Renji was currently surrounded by around twenty Tempestwolves, and over a hundred deep green blades of air virtually locked him in, preventing any chance of escape. There was no way to flee!
Renji suddenly moved. With high speed, he launched off the ground and shot up into the air, aiming to land on a sturdy tree branch. However, due to the sheer number of wind blades, over ten of them struck his body.
"Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!" The wind blades slashed at Renji's sturdy leather armor, disrupting his trajectory midair. Renji grasped at a thick tree branch, performed a somersault, and flipped onto the tree, beginning to climb upward. Only after hastily climbing about twenty or thirty meters did he come to a halt and look downwards.
"That was really dangerous," Renji exhaled deeply. At this moment, his body was enveloped in a layer of stone-like armor covered by a faint, rocky glow from earth elemental essence. Earth-style magic: Terraguard!
The Terraguard spell required the user to be at least a magus of the fifth rank. When used by magi of the fifth and sixth ranks, this spell created a rocky armor with strong defensive capabilities. It could withstand multiple attacks from opponents of the same level. The wind knife spells from the Tempestwolves were only of the third or fourth rank.
"Roaaar!" A fierce howl split the air. Renji looked down and saw the wind gathering beneath the feet of the Tempestwolves. All of them suddenly leapt into the air, with the two leaders managing to jump ten meters and land on a large branch. Their powerful talons dug into the branch, providing them with a stable footing. Tempestwolves had a tremendous sense of balance, making climbing trees relatively easy for them.
"I'm not afraid of you climbing trees. I'm only afraid if you don't," Renji's blood began to boil with excitement. The more dangerous the situation, the more exhilarated he felt. Tempestwolves were somewhat inferior to humans in climbing ability. Renji agilely moved from one tree to another while the pack of Tempestwolves howled with fury in pursuit.
In the outer regions of the Mountain of Magical Monsters, a pack of Tempestwolves was among the most formidable threats. Even warriors of the sixth rank would often choose to retreat when facing a pack of Tempestwolves. No matter how tough a warrior was, even the body of a sixth-rank warrior could not withstand a direct blow from a Tempestwolf's claws.
Renji and the Tempestwolves engaged in a game of hide and seek among the trees. The two Tempestwolf leaders were faster than Renji, forcing him to constantly change direction to avoid them. Suddenly, the leading Tempestwolves unleashed numerous wind blades, and Renji was compelled to dodge.
"Crack!" A tree trunk was severed by the wind knives, causing the tree to topple. "Crash!" One of the Tempestwolf leaders' claws raked at Renji's back. The Terraguard armor trembled, and the elemental essence flickered. "Crash! Crash! Crash!" The Tempestwolf leaders were incredibly fast and agile. Their claws struck Renji's back, head, and extremities repeatedly. Fortunately, the Terraguard armor could be manipulated into different shapes, including forming a helmet. However, the repeated assault began to deplete the elemental essence on the armor.
"These Tempestwolf leaders are too fast. The Terraguard armor won't hold much longer," Renji gritted his teeth and climbed higher. Weighing much less than the Tempestwolves and with superior climbing abilities, he reached around eighty meters before the Tempestwolves could no longer climb higher. All they could do was launch wind knives at him. Renji dodged as best as he could; only when absolutely necessary did he let the Terraguard take the blow.
"If you fell from such a height, you'd die," Renji murmured the words to a magic spell. Maintaining calm under such dangerous circumstances was something Renji achieved through rigorous mental training.
"Crash!" A wind knife struck the Terraguard armor. The armor, already on the brink of destruction, shattered into countless specks of elemental essence. This was followed by another wind knife that Renji detected immediately. "Most wind knife spells from these wolves are equivalent to a third-rank spell. They won't be able to kill me, given that I'm a warrior of the fourth rank," Renji continued chanting his spell, allowing the wind knife to slash his body.
"Swish, swish." Blood erupted from the slash, creating a terrifying wound on Renji's chest. Despite this, he continued chanting his spell.
"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" Over a hundred sharp rocks coalesced, gleaming with earth elemental essence. The densely packed stones shot out at the Tempestwolves, with thirty stones focused on the heads of the two leading Tempestwolves. Both leaders were knocked to the ground. The stones were packed so densely that they caused a series of crashes as the Tempestwolves fell, smashing through tree branches.
After using this technique, most of the Tempestwolves were knocked down. However, their agility and thick fur allowed many to cling to tree branches or only suffer superficial injuries. None of them died.
"This injury looks bad, but it's just a skin wound. Still, I can't let it keep bleeding," Renji's left hand suddenly blazed with flame, and he pressed it against his wound. A crackling sound followed, and Renji winced, sucking in a deep breath as the smell of cooking flesh filled the air. Renji had sealed the wound with flame, leaving behind an unsightly scar.
Taking the opportunity to quickly flee, Renji jumped from one tree branch to another. In the blink of an eye, he covered a significant distance and then threw himself toward the ground. Descending from around eighty meters, his body was surrounded by a flow of air, slowing his fall. By the time he reached the ground, he had finished mumbling the words to another spell.
The pack of Tempestwolves soon followed, with the two leaders being the first to close in. Howling, they eyed Renji with suspicion. Why had he stopped fleeing? These highly intelligent magical beasts suspected he had set a trap.
"Growl…" One of the two Tempestwolf leaders let out a low growl. Immediately, a Tempestwolf of the fourth rank leapt toward Renji. Renji leapt up and pointed at the distant group of Tempestwolves. In a low voice, he intoned, "Gravitational Sphere!"
Gravitational Sphere was an extremely formidable earth-style spell. By controlling and utilizing a large amount of earth elemental essence, the spell manipulated gravity in a localized area, causing severe effects on opponents within its range. Only a magus of the fifth rank could use the Gravitational Sphere spell.
With Renji at the epicenter, a circular area with a diameter of 100 meters began to glow with earth elemental essence. All Tempestwolves within this range felt an overwhelming pull of gravity. The Tempestwolf charging Renji collapsed to the ground mid-leap. The other Tempestwolves were similarly affected. The two leaders let out furious howls and charged toward Renji, but their strength was halved.
"Your speed has been halved, but mine remains unaffected." Earth elemental essence swirled around Renji, perfectly matching the essence on the ground. With the Gravitational Sphere affecting their speed, Renji's own speed was comparatively much higher. He agilely dodged the Tempestwolves' attacks while quickly beginning to chant another spell.
"Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!" Dozens of earthen spears erupted from the ground beneath the Tempestwolves. The sharp edges penetrated the chests of seven Tempestwolves, causing them to bleed profusely. Several other Tempestwolves were seriously wounded by the earthen spears.
"Hoooooowl!" The two Tempestwolf leaders, now frantic, turned and fled. The ten or so surviving Tempestwolves followed their leaders into the darkness, disappearing from Renji's view.
Renji quickly ran over to the three heavily injured Tempestwolves that hadn't managed to escape in time. "Crash! Crash! Crash!" He delivered three successive kicks to their skulls, each kick producing the sound of splintering bone. The three Tempestwolves collapsed immediately. Including the seven Tempestwolves pierced by the earthen spears, a total of ten Tempestwolves were slain. However, Renji's chest wound had split open again due to his exertion, and fresh blood began to flow once more.