Before Aurora had managed to kill one of the two saber-toothed tigers, Rejoke, together with Elijah, was still doing their best to fight off the other one.
The fight has become much easier after Rejoke had managed to sever one of the tiger's front legs, but that alone wasn't enough to make it trivial. Even with one of its limbs missing, the tiger was still really fast.
Not to mention another problem that soon arose. Rejoke's skill, which boosts his strength by a large amount, has already run out, making it that much harder for him to fight against the rank 2 beast in close combat. Without the skill, the wolf's strength was merely equal to that of the tiger.
This was a huge deal, because without his superior strength, Rejoke had basically lost his only advantage. Things weren't looking great.
Elijah did his best to keep the tiger at bay, and thankfully, he was still managing thanks to the tiger's missing limb. However, who knew how long this stalemate would last?
Elijah knew that sooner rather than later, Rejoke would start running low on stamina. With the wolf's current consumption, he most probably wouldn't last much longer.
'I need to think of something, and I need to do so quickly!' Elijah thought, releasing the string of his bow.
The elf was also starting to run low on arrows. If he ran out completely, he would become useless in this fight, something he couldn't allow to happen.
In one-on-one combat, Elijah would last even less than Rejoke. A pure ranger like him couldn't afford to get close to the enemy. Doing so would simply be a suicide. Previously, five seconds were enough for his life to flash in front of his eyes. Five seconds was all it took the tiger to kill him. Were it not for Rejoke's timely attack, Elijah would have already been dead.
It was then that it happened. The tiger once again lowered its head, its fangs glowing white.
Rejoke already knew what would happen, so he quickly jumped back to avoid getting hit by that white mist. The mist hadn't had any effect on him before; however, this time it would.
Rejoke jumping back gave the tiger the opportunity it was waiting for. Without any hesitation, the beast shot out away from both the wolf and the elf. Yes, the tiger wasn't planning to attack or anything. It wanted to run away.
"No! Stop it, quick!" Elijah shouted towards the elves who were supposed to prevent the tiger from escaping.
Unfortunately, the beast was simply too fast. By the time the elvee managed to react, the tiger had already got past their defensive circle. It got away. Or so they thought.
*Clang*
With a very loud metallic 'boom', the tiger was forced to stop in its path as its front claw was met with an obstacle. A large metallic shield.
"Örlof, great job!" Elijah exclaimed as his vice-captain managed to hold the tiger from escaping.
However, the beast hasn't given up yet. It used all its strength, slowly pushing Örlof back. It was quite clear that despite being the strongest warrior of the elven village, the elf simply couldn't match the power of a second-rank beast.
"Auuu!" Suddenly, a wolf howl reached Örlof's ears.
For some reason, he knew what the howl meant. It was as if he could understand it. The burly elf didn't think too much about it. Although it was certainly strange, he was currently preoccupied with something else to care.
Using all the strength he had, Örlof pushed back as hard as he could, holding the tiger back for a second longer before he was forced to jump back. But even that second would be enough.
*Clang*
As if replacing the shield, a claw almost identical to the tiger's stopped the beast in its path.
While one of his claws held the tiger back, Rejoke's other claw aimed directly at the tiger's torso, tearing through its fur and meat.
"Roooar!!" The tiger roared in pain as it pulled back its only healthy front leg.
In a pained frenzy, the tiger aimed its claw at the wolf in front of it, sinking it into his shoulder.
Rejoke showed no reaction and simply continued to hold back the tiger. He didn't care about the amount of blood gushing out of the wound on his shoulder. He simply used everything he had to hold the frenzied beast in place.
The two beasts were at an impasse. No matter what the tiger did, Rejoke simply wouldn't budge. With one of his claws deep inside the tiger's chest and the other holding onto the ground underneath the snow, the wolf stood firm.
Elijah, who saw what was happening, immediately understood what Rejoke was trying to do. Biting his lip, the young elf took the last three remaining arrows he had in his quiver out and put all of them onto his bow.
Pulling the string back, Elijah held nothing back and activated his most powerful skill. It was the very skill he had obtained together with his evolution to the second rank.
'Trisecting Shot!' The three arrows shot out at sonic speeds, each covered by a bright green aura.
It took but a moment for all three of the arrows to reach the tiger, each aiming for a different part of the beast's body. One for the lower torso, another for the upper torso, and the last one for the head.
*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*
The arrows collided with the tiger's body, letting out small 'bangs' akin to that of gunshots. The arrows pierced through the beast's body as if it was nothing but plain air. Even the one that aimed for the head easily broke through the skull, turning the tiger's brain into nothing but a messy pudding.
[You have defeated the Frost-fanged Tiger level 8.]
The same message as the one Aurora received flashed in front of both Elijah's and Rejoke's eyes. Actually, every single elf had received the same message, as they were all part of the same party.
Seeing the very message that signaled their victory, Elijah finally released the breath he was holding after using his final attack. This hold fight has held him on the edge. One single misstep could mean not only his, but also the death of everyone here.
He was both physically and mentally exhausted, and in fact, he wanted nothing more than to lie down on a bed and sleep for a whole day. However, he knew that would have to wait. They might have won, but he wouldn't allow himself to rest until they were back in the safety of the village. Still, he allowed his mind to relax at least a bit.
All the other elves were the same; however, they were much more excited. Although they knew they still weren't safe, their excitement was simply too great to care. And who wouldn't be excited?
They had already fought against a few rank 2 monsters in the past, but none were as dangerous as the Frost-fanged Tiger.
The biggest problem was the tiger's speed. This was the first agility-focused beast of the second rank the hunting squad had fought. And there was only one way to describe the fight: absolutely nerve-wracking.
Everyone present knew that they could have died at any moment. They were already extremely stressed; after all, even if they weren't afraid, they still didn't wish to die. One could only imagine what the main fighters must have felt.
So once that stress finally disappeared, the excitement that replaced it was that much stronger.
Due to the excitement everyone was going through right now, they had failed to notice one crucial thing.
*Thump*
With a slight 'thump', Rejoke's body fell heavily onto the snow. It was only now that everyone realized that the wound the tiger managed to inflict on the wolf hadn't disappeared in the least, which made sense. The problem was, everyone was simply too elevated to notice this little fact at first.
"Sir Rejoke!" Elijah was the first one to rush forward.
He immediately appeared right next to Rejoke's body and knelt down, carefully examining the wound on the wolf's shoulder. The wound was deep, very deep. The worst of all was that it wasn't the only wound Rejoke has suffered.
There were several claw marks all over the upper part of his torso. Some were shallow while others were decently deep. However, the worst one was by far the one on the shoulder.
"Kyuuu!!" It was then that everyone heard a familiar squeal.
Before anyone could even realize, Aurora had appeared right next to the lying wolf with an extremely worried expression on her face.
'Why!? Why didn't you heal him, you bastard of a system!?' She shouted inwardly, in a state of both anger and shock.
'He had killed a fucking rank 2 beast! I don't care if someone was helping him; I'm sure that was enough to level him up at least once!' The fox was in a state of complete denial.
There was no way she would let him die just like that, not after he had actually managed to win against that bastard of a tiger.
Not even a minute ago, just as Aurora had defeated her Frost-fanged Tiger and had set out to help the group, she had received a message, telling her about Rejoke's victory against the other tiger.
After receiving the message, she had merely sighed in relief, thinking everything would be fine. If the group had managed to kill the tiger, it meant they were most probably alright. At the very least, Rejoke, who had done a lot in the fight, should be fine since he should have been able to level up.
Still, even knowing this, Aurora didn't slow down. She needed a confirmation, one that she unfortunately didn't receive. As soon as she arrived here, the first thing she saw was Rejoke lying on the ground with blood gushing out of his shoulder.
"He was most probably already at level 50. And since he was already at the level cap, he couldn't level up further." Yuki analyzed calmly; however, Aurora wasn't having any of that.
'Fuck! I'm not letting him die here!' Without any hesitation, Aurora extended her paw towards Rejoke's wounded shoulder.
Right after, her frosty mana came out of her paw, softly covering the wound and lightly freezing it, stopping the bleeding completely.
Aurora did the same with every other wound on the wolf's body. It didn't matter how deep or shallow the wound was; she simply froze them. Right now, she couldn't care less about her mana.
Just as she had finished sealing the wound, Elise finally caught up to her.
"Lady Aurora, is every-" Before the elven princess could even finish her question, her eyes fell on the unconscious wolf lying on the ground.
"You! Do you have any fancy magic that could help him!?" Before Elise could even come out of her shock, Aurora's voice filled her mind.
The fox sounded angry, irritated, and above all, worried. Just from her voice alone, Elise could feel all the pain the fox was going through right now, so, without her even realizing it, she had knelt down and activated her healing magic on the wolf.
As a pale green light came out of the elf's hand, the wounds on Rejoke's body began to visibly get better. However, there was only so much her magic could do, and the wounds were still far from healed.
"This is all I can do, Lady Aurora. We should hurry and return to the village; the medics there will be able to do much more than I can manage." Elise said with a soft shake of her head, slowly getting back up.
Yet, those words were enough. A glint of hope flashes through Aurora's eyes. There was still a chance to save him! That was the only thing she thought about.
"Elise, have someone pick up the tiger corpses and the loot! Also, have someone pick Rejoke up. We're going back!" Aurora said with surprising vigor.
Her tone took Elise aback, but the elven girl still nodded her head and relayed Aurora's orders to her brother. Soon enough, the whole group was already heading back to the village as fast as they could.
'You're not dying on me!' Those were Aurora's thoughts as she looked at the wolf being carried on a large shield.
She didn't care what it took; she would make sure Rejoke wouldn't die.