12 Re-learning the Basics
"Watch your foot-work! Keep low and be ready to dodge." Amari shouted as she punched a dire wolf in the nose as it tried to attack her from behind, causing it to whimper and run away.
[Dire Wolf - Level 3 Beast]
"Fuuuuuu~" Ai exhaled as she dodged a leaping dire wolf and ducked underneath another, she slashed her blade along the underbelly of the second as it went over her, causing blood to spew over her cloak.
"One down." Ai grinned.
"Nope." Amari shouted out as the wounded dire wolf leaped at Ai again.
Ai dodged out of the way but a claw scratched her arm in passing.
"Never assume your foe is down until you deal the finishing blow."
Frustration welled up inside Ai, having spent so much time being so powerful, she had forgotten the basics of fighting. Having tasted the power of being over level 100, every attack, no matter how small, used to be either deadly or debilitating. Now she needed to relearn the dance of combat.
"Tch... Die." The first wolf pounced towards Ai but this time she stood her ground, aiming her sword for the wolf's open maw, she thrust forth the moment the wolf was within distance, the blade pierced the insides of the wolf through the throat but not before its fangs snapped down on her hand.
The second wolf charged in and Ai realized that she couldn't move fast enough due to the dying wolf latched onto her at the moment, she stared in fear before the second wolf was suddenly ripped in half.
Looking towards Amari some 30 feet away, Amari had swung her sword down.
'The shockwave did that? She is ridiculous for a level 21.'
Pulling the fangs off of her now mangled hand and drew the sword from the dire wolf's corpse.
Amari walked toward Ai, sheathing her sword behind her back, a look of anger and disappointment on her face.
'S-scary...' Ai thought, a shiver running down her spine feeling the impending lecture.
"Ai." Amari said quietly but coldly.
"Y-yes sweetest big sis?" Ai said in an equally quiet voice in a cold sweat.
"Do you wanna die?" Amari said keeping the quiet tone but with more volume and aggression.
Ai shook her head so quickly, the world started to spin.
Amari stomped closer and closer to Ai, until she was uncomfortably close, causing Ai to fall on her rear. Amari stomped the ground next to where she sat, causing the ground to crack.
Taking in a deep breath... "The fuck do you think you are doing! Don't you ever give your enemy an opening like that! Standing your ground? Doesn't matter how big or strong you are, you never, I repeat, never underestimate your opponent! Just because you can use an opening, that doesn't mean you should follow through with it! Always be aware of your surroundings! You knew there were two opponents, don't go for the kill unless you know you can do so safely, and even then, go for disabling your opponents first!" Amari yelled out every single word, the dire wolves that were stalking them thought twice and decided to retreat.
Ai looked down at the ground. "I-i-i'm sorry big sis. I was overconfident."
"Tch, damn right you were. Stand up!" Amari snapped.
As though possessed, Ai stood up instantly, Amari was far scarier than any monster.
"Weaknesses?" Amari asked though it sounded more like a command.
Ai straightened her back and responded in a meek voice. "Limbs, underside, groin, and anus!"
Amari blinked. "Did you just say anus?" The seriousness in her voice faltered.
"Yes ma'am! The anus is an exploitable weakness that's usually unguarded, ma'am!" Ai's voice cracked.
Amari covered her face with her palm. "Err... No, I mean yes, but no. It might be a good weak point for a sneak attack, but it's an inefficient target to go for in the heat of battle unless you were sadistic and extremely agile, I guess." Amari scratched her head and blushed slightly.
"Lil sis, are you a sadist?" Amari asked with a worried expression.
"Eh? Ehhh? Ah! No! I'm not! Please stop looking like that!" Ai covered her face, blushing as Amari stared at her with a look of doubt.
Amari sighed. "Alright fine, I'll bug you about your sexual preferences later. For now, let's go practice on a few more dire wolves, I've got a special opponent for you once you get a handle on the basics."
Ai nodded and gulped, for two reasons.
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Three dire wolves surrounded Ai, circling their prey. She knew that this was a dangerous position to be in, thankfully she picked up a few new tricks after killing a few dire wolves.
"[True Analysis]." Ai whispered and closed her eyes as they turned amber.
Focusing her detection domain specifically on the wolves, she felt each muscle extend and contract, showing exactly what move the wolves would make as they made them.
Sensing the wolf directly behind her suddenly shift its weight to its hind legs, Ai copied the wolf and prepared her legs to jump.
As the wolf sprung into action, so did she, the wolf leaped towards what it thought to be Ai's blindside, however, Ai leaped into the air in a backflip. Ai planted her hand on the neck of the beast and gripped hard, using the momentum of her body spinning one way and the wolf flying the other, she pulled the wolf and launched it at another wolf that had decided to take advantage of her aerial disability.
*CRACK*
The sound of bones shattering as the two wolves collided in midair could be heard from a good distance away. Ai wanted to smile but instead focused on all three wolves again.
With her eyes still closed, she could now feel the hesitation in the third wolf.
'Not yet.' Ai thought as she could feel the anger from the other two wolves stood up resumed to circle Ai.
'They are living creatures after all, even with broken bodies, anyone or anything would rather fight to the end than to submit to death.'
Ai felt a small amount of remorse for the creatures until all three started to charge.
'Sorry Mr. Wolf 1, 2, and 3. This princess wants to survive as well.'
Ai rolled between 2 of the wolves, slashing her blade through the side of the wounded one.
Not wanting to repeat her previous mistake, she put some distance between them with the plan of whittling them down little by little, until she could claim her kill.
Repeating this dance of blood, Ai continued her process of dodging and slashing where she could until the wolves were too weak to fight back or, in the case of the last one, attempt to run away.
Sensing the wolf's legs closest to her tensing, she knew it would attempt to flee.
'Now!'
She quickly slashed out at both legs as the wolf fell to the ground, not wasting the opportunity, she slammed the blade tip down into the wolf's neck, finishing it off. Walking towards the other broken wolves, she repeated the process to both, claiming her victory and her experience.
She felt close to a breakthrough, she was on the verge of reaching her second level after killing about 7 dire wolves in total.
Ai opened her eyes and smiled, looking toward a grinning Amari, who gave her a thumbs up.
"Well done Lil sis!" Amari walked up to Ai and ruffled her hair, causing her to blush slightly.
"T-thanks. I still can't believe I had to relearn the basics again." Ai admitted as her blush grew a little brighter.
"You've still got a ways to go, but you're making good progress." Amari smirked. "I think you're ready for that 'special opponent' I told you about earlier."
Ai nodded. "Mn! I think I'm ready!" She said as confidence filled her voice.
Amari giggled. "We shall see."
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They approached a small cave entrance on the side of a large hill, well it was more like a hole as it was only a few meters deep.
A small rabbit hopped out of the opening and raised its head, looking up at Ai, it wiggled its nose.
Ai turned to Amari in confusion. "Say, sis? Where is this 'special opponent' you were talking about?"
Amari only smirked and took a few steps back.
Ai had never seen anything in her peripheral vision as clearly as she had now.
The small, adorable rabbits face split open, the insides unfolded out into a mass of flesh and teeth. The furry, cute paws of all four feet peeled back as bloody, meaty tentacles grew out well past the point where its tiny body could have stored this mass.
*CRACK*
The chest split open revealing a bloody, toothy maw that expanded rapidly. When the abomination stopped growing, it was about half the size of Ai.
The rear tentacles coiled and tensed up, ready to pounce.
"Ah...? Ah!? AHHHHHHHH!?!?!?"
