Chapter 10 - The Boss Appears

The longer I looked out at the sinister figures the more I realised that I don't know anything about these monsters.

I'll keep a distance while I try and figure it out.

I ran along the rounded walls of the pit and dashed off into the centre, there was only one wolf inside the pit along with me. Retaliating to my advances the wolf followed up with a hasty sprint of its own, clawing at the ground with every kick from its legs.

Unlike the Rush Rabbit, this monster has deadly-looking claws and fangs…I don't want to think about what those would do if they caught me.

I can't be afraid, not when I've come this far. Steel your heart and fight!

I cast out my Chakram with a straight shot but suddenly the wolf had been completely encompassed in dark smoke.

The blade cut through empty smoke and blew out the other end, bouncing off against the wall of the pit and into the dirt.

"What was that, is it gone?"

I frantically jerked my head in every direction to find the missing wolf. Nothing to the left, behind me isn't anything either, did I check my right…huh!

A sharp row of dagger-shaped fangs snapped down into my shoulder as I stumbled back.

"Argh- Get off!" I yelled out in panic trying to break free.

With a flurry of bashes from my arm I dug shallow stabs into the beast's chest and belly but nothing from that angle landed deep enough.

{Users HP has reached critical condition}

I know that dammit, I can feel all of the pain myself! It's like a fire has been lit right under my skin-

My heart raced at a speed I didn't think possible. The muscles around my eyes were twitching and my arms became erratic, slashing and gouging every angle I could.

Is this it…am I done for?

"…no- No- No- NO- NO!"

I struggled within the clutches of the shadowy wolf's jaw, but seeing no way of breaking free I clenched my teeth and widened my stance.

If you won't let me go, I'll break free myself!

A potent white aura surrounded my leg, creating a swirl of powdery white energy as my knee crashed into the bottom of the beast's jaw.

{Strike Kick activated}

Blood sprayed out from the gaps between the wolf's teeth as a horrid sound of broken teeth flooded the pit.

With the grip over my shoulder loosened I quickly pulled away, placing a distance between us.

My health is in major condition…I should probably heal then.

With a swift strike from my blade, I lanced forward and pierced through the Shadow Prowlers' chest, dropping the bar above its body to zero.

{500 Exp gained}

{Level Up}

My health seemed to go up quite a bit, which should hold me off for a kill or two but still…I can't get over that level of bloodlust they're emitting.

I looked out into the pack of wolves lined up around me over the edge of the pit, growling and baring fangs at me.

"Wolves usually act in pacts don't they, so then why didn't they all jump me when this guy had me by the jaw? Could it be that he was just some kind of scout then?"

I grinned and then held out my hand over the fallen Prowler's body.

"Devour."

Shadowy mist overcame the body and was absorbed completely, triggering a new icon to form inside the skill menu.

A new icon displayed the wolf with many smaller icons around it, connected the same way that the Rush Rabbits were.

"It has more skills than it did with the Rabbit, you guys must be able to do a lot more then." I muttered as the screen displayed icons across the menu.

"I only got one again, it seems pretty useful though." I scrolled over the only available skill.

One by one the wolves began descending into the pit, hopping over the fallen pillars and broken pieces of architecture that were half buried in the ground around me.

I tried counting them all but it was impossible, their lean blackened bodies were circling me like vultures, closing in with every step towards the centre.

All nerves were at their peak and it seemed like they were just about to pounce…then suddenly a powerful bark silenced the room. All the wolves halted in their advances and lowered their heads to the ground as a powerful presence presented itself.

A larger wolf, nearly twice the size as the others emerged from the back of the pit, exuding a heavy layer of black smoke from its skin.

{Shadow Howler Lv 12}

Unlike the others who were only skin and bones with smoky aura falling off of them, this one was completely made of it. Its body moved like a restless shadow with each hair moving independently from its body.

{The Boss of the Dungeon has appeared}

Its blood-red eyes glared me down with piercing fury, triggering a feeling I hadn't felt before. Fear, panic…no the only thing I could think about was the unsettling excitement building up from within.

I should be afraid- no terrified! Yet for some reason, I can't help but smile thinking about fighting that thing.

The Howler commanded the others with a mighty howl that forced me to my knees. A crushing force weighed me down as well as raised their bloodlust.

I can't move my body how I want…what is this?!

{Shadow Howler has activated Leaders Howl} – {Shadow Prowlers have become more aggressive}

{User has become intimidated and has lost 10% of speed}

Shit- this isn't good!

Suddenly all the shadowy figures around me closed in at once, it didn't take long for three Prowlers to already be at my neck.

With a quick snapping motion I sliced the neck of one of the wolves closest to me. Its HP dropped by a small amount, leaving its health still in the green.

I felt the presence of bloodthirsty jaws closing in on me from behind, I quickly jolted around and with a wide motion threw out my empty hand to them.

A black aura surrounded my hand and created five sharp nails that hovered closely over mine.

{User has activated Shadow Claw}

Five large slashes crossed their faces, pushing back the wolves as a chunk of their HP was cut down.

"This almost does as much damage as the Strike Kick…do some monsters make for better skills than others?"

"Gyaaah!" A prowler appeared behind me in a puff of smoke. Its razor claws nicked my shoulder as I dodged out of the way.

I had begun to feel the difference in my lowered speed, moving a bit more sluggishly than before.

I know I'm slower but aren't these guys a bit too keen to attack, it's like they don't care about their own lives. Is it the effect of the increased aggression from before?

I need some way to lower their numbers-

"Ack!" I cried out.

Up till now I had been dodging and slicing wherever I could, barely making a larger dent in specific monsters and rather just attacking them all as I went along. Suddenly a sharp thin object flew through the air and cut into my shoulder.

My HP dropped to the yellow so quickly, what was that just now?

My eyes raced across the pit, looking for where the attack came from but none of the Prowlers seemed to have been able to deliver an attack like that from a distance.

Three more jumped at me from behind but I was already dealing with two ahead of me.

"Get away from me!" I screamed in a fit of frustration.

{Strike Kick activated}

With a powerful wide kick, I blew away the Prowlers surrounding me and lowered them all to yellow health.

Not even that was enough to kill them…

Suddenly my head jerked back and a thin black whip cut through the air inches away from my head. My eyes followed the whip back to its source and lead me to the powerful presence commanding the group from the back.

Are you telling me that guy there can reach all the way over here? That's way more than a simple tail, it's a weapon!

At the rear end of the shadowy figure was a pair of thin tails that stretched out across the den, like rubber.

I'll take the fight to you then.

{Rush activated}

My legs were enveloped in the powerful white aura as I shot across the den. The debuff of my skill was weighing me down before but using Rush seemed to have offset the effects.

With the Howler in sight, I prepared my Chakram and activated the Shadow claw in my free hand.

"Hyaah!"

I swung wide and aimed for its neck but ultimately cut through a cloud of thick smog, I flew out the other end of the cloud where a Prowler pounced at me.

I tried blocking it with my arms but my health dropped down to the red in an instant, leaving four large claw marks over my right arm.

"Urgh- not… yet!"

{The user has activated Strike Kick}

The white shadowy aura surrounded my leg but dispersed soon after before I could deliver the blow.

{User has run out of mana}

My body grew heavier and sunk to the floor without control, I didn't feel in control of my legs at that point. It's as if I had been starved for a week and then suddenly told to run.

Why does my body, feel…weak…?