"ROARR!!"
A beast's cry was heard to the wolves' left. For a second, they were distracted but soon resumed their chase.
'That's a bust.' thought Ethan.
He then summoned 6 phantasms identical to himself which attacked the wolves from different directions. Although the creatures flinched, there was little effect to their speed.
If anything, Arthur's constant barrage of aura blades was far more effective. They did little damage, but since he always targeted their eyes or legs, the wolves were forced to block or dodge.
"Stalker boy, increase your attack when I charge."
"You're not going anywhere!" said Ana.
"Of course." Ethan answered casually while pulling a small pouch from his breast pocket. Thick mana surrounded the pouch and dragged out its contents. It then separated into 6 glowing orbs.
"Come." murmured Ethan while suppressing a splitting headache.
The phantasms caught up to him and picked up an orb each. When they returned and attacked the wolves again, nothing seemed to be different. The pack ran right through them, and some even tried to chomp them down.
However, after the first wolf swallowed an orb, the rest immediately closed their jaws and started avoiding the phantasms altogether.
"They can either communicate through their thoughts or somehow share feelings or senses."
"Are you sure?" asked Arthur from above. He was near the team, but ran through the trees to make it harder for the wolves to target him.
"Maybe." answered Ethan. He was too tired to think.
""Yelp…" The beast that swallowed the orb finally tripped on its own legs and dropped dead.
'Tough bastard' thought Ethan. Though it was not his best work, the poison should have caused debilitating pain prior to death.
'The others weren't affected, so they can't share feelings.'
Suddenly, a barrage of light blue swords smashed into another wolf's neck. They pierced through the skin though not enough to kill it.
"Your theory is bulls**t!" yelled Arthur annoyed.
"I know!" 'Dumbass.'
Ethan sent his remaining phantasms towards the injured wolf. Having fallen behind, it was easily surrounded.
At level 2, it couldn't make out where the poison was hidden. Seeing no clear solution, it closed its eyes, shut its jaws, and charged forward using only its smell.
"Yelp…"
"Haha, dog brain!" Ethan laughed heartily while clutching his head.
"What did you do?" asked Oliver.
"I gave it an enema."
The beast soon dropped dead like its comrade. The wolves were now down to 4.
"I… I can't last much longer." cried Ana. Looking at Oliver, he wasn't in a much better state either.
'Shit…" Ethan had restored their mana before rising from the ground, but it was already running out. Without his cheat like control over energy, rank 0 mages had the stamina of sloths.
He tried to touch their bodies to transfer mana, but trees kept getting in the way. Although his phantasms distracted the beasts, they were still catching up. Even Arthur stopped attacking. He was likely drained as well.
- Slash! -
A giant paw was rapidly approaching Ethan's head. Using all the energy he could muster, he dodged to the left.