Aldrich squared off against the formidable A-rank wolf, its golden eyes gleaming with a predator's hunger. He held his sword tightly, his heart racing with the adrenaline of the impending battle. Aldrich knew he stood a chance if he played his cards right.
With a fierce howl, the wolf lunged at Aldrich, jaws snapping shut with razor-sharp teeth. Aldrich's reflexes kicked in, and he side-stepped the attack, narrowly avoiding the wolf's deadly bite. He countered with a precise slash, aiming for the wolf's flank.
But the wolf was swift, dodging the attack with uncanny agility. It circled Aldrich, studying his movements with predatory intelligence. Aldrich remained focused, his eyes locked onto the wolf's every move, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
The wolf leapt again, its claws aiming to rake Aldrich's chest. In a quick parry, he deflected the attack, the clash of steel and claws echoing through the air. The force of the wolf's strike threatened to overwhelm Aldrich, but he held his ground, pushing back against the mighty creature.
With a guttural growl, the wolf pounced again with rapid strikes. Aldrich parried the attacks, each impact jarring through his arms, but he held on, pushing back against the fierce onslaught.
Aldrich dove forward, rolling beneath the wolf's legs in a daring move. He sprung back to his feet, swiftly cutting as he passed. The blade grazed the wolf's flank, drawing a snarl of pain.
The wolf turned, its eyes ablaze with fury. It lunged again, this time with a mighty swipe of its claws. Aldrich ducked just in time, feeling the rush of air as the claws narrowly missed his head.
Aldrich imbued the sword with Aura as he leapt towards the fierce wolf. Aldrich increased his speed, trying to catch the wolf off guard, but it was not enough to fool an A-rank beast. The wolf pounced on Aldrich as he coughed a mouthful of blood.
"This reminds me of the first time I fought against a Dragon", Aldrich cleared his face as he poured more mana into his sword. Aldrich plunged the sword into the ground, and an intense roar shook throughout the forest. The ground started to break, and giant vines tore through the ground, rushing for the giant wolf.
Contrary to Aldrich's expectations, it didn't dodge. Instead, it rushed towards the entrance of the cave it was residing in.
"What is it doing. It won't run away" Aldrich targeted the vines towards the cave while he walked towards it, but before Aldrich could come near the cave, the wolf leapt towards him. The wolf was battered, vines penetrating his body in several places.
"Is it protecting something" Aldrich had his suspicions, but before he could investigate further, a vast amount of mana started to condense near the beast's mouth.
The wolf howled as it increased its speed, appearing behind Aldrich.
"Not good", but before Aldrich could dodge, a massive beam of mana shot towards him.
"Kugh", Aldrich poured vast amounts of mana into the sword, trying to defend against the deadly attack, but he was not strong enough and crashed into a nearby tree.
Meanwhile, the other teams tried to complete the points to proceed to the next stage.
"What do you think is going on, Carl? The monsters have been running around as if fleeing from someone.", said Alice, the daughter of one of the family's elders.
"It seems like someone woke up a high-ranked beast. Carl said, "What a fool, " while slashing the horde of monsters approaching him.
Carl was the most popular candidate to be next in line for succession. He was the son of Kale, Erik's older brother. Carl was considered to be a prodigy, already about to reach the second star at the age of 17.
The dungeon notified him of his kills
[Points for your team (Team A):800
Points for the opposition team (Team B):560
]
"Let's finish this quickly", Carl signalled his teammates as he rushed towards the incoming monsters.
Meanwhile, in Team C,
"Did they give up? They are still on 0 points", Matthew asked his older brother, Alex.
"We are lucky to face off against a bunch of losers", said Alex.
Their group was not the most united. In fact, a fight had broken between two groups inside the room in the previous stage. Still noticing they were about to lose, Alex and Matthew betrayed their Companions, knocking them unconscious and proceeding to the next stage.
They entered the next stage to discover that the two cousins who had gone before them had already disappeared.
"Those bastards didn't even contribute to the points. They probably died off somewhere", Alex spitted.
[Points for your team (Team D):350
Points for the opposition team (Team D):0
]