Eleanor cracked her knuckles as she stepped forward, inspecting the state of her combat gear as she walked.
It was torn and slashed in several places, and the spatial pouch she used to store her weapons and healing items was missing from her waist.
"Oh well. It's not like I can't fight barehanded. That might actually be better for testing my current strength."
As she approached, the wolves emerged fully from the caves, and at their lead was a massive wolf, standing as tall as Eleanor herself.
For reference, Eleanor was 5'8".
That was just how tall the wolf was.
Eleanor ran her magic power through her body, activating her body-strengthening skill to boost both her strength and durability stats.
She did a few light hops, gauging her balance, and the moment her feet touched the ground, she activated Mach Step, shooting forward with such explosive force that the earth cracked beneath her.
She dashed to the side of the largest wolf, and before it could turn to react, her punch slammed into its side, knocking it clean off its feet and sending it crashing into the wolves gathered on its right.
The moment that landed, Eleanor spun and drove her fist into the ground behind her, triggering a tremor that made the wolves approaching from her right stumble and lose their footing.
As they staggered, Eleanor leapt into the air, spun, and drop-kicked the closest wolf, her right heel crushing its skull upon impact as she landed. Without delay, she pivoted on her right foot and used her left leg to kick a second wolf, sending it barrelling into a third.
The large wolf recovered, rose to its feet, and roared as it lunged at her, but Eleanor quickly jumped to her left, narrowly evading its charge. She landed behind another smaller wolf and immediately slammed her fist down into its skull, killing it on impact.
'These wolves are barely C-Rank, so killing them is easy if I hit with full force. But…'
She raised her gaze and locked eyes with the larger wolf, the one clearly stronger than the rest.
'I should clear out the distractions first.'
The wolf growled, staring back at her warily, while she calmly placed a hand on her shoulder and rolled her arm once through the air.
Then she feinted a charge towards it, but just as it moved in response, Eleanor abruptly shifted directions and activated Mach Step again, shooting off in a completely different trajectory.
She charged toward the smaller wolves gathered on the left side of the larger one, and arrived with a kick that sent one crashing violently into another.
Without slowing down, she leapt at the two of them, seized them both by their snouts, and lifted them clean off the ground before swinging them sideways into a cluster of other wolves, sending bodies flying from the impact.
Suddenly, she sensed magic energy flow through the ground beneath her, and she immediately jumped upward just in time to avoid a volley of earthen spears that erupted from below.
Her eyes locked onto the larger wolf who had used the magic, just in time to see it slam its forelimb into the ground again, causing another barrage of spears to shoot upward, this time directly targeting the airborne Eleanor.
Eleanor quickly unleashed a burst of magic power from within her body, causing a small shockwave that blasted outward and deflected the majority of the incoming spears, leaving only a few that managed to stay on course.
Those few she intercepted with ease, punching them aside as they closed in, and then she caught the final one in her hand as she descended. The moment her feet touched the ground, she spun and hurled the captured spear straight back toward the wolf that had launched it at her.
The wolf leapt aside to dodge, but as it did, Eleanor activated her skill once again for a burst of speed, dashing forward toward the wolf, which immediately raised its forelimb.
But before it could swing downward, Eleanor slid beneath it, channelling magic power into her clenched fist and activating her Impact Compression skill, launched an upward punch straight into the wolf's belly, striking faster than it could summon another earthen spear from below to counter.
The blow struck its torso with such force that it lifted the wolf's body into the air, and without pause, Eleanor sprang to her feet and jumped after it, spinning mid-air to build momentum before launching a kick that sent the wolf hurtling back down to the earth.
The moment she landed, she immediately threw her right fist to the side, striking a smaller wolf that had tried to attack from behind, then turned her body and followed through with a left punch that knocked down another one that had lunged at her.
After flooring the two wolves, she turned back toward the large one and grabbed a heavy rock that had fallen from the cliff earlier, lifting and hurling it at the big wolf just as it was starting to stagger to its feet. The rock smashed into its head, making it stumble, giving Eleanor the opening to grab a second rock and throw that one too.
She charged right behind it, and by the time the wolf batted the stone aside, Eleanor had already leapt into the air, fist pulled back, and drove another punch that slammed the beast flat against the ground.
Eleanor immediately followed up with a crushing heel kick to the skull, disorienting it further, then struck with another punch, and another, and then yet another, activating impact compression once more, and after that final blow, the wolf finally stopped moving.
"Whew… that was not as difficult as I expected."
She muttered as she turned her gaze to the rest of the small wolf pack. The surviving wolves, already wounded from her earlier attacks, instinctively backed away as they saw her crack her knuckles again with a smile.
◇ ◇ ◇
Less than a few minutes later, there was nothing left in the area but dead wolves.
After scouring the ravine for anything she could find, Eleanor came across the sword of one of the Grand Duchess's minions lying on the ground, likely the weapon of one of those she had managed to kill, which must have fallen when the cliffside gave way.
Picking it up, she examined the blade, noting a faint purple tint along certain sections of one of its bloodstained edges, confirming Amith's earlier words about her having been poisoned.
'I never knew Amith made poisons less effective on me. In that case, could I have been poisoned before without realising it, saved only by the poison resistance she gave me…'
The thought made Eleanor frown, but she quickly shook her head to dismiss it.
'Now's not the time. I need to focus on what comes next after getting out of here…'
Just as that thought crossed her mind, a loud explosion echoed in the distance, followed by a wave of immense magic power that swept across the cliffside.
[It seems a battle is taking place in the distance,] Amith remarked.
Eleanor turned her gaze toward the source of the magic wave, and after a moment, she responded.
"I think I know who's fighting."
Amith glanced at her with a raised eyebrow.
[You do? How so?]
To that, Eleanor turned to her and asked,
"Didn't you read my thoughts earlier?"
[Hmm? Ah, you mean the memories from your previous life, about that R.P.G game, as you called it, that seems to have been cloned off this planet?]
Eleanor nodded in confirmation.
"Yeah, that. The events of the game and my life so far have lined up perfectly. So there's little reason to doubt that future events from the game will also play out in this reality.
With that assumption, the ones currently fighting are likely the bastards who just tried to kill me… and a certain vampire heiress."
[Vampire? It has been quite some time since I've seen one of those.]
Amith's voice carried a faint trace of curiosity, and Eleanor replied,
"That's only natural. The Crafiel family is enemies with the Empire's strongest Vampire Household, so the chances of me running into any have always been low."
[But now it seems you intend to make contact with this one.]
"I do."
Eleanor continued after a brief pause.
"The Laurent Grand Duchy, ruled by the Vampire Duchess Isla Laurent. She has a bad history with Razel.
Anyway, her eldest daughter, Helga Laurent, also entered this dungeon during one of her solo training expeditions. Her guards were only supposed to intervene if she didn't return after a set amount of time, or if her vitality, which they were monitoring through blood magic devices outside the rift, dropped below a certain threshold."
In Dimension Break, Helga ranked as one of the top playable units, consistently earning an SSS-Tier rating on DPS tier lists.
[Solo training, huh? According to the game's information, would that happen?] Amith asked.
"Yes. Her guards wouldn't be able to get in right away since the bastards who tried to kill me sealed the rift entrance with special magic. They'd have to break the seal first before they could reach her."
Hearing this, Amith nodded in understanding, but a moment later, she realised something crucial was missing from Eleanor's explanation.
[Does the girl die?]
"She survives," Eleanor replied, and after a brief pause, an ominous smile spread across her face as she added, "But… she doesn't know that, does she?"
At that, Amith instantly understood exactly what Eleanor was planning.
[You intend to take advantage of her.]