Even with the erratic movements of the wolf, the spell swerved with it and exploded right on target. The wolf finally reacted, as I pulled my one-handed axe and started to hack away. The knives, firmly planted into the nape of the wolf served only as pegs for which to hold.
Sliding and bouncing, I continued to hack away at the wolf until I was finally thrown clear off. Falling to the ground with a hard thud, the wind had been knocked out of me.
Large red prideful eyes filled with anger, glared at me in the darkness of the night.
And then I saw the soft-white hue form underneath it, and immediately ran towards the wolf to keep it in place. I grew angry too, rage filling my mind at the thought of losing to an overgrown wolf. I entered the enraged state, I went into a frenzy.
I clipped the nose of the wolf with my one-handed axe, causing it to recoil in pain as a plume of holy fire shot up underneath it, engulfing it partially in flame. It yelped once before jumping to the side and out of the fire.
It had been burned, cut, and stabbed… but it was fine.
The two of us circled each other, as Kate regained mana in the distance.
We were both angry now.
Tired of the beast's patience, I charged with blind aggression overwhelming me.
Jumping up and swinging down I cleaved into the face of the wolf as it managed to bite through my chest. Pain immediately shot through my body as blood filled my lungs. Grabbing the axe I yanked, tearing through the side of the mouth of the wolf and forcing it to let go. I fell to the floor once more, as I began to feel numb to the pain.
My state of mind beyond gone.
I ran back in, only to slide underneath the wolf and grab at the halberd that was still stuck in its side. Utilizing the momentum of my slide, I pulled on the halberd and ripped it free, taking a rib or two with it.
The wolf growled a nasty growl that should have sent a shiver down my spine.
Except, I was nearly immune to negative mental effects.
Tilting my head slightly to the side, I stared at the beast.
We locked eyes, challenging each other to see which of us was the more dominant.
I raised my weapon.
It turned and ran.
That, was the first encounter.
The first time Katherine and I had ever seen a dire wolf. To say the experience was a frightening one, didn't give the beast enough credit.
Yet the funny thing, was what came next.
I soon found a single dire wolf wasn't much to a group of casters. They weren't much to a group of warriors with a team of healers behind them either.
Still, the sudden influx of Goblins, Rattanorv, and Dire Wolves was a surprise. The game called this state of affairs, an Infested Zone. An ever-changing game state that evolved to the needs of the surrounding players. The more we hunted and the faster we hunted, the quicker the game would adjust the difficulty.
Out were the minor low-level creatures, and in were the higher level ones. Now, we had creatures in the level fifties up through seventy-five or so. My guess, was if we kept at this pace, even stronger beasts might appear.
We weren't ready for that yet... but in time.
In time, a lot of things change.
"Soren, you're the lead here," I stated as I pointed to the shortest man in the group. He wasn't a physical specimen by a long shot, a perfectly normal looking man by all accounts really. What he lacked in physical ability though, was made up with a strong personality and a good head.
He was essentially the number two behind Astrid.
"I won't disappoint Sir," he exclaimed loudly. "Gather up, there's a pack of goblins over yonder, we'll start from the center and work our way to the flanks. Get ready!"
Standing back, I watched with arms folded as the group of five casters lined up and began to cast. The group of [Wild Goblins] weren't anything to worry about, really. All I cared about was their coordination.
A few more levels and they would be split up again to begin their new training regime. Group simulation with a mixture of warriors, mages, and a priest all in one party. If they were successful, then they would be allowed to hunt on their own.
Once that stage was reached, I could return to focusing on myself.
I couldn't afford to stagnate.
The game, was always evolving.
Players, were always progressing.
I needed to stay ahead of the game no matter the cost.
Three waves of spells later and the goblins had all been killed. Their corpses looted, we continued on our way. Every day for four hours, we repeated the process.
At night, I worked by myself, with Katherine's assistance from time to time.
She taught me Holy Magic, the same as she taught every caster in our employment. Four dedicated healers along with ten dual-magic users that all knew how to cast a heal at the very minimum. If a situation called it for it, someone would be able to throw a [Holy Light] out.
If it ever came down to it again, requiring a heal only a few seconds away in order to save a life… there better be somebody nearby and ready to cast. And if I had to be that person, so be it. There was no shame in saving a part of my mana bar for an emergency heal. Whatever it took to save lives, even if they were Artificial lives.
Yeah, I had branched out once again.
I was a true hybrid at heart.
And in practice.
Chapter 71: Intruders in the Night
(Sunday, November 7th Game Day / Wednesday, April 14th Real Day)
Another day, another night spent in the cabin staring out the window. A cloudless night with a nearly full moon. I think, it was called a waxing gibbous, or something like that. Whether that was right or wrong didn't change the fact that it was a bright night out. Though in contrast to the beautiful night, a certain feeling had been nagging at me.
"Ah," I muttered while rolling over in bed.
"Mm…" mumbled Katherine in response, fast asleep.
I had been sleeping in-game almost exclusively now; wasn't entirely sure why but it was comfortable enough. Maybe it was the comfort of having a body near, even if I knew that the body was nothing more than coding.
It certainly beat the empty bed waiting for me in my real room.
Virtual Reality, was dangerously addicting.
That nagging feeling had been bothering me and I couldn't sleep because of it. There was a half-naked beauty asleep with arms wide open, enough space for me to fill… yet as inviting as that was, I rolled to the edge of the bed.
Sitting up with hands on my knees, I couldn't shake the eerie feeling.
Opening my menus and navigating through the [Land Management] tab, there was a specific tab that I was looking for. With a click on the menu displayed out in front of me, the [Player Population] tab was the one I had been almost psychotically stalking.
There were no alerts if an enemy player entered your territory unless an NPC spotted them and told you themselves. That was how the system worked, and was how it was intended. A loophole though, existed in the [Lang Management] > [Player Population] tab.
It updated with statistics, in real time.
If someone stepped foot within my territory, which was ten miles out now due to my Reputation, it would show immediately on the player population page. The current population, should always be a single number, one.
One player.
Me.
Tonight, that number was six.
Bingo.
I knew what was bothering me now. My sixth-sense was especially on point today. It wasn't long after night had fallen in-game, only 12:45 AM local time. There was a good chance that they were players, elves, looking to explore.
Dragon's Breach was well-known throughout the game thanks to [FWB]. A few players that were nearby had already ventured out to take a gander. They were few and far between though. Most of them came by and looked around then quickly left as there was nothing to do. The area was too difficult to hunt in for most players, what with roaming packs of goblins, rattanorv, and the occasional dire wolf.