As the headless corpse of the Snow Leopard lay on the ground, Rahz felt an indescribable heat coming from his Rune of Awakening. It was time to absorb the energy.
The absorption process was intense yet short, Rahz felt the temperature of his rune go from 0 to 80 F in about 2 seconds then the warm energy in the rune radiated outward to all parts of his body increasing his progress towards the next level by about 10%.
Rahz was stoked to discover that he only need it 20% more to clear the test requirements and that meant he only needed two more Snow Leopards like the one he had just killed in order to make it to level 5.
With a new goal in mind Rahz stood up and prepare to move further out, there were places to be and creatures to kill. It was time to look for his next opponent and as luck would have it before he could get into a jogging motion out of the corner of his eye he spotted something moving.
Standing about 30 feet away from him, there was a Timber Wolf that had just arrived following the smell of blood in the air and when he saw Rahz it just stopped and stared.
Sensing that there was no pressure whatsoever coming from the wolf , Rahz was pretty sure that the Wolf was at a lower level than him.
LUCKY!!! Rahz yelled feeling quite happy.
AOOOW!!!
The wolf howled and continue to stare at Rahz.
" You can howl all you want but there is no escaping me, Just roll over and let me kill you".
Rahz rush towards the wolf intending on collecting easy experience but the wolf was no fool and took off.
"Don't think you are getting away from me."
Rahz quickly followed but it seemed like there was a bargain on the dash skill because all the beast in the forest had it. Rahz continued chasing for about 5 minutes but it was hopeless. No matter what he did, he realized he couldn't catch it. Rahz was a little frustrated that he was about to let his prey get away but the moment he decided to give up the chase something peculiar happened, the moment he stop to leave so did the wolf.
AOOO!!
Another howl.
Hmmm..
Rahz started to chase once more but it was pointless as the moment he tried to engage the beast in combat, it would just run away like they were playing a game of tag.
AOOOO
"Bah… I am done with you" said Rahz before turning to leave but the reality of the situation was something else as five more wolves surrounded him from all directions. It was an ambush.
Rahz blinked a couple of times in an attempt to verify that there were in fact five more wolves surrounding him and said, " I thought the elder said that beast had no wisdom until the first evolution. Ain't that a b...".
Rahz observed the situation he was in and got a little nervous but at the same time his Barbarian blood urge him up to take on the challenge. He quickly determined the level of the wolves and felt a little more confident about his chances. "Looks like 2 level 2 , 3 level 3s and a level 4".
" If I can kill one of the level 2, I can break the encirclement and escape"
He grabbed Mr choppy with both hands and made a v line straight towards a level 2. Rahz swept the axe horizontally towards the beast's legs in order to incapacitated it but was unsuccessful.
Right before he could finished his attack out of the corner of his eye, he saw 2 wolves launching attacks from different directions . Instinctively he cancel his attack and block instead.
It was very difficult to change the trajectory of a 2h weapon midway. Just as his teacher had thought him during training, Rahz use the Axe handle to counter-attack one of the wolves but he exposed his back to the other one. In order to mitigate some of the damage, Rahz used Strengthen Defense but it was not enough. 3 red lines appear across his back and he felt a stinging ardor.
AHHH!!
Rahz swung his left leg trying to connect a kick against the wolf that had just scratched him but he hit nothing but air. The wolf was too agile and after attacking, it quickly retreated.
Standing at the back of the pack, the level 4 wolf looked at the battle field with disdain. He didn't deemed necessary to take action personally. Every time Rahz tried to attack a wolf, the others will quickly attack him in a very practiced manner.
Rahz was running out of options, the guerrilla tactics he was facing were really annoying to handle . In order to break away from the encirclement he inevitably had to risk being wounded or possibly killed.
Despite everything that was going on, Rahz did not feel despair, on the contrary he felt that his proficiency with the 2h axe was increasing at a steady pace. His movements were becoming more efficient and his attacks more vicious. Nothing like the pressure of a life and death battle to stimulated improvement.
As the wounds accumulated on his body more and more, his level of focus also skyrocket. This was it, the feeling he had always long for, this was the Thrill of Battle.
Seeing that his opponent was improving as the battle went on, the Leader of the pack decided to take action. He was observing his opponent attentively waiting for the perfect moment to attack and end the fight in one fell swoop. He commanded all of his troops to attack Rahz with everything they had to increase his opportunities to give the coup de grâce. Unfortunately, the result was not what he expected.
Rahz focus had reach such a high point that his weapon proficiency had finally made a breakthrough. The moment his 2h Axe proficiency reached the intermediate apprentice level it unlock the combat skill Cyclone. Taking a look at the information of the skill Rahz couldn't help but smile.
Following the signal of their leader, all the wolves seem to move in unison as they attack Rahz at the same time. As they jump through the air towards him, Rahz lower his center of gravity and activated his new skill. The skill quickly drain his energy away at what seem to be a fix interval. When the skill drained the energy equal to a devastating blow for the second time, he stopped the channel and the skill went off.
The first to get hit by the business end of the axe carrying massive torque and increased sharpness from the energy absorbed were the level 3s. They were the first to arrive to the meat grinder.
SPLAT!!!!
Body Parts and half wolves flew everywhere. Blood cover the head of the axe as well as the snow. The level 2s were yet to arrived but their fate was seal. It was very difficult to change directions mid air and the momentum on the spin only increased with every turn. The level 2s were cut cleanly.
After the third spin, the skill came to a stop. Rahz resume a straight posture and place Mr. Choppy over his right shoulder. There were body parts all around him and blood dripping down his face and left hand. It was a gruesome scene.
Rahz looked straight at the leader of the pack and said, " Ooops!!! I'll try to be a bit cleaner next time".
AOOOW!!! GRRRR!!! AOOOW!!!
The leader was so mad he entered an enraged state. Activating his dash skill, he rushed straight at Rahz and used bite. Rahz acted quickly and block the attack with his axe handle. The force of the attack sent him sliding backwards but little damage was done to him.
The speed and force of the attacks performed by the wolf leader were 3 notches above his now deceased pack but his attack pattern was exactly the same. Having fought 5 Timberwolves before fighting with the leader was a blessing in disguise.
Seeing the wolf leader charge at him for the fifth time now using the same technique disappointed him greatly. Rahz decided it was time to finish the fight and claim his rewards.
Rahz deflect the attack of the wolf leader exposing its side, then with his knee cover with energy hit the belly of the beast knocking it a little bit back. Rahz then finished with and upward devastating blow.
It was all over, the axe managed to cut deep into the belly opening a lethal wound. The wolf felt to the ground and it's enraged eyes were no more, the only thing left in them was nothing but indignation. Had it not been for its pride as leader that prevented it from attacking, the one losing his life would have been Rahz.
Rahz sat on the ground to recuperated from his exhaustion. In the meantime, The rune of awakening absorbed the energy from the wolves achieving a breakthrough.
Woot!!
Rahz felt his whole body changing as a feeling of warmth spread all over his body. He felt better than ever. He could now lift about 210 lbs and felt that his organs were now becoming tougher than before.
Learning from his previous experience with the wolves, Rahz moved away from the area. After running for about an hour, Rahz found himself close to the 40 mile line. Thinking that it was far enough, Rahz decided to turn in for the day and look for a place to expend the night. It was finally time to rest.