Inside the core area of the Willow Forest the duo of man and Goblin is facing a pack of grey-colored wolves, there are eight of the said wolves, half of them are covered with wounds, and those wounds came from Gael and Fortis' sword, while the other half of the small wolf pack is unharmed.
The grey-colored wolves are called Ash Wolf, they are CC-rank monsters that specialize in stealth since the color of their fur made them blend with the thick mist of the core area of the Willow Forest, Ash Wolves also have high speed and agility, making them great hunters, but this time they are the ones being hunted.
Gael and Fortis managed to catch the wolf pack off guard, with the traps they have set up beforehand, with Gael's experience in the military fighting a group of C-rank wolves is nothing, during his days as a war dog he managed to exterminate a squad on his own, and he achieved those feats because of one valuable thing, and that is information, the military won't move unless they have enough information on their hand regarding their opponents, the terrain or the battlefield, the enemy commanders etc.
If Gael can wipe out a squad of enemy soldiers alone he is confident that he can exterminate a wolf pack of eight.
A few days before, Gael and Fortis have already learned about the existence of the wolf pack when they determined their rank and level of strength they decided to plan their assault, Gael ordered Fortis to scout the area and look for a suitable place for an ambush, Fortis turned into a blur and disappeared from his place. While Fortis is out scouting the surrounding area Gael started to rummage through his bag, he started to take out random items one by one, there are steel wires, daggers, ropes, and other random items.
An hour later, Fortis returned and with the location he found, Gael used his mental connection with Fortis to see the information of the location that Fortis found.
" Perfect! Good work " Gael said in an ecstatic tone as he pats Fortis' head.
The goblin then smiled happily.
The two of them immediately set fort toward the location and started setting up traps using the wires and daggers, he commanded Fortis to dig a hole and stick a couple of sharp steel rods.
…
Gael and Fortis are still having a staring contest with the pack of wolves, the four bloodied wolves growled at Gael and Fortis the four bloodied wolves are the victims of Gael's wire and dagger trap, while the other four lowered their front legs ready to pounce, seeing the wolves ready to pounce Gael turned his head to look at Fortis, the goblin also turned its head, when their eyes met they both nodded at the same time and ran off towards different direction, Gael went right while Fortis went left.
Seeing the two run away, the wolves followed after them, the four bloodied wolves went after Fortis, thinking that it is a weak monster since Goblins are D-rank monsters after all, but what the wolves don't know is that the goblin their chasing is not your typical goblin, he's undergone countless life and death battle in three months and is constantly being strengthened by Gael using soul-feeding, making him stronger than D rank monster in their basic form, though C rank monsters such as Ash wolves are one rank higher than Fortis being in their current state and what's waiting for them, makes the C rank wolves easy to deal with.
Gael, on the other hand, is being chased by the four unharmed Ash Wolves, but he is not worried at all he is even smiling as he runs, seeing that the ones chasing after Fortis are the injured wolves, his smile grew wider.
'it turns out things went better than the initial plan' Gael thought to himself.
The chase continued for a few minutes before Gael started to slow down, he then stop in his tracks, and the wolves chasing after him stopped a few meters away from him.
He stared at the wolves baring sharp fangs and long claws at him, Gael unsheathed his sword, the thin and sharp one-handed sword, reflects the midday sunlight, when he pulled it out of the scabbard it made a clear and sharp sound, it is the sword that the Crown Prince gave him during the awarding ceremony when he killed one of the enemy's captains.
The sword is light and sharp, it has a black scabbard and handles with a silver colored hand guard, the blade is silver colored as well, it is a beautiful sword that is specifically wielded by a swordsman who specializes in speed rather than power, the blade of the sword is smooth and spotless it looks more like a mirror than steel, despite its fragile appearance it is as tough as a broadsword since it is made with special steel called Star Ore Steel since it is obtained from a meteor.
Gael is in a fighting position ready to engage in a fight any second.
Seeing that Gael won't back down, one of the wolves growled loudly and suddenly pounced towards Gael, but Gael has his Enhanced Sense, he managed to pick up the small muscles contractions from the wolf's legs making him able to anticipate that the wolf is about to move, so he easily dodged one of the wolves attack, seeing their comrade failed the attack the other wolves pounced towards Gael at the same time, Gael jumped up towards a tree branch when he saw the wolves pounce at him, he then smiled looking at the wolves, one of them immediately jumped up when Gael saw the wolf jump, he pulled something midair, the Ash Wolf who jumped suddenly stopped midair, the other wolves on the ground appeared to be confused seeing one of their own suspended in the air like that. Gael then took out two daggers strapped on his lower back, he then threw the daggers towards the floating Ash Wolf, the wolf howled and whistled in pain, blood slowly flows out from the wolf's wound but it didn't drop to the ground instead it flows midair in a straight line, this scene continued for a few minutes before the wolf lost consciousness and when you look at the wolf floating midair you can see a crimson-coloured line wrapped around the wolf's body and it is connected at the nearby trees, it is the same steel wire that he used to ambush the four wolves earlier, but this time he used it to trap one wolf.
When he saw the wolf lose consciousness he decided that it is the right time to attack the others since they are now down to three and there is another surprise waiting for them, Gael turned into a blur and disappeared from the tree branch, and when he reappeared he is now behind one of the wolves, he quickly used his sword to stab one of the wolves to death.
*awooooo
The wolf howled in pain, Gael pulled out the sword that stabbing the wolf on the back of its head, the blood of the wolf dyed the clear and smooth sword red, Gael slashed the sword downwards removing the blood from the sword.
The other wolves snapped out of their shock, they both attacked Gael at the same time brandishing their ling sharp claws, but this time it is not just a normal attack, because when Gael was about to block the claw attack of the two remaining Ash Wolf the turned into smoke and disappeared.
Gael tightened his grip on the sword and turn all his focus on his senses enhanced by the skill-enhanced sense.
His eyes darted around all directions looking for some irregularities but he failed, then he suddenly felt pain in his left shoulder and when he looked at his shoulder it is bleeding.
" shit! These bastards are still hard to deal with, I didn't consider their special skill, I thought only Beta Ash wolves can use Phantom claws it is already hard defending against one but with my great luck I am facing two Ash wolves capable of using it, it seems like the two are extremely talented to be able to learn Phantom claws in their basic form" Gael muttered to himself as he ignored his wound and focused in his surroundings.
'still, we are lucky that only two of them can use Phantom Claws, wait what if there's another Ash wolf that can use Phantom Claws? I have to finish this quickly' Gael's expression turned more serious thinking that Fortis might face a Wolf that can use a strong offensive skill such as Phantom Rush.
Though Fortis has become stronger and has plenty of fighting experience, a C rank monster able to use a 'first evolution skill' is still too much for him to handle and Gael is sure that he will be in great danger or worse he might die, that is why Gael is now eager to end his fight, earlier he is thinking of playing with the Ash Wolves before he kills them but the situation is now different and he cannot ignore the chances of Fortis facing against Phantom rush.