blood forming around his body.
Suddenly Booba’s instincts warned him as he rolled to the side. The last wolf from the trio he and his party members fought had its spikes standing straight up, red energy glowing between. Then a wave of red energy gathered and passed through its body before launching out.
The red wave moved through the air, illuminating everything in red light, impacting the place where Booba was partially hitting his rolling body.
The red energy enveloped his arm and part of his chest, dissolving his leather armour and his skin, revealing muscles with pulsing veins under it.
Then an axe descended upon the wolf, the small masked dwarf swinging it with his thick fat arms. The axe passed through the wolf like a hot knife through butter, separating its head from the rest of its body. Black blood splurted out as the wolf’s limbs twitched for the last time.
POV Vesuvius:
The dragon flew above the blackened stone terrace glowing in spilled magma. Tiny red dots were moving in the distance in every direction, moving either toward campfires or swatches of magma.
‘So they are attracted by light. This piece of knowledge will definitely be useful the next night.’
Vesuvius couldn’t stop shaking his scaled head at the extreme aggressivity of the wolves and their incredible numbers.
‘And this is only the edge of their territory. I saw even more of them the last time I flew above these mountains.’
He had no more time to think about it as he flapped his massive wings sparkling with electricity, strong wind launching him towards another pack of cursed wolves. The night-covered terrain under him turned into a smear as he accelerated.
He quickly reached another pack of wolves running through the rocky terrain and opened his mouth. Orange light flickered inside, and another stream of bright magma launched out of it falling into the middle of the pack. The stream passed through the wolves, destroying their bodies and leaving behind trails of glowing lava before the wolves got a chance to react.
[+150]
[+160]
[+150]
[+150]
…
Ding!
//
You are now level 22
All stats increased!
+5 stat points
+1 ability point
//
‘This is also weird. They are all around the same strength except for the ones with red spikes leading them. This just reinforces my previous assumption that they are not natural existence.’ then he grinned, looking at the burned ground and the level-up notification, ‘At least they are a good XP farm.’
Vesuvius flapped his wings once again, rising higher into the air to observe the situation. He kept flapping his large wings, sending dark fumes everywhere, stopping only when he reached clouds, looking at the moon that had already crossed half of the sky and started to slowly descend down.
Meanwhile, on the ground, groups of red spots kept moving, with most of them circling around the swatches of burning lava spread over the surroundings. Still, few of them continued, running towards the herd.
‘Next time, I should use their tendency to follow light sources to our advantage while forbidding players from making fires.
(AN: For some reason, I don’t like this chapter, but maybe it is only my opinion…)