Chapter 33: Level 10(5)
Aakesh believed that he had gained enough HP to handle even the most challenging situations at the tough level difficulty, so Aakesh turned around and went toward the dungeon.
***
When Aakesh reached there, the familiar sight of people calling for teams greeted him. He ignored them and joined the queue, waiting for his turn.
The officer looked at Aakesh. He didn't say anything and let Aakesh go forward.
As Aakesh stepped into the hundred-meter range, he soon disappeared after making his choice. Aakesh's entry into the easy and normal level difficulty was already restricted since he had completed three attempts for the day.
As the light returned to Aakesh's eyes, he found himself in the familiar settlement. The number of claw marks had increased, while the bloodstains that had dried earlier now looked fresh as they slowly traveled across the wall.
The number of torches placed at random had decreased as the light in the pathway was insufficient to see his own fingers clearly.
Aakesh didn't even dare to take a deep breath, fearing the smell as the atmosphere around the pathway was weird. Aakesh cautiously took a step forward since anything could happen in this situation.
His steps hadn't even landed when he heard a rumble coming from the other side.
Aakesh's face grew solemn as an army of wolves charged at him. He felt his body sinking to the deepest part of hell, as he couldn't even count the number of wolves charging at him.
Even Aakesh, with his unbelievable attributes, knew that surviving here was impossible, let alone winning this round and going ahead. But since there was no way other than to fight, Aakesh readied himself; he took the sword out of its sheath and charged at the army of wolves.
As Aakesh reached the first wolf, he made a vertical slash, aiming to cut the wolf's head, but he suddenly found that the blade passed through the wolf as if it were nothing but an illusion.
For some reason, Aakesh felt that there was something wrong with the situation, so he didn't stop and continued swinging his sword with his overbearing strength, ignoring his sword passing through the wolves.
The wolf finally reached Aakesh and passed through him while growling at the same time. Aakesh ignored it and continued swinging, as there was a bad feeling engulfing his heart, warning him not to stop.
Aakesh's feelings finally turned out to be correct as the sword clashed with something material.
Howl!
The wolf yelped in pain as the sword had almost taken its life in a single slash. The projection of the wolves began to flicker as the owner of the skill was in pain.
Aakesh discovered three wolves at that time, including the injured one, who weren't flickering like the others.
Aakesh didn't have four eyes, so he could only focus on one before it could use the projection to change its destination.
Aakesh reached the wolf and slashed at it while the projection of the army of wolves stabilized on its own. The wolf was still yelping in pain, but now, it only cared to harm Aakesh, not for its own safety, so it began to burn its blood.
Aakesh ignored the projection and decided to end the life of the wolf in front of him. In only a second, Aakesh made three slashes, and at the same time, he took out a knife and struck the wolf.
Unfortunately, Aakesh's luck wasn't great, as the knife made no whistling sound, but the twin assault of the knife and Shadow Blade ended the misery of the wolf, rewarding Aakesh with 50 XP.
Aakesh was taken aback for a moment when he heard the XP alert. Aakesh hadn't activated the appraisal skill to check the wolf's level, so while battling with them, he thought of them as being Level 11 or above.
Since Aakesh was still in battle, he had no choice but to focus on it rather than waste time pondering over the actual level of the beast.
Aakesh then charged at the injured beast, as its blood made it easy for Aakesh to find it.
[You have gained 100 XP!]
The projection of the wolf army disappeared as the wolf exploded into light. Aakesh then finally saw his true opponents for the battle.
There were three more wolves left. They snarled and pounced at Aakesh, seeing their partners getting killed by Aakesh.
Once Aakesh could see his opponent, the battle became a massacre, as Aakesh, in less than a minute, ended the lives of all three wolves and gained 150 XP!
Out of the three, one exploded into light, while two corpses and their blood dyed the ground silver.
Aakesh hurriedly went and picked up the coins. The Level 11 wolf gave Aakesh two silver coins, while the Level 10 wolf rewarded him seventy bronze coins.
Aakesh didn't look at the scene his blade and knife created, and before he could get nauseous, he stepped forward to face the second wave in the dungeon.
Aakesh saw the benefits of the knife, so he didn't tie it back to his waist.
Growl! Roar! Growl! Roar!
Aakesh had only come to the end of the pathway when he heard a round of growling and roaring sounds coming from the other side.
When Aakesh looked ahead, he saw the silhouettes of a group of beasts coming toward him.
Due to not-so-clear visibility, Aakesh couldn't see the clear features of the wolves. But from where he stood, Aakesh could see that two creatures in the group looked different than the wolves, and when he could finally see them, he finally got his answer.
There was a group of nine beasts charging at him, and two of them weren't wolves. Instead, they were humanoid creatures walking on two feet with wolf heads, claws, and tails, and they both were leading the group.
'Werewolves!' A word emerged in Aakesh's mind after seeing those beasts. Even though Aakesh hadn't played games before, he had watched television shows, so he had also come across terms like "vampires" and "werewolves."