The Greywolf was a fearsome foe, which was a target only hunted by a party of One Stars and taking it on with just two of them would have been problematic but this one was wounded.
It had cuts all over his body and a sword and one of his eyes was also gone. Activating [Twilight Sense] Spade analyzed it, and it's surroundings. Those wounds seem to be sword wounds but it so far into the forest it won't be a human who needs to move his blade more than once to kill a Greywolf, then monsters who weild swords. Skeleton soldiers do come to mind but the wolf seems to be part of a pack means there would've been more of him and a leader as well a high E rank. The most plausible scenario is abit unlikely but considering the place we're in it is the most plausible scenario.
A Lich had attacked the pack, it is a high D rank monster which can summon Skeleton soldiers of Low and Mid E rank and also cast spells, it's amongst the most problematic D rank monsters out there "I think we shouldn't move forward" Spade clearly stated what he felt.
"And the reason" Kurt asked.
"It was likely a high D rank which attacked the greywolf's pack, and the further ahead we move the more of such monstrosities we will encounter."
"So, what do you suggest we do." Kurt didn't show it but Spade understood that from the start Spade had been weighing down on him. With his concealment abilities he might've passed the inner forest but along with Spade his chances were not good.
"For now let's hunt the greywolf, I've examined the surroundings and the greywolf itself through which we can lay traps and once he is down you can use your concealment to close up on him and land a critical strike" to which Kurt just nooded.
The Greywolf was moving cautiously trying to not alert other monster's of it's presence when he smelled something, it was the smell of meat. Normally the Greywolf would've understood it as a trap but now it was under the illusion of Kurt's third skill [Deceiver] which allowed him to fake enemy's senses making them feel the way, the user of the skill wanted them to feel.
The Greywolf would've been not caught in an illusion so easily had it not been for his injuries, fatigue and hunger but the world was cruel, it did not care how well you were prepared the enemy will exploit your every possible weakness and that's what Spade specialized in.
Feeling hungry and tired the Greywolf started moving towards the bait when suddenly the tree next to the wolf collapsed and was about to fall on him. No matter now hungry or tired the wolf was his survival instincts were still fully active and it was the main reason why Spade had designed this plan to distract the survival insticts of the wolf, while the falling tree was just a diversion the real attack was coming from somewhere else.
As they had agreed before the moment the tree starts falling on the wolf, Kurt had to strike at his most fatal point and that was his remaining eye. Maintaining his concealment Kurt had been moving near the wolf from the start maintaining abit of distance and the moment the tree fell Kurt unleashed his attack.
He used his [Flowstate] along with his main concealment ability to make the attack as deadly as possible and in the blink of an eye Kurt's sword slashed at the Greywolf's remaining eye with full force. By the time the Greywolf noticed the danger the deed was already done.
Despite losing his vision the Greywolf took a stance an attacking stance, he realized if the opponent was not fighting head on meant they were either weaker or on the same level as him which at least gave him a fighting chance. He tried to use his keen sense of smell to find the enemy but what he didn't know was just how crafty his enemies were.
Hiding at the branch of a tree, Spade was overlooking it all while keeping an eye out for the other nearby monsters and the moment Kurt's blade slashed at the wolf's eye he summoned his sword into existence.'Now, it's time to kill.'
Jumping down from the tree he unleashed his both his skill [Brawler] and jumped at the Greywolf from behind and slashed at his hindleg which made the wolf lose balance, but the cut wasn't deep enough to sever the leg. Activating [Twiligh Sense] Spade could now better understand the movement patterns of the wolf which made it easier to deal fatal blows to him with less strength. He hadn't activated it from the start because he thought that expending energy on both would decrease the force of his attack and deal less damage but it seems he was wrong.
And slowly the Greywolf started to slow down and the two enemies started to deal more deadly blows to it and in a few moments Spade heard the System's voice.
[You've killed an E rank monster, Greywolf]
'My first kill...'
[You've received a Soul Piece]
So, that's how you get soul pieces. It wasn't a substantial increase but Spade somehow knew that his soul has just grown abit.
Once done with the job, we extracted the meat and the Star Crystal the corpse, but we weren't lucky enough to receive an item. Now, it was the time to decide on what to do next, the monsters upahead were too dangerous to be taken lightly and staying in one place for too long was also not a viable option when suddenly Spade sensed something.
'Huh... No way', Kurt couldn't see Spade's face but he could tell something was not right.
"What's wrong?" Kurt asked
Spade was in a trance for a second but after taking a deep breath, He spoke "It's coming close, with astonishing speed and we are the target."
Spade didn't need to mention who it was because Kurt knew who could be the reason for such fear. The one at the top of the food chain in this entire forest, a predator with unmatched hunting skills and a desire to taste human flesh, the Dark Elf.