Chapter Fifty-Five

After the group had some solid rest, all of their stats returned to normal. By this point, Brandon informed them that they had only explored about an eighth of the first floor. There were still many more enemies and treasures to find, so Edward quickly brought everyone up and began exploring once more.

During this time, Edward and the others ran into four separate groups of more skeleton wolves. The first group only had two skeletons, a total of 10%- both of which were killed within moments after the battle ended. The second and third groups had three skeleton wolves each- rewarding Edward and the others with 30% XP. The final group- which was only killed after a battle that lasted two minutes, rewarded the party with 20%.

By the time an hour passed, Edward and the others had gained a total of 60% XP. As such, Edward was only a few more kills away from leveling up. They had explored several different hallways and turned into several different corners. Edward made sure to explore every room he could- each time hoping to find a treasure of some sort.

He was disappointed when most rooms turned up empty. In the seventh room, however, the group stumbled upon a large treasure chest. The chest itself was surrounded by three wolves. As soon as the group entered the room, every member of the party appraised the enemies before them.

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Frozen Skeleton Warg

Lvl 15

HP: 300 | DMG: 125 | DEF: 75

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Frozen Skeleton Warg

Lvl 15

HP: 350 | DMG: 115 | DEF: 85

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Frozen Skeleton Warg

Lvl 15

HP: 375 | DMG: 110 | DEF: 90

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"Be careful," Edward yelled, "They hit like trucks! Markus and Brandon, back off! You won't be able to damage them!"

Markus and Brandon nodded and moved away, but they made sure to stay close enough for their buff skills to work. Edward and the others stepped forward- Leila took this opportunity to finally land and start using her pyrokinesis.

The wolves howled, then charged forward. As the battle began, Ikarus dashed forward and used his breath to attack the nearest Warg- the one with the most health. His attack hit the Warg with ease, burning part of the skeleton away. However, his attack didn't do enough damage to even knock the Warg aside, so it continued running toward Edward and the others.

After Ikarus's attack, the other two wolves charged forward. One of them ran to Edward and attempted to bite a chunk out of his leg. Edward tried to move but was surprised to find the Warg matching his speed. As he felt the Warg's frozen fangs pierce his leg, Edward groaned in pain and turned to Leila. A little under half his health remained after that attack, but Edward wasn't too concerned.

The second warg, which attacked Leila, had missed its attack when Leila shot into the air. Leila did a flip- creating a crescent shape with her flames- before shooting a ray of flames at the warg below her. The attack landed near the warg's spine, forcing it to the ground. Her high damage managed to take a large chunk out of the warg's health, but it wasn't dead.

Edward looked at the warg attached to his shin and shouted. He couldn't move well, so he knew his pyrokinesis would be useless. Instead, he decided to use his skill [Dragon Breath] to attack the warg. As Edward took a deep breath, he felt his throat burn with the heat of a small fireplace. A moment passed as Edward held the energy in his throat. He felt it growing stronger until it would nearly burst out of him. Then, like a window being opened during a hurricane, he opened his mouth and unleashed the energy he had gathered.

Dragon Breath worked in a very different way than his pyrokinesis attacks. The longer he held the attack in, the more damage it would do. His attack would also use more MP, obviously, but only enough to match the attack's power.

As the dragon's breath escaped his lips and struck the warg below him, the force of the attack immediately threw the warg to the ground. Once the warg had been pushed further than five feet from Edward's position, Edward closed his mouth and took a step back. A wave of lightheadedness hit him, causing him to stumble for a moment.

'I used almost half of my MP from that attack,' Edward quickly realized. The warg he struck had been grievously wounded, but it was not yet dead, 'One more attack should do it in.'

Edward looked to the third warg, the one Ikarus attacked at the beginning of the battle, and found it running up to him only moments after he unleashed his breath attack. Edward quickly backed away- summoning flames underneath his feet to propel him, as he dodged the third warg's charge. The warg tried to bite him, obviously, but Edward's quick action caused it to fail.

Ikarus joined the battle once more and unleashed a second dragon's breath upon his target. At that moment, Ikarus did the same thing as Edward did and unleashed his attack a moment later than usual. The dragon's breath was stronger as a result, instantly pushing the third warg to the ground.

However, though the attack was strong, the warg- though it was now on death's door. Afterward, Edward looked at the warg that attacked him first and watched as it slowly rose to its feet. The warg stumbled for a moment, almost like it was drunk before it fell back onto its stomach.

The warg attacking Leila jumped at her once more, but still couldn't reach her. In response, Leila unleashed a dragon breath herself- the fourth one of the battle- and smacked the warg back to the ground. After it fell to the ground, however, it never got back up.

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+5% XP

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Afterward, Edward attacked the warg nearest him- the one that Ikarus had damaged- with a basic fireball. The attack pushed the warg across the edge and finally killed it. As he did so, Ikarus attacked the last warg, killing it with a basic breath attack.

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+5% XP

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+5% XP

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