Fortis arrived at the spot where the traps they prepared are laid, he stop running and faced the four Ash Wolves he unsheathed his sword and pointed it towards the wolves, he moved the showed up and down provoking the wounded wolves.
*Grrrrrr *grrrrrrrr *grrrrrr
The wolves growled at Fortis.
They brandished their claws and revealed their fangs but it doesn't scare Fortis, he is confident that he can win against these wounded Ash wolves.
The wolves made the first move, they simultaneously jumped towards Fortis with their claws out, they slash towards Fortis but with the enhanced sense he easily dodged the attacks, he smoothly swayed avoiding every claw, which angered the wolves more, they are proud creatures, that is why a D rank Goblin dodging their attacks is unbearable to them, they surrounded Fortis with their fangs out.
This time the first to make a move is Fortis, he turned into a blur when he used Dash, he appeared behind one of the Ash wolves, and he slash at the wounded wolf, causing a bloody wound on its back.
The Ash Wolf howled in pain as it retreated to the side, the other tree positioned themselves in front of their wounded comrade, but Fortis doesn't care he is confident that he can take care of the four wounded wolves in front of him, he bared his fangs and his sharp nails while his right-hand holds his sword, he is ready to use every skill he has and pour every strength in his body during this fight.
The four wolves and Fortis both moved at the same time, they both charged towards each other, when their attacks met it created a spark, Fortis sword danced through the air as the wolves block it using their claws, the wolves attacked with their claws but Fortis managed to dodged them smoothly and gracefully as if he's dancing, he is using the swordsmanship that Gael taught him,
The wolves then started to bite Fortis but he blocks it with his sword and sharp and hard nails.
The fight between four C-rank Ash Wolves and a lone D-rank Goblin continued for ten minutes, Fortis started to move backwards as he block the attacks from the Wolves, he made a sword slash that met one of the wolves' claws propelling him even further away from the wolves, seeing the Goblins being blown away by the claw, the wolves saw this as their chance to land a clean hit but when they dart towards Fortis, it grinned and just stood in his place like a statue.
The wolves ignored the Goblin's weird behaviour and continued their advancement, when they are only a meter away from Fortis they suddenly lost their footing and the ground where they stood suddenly sunk in three of them fell down the whole and what welcomes them are sharp steel rods that pierced their bodies killing them immediately when the wolf who managed to jump away saw his comrades die, it howled loudly and its expression turned grim.
The wolf that survived the trap is the one that Fortis managed to injure earlier with hi is sword slash.
The wounded wolf and the panting Goblin clashed once again, they exchanged moves after moves and the result is that both of them received various light wounds, the wounds on the remaining Ash wolf's body increased and now his grey fur turned red his eye started to show tiredness in them but still fierce at the same time.
While Fortis is now riddled with wounds but most of them are light scratches from the Ash Wolf's claws.
They both retreated to the side to have a distance between each other and to take a breath from their continuous clash.
Fortis realized that even if the wolf he's facing is now filled with wounds of various sizes and depths it is still full of strength and fighting spirit, maybe because of its anger but regardless, the current Ash wolf is in its strongest state.
Fortis pushed his enhanced sense to its limit, and his surroundings started to slow down but this state of him comes with a cost, he can feel that his soul energy is being depleted fast and that his mental strength is starting to weaken and that if this continues for a long period he will eventually pass out.
Fortis darted towards the Ash wolf with his sword, he made an upward slash with his sword but the Ash wolf leapt to the side dodging the slash, the two of them entered an exchange of attacks yet again but this time Fortis is determined to end it, as they continue to attack each other, Fortis is slowly gaining the upper hand, the wolf is getting injured more and more and its movements are starting to get sluggish.
Fortis saw this as a chance, with the help of his enhanced sense he started attacking the weakened wolf's weak points, but the Ash wolf managed to retreat, it stop in its tracks and its body slowly disappeared, the Ash wolf who is in the death's door used Phantom Rush, it seems like the previous clash and injuries it received pushed it's potential and miraculously learned Phantom Rush at the last moment.
The thing that Gael fears just happened, now Fortis is also facing an Ash wolf with the Phantom Rush skill.
Seeing his enemy disappear Fortis' showed a confused expression but he didn't let his guard down, a few minutes later he felt that something is approaching behind him and when he turned around, what welcomed him is the sharp long claws of the Ash wolf.
Fortis quickly blocked with his sword but he was a few seconds late and the claw managed to hit his chest leaving a bloody gash on his chest.
" Kiiiiiik! " Fortis screamed in pain.
He was about to attack the wolf but it disappeared again and his sword hit the air, he clutched his chest to stop the bleeding even a little.
He was losing a great amount of blood by the minute, but he is not the only one who is reaching the limit, the Ash wolf is using every last bit of strength he can muster just to use the phantom rush. Despite the heavy toll on his body the Ash wolf continues to use the phantom rush while Fortis is using his enhanced sense with everything he has just to defend against the phantom rush of the Ash wolf.
The now crimson-coloured Ash wolf and the Goblin riddled with wounds are still in a stalemate where the wolf is fiercely attacking while the Goblin is desperately defending, this continues for a few more minutes before the Ash wolf suddenly stopped moving when Fortis saw the wolf stop, he dropped his sword and after a few seconds he fell on his back and lost consciousness, while the wolf is still standing straight as blood flows out from its wounds and slowly dying the soil crimson, but if someone looked closer, the Ash Wolf's eyes lost all its lustre, and there are no signs of life coming from him.
Fortis won, but not with his swordsmanship or skill but with his strong willpower.
He passed out from exhaustion, he lay down and started to snore, he doesn't mind his wounds since he was too tired to deal with them, and he cannot feel anything right now.
...
Gael is defending against the combined attacks of two Ash wolves, but he still managed to dodge and block their attacks, but he still received small injuries from the relentless attacks of the Ash wolves.
Gael retreated and created a distance between him and the wolves.
He's tried to use all the methods he can think of but the two Ash wolves are tricky to deal with, he tried to use the traps he prepared but with the phantom rush, they became useless since the wolves can use phantom rush to escape and evade the traps.
The wolves didn't let Gael take a breath and they started to bombard him with attacks, they use their claws and fangs, and Gael's wounds are starting to multiply as he continues to be on the defensive.
" This is not right, if I continue to just defend I will die at the claw of these wolves," Gael said.
He understands that if he wants to win he has to find a way to hit his enemies but with their phantom rush skill, it became a challenge despite his great speed, agility, and enhanced sense.
He closed his eyes and poured his focus on his hearing, he realized that since he cannot see his enemies anyways he will just focus all his attention on his other senses such as his hearing. He cannot push his enhanced sense to its limit like Fortis since it is not his innate skill, it might cause great damage to his body, because no matter how strong his body is and even if his body is stronger than Fortis', a monster's body is still different than a Human's