The wolves began to make their way back to their den in order to rest and recuperate. The long battle with the bear had long worn them out. The Elite was slow, its breath was ragged, its sides bled, and it walked with a limp.
Vaalk figured if he struck now, he could finish off the normal wolf in one blow before the Elite one could react. He crouched lower, watched, and waited. His system sent him some notifications, but they were ignored as he had nothing but the wolves in his sight.
He moved like a shadow, stalking the retreating wolves at a distance. The blood from their wounds covered his scent; he subconsciously kept the wind to his back so their noses wouldn't pick up on him, not that it mattered, as they couldn't smell anything given how injured they were.
Vaalk hadn't realized yet, but he enters a special kind of state whenever he's hunting and focused. Like the zone for athletes, nothing else mattered to him, nothing but the game in front of him.
Suddenly, his eyes grew sharper, his breath slowed even more, and his muscles tensed like a bowstring ready to let loose an arrow.
The moment he had been waiting for had come. The Elite wolf stopped and bent to lick its wounds. Vaalk struck like a blur, a speed too fast for either of his prey to react to.
In one swift motion, he plunged his dagger fully into the ear of the level 8 wolf. It died instantly, not even realizing it was dead. Nothing could have prepared it for Vaalk.
|Level 8 Red Wolf Killed +200|
Vaalk quickly removed his dagger and dodged into a roll, just in time to escape an attack from behind. The Elite wolf reacted faster than he expected, but it was still within his calculations.
Although injured, this wasn't going to be an easy fight.
'I know I should take the safe route, let it wear itself down; it would be easy pickings from there.' His face twisted into a nasty grin, one that highlighted his Goblin features a bit too much. "But where's the fun in that?!"
The wolf was stunned by the display. A lone goblin dared to bare its fangs at it? It was insulted. It let out a low, angry growl and launched itself at Vaalk.
Vaalk reacted quickly. The wolf was injured, but fast, faster than he was at least, but that wasn't going to be a problem.
He instinctively dropped his weight and side-stepped, letting the wolf fly past him, its jaws snapped shut at air. The wolf landed a little too heavily on its injured flank, delaying its reaction by a bit, allowing Vaalk to strike and nick the wound. It let out a painful yelp.
The beast spun and came back, clearly enraged. This time, the distance between them didn't give Vaalk the time to react as quickly. It caught his arm with a snap that sent a hot pain through his bones.
Vaalk let out a cry, but used even less time to react. Using his small stature, he drove his knee into its armpit, while simultaneously stabbing the spots behind its ear and throat, jabbing quickly and ugly, no finesse whatsoever.
The wolf was battered, in pain, and confused. This goblin didn't fight like the normal ones it had seen and occasionally killed. They usually came with hit-and-run tactics. Always avoiding close combat, choosing to harass their opponents until they die.
It couldn't understand why this little creature kept coming at it, time and time again. It lunged one last time, slower this time, and Vaalk, already rushing towards it, made use of his little body and met it with everything he had.
A final, clean thrust that cut the wolf's windpipe saw an end to this life-changing battle. The wolf staggered, eyes still layered with confusion, gave one last snarl in defiance, and collapsed.
|Level 10 Red wolf (Elite) Killed +800|
Level up!
Vaalk dropped to his knees beside the fallen Elite, breath ragged, lungs burning, his arm trembled and ached from the wound. Once again, he triumphed over an enemy above his class.
He bent his head back and laughed. It was exciting, invigorating; his blood pumped for more, he wanted to go through it again, one more, two more, as many more times as his body would let him.
He paused... Shivering in fear, "What the hell was that??" His mind was no longer clouded by the desire to risk his life, to face adversaries who could straight up kill him.
"System! What is happening to me? Why did I feel like a different person during the fight?? Why do I crave more life threatening situations?" He was scared. Terrified. During the fight, he felt possessed, like a marionette.
He was aware of what he was doing and not aware at the same time; his body moved on its own, his thoughts were filled with ways to take down his enemy. He was a super normal guy on Earth. Watched anime and played games, ate junk food. This version of him terrified him.
[Error: Information locked. Host hasn't met the requirements needed to access this information.]
Of all times, this guy decides to sound like an actual system now? "Why you little... What do you mean 'locked', unless you want me to find a way to dismantle you, you better..."
[Jeez, chill man. I can't say much about it, but do know it's related to your locked bloodline. You haven't even unlocked it yet, don't go off on me. It's not my fault you're a weak little shit.]
The system never failed to exceed his expectations... That was a low blow.