Battle

Lua smashed his fist into the ground, channeling energy into it. In just a few short seconds, a loud metal tang was heard.

A gigantic metal spike had implaced one of the Blazing Wolves, killing it instantly. This was one of the traps that Lua had laid, albeit he hadn't had time to test it properly. The trap fully functioning was pure dumb luck.

The other wolves instantly halted their advance, looking at their impaled partner.

The trap was Lua's true trump card. The other traps, although would slow down the wolves, wouldn't instantly kill them like the other one had. After all, he could only carry so many materials for traps. He had to rely on his knowledge to make best use of them.

The trap was meant to activate once it recognized the flame rune on Lua's glove being activated. That is also the reason it activated once Lua slammed his fist into the ground, bringing forth the dormant energy in the rune.

Victoria yelled, "Remember the plan! Move!"

Victoria dashed to the leader, aiming to kill it with her axe. Lua followed suit, going after one of the lesser wolves.

Luna and Mick joined them, the latter firing arrows from a distance. They each intended to keep a wolf occupied.

Arc, Anthony and Winston played support. Winston often yelled warning signs of incoming attacks, saving their lives.

Lua arrived in front of one of the gigantic wolves, his coat fluttering behind him. He stopped right in front of the gigantic beast and waited for it to act first.

The beast, perhaps sensing something, decided to be calculative for a few moments. Lua assumed it was gauging Lua's strength.

Suddenly, the gigantic wolf roared, dashing straight to Lua. They were in close proximity, so it took no time for it to arrive. 

Lua slid underneath the gigantic beast, taking advantage of both it's size and impressive speed. Both of these factors prevented the wolf from stopping and killing Lua while it was sliding.

Reaching the end of the wolf's body. He clung to the tail, only to be burnt. His flame rune's boons were ineffective against such a terrifying beast that controlled fire.

He let go, moving backwards and preparing for the next attack. The wolf rushed towards Lua again, ready to devour him in a single gulp.

Lua slid underneath the wolf again, only to be met with a gigantic paw in his way. The wolf had predicted Lua's movement, preventing him from moving behind him. This proved that not only did the wolf have intense ability to calculate, but it also likely possessed a degree of intelligence not lower than those like dolphins.

But Lua was smarter. He had assumed the worst, and actually intended for the wolf to block his way. He charged up the fire rune, giving him intense strength for just a moment.

With a mighty punch, he felt the bones in the wolf's legs crackle, causing the wolf to whimper in pain, falling backwards rapidly. It finally knew Lua wasn't one to be messed with.

Lua saw the light on the rune quickly fade, noticing he had drained it too quickly. Lua had learned some short time ago while testing the gadget that the rune only had a limited lifespan, but it would recover shortly. He still couldn't estimate when that would happen.

The wolf, pouncing on one of it's legs that had been broken, quickly regained target of Lua. Lua was in a worse position. Although the wolf was wounded, Lua had lost the power of the glove. He regretted not punching it in the face instead of it's legs.

With a growl, the wolf limped over at high speeds to Lua. Lua had no choice but to dodge until the rest of the party was done with the wolves.

Lua spent a good few minutes doing various acts of dodging. He jumped, he leapt, he crouched and he crawled. He was exhausted, but he could tell that the wolf was even more so - especially with the broken leg.

Eventually, the wolf stopped chasing after Lua. It had to take a few moments until it was ready to continue to chase.

Although, Lua did suspect that this was just a rouse to trick Lua into thinking he was exhausted, while it was actually waiting for Lua to come close enough. But after thinking over it carefully, he guessed that it was a very low chance. He had a broken leg after all.

He suddenly feel his right arm gain strength. When he looked down, he saw that the rune had gained it's beautiful glow. Lua could cry at that moment.

Taking a few short breaths, he cautiously ran closer to the panting wolf. The wolf, seeing that Lua was getting dangerously close, took a combat stance in a matter of moments. It showed it's deadly fangs, flames dancing on it's back.

Lua ran without thinking twice, and eventually reached close enough to a point where he could comfortably leap to it's face. However, the wolf wasn't without it's tricks either.

It clawed at Lua, mercilessly pinning him to the ground. Opening it's jaws, the beast roared, about to devour Lua. It was basking in the glory of its victory.

Lua grinned, realising he finally had the wolf where he had been trying to get it this whole time. With sweat rolling down his face, he said:

"Got you."

Crash! A massive boulder swung right into the wolf, sending it flying to a nearby tree. Lua hoped this would be fatal to an already exhausted beast. Seeing the beast twitch, he carefully approached it, not excited to see what would happen if he just assumed victory and got overconfident.

Seeing the wolf not respond, it's fur a bloody mess, Lua sighed and overjoyed in his triumph, finally feeling that he had done his task. Suddenly, he heard the scout, Winston, yell:

"Victoria is down! We need someone to support her!"

Lua looked behind, seeing the dire situation unfolding behind him. His eyes widened in horror.