- Notes:
Post 20 This post is not finished just saving what I have for now.
The remaining Wolves backed up, sensing that a fight was not something they could win. Mashyuu smiled wide and watched the as the beasts started to spread out carefully. Mashyuu's blue eyes glittered with joy, seeing all these wolves fade into the shadows, the sun would be up soon and the crisis would be over. But the sound that came from the forest made Mashyuu's hair stand on end. Whatever was out there was something he didn't want to deal with, it was something that was stronger than the others and something that would put Mashyuu to the test. From deep in his chest an animal like growl started to rumble up and fall from his lips like a fountain of water.
A massive beast, covered in golden fur stepped out of the shadows, moonlight hit the wolf and glittered down on him while the Wolf tilted it's head and started to stalk around Mashyuu. The Slayer barred his teeth while the massive beast snarled and let his fangs drip with a venom like fluid that hit the ground and burn it at his feet. The wolf pulled it's arm back and Mashyuu knew exactly what was coming. The creature swiped it's claws at Mashyuu's head from a distance. Mashyuu dropped to his knees and felt a shock wave from the force of the wolves claws shatter a small group of trees behind Mashyuu. He swallowed hard out of concern and by the time the spit went down his throat a knee slammed into Mashyuu's face, sending him flying backwards, skipping off the broken tree trunk and into a small field of tall grass.
The Earth Wizard felt his stomach churn with pain and a throbbing in his head he had never felt before. The Wizard could feel his eyes rolling around in his skull while he rolled onto his hands and sprang up in order to collect himself.
It moved you, how do you feel about that? Ux asked and Mashyuu's face twisted in annoyance at the rings spirit in his head.
"If you aren't going to help then can it. I need you at my side for this, that thing has super strength and when he hit me I dropped the hammer." Mashyuu snapped while his arms came up in a boxing manner. As spry as he could be the Slayer started to bounce on the balls of his feet while watching the Wolf. He needed to keep himself ready to move at any given time.
The golden Wolf hunched itself over hard and flung needles of gold at Mashyuu and the Wizard twisted around and dropped to a knee, letting his jacket protect him from the magical ranged attack. In the same motion he came back up and found himself face to face with the large wolf that seemed to be smiling at Mashyuu and his quick thinking. Mashyuu flexed his arm hard and sent his balled up fist straight up into the jaw of the Wolf. It's teeth clattered together for a moment and water came out of it's eyes for a half second as it's foot moved back and it reached out, grabbing Mashyuu by the neck, using his own weight to keep itself upright.
The Wolf squeezed Mashyuu's throat and twisted, hurling Mashyuu through the air like a discus. He whistled as he soared through the sky, his life flashed before his eyes for a split second before he twisted himself and started to fall.
"I'm alright, I won't fall and splat." He whispered. The Wizard opened his palms as he started to get close to the ground and tossed stone and dirt from his hands and let it wrap around the Wizard like a shell. The Earth Wizard dove into the ground and started to swim, he could feel the shell he had wrap around himself get shattered by the Golden Wolf. Mashyuu frantically swam through the earth and came up where his hammer was, picking it up and throwing his right arm forward. A lance of crackling and golden lightning reached across the field of battle and slammed into the wolf, blowing it backwards but doing almost nothing to the monster, making Mashyuu frown with annoyance and anger.
"Damn it... This thing is tough. I hope Hoseki and Jiyu are alright." Mashyuu whispered under his breath but was worried to look back over his shoulder to check on his friends. If he did the wolf might actually make a surprise attack. The Werewolf twisted it's neck and cracked bone while chuckling deep and low in it's throat.
"Is it aware of what it's doing? Not mindless like the others?" Mashyuu asked with concern while he started to swing his hammer around to get some momentum behind his hammers swing.
The Wolf rushed Mashyuu and tried to grab the Earth User. He stepped back a pace and dropped his hammer down hard, on the beasts shoulder. It yelped and jumped back, darting into the woods and running around in hard circles, watching Mashyuu, and getting ready to attack.
"Can you sense him? I can hear him but he moves to fast to pinpoint. I don't know if I'll be able to make an accurate attack unless you can help me out." He swallowed for a moment and readied himself for an attack.
When it gets close I'll warn you. This shouldn't be an issue. Ux assured Mashyuu calmly. Suddenly a tree exploded hard and the Wolf man erupted at Mashyuu at a speed the Slayer couldn't even manage to track. Ux warned Mashyuu to twist and strike. The Earth Slayer spun around and jammed his hammer out in time to catch the Wolf in the neck with the head of his hammer and send it sliding and skipping across the ground, coming to a sudden stop at the base of a tree.
"Heh, I think we got em. That wasn't so hard after all." Mashyuu quipped and started towards the beast until he felt a tremor in the ground. Suddenly the Wolf man kipped up and howled while rapidly slashing the air towards Mashyuu's direction, forcing the Wizard to take up defensive actions as fast as he could.
Shock waves of claw movements rocketed at Mashyuu, the Slayer slipped to the left and right, the force of the swings barely missing him as he twisted around, if not for his Slayer senses and his ring, Mashyuu would have been killed on the spot by the flurry of attacks. Mashyuu stopped and took deep, ragged breaths as his shoulders slumped forward and his jacket slipped almost off his arms.
Are you alright Mashyuu? Ux asked while Mashyuu activated the healing power in his hammer, sealing up some wounds he had been given from the first flurry of attacks the Gold Wolf had attacked Mashyuu with.
"I'll live, and I still have a few tricks up my sleeve." Mashyuu smirked and let his hands clench for a few moments.
The Wizard dropped down and placed his fists against the ground, letting dirt, rock and soil wrap tightly around his forearms and hands creating gauntlets. Normally he would use these to bash something in the face but he decided to use them as a close range shield to test the strength of the golden wolf's claws. He wouldn't have time to activate Dragon Force so it was time to use a spell he rarely used but found a use for from time to time.
"Wisdom of the Earth Dragon." A soft brown light erupted around Mashyuu, small scales grew out of his body and his life force flooded with power.
"Oh yeah, it's on." Mashyuu whispered.
A burst of power exploded out of Mashyuu's body and he vanished from the spot he was standing at. The Golden Wolf went slack jawed with how fast Mashyuu had suddenly moved until a lava hot hammer slammed up into it's jaw, knocking it's head up, and staggering it backwards. It tried to catch itself but Mashyuu's hammer came back and jabbed it in the throat four times in a row before a boot slammed so hard into the abdomen of the Golden Wolf that it shot up into the air and folded as it crashed through a tree and cracked a large boulder near that tree.
"I know you can understand me. Now give up before the sun rises and I'll let you go back home without turning you into the Magic Council for turning so many into mindless drones." Mashyuu warned the beast. Softly the Wolf man whimpered and felt it's dark eyes roll back into the front of it's head while it shook the stars out of it's vision.
Teeth shot out of the Wolf's mouth as it started to growl and pull itself out of the rock. The beast twisted around and grabbed the boulder, tossing it straight at Mashyuu's face. The Wizard started to laugh and opened his mouth, catching the boulder and taking rapid bites out of it, mowing through the boulder and restoring a bit of his magical power. Two halves of the boulder slammed down on the ground next to Mashyuu. Just as they hit and the tremors rippled through the ground he darted at the Wolf, only to have the Wolf slash down on Mashyuu's shoulder. It took just a split second but Mashyuu managed to bring both his arms up and watch as the wolf's claws ripped through his arms protection, crumbling the stone and making Mashyuu roll with the impact to avoid being crushed under the force of his foes strike.
Using the imposed momentum on Mashyuu's body, the Wizard rolled under the Wolf's strike sprang up on his toes, whipped around to look at the Wolf and pointed at the ground below the wolf.
"Earth Dragon's Secret Art: Exploding Spike!" The ground swelled up under the Wolf and started to jump up, however the Wolf managed to pull it's leg up before it was impaled by Mashyuu's spell. What the Wolf wasn't ready for was for the spike to explode under the Wolf, blowing it off it's feet and to the ground. Mashyuu landed in front of the Wolf and smashed it's hand hard with his hammer, crushing the bone in the Wolf's hand, making it cry out in agonized pain.
Feeling shame for being beaten so badly by Mashyuu so suddenly after having an upper hand the Wolf grasped a clump of dirt while Mashyuu hoisted his hammer up with incredible strength. Suddenly the dirt in the Wolf's hand hit Mashyuu's eyes, stunning the Wizard. Ux shouted out a warning but in a panic, causing Mashyuu to step right into a heavy claw swipe across the left side of his ribs, shredding through part of his jacket and his flesh. Mashyuu twisted with pain and grabbed his side, even with his Iron Dragon Slayer advantage he felt the pain from the Wolf's strike burn his flesh.
"...If the bite is worse than that it's no wonder people are transforming. Shit..." He groaned until a claw wrapped around Mashyuu's neck and hurled him into a half of the boulder that had hit the ground a few moments ago.
Mashyuu smashed into the rock and bounced off of it, folding in half and dropping to the ground with a dazed look on his face while he dropped the hammer he held next to him. Slowly Mashyuu rolled over and let out a gasp of silent pain while blood poured from his wounds. His hand grabbed up a large clump of dirt, rubbing it on the wounds in his side and activating a special skill he had picked up, healing his wounds a little but not to the power his hammer would have healed. Mashyuu swiftly kipped up as the Wolf rushed him. The Earth Wizards right arm balled up into a fist and delivered a massive blow to the Wolf's solar plexus, driving the beast back to give Mashyuu some distance on the monster so he could regroup and try a different attack pattern.
"Man you aren't kidding are you? You might be the toughest thing I've fought since I became A rank. I really don't want to hurt you but I'm gonna need some of your fur at the very least so I can prove that I took you out." Mashyuu half joked, but knowing that he would surely take a tuft of the fur when all was said and done.
With a straight arm fist driven right into the monsters shoulder the Wolf howled in agonized pain and snarled at Mashyuu, trying it's best to figure out where the strength Mashyuu had called on was coming from. It didn't make any sense to the monster how it's foe was able to simply attack with such strength when moments ago and for flashes during the fight the Wolf was very much beating the ever living hell out of Mashyuu. The overpowering scent of blood should have been pouring through the air but the man seemed to be able to heal wounds almost as fast as the Wolf had opened him up with the claws on the Wolfs hands. For the first time the Wolf decided to speak, a low growl coming from it's injured throat.
"You are very powerful. It will be my pleasure to rip the throat out of your neck and feast on it! Soon you will feed my family!!!" The monster shouted out and snarled darkly.
The brown haired Wizard looked up and down, eyes watching for a sign of attack that would surely come from the Wolf. He was sure that he would end up using more magic than his body would be able to muster during the fight, pushing himself past his limits and into a terrible situation where he would end up relying to much on his signature spells and his magical gear like the hammer and his now ripped jacket. The Wolf King would pay for ripping the jacket. Mashyuu's muscles started to flex and bend in a strange manner as he readied himself for a real fight, this would likely be the last burst of attacks either of the combatants would be able to muster before on fell.
Both combatants charged, the Wolf King leaping up in a straight line while Mashyuu dropped down and slid like a baseball player moving for a home base. The Wolf slashed it's claws out and down at Mashyuu while he in turn lifted his hammer and deflected the strike with a swift motion, batting the claws away. Both fighters came to a stop and twisted around, Mashyuu on his feet and a hand, while his hammer lifted up, the Wolf on all fours, trotted around and started to dig it's paws into the earth below, gaining traction in order to prepare for the next set of attacks.
Once the two locked eyes the pair moved in to attack again, this time not making passing strikes but deciding on meeting in the middle and starting a close range brawl. However Mashyuu wasn't a fool, instead he lifted his finger and let a stone fly up to it. A moment later he pulled his finger back and let the stone launch from the tip of his finger to catch the wolf hard in the shoulder, making it yelp in agony. The attack made the Wolf miss his claw strike and feel Mashyuu's knee jamming into it's lower maw, flipping it over and making the Wolf hit the ground hard. Whimpering the Wolf Man crawled about and rubbed it's head on the ground and smoothed out it's ears on the dirt ground.
"Bah! I cheap tactic, you will regret doing that Mashyuu." The Wolf stated, making Mashyuu tilt his head from the comment. How did it know his name unless.
"What elder are you?" Mashyuu demanded to know.
Slowly the Wolf got up and snickered with an echoing howl.
"Ha ha ha ha ah ha ha! Oh you're a clever one. And here I thought you were a little too dense to put things together so swiftly. Well if you can survive until sunrise you will find out I suppose." The Wolf man mocked the Dragon Slayer. Not amused Mashyuu narrowed his eyes and whipped his hammer around, pointing the hammer at the Wolf man and unleashed a massive blast of electricity from the head of the hammer and hitting the Wolf in the chest. Sadly without a second or third place to go the bolt of electricity wasn't as powerful, but still did a healthy amount of damage to the Wolf Man.
Just as the bolt of electricity slammed into the Wolf Man, he stepped forward, his golden fur crackling with electricity as he silently snarled and absorbed the blast as if it hadn't even hit him to begin with. Mashyuu took a step back, trying to keep the same distance on the Wolf that was there moments before. The Wizard lifted his left hand and waited as the Wolf Man decided it was time to attack. The moment it lunged at Mashyuu the Wizard focused on the ground directly under his palm and spread his fingers. A blast of earth launched forward in a cone like shape, slamming into the Wolf and doing little to hurt him. Still it stung enough to give the Wolf some pause. That was the chance that Mashyuu needed, his left arm came up and slashed down in a vertical slashing pattern.
"Iron Dragon's Kunai!" He called out and launched an iron throwing star from his forearm and smashed the throwing star into the Wolf Man's shoulder that he had struck earlier with a straight armed fist. Again the strike didn't do much to the Wolf Man but the bleeding it caused was what really did the trick and why the spell was worth it. It was the slow acting injuries that would actually give Mashyuu the best chance at beating monsters like this in the future.
At last the Golden Wolf was starting to look like he was slowing down in the fight, that was good news considering Mashyuu had started to slow down a few minutes ago and wasn't even sure if he was going to survive the night. Mashyuu's left hand dug into his pocket and held a small orb of stone that could enhance his magic for a split second and make a single spell more powerful than it normally was, giving Mashyuu a split second to deliver a finishing blow if he could find the opening he needed, but he needed to be in close range to do it.
Suddenly in a burst of speed the Gold Wolf lunged at Mashyuu, the Earth and Iron Wizard hoisted his hammer up behind him and lifted his left arm, calling out:
"Iron Dragon's Spiked Shield!" He pushed his left arm forward and gritted his teeth as his hand transmuted into a large round shield of steel with iron spikes jutting from the face of the armor. The Wolf's clawed hand raked across the shield and bled from slashing across the spikes. Just as it recoiled the Wolf found Mashyuu's hammer driving into the bone of the Wolf's leg, cracking bone and hobbling the beast. The Wolf darted off into the woods again, trying to keep itself away from Mashyuu's close ranged attacks and attack at range.
Mashyuu could only laugh to himself as the Wolf Man ran deep into the woods, but he could smell the monsters blood and fur in the air, giving Mashyuu a good idea on where the beast was located. With a heavy ripple through the air, a shock wave of claw slashes started to com at the Earth Wizard, to counter Mashyuu slammed his shield into the shock wave, repelling the blast back the way it came. Dead silence filled the air for a long moment, giving Mashyuu a chance to inhale through his mouth and suck up a massive amount of earth into his throat and belly, restoring some of his magical power. Just as he finished swallowing his left arm, still under the effect of the spiked shield lifted up and blocked a second strike with the shield, his knees buckled for a moment s he felt the spell end and its side effect of the spell kicking in. The spikes on the shield rocketed up into the Wolf Man, ripping flesh and making the monster go wide eyed with pain as it realized what had just happened. It was too late and the Elder wouldn't survive the night.
"Silver right? That's the big weakness of Werewolves. I coated my normal iron spikes in silver to rip through that thick hide of yours. You lived a long life right? Well I promise I won't kill you, but this is going to hurt a hell of a lot."The Wolf Man hit the ground and writhed in pain, it's claws ripping at the silver that burned through it's flesh, making the beast cry out with an unnatural groan that rippled through the dark, almost morning sky.
"Vile human.... How dare you.... I'll kill and feast on all you hold dear. Sabertooth Will fall at my hands, your family will coat my throat as I devour their blood!" The Elder Wolf cried out while he hit his hands and knees, letting the silver shards fall out of his flesh. Hearing the Wolf Man curse the Wizard and all he held dear, Mashyuu felt a rage that was rare indeed. Slowly he circled around the Wolf and stood behind it while his upper lip quivered with anger.
"This ends now. Good luck to you in the custody of the Rune Knights." Mashyuu warned. He lifted both hands up and focused as hard as he could on all of his magical power, putting it into one improvised spell.
"Fusion Spell: Earth Dragon's Condemning Tomb!" He called out and clapped his hands before pressing his palms to the earth. The ground under the injured Wolf Rumbled just as Mashyuu let his hand dive into his left pocket and pull the orb of the world out. It pulsed with power and effected Mashyuu's improvised spell, causing it to swallow the Wolf Man, and suck him under ground. Instead of the normal compression that his spell created, the tomb released four spikes of sharp stone and stabbed at the Wolf from four different angles, harming the monster and keeping it bleeding under ground.
Mashyuu collapsed on the ground, eyes rolling into the back of his head and mouth hanging open as his spell took a toll on the Wizards body. As his spell wore off and let the Elder Wolf come up out of the ground. Mangled, beaten and barely alive the Wolf remained near motionless, the only sign of life it had was the fact that it was breathing regularly. Mashyuu reached out with his little remaining power and felt for Jiyu and Hoseki, trying to figure out if they were alright...
Hoseki swooped in low and grasped Jiyu by the shoulders after her battle with the Omega Wolf, and lifted her up high into the sky.
"You did good, Mashyuu would be proud to have seen you finish the fight. Lets go get him." He said calmly and placed Jiyu to lay on his back while gently soaring through the sky just above the forest and to Mashyuu. Softly he touched down a few feet away from the Earth Wizard and waited for his friend to get close. Mashyuu slowly staggered over, creating a cane of stone and using it to support himself as he hobbled over towards the pair.
"That was a hell of a fight, could have used you more than once buddy." Mashyuu joked and flopped down on the ground. Hoseki laughed at Mashyuu and placed the Earth Wizard on his back. Softly trotting back to the town as the sun started to rise...
Almost fully recovered Mashyuu used his hammer in town to heal Jiyu and smiled at her softly.
"Ya did good back there. Sorry I couldn't be there to fight the Omega, I was dealing with a Golden Wolf, but I knew you could handle yourself." The Earth Wizard chuckled as the pair entered the small court room like house that held the elders, one of them missing after being arrested by the Rune Knights. After a length speech the elders awarded the pair with a single amulet that Mashyuu looked over and then looked to Jiyu. Normally he took a trinket from jobs, something to remember them but decided Jiyu had indeed earned this one. He placed it in her warm hand and closed her fingers around it.
"Not all of you are bad, take over Wizards are cool in my book and you earned this one." He said, knowing that making a new ally was a reward enough in his book.
"Anyway, I'm outta here babe. Take care of yourself and if you're ever anywhere near the Sabertooth Guild come look me up. If I'm around I'll buy ya a drink or something." Mashyuu gave the elders a salute and winked at Jiyu then left the group, catching up with Hoseki and taking off for home and his family...
WC: 10,667/ 10,400
![Grand Master [2000]](https://i.imgur.com/SGD5XSW.png)
![Master [1000]](https://i.imgur.com/AQXM4xC.png)
![Senior [500]](https://i.imgur.com/Nmfn8cD.png)
![Novice [250]](https://i.imgur.com/lrYlde6.png)
