Alice noticed that as soon as they entered into the third region that the atmosphere became heavier and seemed a little oppressive. It may be my imagination but I think the danger level has just spiked but we'll see. However it soon became obvious that she was right they could no longer find areas that were populated with fewer then groups of 15-30 wolves, on top of that both the first two types of wolves no longer popped up instead they faced two new types which included.
Dark Wolf
Hp 900/900
Dmg 45
Skill- shadow blend can hide in shadows skill is passive
Exp 125
Alpha Wolf
Hp 1100/1100
Dmg 55
Skill
Howl- increase's all wolves dmg by 10% within a 100 meter square radius
Exp 175
Not only were these wolves stronger but there was always at least one alpha that would immediately use it's skill. It didn't matter how Brock and Alice came at them they weren't able to get in range of and kill the Alpha before it used it's skill, this made every battle that much more difficult. Combined with the Dark wolf ability to move in the shadows, Brock and Alice started to take damage regularly and no longer progressed with speed. On top of that there was only a few drops consisting of mainly health potions.
"Look Brock you need to start leveling your equipment, if you don't we may not even make it through this region. The difficulty has gone up at least two levels instead of one. I believe that to make it into the 4th region we'll probably have to face between 30-60 of these stronger wolves. At that time you'll be an easy target and if they take you down, then I'll be finished as well. If you change your settings we can grind this area and maybe get enough exp to make a difference." Alice said she wouldn't bring this up again but she had to use 3 healing potions for this battle and if she calculated correctly then she would definitely run out of potions before they hit the peak region.
"I don't think that's a good idea, yes your equipment is higher level but even that isn't really making a difference. I think we should grind out this area though it should be enough for Noir to reach level 16. At that point his breath attack goes up to 300 and covers a 20*20 meter area. I believe that this should give us the advantage once again. My equipment hitting lvl 1 or 2 isn't going to do anything to these wolves."
Alice sighed as she did she went in and set 100% of her experience to her weapon and armor. It seemed that Brock was set on forcing her into the role of the tank. " Alright let's grind out this area it's definitely going to slow down our pace but it seems like we have no choice." Alice didn't even look at Brock, she was definitely irritated by his stubbornness. If this kept up she would kill him herself and go back and grind out the first two regions before heading to the peak.
After four hours of grinding Brock's dragon finally leveled up. Alice and Brock had passed the entrance to the 4th region several times and as Alice predicted there was a lot of wolves there. she counted no less then 50. luckily her armor and weapon had leveled up twice.
Equipment- Unequip-able
Dragon Knight set- indestructible. Lvl 4>6 def 50>78
Set includes Pole sword indestructible lvl 3>5 dmg 42>67
Once it had leveled up she set her setting to 35% exp to her and Dragon while putting 30% exp to her armor and weapon. Now both her and Dragon were close to a level. Hopefully this battle would improve them both. However since she wasn't putting as much experience to herself and her pet they would definitely level slower but she didn't want to get stuck in the same scenario as Brock.
"Are you ready, obviously me and Dragon are going to have to go in first, we'll use the same tactic that we've been using, with your improved breath skill and my improved damage and defense I think we have a good chance of coming out of this battle relatively unscathed. Me and Dragon will attack from the east and you circle around from the west." Alice stated the battle plan which was successful from the end of the first and second region. Brock nodded and headed off to the west.
Alice didn't wait for Brock to get into position as she felt that he was only holding her back at this point anyway. At least he'll make a good distraction allowing me and Dragon to take advantage of the confusion that our two pronged attack creates. Once Alice and Dragon approached the pack 40 more Dark wolves appeared out of the shadows. Shit this isn't going to be easy there is a hundred of these bastards and we are to close for Dragon to back off. Also now that they were close enough she could see that this pack had 3 Alphas. Dragon didn't stand on ceremony and immediately tore into the leading wolf, Alice wasn't to far behind in fact she managed to start battling wolves before the Alphas took notice and used their skill.
Well at least their skill isn't cumulative. Alice noticed that even though all 3 alphas had used their skill the wolves didn't get any stronger then normal. As Alice and Dragon were engaged with just about the whole pack now she couldn't help but wonder where Brock and Noir were. As if on cue black lightning started erupting behind the wolves creating the confusion that she hoped for. Even though this battle was harder, they still managed to prevail. The big problem was Alice used up half of her healing potions, and even though these wolves dropped healing potions it only made up a quarter of what she used. The biggest boon though was she and Dragon had leveled up. Alice put 1 stat point to each Str. Agi. Vit. while Dragon's attack went up 25 and had gained an innate Def. of 100
Alice Lvl 10>11
Str. 32>33
Agi. 30>31
Chr. 9
Wis. 20
Int. 6
Lck. 4
Vit. 31>32
Equipment- Unequip-able
Dragon Knight set- indestructible. Lvl 4 def 50
Set includes Pole sword indestructible lvl 3 dmg 42
Set must be leveled up by sacrificing exp.
Dragon Knights can't acquire skills
Pet
Baby Dragon lvl 11>12 must sacrifice experience to level up
Hp 2250/2250>2500/2500
Claw Attack- dmg 75>100
Def 100
Skills
Maul- baby dragon will attack target until it's dies or baby dragon dies
"Well we made it to the 4th Region and it looks much smaller then the first three regions. If the wolves don't change on us again we should make it to the peak in less then an hour. How is your dragon's mana holding up?" Alice looked at Brock, Brock just shook his head.
"We should rest here for an hour or so that battle took more breath attacks then I expected. I believe that I should have enough to make it through the 4th region but will be completely exhausted for the peak." Brock couldn't help but wonder at this point if getting the evolve core would solve his problem, no he couldn't think like that once he got that core everything would be fine.
"You've got 15 minutes, after that I'm going on ahead. We've already wasted to much time here. We're barely leveling up and there is next to no items either. If it wasn't for the core then I probably would have left already. Here you can have these 3 magic potions that I looted from the plateau before we teamed up." Alice was not impressed anymore, his Dragon was holding her back and she could get more experience on her own.
"I understand, even I'm starting to think that pure leveling my dragon was a bad idea." Brock started to panic a little without Alice there was no way he'd make it to the peak, so he decided to try to pacify her by agreeing with her. His goal was to gain a little more time to gain back mana. "Even with these 3 potions I need at least a half hour."
"Ugh I'll give you 20 minutes after that we move out." Alice wouldn't give him more as she was already compromising. After time was up Alice started moving into the 4th region. Brock had no choice but to follow her. Five minutes into there travels they came on the first group of wolves they had changed again.
Winter Wolf
Hp 1600/1600
Dmg 75
Skill
Frozen Howl- temporarily freezes target for 1-5 seconds, unless target can pass willpower check. Willpower based on Wis.
Exp 200
Mountain Wolf
Hp 2500/2500
Dmg 150
Skill
Blend- Mountain Wolf can easily hide in its environment making it very difficult to fight
Exp 400
Alice's wisdom was very high, so the Winter Wolves abilities didn't effect her at all, however Brocks was only about mid level so He'd freeze 1 out of 5 times making him and his Dragon fall prey to attacks from the Mountain Wolves. This slowed them down even more as Alice began to really feel like a tank having to basically stay in front of Brock.
The only upside was that both the Wolves had a guaranteed drop. The Winter Wolf dropped magic potions and the Mountain Wolf dropped health potions. It's just that between there Hp and Damage both Alice and Brock wound up using most of what they picked up.
It Also seemed like there was a never-ending stream of these wolves. Between the fact that Brock was no longer pulling his weight, and the fact that they barely had enough time to pick up the drops, Alice was no longer holding back her anger when talking to Brock.
"I should've never come with you if we make it through this I want half your gold. At this point I'm just your goddam bodyguard!!" Alice yelled at Brock as he was feeding magic potions to his Dragon again. "Once we hit the third region you became a liability instead of an asset."
Brock just grit his teeth. "Fine but if you want half my gold our original deal of flipping for the evolve core has to stand." Brock had no choice, he needed to get to the peak and he needed Alice for finding the core. However once he got the core then she'd be changing her tune she might even join the guild he was going to create. If she didn't maybe he'd just kill her here, he couldn't have a rival out there he needed to be the top Dragon Knight.
" I never go back on a deal, the gold is for my inconvenience of carrying your inept ass." Alice sighed, she could see Brock was going to be a problem once they got the core so she moderated her tone. "Look I'm just pissed and taking it out on you because my friends have already gone to the capital. If it wasn't for the core I'd really never have come here."
Brock thought this was his chance. " Ok I'm sorry too, I'm really just frustrated from realizing that I need to grind another week in this area and level up me and my equipment." Brock hoped she was buying it.
"Fine let's go that should be the divide between the 4th region and the peak." As Alice and Brock peaked around the last rock in their path there was only one wolf but he was huge and his skills definitely gave them pause.
Burst
Hp 5000/5000
Dmg 200
Skills
Call of the Mountain- Burst can summon all other wolves in range of his call to aid him in battle. range is the mountain
Burst- Gives himself an explosive burst of speed and strength of 25% for 1 minute. cooldown 10 min
Exp 5000
"Shit," Alice swore and looked at Brock. " Only one way were doing this luckily the mountain is going to help us." Brock didn't nod there was no way they could use the same strategy. " Look I'm going to have to solo the boss while you stand at this crevice and a.o.e the shit out of anything that come to aid him."
"Umm..."
"It's the only way there is no way we can kill him before he uses that skill and if we both expose our backs then were done for. I know we've had a tough go of it so far but you have to trust me on this one."
Brock didn't like it but she had a point. There was no way he could solo the boss and they would truly be screwed if there backs were exposed to a full mountain of wolves." Alright, we've come this far hopefully we can complete this." Brock steeled his determination and set himself in the middle of the path. Alice nodded and headed into the boss