Zell walked towards the north. It took nearly thirty minutes to reach close to the forest. He hated the long grass because there were small creatures that could kill you.
"Phew, almost time to enter. Griselda, are you ready to fight?"
"Wuwu!" (Master, this loyal girl will tear your enemies apart!)
"Haha! Good girl!"
Griselda's tail swayed rapidly as he stroked along her soft back. He wanted to play with her tail. But held back because she seemed too proud. The dark forest caused him to feel a foreboding sensation.
Dark black trees, thick grey leaves with sharp twigs and spines growing from them. The enemies in this forest made Zell hate it. Squall bats, dirty little winged rats that could disrupt your mind with sonic waves, Gale wolves, strong speed and long ranged attacks.
"God forbid we find a Blood bear…" Zell said to himself as he rubbed the soft floppy ears of Griselda.
He remembered his cute pets in the past. None of them were wolves like her. Maybe this was fate somehow. His palm slipped under her chin and stroked under her mouth as she lifted her head in delight.
"I am glad we collected the materials. Maybe I can fit you with some protection."
Zell looked at Griselda with a regretful eye. Unable to realise the importance of the armour, Zell sold everything to make money like a fool. He thought it would last him the rest of his life.
Before they left, he skinned and butchered all the wolves for their magic core, leather pelt and spare meat. The game was nice, because it gave players a free 30 slot backpack. After the first year, it worked in reality.
He used his own knife to skin the wolves because in the future, the automatic dismantling feature would vanish. In the real world, this feature didn't exist. So instead improved his old skill now, with the help of Griselda, who cut them open with her sharp claws first.
Veronica just watched and complained about the foul smell and blood splatter.
"Okay, so listen close. Griselda, use your quiet movements and stealthy colours to hide. Once I engage an enemy, you burst forward with your blitz and take down the weakest one. Don't attack the bear, wait for me! Prioritise the other wolves!"
"Waaun!" (Yes master! Please stroke me more if I do well! Fufu!)
He believed he should act as the tank. Griselda could take more blows, but his heart was not ready to forget losing his pets before his past death. The pain of watching them slowly torn apart and killed, caused his breathing to become erratic. Zell would wait till she levelled once more and consider it.
—|Zell: 'Come on! I can do this… I won't let them die again… Zell, focus! It's all on you, man.'
"Phew…"
"Wuu?" (Master, are you alright? Shall I lick your hand? Will it help?)
"It's okay, good girl. Let's enter the forest…"
He spoke with a soft voice. The black mist spread around his body before it formed his black steel plated armour and gauntlet.
A loud clang of steel sounded as each piece clicked into place, the metal helmet slowly extended over his face like a hood. At last the steel cheek plate closed, fixed in place as the huge white, steel fangs sealed off his face from the outside air.
—|Zell: 'How do I breathe? The helmet seals air outside… Strange!'
—|Infra: 'Well…'
—|Veronica: 'It's because of your crystal. It uses magic to filter purified air into your helmet and expel the putrid or waste air out. So even if the enemy covers you in a poison cloud, you won't take damage.'
Infra tried to tell him, but Veronica quickly interrupted with her beautiful bell like voice. Her proud face lifted as she defeated another thot. This male saved her life and she would never give him to the stinky beast goddess that didn't shave her fur enough and had super long ears!
Zell ignored their internal fights. He knew there was something wrong; it reminded him of how his old pets shunned Rika as the first to become humanoid.
Suddenly, the moment he stepped into the forest, he could feel the entire atmosphere change. It became dull, heavy, and all sounds faded, leaving only a cold, lonely silence and dread. He opened his eyes, feeling this forest on full sensations caused a fear close to the demons.
A fierce glint appeared in his crimson eyes.
"Let's go!"
Zell pushed his right hand forward with his palm facing the ground. A black line of mist formed, swirling as it condensed into a sword. Which sprouted from the earth, forming his huge claymore in his hand. The beautiful black demonic dragon seemed to smile in delight today.
Because today, it would taste blood!
The soft footsteps of Griselda disturbed the silence, her body low and nose to the ground as if sniffing for any scents. Zell couldn't lower his noise level because of the black steel boots, thus he moved as slowly as possible to keep his sound lower.
—|Infra: 'Ah… He's so cute when being so serious, even now his sword is ready to protect his wolf instead of his own body at a moment's notice! You really are a wondrous male!'
There was a rustle to his left. He felt the feelings of danger and prey from his noble wolf. Zell dropped his sword's tip down, sliding it to his left side, moving slowly with gradual movements, pressing his left palm against his wrist and bent the left arm to reinforce it.
He pulled up his right arm as the sword's blade parallel to his left arm and elbow pointing towards ground to his left.
Suddenly, a loud clang sounded several times as three wind blades shot through the air and hammered into his sword. Each blow knocked Zell's balance, pressing the sword's body against his forearm. The force pushed him back nearly half a metre, dragging through the dirt with a deep imprint of his steel boots in the mud.
Gale Wolf Used Wurna (Wind blade) x 8
Magic Attack: 8| Magic Defence: 12
Zell Resisted The Damage!
— Miss!
—|Zell: 'Griselda! Go, they cannot use that power for 5 seconds! I will take their claws.'
He stepped forward, almost slipping on the dirt. The backlash from those blows caused no damage. But his left arm was sore, filled with numbness and aching pain.
——Blitzen (Griselda)
—Flurgen
—Flamra x 4
Zell lifted his hand up towards the centre wolf. He noticed that over 8 wolves existed in the dark bushes. All creeping towards him and Griselda, however once they felt the intense mana from his two spells, all of their golden eyes fixated on him.
[Zell] [HP: 8/8] [MP: 3/9]
[Gale Wolf] [HP: 28/28] [MP: 0/2] x 7
"Fuck! There are not a few… It's eight! One of them is level two…. Griselda!"
"Don't attack the large one in the centre!"
His eyes widened. This was not just a regular monster. He was a rare spawn, something strong for a new level 1 character. The wolf wasn't special once you were level two or three. Neither its health nor Mana were high, but its strength and damage were enough to kill Zell in two bites.
[Gale Wolf Alpha] [HP 45/45] [MP 2/4]