As Zane was staring at the goblins on the ground, looking all burned up. The bushes around him suddenly started to move. Startled by the sound, he looked towards the source.
Looking beside him, a pack of dire wolves showed up. He couldn't even hide to ambush them, because of how fast they were.
[Told you.]
Ignoring, Velrath's words. He took a stance and prepared to defend his self, waiting for them to attack first. However, the pack of dire wolves were surrounding him, leaving him defenseless on all sides.
'Damn it!'
Gritting his teeth, changing his plan. He crouched and touched the ground with both of his hands. Hearing the loud growl of the wolves, Zane didn't wait any second to cast a magic spell.
As the wolves were about to jump on him, saliva's coming out from their mouths. Suddenly, spiky ices started to form all around Zane. Making the wolves take a step back. Although Zane had expected the spiky ices to kill the dire wolves, making them back away doesn't sound too bad either.
Not waiting for the wolves to surround him again, he casted another spell. Well, not really a spell. But could be either way. Suddenly, Lightning started to form around Zane's legs. He could feel a boost of strength and speed on his legs. With this, he could counter the wolves agility and speed.
Zane then jumped, backing far away from the pack of wolves. However, as soon as he was able to get to a far distance against the wolves, they started to come at him again. This time with more bloodlust, making Zane shiver for a moment.
Seeing as the dire wolves were about to attack him, he immediately pulled out his wand and aimed it at them. Then, dozens of shards started to appear around him, ready to shoot it to the attacking wolves.
As the wolves were getting closer to Zane, he didn't hesitate to release it at the pack of dire wolves in front of him. With his large amount of mana, and with his wand that gave him better mana control, he could continuously create infinite ice shards, as long as his mana doesn't run out. Which gave him an advantage against the pack of wolves, since dire wolves doesn't really have any unique abilities, other than their insane speed, agility and their sharp claws.
So, as long as he maintained a good distance against them, and keep doing what he is doing. He would eventually win.
Not so long afterwards, Zane stopped casting spells. Not because he ran out of mana, but because he had no reason to anymore. Staring at the pack of dire wolves in front of him, breathing heavily. He couldn't help but start regretting his decisions. Well, he had regretted it before, but he regretted it even now. However, even though he regretted it, doesn't mean he wasn't happy with his progress.
Velrath was floating even higher than before, looking at Zane below. He stared at Zane for a moment, he then said with a hint of satisfaction.
[Not bad... you are quite talented, Zane. With your current progress, you will definitely catch up with the others soon.]
Zane looked towards Velrath, sweats already dripping down from his forehead. He then opened his mouth, about to say something. However, before he could say anything. He heard another sound coming from the bushes again.
"Shit!"
For some reason, monsters could easily tell where he was. Hell, he didn't even have any time to rest, or to prepare his self for another incoming attack. It was unusual for monsters to be able to sense you so easily, so Zane wasn't really expecting this. Infact, he thought he would be the one having a hard time trying to find any monsters to kill. But, for some reason, they were coming at him non stop.
'What the hell is happening?'
As Zane waited for the monsters to show themselves, preparing his self for any incoming attacks. However, no one showed up. The bushes also stopped moving. The only thing he could see was the dark empty space, deep in the woods.
Since the forest was so dark, and the only night vision spell he knew was the simple version. He had a hard time tracking down monsters with his eye sight. That means he could only rely on his instincts.
...And his instincts tell him that the monster hiding in the woods, weren't the same kind of monsters as earlier.
He looked towards Velrath, trying to get any hints on what was hiding on the woods. However, the only thing he got from Velrath was his neutral face. Velrath then said, with a calm tone.
[Focus on your enemy, Zane.]
Hearing Velrath's statements, he immediately looked in front of him. Before he knew it, a fire ball was heading towards him.
'Crap!'
Although Zane, seemed surprised. He wasn't really scared by the attack, after all, such a weak spell was nothing against a Thaleward.
Not wasting any seconds, Zane immediately performed a barrier spell. Echo Wall, a barrier spell that reflects parts of the damage, and force it back to the caster. In front of Zane was a mirror like barrier, in a daimond shape. Then, the fire ball that was heading towards him, suddenly went inside the transparent barrier, and then the same spell came out of the barrier, heading towards the caster.
As the fire ball headed towards the caster, Zane could finally see the creature that attacked him. It was a goblin. Not an ordinary goblin, but a goblin caster. Known for their single elemental attacks.
The goblin was holding a large wooden stick with a weird structure, he was also wearing a cloak, a dirty, ripped cloak.
The goblin was too slow to react to the fire ball that headed his way, thus, hitting him and making him stumble on the ground. However, it didn't really kill him. Of course an attack like that isn't going to kill him, monsters are known for having great endurance after all.