The more Warden trained, the easier and effortless fighting became. As if it was only natural for him to be a warrior.
Obviously, growing the numbers in attributes became harder as well. Warden had slayed twice as many beasts of copper rank in the meantime, but his attribute received only a minimal increase.
___________
[Warden]
Race: Human (Prime/Corrupted – 27%)
Title: [Redacted] [Redacted] … [Redacted]
Fatelock: [Void Prison Realm]
Disposition: Chaotic
Rank: [Broken Calamity]
Attributes:
[Strength: 29.8]
[Mind: 12.7]
[Spirit: 74]
[Recovery: 99]
Abilities:
[Imbuing: Normal - 81%] [Left Hand of Calamity: > 5%]
_____________
Throughout the day, he moved along the stream and covered more than ten miles, and still, there was no sign of men.
By the time the sun hovered on the horizon, the little bunny seemed to have its fill and wasn't bothering any wild animal for its beast core.
The rabbit was just as vicious as it was cute. Of course, it wasn't a predator and could hardly deal with most creatures in the wilderness. Thankfully, it was fast and used that attribute well in the hunt.
"Come on, boy," Warden called after the small animal as it crept around as if searching for something. "The sun would go down soon. I have to prepare dinner and a place to spend the night."
The bunny looked at him, tilting its head, unmoved by his words. Warden stooped down and picked it up, caressing its white fur slowly.
The rabbit protested a little at the beginning, but then it purred at the caress.
"Maybe I was an animal lover as well," Warden mumbled and plodded away.
***
Liam shot one arrow after another at the howling beasts charging towards the village. The moonlight was barely enough for him to see clearly, but his [Hawk Eyes] were helping as much as they could.
There were others assisting him in controlling the beast attacks; however, they were barely any help. The Village chief's son, Xiv, had some skill in archery. Unfortunately, his class was [Spearman], which didn't give any boost to his archery skills. Even if his arrows were hitting the mark, they barely managed to slow down the dire wolves, lacking the penetrating power to make a deadly blow.
Liam had already killed over half a dozen wolves, sadly only a couple of them were copper-ranked. Once a spirit beast advanced to copper, their body became far more agile and sturdier than it would be unscathed under any normal attack. Then there was the addition of intelligence—without it, they probably wouldn't even dodge arrows.
"Master adventurer," Xiv screamed in alarm. "They were already breaking through the barrier."
"I can see that," Liam growled. Those fences could hardly be called barriers. Of course, awakened spirit beasts would have no problem breaking through them.
What's more concerning was that not all the beasts had pounced on them—the defenders who stood to protect the villagers. Most of the beasts rushed into the village for weaker prey, while some pounced on the very ones that attacked them, unable to stop their hunger.
In the end, hunger was all a tainted beast knew. They only knew to kill and harvest the radiating energy that wafted off from the dead.
Liam found only five more arrows in his quiver as he withdrew. "Where's that damned girl now?" he screamed, only to see the surroundings brighten up for a second.
Red-hot fire flashed from behind him in a glorious ball of flame as it crashed into one of the copper wolves, hurtling it down a couple of meters and lighting it ablaze. The dire wolf wriggled on the ground, howling in burning agony as the fire blazed throughout its whole body.
The fire couldn't manage to reduce the beast to ashes, but it succeeded in killing it, charring its body to bones.
"Miss Kiara," Liam shouted after, shooting an arrow, which found its mark in the eye of a wolf that almost managed to come a dozen paces closer to him. "You need to preserve energy."
However, the pampered young lady didn't seem to hear him, shooting [Fireballs] of the same intensity one after another. Liam was aware her energy reserve was far higher than his, probably double or more; however, these spells took more energy as well. His arrows barely needed a little [Imbuing] to work. Of course, they were not nearly as destructive as the [Fireball] spell, but they were far more efficient.
Liam kept a remaining arrow for an emergency and shot the rest, killing any wolves that came close to killing any of the combatants. So far, no one has died yet.
Only then did he hear a yelp. Before his eyes could even find the location of the call, the wolf's maw had ripped through the man's windpipe.
"Jam, no!" Xiv screamed, shooting towards the dead man instinctively. His path was obstructed, however. Two wolves higher than his waist stood in his way, their hungry eyes glowing in the darkness.
Liam's mind rushed as he set the last remaining arrow and released the string. The arrow barely gleamed in blue imbuing, as he didn't have time to imbue properly in alarm. Still, it whispered through the air and plunged itself into the neck of the pouncing beast, saving Xiv from a deadly blow.
The wounded wolf still crashed into the lad, as it had too much momentum to be stopped by an arrow, while the other one reached him as well.
Liam found no arrow in the quiver as he ran forward, his palm bringing out a hidden blade from within the folds of his attire. The predator and its prey, Xiv, were in close proximity, but Liam didn't stop himself or second-guess from shooting the knife. The boy would die if he didn't shoot, anyway.
Thankfully, Liam didn't make a mistake. Even with all the wariness he accumulated, his knife found its mark, digging into the head of the tainted creature.
Liam exhaled audibly and reached to help the boy up, as well as refill his quiver with the remaining arrows the boy had. They would be more useful in his hand, so he didn't even bother asking before reaching out.
Xiv was too dumbstruck to even make a response. Liam saw his expression in the burst of sparks Kiara created non-stop. It was the sight of someone who saw Death himself.
But soon the boy screamed, his voice splitting in alarm. "B-behind you!"
***
In the middle of the night, when the howling began, Warden was done with most of the stuff and was resting with the fluffy bunny on his lap.
By the clamour of the howling, it appeared there was more than just a pack of them, coming from his north, the other direction he was moving forward to.
The little bunny jumped to wakefulness and turned to face north. It squeaked in fear and vexation and finally turned to him.
Warden was awake the whole time. The howling only rose as he stood up, his hand resting on the pommel of the sword.
"Should we check it out?"
The rabbit squeaked, lunging up.
"Come on, lead the way."
__________
Okay, only the beginning now. It would take a couple dozen or so chapters for him to reach the academy and become a professor.