Nathaniel turned around to see the figures of wolves approaching, "Dammit..." He said with an annoyed tone, "Why are they here?"
There were around six of them, making their way to them.
"Well, clearly....." Arty said as she chuckled, "I killed their friend while you were asleep and I lured them here."
"Why would you do that?" Nathaniel said with a scowl
"To test you, obviously." Arty said as she waved her hand in front of her, "It is a really dumb question. Now, handle those dogs."
Nathaniel watched as multiple wolves approached, snarling viciously as he activated his Summoning Spell.
"Summon Skeleton"
At this point, it was already routine, and Arty was quite amazed that the Skeleton sprouted from the ground with ease; the usual clattering sound was loud and clear.
Nathaniel pointed at the wolves, "Get them."
The Skeleton lunged forwards, grabbing one of them as two more pounced on it, biting its ribs as they stumbled the summon. The Skeleton had a small knife only and it stabbed the massive wolf in its arms, causing it to whimper as the other two pulled on it from behind, trying to topple it. The sound of the growling was loud and disturbing, mixed with the clattering from the Skeleton's mouth.
Arty placed her hand on her chin, "War Necromancy allows him to summon Skeletons with ease...." She muttered to herself, "But what is the catch...? There is always a balance."
The catch, unbeknownst to Arty or anyone else, is that Nathaniel has a limited amount of magic power. It could deplete to zero in a couple of casts, but within time, it is able to replenish should Nathaniel let it fill up. With his ring, his current MP is 120, allowing him to cast multiple spells should he use them wisely.
Nathaniel watched as the wolves toppled the Skeleton while dragging it across the ground. The Skeleton immediately got up, composing itself and kicking one of them away, sending it skidding across the dirt.
The one it had stabbed had limped to the side, shaking its neck as it snarled at Nathaniel, switching its target as the other wolves circled him. They didn't seem to be interested in Arty, focusing their attention on the young man. Nathaniel kept his eyes on the wolves, turning around slowly and raising his pistol up with both hands in a relaxed position, preparing to fire at any moment. He had five rounds, which he knew he had to make count since he won't be able to get another Corpse Weapon if he doesn't kill one of them.
A large grey wolf snarled and tried to pounce at him, but the Skeleton grabbed it by the back of its neck and slammed it to the ground, stabbing it in the neck as a pathetic whimper was heard. The other wolves that were fighting it pounced on it, biting into its collarbone and neck. It stood up and shook them off, punching one of them in the snout.
"Hm, that Skeleton is quite sturdy...." Arty muttered to herself again, "Do his summons get stronger over time? Depending on how many times he casts the spell? That would be...too strong..."
One of the other wolves lunged at Nathaniel and he immediately jumped to the side, anticipating the speed of the beast. He had aimed his gun at the wolf and fired a single shot, hitting it on the head. The projectile hit the wolf and pieces of blood, bone, and its brain flew out as the body collapsed to the ground.
"Alright..." Nathaniel rolled and stood up right away, facing his back away from the wolves as they snarled at him, "One down....."
"Necrotic Power....." Arty said, "So his weapon is imbued with that power...interesting....it is quite potent. But the limit should balance it out...."
Nathaniel fired another round at a wolf that was lunging at him, hitting it on the side of the belly, causing guts to fly out as it dropped to the ground. He held his pistol with both hands, taking a few steps to the side as he saw the other wolves attacking the Skeleton, who was pinning them down.
"Good." He said as he fired the remaining shots, hitting three wolves, killing them
As this happened, Arty saw that the gun began to crumple into dust, falling to the ground.
"Five rounds and it is done?" Arty said, "Interesting. But the wolves are dead....leaving..."
The remaining wolf was the one that the Skeleton stabbed first, and it began to limp away, growling and snarling.
Nathaniel stepped forward as the Skeleton began to run towards it, "There's no point in killing it now." He said, prompting the Skeleton to stop in its tracks, "It's not attacking us anymore."
The Wolf limped to the side but as soon as he reached a tree, a massive figure crashed through and tackled it, causing it to whimper loudly. Nathaniel then watched as a massive brown bear mauled the wolf, slamming it hard on the ground by the neck.
"Oh my~" Arty said, "A Bear."
The bear mauled the wolf, ripping apart its neck and standing on its hind legs to let out a deafening and bone-chilling roar. Nathaniel covered his ears as the roar rang in his eardrums hard, forcing him to squint in response.
"Dammit....." He said, "A fucking bear....and a huge one...."
The bear was around 10 feet tall whilst standing on its hind legs, letting out a vicious roar at Nathaniel. The sound of the roar was so chilling that Nathaniel couldn't help but shudder, this being the first time he had ever encountered a bear in the wild. When he was younger, he encountered a mountain lion while hiking with his Father. But a Bear was never something he had ever thought of facing off against in a situation like this.
The Bear got back on all fours, taking a step forward and huffing loudly, looking right at Nathaniel. In response to this, the Skeleton rushed the Bear, clattering loudly, but the Bear simply swiped its claws at its skull, smashing it with ease.
"Oh boy~" Arty called out, "This one is quite strong!"
"Yea, I can tell!" Nathaniel shouted
The System then appeared, giving Nathaniel a message.
[Current Objective: Slay The Bear]
- Rewards: 1 Point