Day Nine: Leveling

Pant... Pant... Pant...

"Round two! you f*ckers!!"

John declared as he points his dagger to the wolves.

The wolves became wary, as their kind was killed by the human they thought was easy prey.

They didn't approach as carelessly as before and decided that it was now a 'True Hunt' as they surrounded him again.

John looked at the wolves that were slowly approaching, and took another broken Sagra twig from his storage and broke it in half, then he tried to ignite the tip of it with 'Everyday Fire Magic' only to be interrupted by an attack from his left flank.

The broken twigs slipped from his hand as he was surprisingly sent only a meter or two away from where he was before, but before he was able to stand up another wolf launched itself towards him, he covered his self using the Fera vine on his left hand and stab the side of the wolf using the dagger on the other hand.

He continuously stabbed the wolf but before he realized it almost all of the night wolves surrounding him pounced at him at the same time, he was forced to the ground.

"Aaaaargh!, YOU F*CKERS!!!" John screamed and cursed as his body was clawed and bitten by the wolves.

John opened his storage again and using his left hand that was blocking the mouth of a night wolf, he struggled as he reached out to get three Sagra twig, but was able to get them. He immediately covered his body by multiple 'Everyday Water magic' as he tried to explode the Sagra twig using 'Everyday Fire Magic' it was a double chant-less casting, John didn't realize that he was doing it as he tried to save himself.

"Uuuuaaaaahhhhh!" *BOOOOM*

After John's ear-splitting scream the Sagra twigs exploded from his hand, the wolf that was biting his arm was sent a few meters away and its head was gone, the other wolf that was biting and clawing at his body was also blasted away.

John was also not safe from the direct explosion even after covering his body with water magic the amount of damage from the explosion of the Sagra twigs and the fire magic with more mana than the water magic that was covering him was tremendous.

"Ugh...! haa...haa..." John groaned from the excruciating pain and tried to catch his breath as he lied on the ground.

*coughed* *coughed*

He coughed out blood as he tried to stand up, he was now drenched by the water covering him earlier, he got burn marks on his body and the bleeding from the attacks he received was not stopping, his left hand was heavily burnt and he can't move it, nevertheless he tried to stand up.

John made a faint smile as he saw the damage he dealt at the wolves. Some are near death and some are heavily injured, the direct explosion they felt from the three sagra twigs would be more than enough to kill them if they were lower leveled monsters, it just goes to shows they aren't one.

John decided to kill those who can still move, and ran towards the nearest wolf, he staggered as he ran, his balance was gone but he was able to reach the wolf that was squirming due to the flames.

John poured a ball of water to the squirming wolf to remove the fire on it and immediately stab its neck, it struggled for a few seconds before letting out a quiet whimper as it died.

John looked around once again, he saw three Night wolves glaring at him, they were readying for an attack, they were those who were at his feet and were just sent away by the explosion and have minor injuries.

John was startled, he couldn't move his burnt hand nor could he move properly anymore, still, he readied his self with a stance, his hips stoop down, his right foot stepped forward and he adjusted his body sideways. He was ready to counter the moment the wolves attack.

The wolves perceived this as a challenge and attack, the three wolves shot towards John as they bare their claws and fangs at him.

John threw the dagger to the nearest one and took out a thick fera vine, then ran towards it. The wolf immediately dodged the dagger and glared at John, but it was too late, John's speed was faster than before, despite having severe injuries, he was able to reach the wolf.

John stretched out the thick fera vine on his arm and used it like a whip and whipped the head of the night wolf in front of him, the weight combined with the thickness of the fera vine enabled him to deal more damage, but controlling the whip was incredibly difficult and he was only able to whip the wolf once.

He immediately let go of the fera vine and ran towards the dagger he threw, which was now on the ground.

As the first one was still in a dizzy state, the two other wolves turned around and followed him.

John dived towards his dagger and rolled, he immediately pointed the dagger to the wolves and stood up.

The wolves slowed down and separated, one moved slightly to the left and the other to the right, after they confirmed that John's escape was not possible both of them once again pounced at him.

John quickly looked around, but he couldn't find a place to escape. John decided to take an attack and defend the other, he immediately blocked the claw of the wolf from his right by using his dagger, he was able to memorize the attack pattern that the wolves used during his battle with them and anticipated the next type of attack.

The other wolf didn't miss the gap on John as it plunged its claw to his back.

"Ugh!"

John's face distorted as he felt an intense pain comparable to the pain from the explosion earlier, his balance was offset for a second and the dagger blocking the other claw slipped out from the confrontation and he let another attack get to him, this time it was to his chest.

John fell to his knees, the other wolf's claw was still plunged at his back adding the weight to him, John decided to spend his mana, he shot candle sized fireballs towards the wolf in front of him, he didn't care about the wolf clinging to his back as he decided that it would not leave his back that easily.

As John's mana continue to deplete by the repeated bombardment, he slowly felt dizzy, 'Mana Deficiency' the result of using too much mana at once.

The wolf on his back removed its claws from his back and plunged it again, resulting in the pain far from what he felt earlier.

"Aargh!" he screamed, but he didn't stop his attacks, he continued to attack the wolf and burn it to death, only after almost a hundred candle sized flames was he able to kill the wolf, he was feeling dizzy, but he endured, he didn't want to die, even if he would be able to return back, he didn't want to left the rest of them, especially his best friend Alex.

John's eyes lit up as it was burning with the desire to survive. He mustered his strength and using his right arm that was still holding the dagger, he reached out two fingers at the wolf on his back and used all the remaining mana he got left on it.

*Boom*

His back was now burnt after he fired two soccer ball size flames at the wolf, it wasn't able to endure the pain and shock wave as it was sent flying a few meters away from him, but it was still able to damage his back tremendously.

Pant... Pant... Pant... Pant... *Gulp*

Pant... Pant... Pant... Pant...

John tried to stand up, but his back ached every time he tried to and he eventually walks while his back was slouching, he needed to kill every wolf that was left.

He looked around and saw the wolf that was on his back seconds ago, it was burning and squirming on the ground and after a few seconds it stopped moving, then he looked at the other wolves he saw the wolf that the head he whipped was unconscious, it's still breathing so he decided to kill it first.

John sat down near it, he gripped the dagger in reverse tightly and pointed it to the neck of the wolf. He quickly ends the life of the wolf and stood up.

He looked around him and saw dozen of wolves lying down, a few were burnt to crisp, some were still breathing but couldn't move, and the rest are dead.

John moved to another wolf that was still breathing and killed it, then he moved to another, he repeated the process and as if to confirm that all of the enemies were dead, he fell on the ground back first, he couldn't move his body any longer.

The fatigue that he hadn't felt since he was running earlier was now able to catch up.

John was smiling as he saw the announcement windows around him, he couldn't move his body but he was able to survive. Tears flowing from his eyes, he couldn't feel the pain and fear right now but he could feel the joy of surviving, his eyes were more determined as he looked at the announcement windows once again.

[Announcement]

~ You have killed a level 20 Night Wolf, 1,500 experience points have been earned.

-You have gained a level

-You have gained a level

-You have gained a level

-You have gained a level

-You have gained a level

[Announcement]

~You have killed a level 23 Night Wolf, 1,820 experience points have been earned.

[Announcement]

~ You have killed a level 21 Night Wolf, 1,650 experience points have been earned.

[Announcement]

~ You have killed a level 20 Night Wolf, 1,500 experience points have been earned.

...

...

.....

After confirming the announcements John's consciousness started to wander off his body as he slowly closes his eyes.