…Nothing happened. Well, I expected as much, so I wasn't disappointed. You can't light a cooking stove from this kind of distance anyway. Therefore, the range of [Ignition] seemed to be at only a few tens of centimeters. I thought it might be no more than 1 meter.
How long is that hyena wolf is going to be there? I'm still fine because I slept a little during the day, but if I keep going like this, I'll be exhausted eventually. If I keep getting scratched by the hyena wolf's claws, I'll have to run out of meat eventually. Should I try something else?
"[Spring Water]."
I imagined a large amount of water spilling out onto the hyena wolf's head. It yipped and spluttered as a torrent of water swept it up and away from me, smacking it into a large nearby tree. It was surprising. This wasn't at the level of spring water anymore, but rather a tsunami.
The hyena wolf that was caught and struggling in the water for a while wasn't moving. It seemed to have fainted.
"I think I did a lot of damage, but I have to think carefully about what to do next."
The hyena wolf certainly wasn't moving, but its belly was slightly moving up and down, so it was clearly still alive. Just because it was unconscious now didn't mean I was safe from it waking up and attacking me again.
If I got down from the tree and stabbed it to give a finishing blow, my safety would be assured, but what if this was just part of its strategy? If I climb down, it still takes time to climb back up, and during that time I'd be defenseless.
I feel like it's inviting me. So, what should I do?
I had just about decided to climb down when a distant sound echoed in my ear. As I listened, it gradually grew louder.
"Are you serious…"
I trembled in despair. It was more hyena wolves. The total number now is eight. How am I supposed to fight eight hyena wolves when I had such a hard time with one?
First of all, I climbed even higher. My intuition was telling me that climbing higher was the best way to avoid their attacks. But then they also tried to climb up the tree, digging their claws into it. The blood drained from my face.
Their crazed eyes and glistening fangs stirred fear in my heart. I was prepared to die, but I felt calm for some reason.
Some people say they can do anything if their life is in mortal danger, but that's a lie. The things you can do even if you think you're about to die are limited, and that ability is proportional to the strength of the natural instincts a human is born with, and the experiences the individual has had so far.
I calmed down and thought about anything I could do.
When I watched closely, the hyena wolves who were climbing the trees seemed quite stupid.
I can do this! I thrusted the copper sword into the front leg of the one that was just about to reach me.
That hyena wolf fell stupidly from the tree with a pained yip, knocking the one behind it down as well. However, just falling from the tree doesn't cause death or serious injury, and their numbers haven't changed.
I realized then that if the sword can reach them, they should also be in range of [Ignition], right? Another one had climbed up, so I decided to just try it.
"[Ignition]"
Another yip served as a signal of my success. I lit a fire on its head, and it fell out of the tree while flailing around. If I wasn't literally up a tree, I'd be jumping for joy right now.
When I used [Ignition] with a mental picture of the fire burning it to death, my target fell out of the tree, but the face of the hyena wolf would continue to burn, despite long since being out of range.
A phrase floated into my field of view after I repelled about three of them with [Ignition].
[Level Up]
Apparently, the first hyena wolf I set on fire at the beginning had already died, and the fire had gone out. I got two more level up notifications once the fire on those other two hyena wolves also disappeared.
Name : Tsukuru Sumeragi
Job : Chef, Level 135
Skill I : [Cooking] [Ignition] [Dismantling] [Detailed Appraisal] [Material Storage] [Spring Water] [Recovery Meal] [Tool Maintenance] [Ingredient Detection]
Skill II : [Night Vision]
Attributes : HP [D] | MP [D] | STR [D] | INT [B] | AGI [D] | DEX [EX] | LUK [EX]
Night Vision ⇒ You can see well even in the dark, but peeking is not good ♡
My level has gone up by twelve levels because of the difference between my level and those hyena wolves. The skills that were learned by eating seem to be displayed in their own skill section, which right now is just [Night Vision].
As usual, there are still too few skills for combat. The range of [Ignition] is too short. [Spring Water] can do a reasonable amount of damage, but is too indiscriminate.
The hyena wolf down below started to slip back down the tree while I was thinking about my level ups. Their claws were really gouging up the tree trunk.
"I don't think this big tree will fall down easily, but It's still dangerous."
But when I thought about it, I realized the five of them were all gathered under the tree, and I saw this as an opportunity.
"[Spring Water]!"
I tried to imagine a tsunami that could destroy even reinforced concrete buildings. In an instant, a torrential flow of water smashed into the hyena wolves with a thundering roar. Water is heavier than people might give it credit for, and it now exerted its unrelenting destructive power against living things on the ground.
Of course, I didn't think [Spring Water] could totally kill off those hyena wolves. Nevertheless, I'd be satisfied if it made them stop trying to carve up the tree.
As expected, the five hyena wolves didn't die from it, but they didn't approach the tree after that, merely watching my situation from a distance. This has become what you might call a contest of patience. I'm at an overwhelming disadvantage in that case.
The curtain was brought down on the contest of patience with the Hyena Wolves by an unexpected thing. At dawn, the six Hyena Wolves that I had weakened (including the first one I fought) were suddenly overcome by fear and ran away. Seeing that, rather than relief, I felt like one crisis was about to be exchanged for another… and sure enough, that's what happened.