Synergy

"Since when did I become your subordinate? The competition is not over yet."

"Well…" Clovis clenched his sword tightly as the wolf began to shake its body, trying to throw him off. 

Kanaria aimed at the wolf but hesitated to shoot because Clovis might get hit. On the other hand, Jay took this chance to stand up. 

Clovis had a hard time staying on top of the wolf.

"This wolf…" Clovis muttered while observing the wolf. 

"Yeah. There's no doubt about it." Jay nodded with a serious expression. There was only one explanation for a dire wolf of this size having this kind of speed.

"Tier 1 Dire Wolf…" Clovis's expression turned dark. He had read the information from the Gold Class Map. While most of the beasts in the area near the base were Tier 0 beasts, they might find Tier 1 beasts if they were lucky. 

Considering their situation, however, no one would think they were lucky except for two people.

With a grin on his face, Clovis shouted, "How about we add this wolf to our competition? Who kills it, wins?!" 

"Should we?" Jay smirked. Despite facing such an enormous creature, both of them didn't show any sign of fear.

Sadly, their communication was cut short. Since the wolf was unable to shake Clovis off its body, it let out a howl to the rest of the wolves. 

Three wolves suddenly turned around and jumped toward Clovis.

Since she couldn't target the Tier 1 dire wolf due to Clovis, Kanaria didn't hesitate to shift her aim to the side, raining these three wolves with numerous bullets.

"Nice assist." Jay smirked. Even though he wasn't the one she saved, it didn't change the fact that Kanaria's aim and timing were perfect. 

As soon as the Tier 1 wolf noticed that no one could push Clovis off, it immediately sat down to hit Clovis with its foot. 

Jay took this opportunity to approach the dire wolf. 

"You're too focused on him." Jay raised his sword as though he were about to cut the wolf's foot. 

The dire wolf raised its paw and swept Jay from the right. Jay once again tried to strike this paw, the sight of him was like an ant trying to push the hand of a human. It was obvious that he would be blown away.

However, Jay surprised everyone by squatting. The moment the saber clashed with the paw, it was being pushed back, causing Jay's upper body to twist to the ground.

His strong lower body actually maintained a firm grip on the ground, allowing his upper body to twist almost ninety degrees and let the paw pass above him. 

"!!!" Even the wolf didn't expect Jay to be able to do it. Now that its paw was no longer in its way, Jay leaped toward the wolf's body and cut it.

"Aoooo!" The wolf howled in pain.

Sadly, it was too shallow. The bleeding was quite big, but it was not enough for the wolf. At the same time, the wolf hurriedly swung back the paw to push him away.

'I won't make it.' Jay thought while throwing himself forward. He couldn't squad at that timing and the paw was even lower to make sure Jay couldn't replicate what he had just done.

Unfortunately for him, he almost got away if not for him retracting his legs a bit too late. As a result, the wolf's back paw hit his legs and knocked him to the side.

"Kh." Jay rolled a few times before standing back up, but his feet felt a bit numb. If not for his equipment, the right bone might have cracked.

At the same time, Clovis had pierced the wolf with his short sword to widen the injury.

"Aooo!" The wolf seemed to not like the pain that it suddenly leaped into the air and rotated its body so that Clovis would be crushed by its body.

"Are you serious?" Clovis clicked his tongue and hurriedly pulled out the short sword before throwing it at a nearby tree. He pulled himself away before his body was flattened.

Luckily, he slid on the ground and managed to maintain his balance.

The wolf appeared to have deemed Clovis to be far more dangerous than Jay. It hurriedly stood up and charged at Clovis.

Looking at this made Jay annoyed as he shouted, "Why the hell are you looking at him? I'm better than him!" 

Kanaria, who had been observing them the whole time, couldn't help but make a wry smile. It wasn't the time to act like that. However, she soon heard Jay saying, "Kanaria. The Tier 1 Dire Wolf is for us. Your team should just focus on defeating the rest of the wolves."

"Are you sure?" Kanaria asked. She was worried because one mistake was all it took for them to die. 

However, Jay's tone was filled with confidence as he said while rushing, "Of course. A mere dire wolf is not a challenge to me and my friend."

Jay rushed to help Clovis, who was being brutally attacked by the Tier 1 dire wolf. 

The wolf once again swept its paw toward Clovis while making sure that he couldn't do the same thing as Jay. However, Clovis never planned to do the same. He didn't have the lower body's strength like Jay, so it would be foolish to replicate it. 

Instead, Clovis took a step back, trying to avoid the paw. However, he wasn't running away. 

The moment the paw passed him, Clovis struck the back of the paw as hard as he could. 

"Haaa!" Clovis roared. What Jay said earlier gave him an idea. These weapons were gifts from his grandparents. While he didn't know what they were made of or how important it was, there was one thing for sure. His weapons were far stronger than ordinary weapons.

That was why he thrust his blade and slashed the back of the paw with all his strength.

The skin was cut perfectly. Clovis felt some restriction, but it was clear that his attack managed to pierce through this wolf's defense.

Unfortunately, he could only injure him a little bit because the paw was too swift to be taken advantage of. 

But now that the paw was off the way, he closed in their distance. However, the wolf seemed to have learned what Jay did. 

It actually used its other paw to crush Clovis. With this timing, Clovis wouldn't be able to avoid it. Even if he could, he would still at least flatten one or two limbs.

Unfortunately for the wolf, the man before him was none other than Clovis. This trick might work with Jay, but Clovis simply tossed his short sword at another tree and pulled himself away. 

*Bam!*

The paw flattened the soil and left a paw mark. However, the wolf noticed that it had failed to kill Clovis. 

So, it lowered its head to swallow both the chain and Clovis. Unfortunately for the wolf, Jay had taken care of his side and waited for this moment. 

Jay jumped on top of the paw so that he could reach the wolf's head before slashing it.

His strike slashed the wolf's jaw upward, but because of his physical strength's limitations, he couldn't reach the wolf's eyes. 

"Aooo!" The wolf screamed in pain and hurriedly moved its body to attack him, only to create another opportunity.

"Nice, Jay!" Clovis pulled out his short sword and threw it straight into the wolf's eye, blinding it. 

"Aooo!" The wolf didn't expect to be bullied in this way. 

Despite meeting not long ago, Clovis and Jay seemed to understand what each other was thinking. Whether it was due to their similar personality or talent other than the evolution rate, it felt like they were like a comrade who had fought for decades. 

This was a competition to decide who would become the subordinate and who would become the leader. Yet they collaborated perfectly. 

Jay wanted to take this opportunity to deliver a killing blow. However, the wolf suddenly swung its head sharply, hitting Jay with its nose.

"Kh!" Jay clicked his tongue.

At the same time, because of the sudden movement, Clovis was dragged toward the wolf. The wolf slammed down its paw to take down Clovis, but because the latter had destroyed its eye, it missed Clovis. 

He hurriedly pulled out the short sword and stood up. Although the head would be a sure way to kill this creature, it would be hard to kill it right away. After all, this wolf was still a Tier 1 beast. Its physical strength was greater than that of any beast they had faced so far. 

In addition, its wisdom was quite high as it was able to ambush Jay in the beginning and order the other wolves to help. So, he had to weaken it further if he wanted to kill this wolf. 

 The wolf was three meters high, so his sword was barely able to reach the wolf's body. He made a shallow stab before sliding his sword on the wolf's body, cutting it apart. 

"Aooo!" The wolf looked like it was trying to crush Clovis by throwing its body to the side, but that was a feint. 

Clovis, who was trying to avoid the body, ended up focusing on the body too much. The real attack was coming from the side. 

"!!!" Clovis noticed it a bit too late as the tail had almost reached him. There was no way he had enough time to avoid it. His only choice was to put both swords in front of him to absorb most of the impact.

Still, the wolf was extremely powerful. A single sweep of its tail actually knocked him away. Clovis ended up rolling to the wolf's head, making him a perfect target for the wolf.

Clovis hurriedly tossed the short sword to escape, but the wolf actually stomped the chain, preventing him from leaving.

"Tsk." Clovis clicked his tongue. He slightly twisted his wrist and the chain suddenly detached from the armband. While rolling on the ground, he grabbed the pistol on his back. 

But it didn't seem like the right time to use this pistol yet. Jay had been waiting for this chance.

Now that the wolf was too focused on Clovis, he had the opportunity to attack it. 

He jumped as high as possible, trying to slice the wolf's head, specifically its brain area.

"Aoo!" A few smaller wolves howled while leaping toward Jay. 

Jay only glanced back as he saw the wolves being shot down to the ground before they could reach him. Fortunately, he was a bit higher, so Kanaria didn't hesitate to shoot them down, or it would be more troublesome.

However, that howl warned the Tier 1 dire wolf about Jay's position. It turned its head and hurriedly lowered its body to avoid this attack. It even tripped itself so that Jay missed his swing.

'No. I can't miss!' Jay thought. In that split second, he was trying to find a new target he could slice. 

Although it was a shame that he had to miss, he ended up cutting a part of the wolf's nose.

The wolf was wailing in pain, but it also learned how to roll from Jay and Clovis. It actually rolled its body and used that momentum to swing its paw. 

Jay wouldn't be able to avoid this attack since he was in the air. 

"!!!" Jay couldn't even rotate his body. The only thing he could do was place the saber on the way to lessen the impact.

Meanwhile, Clovis stood up, picked up his short sword, and re-attached the chain to his armband within two seconds.

The paw ended up hitting Jay and knocking him to the ground.

"Gah!" Jay spat a mouthful of blood after crashing to the ground.

As expected of a Tier 1 wolf, it was able to fight this much even with that kind of injury. The wolf glared at him, forgetting about Clovis.

'Ah, shit. Here we go again!' Jay realized that he would be heavily injured even if he could stop this next attack. He felt that one of his ribs had just cracked from the impact, so he didn't know to what extent the damage would be. 

At the same time, the wolf had forgotten Clovis, which allowed him to deliver a killing blow from the wolf's blind spot. 

'I guess I've lost.' Jay smiled, not because of his defeat but because he had acknowledged Clovis's strength and accepted the competition.