Fell and Nyla walked side by side as they walked along the path through the forest, Nyla was alert and ready to pounce at any signs of movement. Fell was also alert but not that much.
Soon the two heard the sounds of growling and three black horned wolves appeared out from behind the trees. "That was quick." Fell muttered as she readied her cards.
Nyla grinned. "Don't worry, this is just a small pack of wolves."
Nyla attacked first as she dashed and strikes one of the wolves with her leg outstretched and hitting it straight on the head.
Fell drew a card and thrower it at one of the wolves, three sharo cards appeared and made deep cuts on its body. She then used a Mana drain card in it then Combined Mana Sense and Mana Shuffle and.
Spinning blades of Mana was immediately thrown it's way, the wolf howled and it dodged the blades but it still got caught in the aftermath.
The wolf dashed towards Fell but she was ready for that, She used Passive Shield and the wolf crashed into her barrier, it howled in pain and stared at Fell with anger, it lowered its head and it's horn glowed blue.
The black horned wolf was using its innate skill.
[Horn Piercing]
Nyla who fought with two wolves immediately warned Fell. "Fell, that attack can ignore defense, your shield won't help you so I suggest you dodge."
She did not need to tell her twice Fell, jumped to the side as the wolf ran towards, she quickly threw a Mana drain at it, of course it is not that effective against non-magical creatures but all need it to use their skills and the wolf howled as it felt weakened by it.
Nyla grabbed one of the wolves by the horn and thee it at the other, she then got into a stance.
[Lynx Claw]
Her fingers sharpened into white claws as she dashed and swiped at both the wolves, she cut through bothe of them like butter, with a thud their decapitated bodies fell and blood slowly pooled under them.
Fell was momentarily stunned before she realized she had her own battle to complete, so she came up with an easy strategy to quickly finish the wolf.
She used card shuffle and aimed it at the eyes of the wolf, it successfully hit and blood streaked down it's face.
It howled in pain and madly charged at Fell using its sense of smell to detect her, Fell combined her cards.
[Mana Disruption shuffle]
The card broke into light and transformed into multiple spinning blades that attacked the wolf and also drained it of it's Mana. The wolf struggled for a few moments before it let out a whimper and finally succumbed.
With it's death, a card came out of it's body and floated towards Fell.
[Card Blueprint: Piercing gloves]
[Card Materials: Black Horned wild hideX2, Black HornsX4]
[Type-Item Card]
An item card?. Fell was surprised she got a blueprint for that but she was not a fighter and saw no benefits in having gloves but she does not think her class would have such a card if it was useless.
Nyla walked towards her and grinned. "You were not bad at all but you could have done better, now let's prepare this monsters so we can sell the hides of the wolves, we could then break off the horns for the quest."
Fell rolled her eyes. "I have no comments on your criticism and yes I know, that was a weak display of my skills but I am getting used to it and I do not know how to 'prepare' a monster, it sounds messy."
Nyla laughed, she had a knifebstrapped to her belt. Her white dotted tail swinger lazily behind her and her ears twitched, when fell observed the Hetrochromic Lynx girl she realised, she was so cute.
Fell blinked and quickly looked away, clearing her throat as she tried to suppress the strange flutter in her chest. Cute? No, she's just... efficient. Deadly. Dangerous. That's what I should focus on.
Nyla crouched beside one of the wolves, humming a little tune as she pulled out the knife and expertly began skinning the creature. Her movements were precise, almost graceful, like a dance she'd practiced hundreds of times.
"You'll get used to it," Nyla said, not looking up. "The smell, the mess... eventually, it just becomes part of the job. Like casting a spell or drawing a card."
Fell hesitated, watching the way Nyla's muscles moved under her jacket, how her tail flicked now and then as she worked. It was odd. Fell had seen a lot of people—mercs, adventurers, even mages—but none quite like this girl. Something about her was… different.
With a sigh, Fell stepped closer and knelt beside another wolf. "Alright. Show me how it's done. If I'm going to be traveling with you, I might as well learn something useful."
Nyla beamed at her, one fang poking out from the corner of her mouth. "Now you're speaking my language."
She guided Fell through the steps—where to cut, how to peel the hide without tearing it, and where the best materials were hidden. Fell's hands were hesitant at first, but with Nyla's hands gently guiding hers, she started to get the hang of it.
As they worked, the forest grew quieter, the adrenaline slowly fading. The wind rustled through the trees and birds began chirping again as if the brief battle had never happened.
Soon they were done.And Fell sighed. "I'll place them into my bag of holding, we still have 14 more of Black Horned wolves to hunt and gather their horns back to the guild to complete the quest. "
"Fourteen more, huh?" Nyla stretched, cracking her neck as she stood. "Guess we're just getting started."
Fell packed the hides and horns into her bag of holding, glancing at the bloody clearing. The scent of iron still hung in the air, but it was already starting to feel less foreign. "Let's keep moving. If we're lucky, we can find another pack before sundown."
They moved deeper into the woods, stepping over gnarled roots and ducking under hanging branches. The forest grew denser, the sunlight filtering in patches through the canopy. Every now and then, Nyla's ears twitched, and Fell caught her looking toward the shadows, muscles tensing before relaxing again. A sign of Trauma maybe?.
Fell is still bewildered he isn't bothered about being 'Fall' before, though being a girl was starting to feel a bit more natural. It was still weird though and that is never going to change.
Nyla suddenly stopped, she sniffed the air. "There are some slimes upahead, their Mana smells like the Black horned wolves."
Fell's eyes twitched, Slimes that smelled like wolves, so variants. "Probably Variants, we should leave this quest then."
Nyla shaked her head. "Slimes are invasive, if we leave this variants be they could wipe out the black horned wolves in a week, and most of the high level adventurers are leaving on the Raid tomorrow so we have to get rid of them."
Fell sighed, why did she have to fight a slime variant after she fought a giant one today, she then blinked her eyes, what did Nyla say by 'Smelled their mana'. "Wait what do you mean by Smell Mana."
"Oh that, As you can see I am a Lynx demi-human and I am particularly a sort of mutant with enhanced senses. I can sense things others can't. Like mana. I can smell it, feel it in the air. The mana signatures of different creatures have different scents. It's like... a unique fragrance or essence. The Black Horned wolves have a deep, earthy scent, while slimes have a kind of… damp, stagnant aura. But these variants…" Nyla sniffed the air again, her eyes narrowing. "They're not just any slimes. Something's off about them. The scent is a little sharper. More aggressive."
Fell blinked, processing this information. "So you can smell magic, huh? That's… useful."
Nyla shrugged, her tail flicking behind her. "It's helpful. But it's also... distracting sometimes. Too much going on around me, you know? Anyway, these variants won't be easy, but we don't really have a choice. They're not just slime blobs. They've adapted, and if they're left unchecked... well, like I said, they could take out the wolves."
Fell sighed again, glancing at the trees around them. "Great. Just what I wanted today. Another variant slime battle."
"You'll do fine," Nyla said, grinning. "Besides, this time, we'll make it quicker."
Fell gave her a dry look. "Easier said than done."
They kept walking, following Nyla's lead as she navigated the woods with her heightened senses. The deeper they went, the more the air seemed to hum with a strange energy. Fell could feel it too now—a subtle tug on her mana, like the forest was alive with its own kind of magic.
Nyla stopped again, holding a hand up to signal Fell to quiet down. The wind shifted, and Fell felt a chill run down her spine. From ahead, the faint gurgling of something wet and sticky reached her ears.
"Slimes," Nyla muttered, her voice low. "Keep your distance. They're more dangerous than they look."
As they crept forward, the trees parted to reveal a small clearing. In the center, three large, translucent slimes were oozing slowly across the forest floor, their forms bubbling and shifting. But it wasn't the usual slime appearance. These were darker, with hints of black swirling inside their bodies and they each had one black horn.
They were numbered in hundreds.
Fell shuddered, she was starting to develop a phobia towards slimes.