----
As a result, the others followed his lead and advanced slowly. However, as a precaution, Adonis looked to his side to inform Lucian of the signal's meaning. Yet to his surprise, Lucian's hands were already occupied with a bow.
'When did he equip that?'
Despite standing next to him the entire time, Adonis failed to notice when Lucian pulled the bow from behind his back.
'Since these are uncharted areas, I should provide some assistance. Also...I can sense them gathering up ahead. I think this is just what we need.'
Suddenly, Lucian looked towards Quinn, who was clutching his staff with trembling hands. 'Signs of post-trauma relapses? He'll have to overcome his fear and self-blame if he's to ever move forward. Maybe we should also devise a method to help him.'
Lucian's mind started to cycle through possible scenarios to jumpstart Quinn's courage. For Lucian, it was his despair. But, perhaps Quinn's catalyst required a unique taste.
As the team moved forward, continuous rustling and even some echoing tremors were heard.
It was an instinctive response, but Lucian nocked an arrow with fluent expertise before releasing it. The arrow whizzed past the cheeks of all of his teammates before disappearing into the bush ahead.
Pheu! Pheu! Pheu!
Like a machine on repeat, Lucian fired arrows in a fluent motion, which totaled 6 shots. To the team's horror, each shot entered the same hole in the bush!
Noticing the shock on their face, Lucian couldn't help but frown a little. They were halting progress with this display, "Don't idle! Move! I'll continue to assist from the back."
"R-right!" Everyone replied with a dismayed expression as they moved forward and burst through the bush. To their surprise, there were three identical wolves with matching wounds, courtesy of Lucian's frightening archery.
Everyone could only spare incredulous looks before continuing forth.
'How can someone so young be so good with a bow? Each of the shots landed on top of each other causing the first arrows to split in half. What type of accuracy is needed to perform this? No...just what have we invited into the team,' Ahri wondered.
At the same time, she also kept her sword drawn in case Lucian failed to cope with any of the appearing monsters. However, to her amazement, Lucian didn't nock another arrow after dealing with these wolves.
Instead, he remained behind and continued to inspect their actions, '5 of them incoming and they're moving rather fast. It should be manageable. Let's see how it works out,' Lucian thought to him.
A sensation assailed Desmond that made him yell at the top of his lungs, "Enemies!"
Rather than fashing forward, Desmond performed a back step while retrieving several of his projectiles. Since they were petite, he managed to situate a projectile between each of his fingers.
Although he seemed relaxed, he froze for a moment before glancing in Lucian's direction, 'Don't do it, Des. Don't try to compare yourself to someone else. Comparison is the theft of all joy. Just focus on what you need to do.'
With a staunch expression, Desmond extricated his gaze from Lucian before launching the projectiles nearest to his index finger. The two projectiles then began to swirl around one another while producing a connecting wisp of smoke.
It began as light grey, but the smoke thickened until the projectiles disappeared inside. It seemed heightened eyesight wasn't the extent of his abilities.
Howwoo!
A pained howl sounded while a set of bloodthirsty eyes shone through the voids in the bush. Although the wolves could defend against his projectiles before, the smoke masked their presence, which allowed them to bypass their keen senses.
"Olov, intercept!" Ahri ordered while sliding two fingers against her sword. A faint yellow aura coalesced across its length before covering at the tip of her sword. A blinding flash took place as an arc of subtle light hurtled towards one of the wolves.
Lucian's eyes glistened with praise as he watched this display. 'They're finally using their abilities. Good, give me a better notion of your strength.'
Noticing her actions, Desmond dodged to the side as Ahri's attack landed upon one of the wolves. At a glance, it seemed the light was harmless, however, many blisters rose under the hide of the wolf as it snarled.
"What kind of ability is that?" Lucian questioned.
"Radiation," Ahri responded with a quick glance. More than likely her powers were caused by a mutation because radiation stemmed from an abnormality; a terrifying one at that.
"Does it follow the same logic as normal radiation?" Lucian questioned while noticing some deformities taking place at the tip of the sword. A portion of its luster dulled.
As a side effect, Ahri's power could simultaneously strengthen and weaken the metal.
'Hmm, the hardness of the weapon is gradually increasing, but the malleability is suffering in the process. It'll take a powerful catalyst to counteract those adverse effects,' Lucian thought.
All of a sudden, his attention was drawn by Olov's loud bellow. It carried a hint of pain, leading Lucian to believe he was injured.
A deep gash appeared on the thigh of Olov during his attempt to keep two of the Infernal Dire Wolves at bay. However, their super-heated claws tore through his battle suit like butter. Since most of his Merge Token went to procuring a stronger shield, Olov still wore the Tier 1 version of the Guardian's standard battle suit.
Olov sucked in a sharp breath as he bashed his shield forward with his body emitting a white gleam. His instantaneous movement was shocking as the white aura propelled him 1 meter in a fraction of a second.
With the transference of force, the wolf directly in front of him was blasted into a towering tree with a loud cracking noise. The wolf whimpered as its limp body slid down the tree's trunk.
Only moments later did a faint green hue encase Olov's body. Naturally, this was Quinn's healing ability. But compared to what he experienced, it was lacking in more than one way.
However, that wasn't the matter that troubled Lucian. 'What the hell? Why are his eyes closed? How does he expect to moderate the Mana transference at an optimal level? This usage is...well, my goodness.'
Lucian's frown deepened when he picked up on just how much of Quinn's Mana was going to waste.
'Perhaps most of the blame truly belongs to him. If this is how he dealt with all of their prior situations, then I can see how they failed repeatedly.'
"Damn it! There are way too many of them. It seems like the number only grows steeper the deeper we go. Sylvia, we need you," Aeran exclaimed while brandishing his sword over and over. Supersonic waves rippled through the air, producing screeching noises upon impact.
The pitch was terrible to wolves, causing them to snort and wave their head about to get rid of it. Regrettably, the range of Aeran's ability was limited, stretching only 3 meters.
With a sigh, Lucian had already identified the issues of this party, so he decided to lend a hand.
'As quick as possible, that is the aim. So there are two things I must do,' Lucian thought.
Withdrawing four arrows at once, Lucian nocked them without pause. Next, Mana inundated the two forefingers of his drawing hand upon placing them on the bowstring. The influx of Mana caused the string to grow taut. Even a light flick produced deafening vibration.
However, Lucian wasn't done just yet. An additional Mana flow originating from his hand flowed into the arrow's shaft and arrowhead. Unlike before, Lucian didn't release them immediately.
His eyebrows twitched as he counted and absorbed the view of the battle. After three seconds, he finally released them.
"Blitz!"
Fwoosh!
The arrows soared at absurd speeds before curving towards the blind spot of the wolves. If an uninformed spectator were to view what was happening, they'd probably believe Lucian possessed some type of telekinetic ability!
Once the arrows pierced their initial targets ruthlessly, they performed opposite curves and targeted the wolves, whose paws struck the ground as they pounced towards the team.
Everyone's eyes widened due to the display of ridiculous accuracy.
"What type of freakish accuracy is this?!" Desmond guffawed with an incredulous stare. He couldn't believe his eyes. The timing of the shot was in sync with the pounce of the wolves!