**Chapter Fifteen: Quillfang**
Kevin was watching Nicholas and the little wolf when he heard growls from behind him. He turned and saw a group of ten or so wolves. The wolves had long porcupine quills sticking out from their ankles and joints, long claws, and bloodshot eyes. Viscous saliva was dripping from the gaps in their mouths made by their countless sharp teeth. Each wolf was about 5 feet tall. Kevin took out his weapons as the wolves surrounded him and Nicholas.
**Back in Nicholas' Spirit World**
*Nicholas' POV continued:*
"Damn, how do I get out of here?" I asked.
"Just think about it."
"Uh, okay."
I was in a hurry, so I did as I was told, and my vision blurred, and the scene of a blue sky filled my sight. I tried to sit up, but I felt something on my chest. I looked and saw the little wolf was sleeping on my chest. Putting the little wolf down, I took out my daggers.
Kevin turned when he heard the movement and then said through the mind link, "You're up, that's good. As you can see, we are in a perilous situation."
"Yeah, I can see that."
"So, I've fought these beasts before. They're all tier one, except for their leader who hasn't shown up yet. They have a weak spot just at the back of their head. They are relatively fast, and be sure to avoid their teeth."
"Uh, okay."
I glanced at Kevin; throughout the whole conversation, we never let our eyes off the wolves. He nodded at me and said, "Get down."
I fell to the ground as I saw Kevin get down on his hands and perform a spinning kick, sending out a horizontal gust of wind in a circular path, knocking back the wolves. The wolves were disoriented but only for a second, but that was enough for us to begin our attack. I got close to the first wolf and stabbed its right eye, and it yelped in pain, its red blood splashing on my face. Using the dagger, I pulled myself up and landed on its back. Using the other dagger, I stabbed at its neck, killing it in one blow, and following its death were the messages:
[You have slain a tier one Quillfang].
[You have gained a beast armament].
I looked at the messages briefly and dismissed them. Before the wolf could fall, I took out the dagger I left in its eye and jumped off it and moved to the next one. One of the wolves saw me in the air and used its paw to strike at me. Twisting my body, I dodged the strike and plunged my daggers through its mouth, using the force of my fall to pin it to the ground. I jumped to the right to avoid an attacking claw from behind me and used the heel of my left foot to send a kick to the chest of the wolf. Although the kick didn't do much, it had at least managed to make the wolf stagger a little, which gave me a chance to take my daggers out of the impaled wolf which was now dead. The wolf rushed at me again, raising its front paws, but this time I was prepared. I turned and stabbed it in the chest and used the dagger as an anchor to swing myself to its back then I plunged the other dagger in its neck.
---
Nicholas was on a killing spree, but so was Kevin. He was utilizing his wind element to support his oppressive sword style as he battled six wolves at once. ~swoosh~swoosh~swoosh~ Every time Kevin swung his sword, a gust of wind followed. The wind was so sharp that it cut through the wolves with ease. In a matter of seconds, he had cut down about three of them. He was cutting down the beasts with a relaxed expression. "It's been long since I fought tier one beasts; I wonder how Nicholas is doing," Kevin smiled as he turned to look at Nicholas. The smile on his face froze when he saw how Nicholas was taking out the wolves.
"How is that even possible? I thought he just awakened."
---
The blood of the wolf splashed on my face and my clothes as the wolf fell down with a thud. I stood up and wiped and ~swish~ Kicking off my right foot, I did a backflip, and at the same time, the snout of a wolf snapped shut at the place I was standing. I landed on its back and sunk my daggers into its neck and then jumped off in one fluid motion. The body of the wolf fell and skid across the ground due to its previous speed. I landed gently on the ground and wiped the blood off my face and my blades. After wiping the blood off my body, I turned to Kevin since he was fighting the bulk of the wolves. When we started fighting the wolves, we had moved apart, so there was a little bit of distance between us. I turned to Kevin and saw that he was looking at me with his mouth wide open.
---
Kevin was watching Nicholas' fight when he saw him jump in the air and dodge the attack of a beast behind him without turning back. "How? How?" He was too surprised, even if he could do such a thing it was all because of his ability.
---
I raised my eyebrows, using the mind link I asked, "What?"
"It... it... *Sigh* it's nothing."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, if it's really nothing you should watch out, there's a wolf behind you."
"Oh."
I watched as Kevin swung his sword without looking and the head of the wolf flew off. Now it was my turn to be surprised. He turned to face the last two wolves. He swung his blade vertically, and a white line of wind escaped from the sword and split one of the wolves in half. The last wolf howled loudly and rushed forward but it was no match for Kevin, with a single slash the last wolf fell.
I walked over to Kevin and said, "Wow, that was..."
"Was what?"
"Was..."
"Amazing? Yeah, I know," Kevin said with a toothy smile then continued, "Let's take their spirit stones and get out of here."
"Huh? Spirit stones? What's that?"
"Oh, I forgot you're new to this. This is a spirit stone."
Kevin opened the chest of a wolf and dug out a blue-colored gem. "Oh, what do we use this for?"
"I'll tell you later. Let's get them and get out of here. The smell of blood will attract other beasts to this place."
We were digging out the spirit stones when all of a sudden we heard a very loud howl come from the forest on the left, and a huge 9-foot-tall wolf-like creature burst out from among the trees.
The wolf had a thick coat of quills all over its body, a long bushy tail with quills on the tip, and a snout full of long and sharp teeth. Its snout was a bit longer and narrower than a wolf's. Its fur was a mix of gray, black, and white with the quills having a slight reddish tint to them.
It had a slight resemblance to the wolves we had just killed.
The huge wolf saw us and immediately rushed at us.