The Enlightened Blade

Raj continued to push on through the forest, all the while marveling at his new and improved healing. An injury like the one I had would have taken a while to heal up; my injury isn’t even limiting me anymore. Raj’s resource pools had also all filled up, meaning he was back to peak fighting condition. He was starting to get a bit jumpy, as his first fight had set him off. His eyes darted back and forth, constantly scanning the forest around him. He kept twirling his sword in his hand, making sure to keep warm and on the balls of his feet should he need it. The silence of the forest was keeping him in suspense. Thankfully, he did not have to wait long for a change, as after only a few more minutes, he came across a clearing much larger than the one he had encountered the fox at. In the middle of the clearing was a pristine lake that sparkled as the moonlight danced across its surface. Wait, moonlight? Raj, thought, slightly shocked. I guess I wasn’t paying attention to the time of day. Kind of stupid, but in my defense, I have been in a really thick forest. He continued to scan the clearing, and saw a cave that sat on the opposite side of the clearing from him. The issue of water and shelter, two of the biggest necessities for survival, had just been checked off. All he needed was some food, and he could probably find some plants or maybe an animal that he could cook. His mouth practically salivated at the thought of food, and his stomach grumbled in anticipation. He knew this place was probably one of the best spots he would find, and he thanked whatever gods were out there for it.

Just then, he noticed something odd. “Why is there a boar corpse lying there?” He muttered. Just then, as if he was heard by the divine ones themselves, a pack of wolves emerged from the treeline, about 15 feet away from him. “Are you fucking serious?” Raj exclaimed. “Did my prayers piss you off that much? Of course it was too good to be true. I want whoever is orchestrating this to know that I will happily stick my foot up your—” Whatever he may have been about to say was cut off by the wolves starting a slow approach towards his position. Raj counted five wolves, and he activated Identify(Common) five times in rapid succession.

[Wolf - lvl 2]

[Wolf - lvl 2]

[Wolf - lvl 2]

[Wolf - lvl 2]

[Wolf - lvl 3]

“Ah shit.” Raj murmured helplessly. He assumed that the level 3 was the pack leader. He could barely beat the level 2 fox before, and it was just one creature. He did not see how he could beat the pack before him.

Still, he had to try. Focusing, Raj sprung into action. He knew that he could not let the pack get close to him with their numbers, as that would spell death. He had to try and thin the pack out a bit before they got too close. Raj activated Mana Slash(Common) and sent the horizontal slash straight towards the left-most wolf. He followed that up with another slash at the same wolf. He had just used a fourth of his MP, but he got the prompt he was hoping for.

You have slain [Wolf - lvl 2].

The other wolves howled at the loss of their fallen comrade, and they charged towards him at once. Raj took a deep breath. The wolves had narrowed the gap between them and him to 10 feet now. Still, Raj waited. He knew that his Mana Slash(Common) was more accurate and lethal at closer range, and he could not afford to miss.

The wolves crossed 5 feet. Then, they were on top of him. The two wolves on the right jumped at him together. That’s when Raj blew them to hell.

He sent a Mana Slash(Common) straight at their heads, and it rewarded him by mutilating their faces. They were flung backwards, not moving at all. Raj had no time to give them a second thought, and he quickly turned back to the last two wolves. They were too close to him however, so he could not muster any sort of response. They lunged together, and he desperately jumped backwards and braced himself.

Raj felt claws rake against his forearms, drawing blood. Another set of claws found his legs, and he screamed in pain. He stumbled backwards, blood oozing from his wounds. The wolves were unrelenting however, and immediately pursued. Raj sent another two Mana Slash(Common) at the pack leader, but was shocked when the wolf twisted its body mid-air and was only grazed by one, while the other one missed entirely. Raj spun out of the reach of the other remaining wolf, and thrust his sword deep into its flank, not killing it but deeply wounding it. Instantly, Raj pulled his sword out and dove to the side in a fluid motion. His prediction was correct, as the pack leader dove a second later at the empty space he had been in.

Raj engaged the pack leader, and did his best to keep him at arm's length. He grazed the left flank of the wolf, and danced out of the way of a claw, immediately turning right to avoid its teeth. The damage he was inflicting was not enough, and he was running out of resources and energy. Raj had to take a gamble.

He charged up a Mana Slash(Common), and took aim. The wolf reacted by jumping back slightly, but it was not the intended target of Raj’s attack. The Mana Slash(Common) flew past the pack leader and buried itself deep into the flesh of the wolf that he had downed earlier, causing it to give one last shudder before exhaling its final breath. The pack leader howled, but had no time to retaliate, as the separation it had given Raj by jumping back was enough for him to send yet another Mana Slash(Common) at the alpha, and this time, it could not dodge. The slash cut through the wolf’s front left leg, effectively crippling it. Raj wasted no time and followed this attack by sending his last Mana Slash at the wolf, which cut through its chest, finally ending its life.

Raj started to keel over, both from the blood loss and sheer exhaustion. He forced himself to remain upright long enough to make the walk to the cave, so he would at least be relatively safe. Once there, he collapsed, and in only a matter of seconds, he had drifted off to sleep.