“Is it another one of those things?” Standing up quickly, Arthur took a fighting stance. He didn’t know what that noise was so he assumed it was another Fanged Deer. “I can take on another one, or two even! Come at me!”
Although he had just gotten out of a brutal fight, his excitement was over the roof. He felt eager to fight even more and kill even more monsters. The feeling was surprisingly addictive and even euphoric. What he wasn’t aware of was that after he gained those stat points, his body had gained more power and that sensation was perhaps the catalyst for his desire to kill more.
Gaining strength was addictive, and Arthur was slowly falling for that.
“Hm? Where is it?” After waiting for a few seconds, Arthur frowned. The ruckus could be heard, but nothing appeared in his vicinity yet. That naturally roused his suspicion. Aside from the fact that the noise didn’t sound like it belonged to one of those deers, it was still considerably far away.
So, out of curiosity, the boy walked toward the source of the sounds, unaware of what was happening. Since the trees around him were quite thick, his vision couldn’t peer through them. So, he had to physically push the leaves and branches out of his way to actually see what was happening on the other side.
However, the moment he tried to pave a path for himself, several silhouettes jumped out of nowhere.
“Run!!”
“Goddamit! They’re still after us!”
“Why did you fucking anger those wolves, dumbass?!”
“Don’t blame me!!”
Four boys rushed past Arthur as they yelled at each other. They all had panicked looks on their faces as if they had just seen something terrifying. Arthur blinked in confusion as he looked over his shoulder.
The group made eye contact with him almost immediately.
“Who is that?” One asked.
“Who cares?! Run! He can be a decoy!”
“W-Wait for us!!”
‘Decoy?’ Hearing that, Arthur frowned. ‘Are they trying to use me to run away from something? Bastards.’
Arthur didn’t know what was terrifying them, but he certainly didn’t like how he was suddenly turned into bait for them to use. But, before he could even do anything, a few other silhouettes emerged from behind him. However, these weren’t humans.
“Wolves?”
“GRRRRRR!!”
The three silver wolves growled loudly as they looked at Arthur. They were quite massive in size with long fangs that seemed to protrude out of their mouths and sharp eyes befitting a predator.
“… Wow, three wolves, huh?” Arthur sighed as he took a fighting stance. Although the wolves seemed quite strong and there were three of them, he didn’t feel as threatened as he thought he would. Perhaps after killing that deer, he gained a lot of confidence or perhaps because he was still thirsty for more kills and more blood, he didn’t know.
“Come at me, one at a time. Or all at the same time, I really don’t care.” He said as he channeled his mana, forming a blood claw on his left hand with his Sanguine Blade in the right one.
“GRRRR!!!”
As if they took that for a sign, the three wolves rushed at him at the same time. Their speed wasn’t as fast as the deer, but they certainly had more strength in their bodies. Meanwhile, Arthur dashed toward them too.
‘My speed had increased a little.’ He mused. The change wasn’t that big, but he could notice it.
The distance between them was cut short in a second as the boy swung his sword wildly. This was the fighting style he decided to use since he had no idea how to handle a sword properly. If he can’t really use it, then swinging it everywhere should do the trick. After all, if he didn’t know what he was doing, then his enemy certainly didn’t know what he was doing.
Two of the wolves immediately jumped to the side while the last one tried to dodge the attack. However, Arthur grinned and suddenly retracted the blade before he swung his left arm, taking the monster by surprise.
The claws slashed its face, leaving a deep bloody mark behind and piercing one of its eyes. The monster shrieked as it fell to the ground, fighting the horrible pain. Meanwhile, the other two wolves took that opportunity and jumped Arthur.
“Ouch!!” Their fangs sunk into his arms, piercing his flesh from both sides as they started pulling him left and right. His health bar started dwindling down quickly as the damage increased.
“I’m not your plaything, bastards!” The boy yelled as he yanked his right arm out. His strength had reached 15 points which was apparently barely enough to get his arm free. Then, he stabbed the sword into the right wolf, piercing its neck. The animal cried loudly as it jumped back.
At the same time, Arthur used his leg and kicked the second wolf in the face. The creature tried to fight him back. But, Arthur only needed that one moment of freedom to use the claws. Slashing down, he cut through the thick fur and flesh, immobilizing one of its legs.
Using that moment, the boy jumped to his feet.
‘Dammit, I’m still bleeding and my health bar is going down slowly.’ Clenching his teeth, Arthur took a fighting stance again. Although his arms felt considerably more sluggish since they were injured, he didn’t care.
Instead, he quickly rushed toward the first wolf and stabbed it in the stomach before it could regain its balance. The creature howled in pain before dying.
[Ding!]
[You have killed level 1 Silver Wolf.]
[+2 Health.]
[You have gained +50% experience points.]
[You have acquired ‘Thick Silver Fur.’]
[Check your inventory.]
“Not the time for this stuff, man!” Clenching his teeth, Arthur realized that the other two wolves had already stood on their feet again. They were weakened, but they didn’t die yet.
The boy felt their endless anger and to that, he simply shrugged. “I didn’t attack you first, guys. A little too stupid, you are.” He said as licked his dry lips.
Then, he charged toward the two wolves. He knew the fight was far from over and weirdly enough, he didn’t hate that. In fact, he was enjoying the fight, and the struggle to kill these monsters. It felt quite… exciting, and far away from the boredom he was used to.
Even though he had just started fighting, he felt as if he belonged to this kind of thing. Even the way he was using his abilities and his sword, as unprofessional as they looked, it still felt as if it belonged to him.
Arthur felt it deep down, that this class was somehow integrated into his very soul. So much so, that it felt so natural for him to use it.
He was slowly becoming that very class he was given.
*DRIP* *DRIP* *DRIP*
Standing there, all Arthur could see around him was blood. The three wolves were lying dead in a pool of that red liquid. His own body was dirty from all the blood and injuries he sustained. However, Arthur didn’t feel bad.
“… This is nice. No, this is far too nice.” He muttered as he stared at his sword. He liked it, very much so and he didn’t know why. “I’m acting a little off, aren’t I? I shouldn’t be this much of a bloodthirsty mongrel, right?”
Even as he asked that question, he knew the answer wasn’t clear. There was something about him that felt different from before and the results of that change were right in front of his eyes.
[Ding!]
[You have killed 2 level 1 Silver Wolf.]
[+3 Stamina.]
[You have gained +100% experience points.]
[Ding!]
[You have leveled up!]
[Ding!]
[Blood Claw had leveled up!]
Seeing that, Arthur smiled with satisfaction. “Nice, that’s what I’m talking about. Give me all those points.”
As his body was getting healed and his health, mana, and stamina were being restored, he sat down. “Fuuh, I didn’t really think that it would be this tough. My health reached a critical stage. I’m still far from being able to handle several enemies at once. I also don’t know what the hell I’m doing when it comes to the Sanguine Blade. I’m a complete novice in swordsmanship.”
There were a lot of flaws in Arthur’s fighting style. In fact, if it wasn’t for his quite eccentric offensive style, he would’ve not been able to win against these three wolves. He was smart in that approach whether he was aware of it or not.
‘A little too smart, I might say. Sigh, I need to somehow learn how to use a sword and fight properly or I’m screwed.’ Rubbing the back of his head, Arthur was about to stand up and use Blood Eater, when he noticed some silhouettes appear from beyond the trees.
The group of boys from before had come back.