Myer was doing his best to fend off the other two skeletons while Dan was dealing with one. I wasn't sure how to intervene in their fight to increase our chances of winning until I noticed Lisa's arrow.
I looked at her, and as she moved her lips, I figured she meant, "Go for my arrow."
After that, I saw her arrow heading toward one of the skeletons Myer was fending off. The arrow hit, and although it wasn't strong enough to pierce the skull, it was strong enough to push the skeleton back a little.
I seized the opportunity and positioned myself between the skeleton and Myer, starting to draw the skeleton's attention with my knife.
The skeleton began attacking me with its sword, and I dodged. Since I didn't have many openings to attack, I focused on blocking the skeleton's attacks to find a way to counter.
Clang-! I knew if I missed a single move, I could die, so I poured all my focus into it. One by one, the attack patterns became familiar, and I could block them with confidence. Then I attacked a newfound opening.
I pierced through the skeleton's skull, and the beheaded body collapsed to the ground as planned.
I looked back to see if everything was okay, and thankfully, all the other skeletons were defeated.
"Ethan, are you okay?!" asked Myer with panic.
"Yes, I am. Is everyone okay? Did anyone get wounded?" I asked with concern.
"That's not the point. Why did you start attacking the monsters all by yourself? I'm a tank, and dealers should be behind me, not in front. I thought you were used to this after hunting with us," he said with an angry tone, mostly out of concern.
He was right, and I had nothing more to say than, "I'm sorry. I got a little excited and forgot about the team."
"Make sure not to do it again." He then said to all of us, "Let's rest for a bit. We should be able to get to the said location in an hour."
Everyone agreed and did as the leader instructed. I started grabbing the crystals from the skeletons' motionless bodies and then sat beside the campfire that Dan prepared.
Nobody was talking since everyone was exhausted... and strangely, the dark forest was also quieter than usual. Of course, the home of monsters and predators was bound to be quiet, but this was the first time it was this quiet since I entered the forest.
Since no one was discussing the weirdness of this silence, I thought of it as normal and instead reflected on my actions.
"[Details of Swift Slash]," I muttered in silence.
[ Swift Slash ⌜2⌟
Rank: E-
=—————=
Increases the weapon's blade movement by 33%.
• Active Duration: 0.5 Second
• Mana Consumption: 5 Points
• Cooldown: 14 Minutes ]
After using Swift Slash multiple times, it underwent a level up, and the percentage of effect and the cooldown duration changed, as expected.
Each skill had its own leveling limit, so a skill could have a boundless number of level-up capacities, while for [Dimensional Shift], it could have none. After a skill leveled up, the requirement for leveling up a second time would become increasingly harder.
"Phew," I thought. Going around this forest and hunting monsters, although unfamiliar, wasn't something I didn't want to get used to. With each breeze that hit my face, I grew more fond of this fantasy reality... though I knew there was no way for me to stay here.
After we rested for a bit, we packed our stuff and started walking to our destination. We were a little more on guard due to the appearance of the skeletons, just to be cautious.
Everything was going perfectly normal and calm... until something strange happened.
The previously quiet forest turned silent as soon as we took another step forward. This was too strange, attracting the attention of every teammate. Myer signaled everyone to enter fighting formation, so we did.
It was a gut feeling, gained through my countless experiences in dungeon clearing... and that gut feeling was telling me, "This is dangerous."
Grr-! The gentle breeze of nature stopped moving, and among the shadows and darkness, a wild sound was coming toward us, sending a shiver down my spine. A big wolf emerged from those shadows, mouth filled with saliva, hungry for food.
After I saw it, the shiver calmed down, as I knew what kind of monster we were facing.
Big Wolves were held in high regard among D-rank monsters due to their large bodies and fierce strength. Of course, this bigger body resulted in decreased agility, which was a big deal among close-range dealers.
"Alright, this shouldn't be that hard to deal with after our rest. Get into position," commanded Myer with composure.
Everyone followed the formation, and even I controlled myself carefully, since commotion among teammates was something that no one wanted in times of need.
The wolf did not fret as it got closer to us. It was full of confidence, as the mixture of calmness and hunger filled its expression.
Myer nodded to Dan, conveying that he wanted him to attack the monster ahead. Dan, as commanded, started attacking the big wolf with utmost strength... or at least it seemed like it.
The blade deflected and bounced off the monster, which was completely unexpected given Dan's experience in sword fighting.
Myer noticed the situation and quickly moved in front of the monster to block any incoming attack with his shield.
The wolf started attacking the shield with its claws, and Myer took out his sword to attack as well. Dan and Lisa were both waiting for an opening to contribute... and I was there, analyzing the fight.
I watched closely as Myer attacked, which I knew was heavy enough to deliver a lethal blow to a Big Wolf, but all that was visible were shallow bleeding and small wounds.
"Something isn't right," I muttered to myself.
The wolf increased the strength of its attack, forcing the others to retreat with Lisa's help.
I got closer to Myer and said, "The wolf seems to be stronger than what I read. Do you know the reason?"
Myer paused for a second, then replied, "You mean the wolf has a blessing?!"
I was about to ask about the blessing he mentioned since I knew there were no skills in this world, but the conversation was cut short as the wolf started its head-on attack.
Myer positioned himself in front of the monster to block everything possible. Dan and I started dealing damage at close range, and Lisa was preparing her shots to damage the wolf.
Although I was a little puzzled by what Myer said, I put that aside and started damaging the wolf with my knife.
Slice-![ Skill "Swift Slash" Activated ]
As I was damaging the wolf while trying my hardest to dodge its attacks, I noticed that none of them was as lethal as I had anticipated. The big wolf I knew wasn't so hard to kill, especially if it was under attack by so many hunters, so I didn't understand why my blade wasn't enough.
"Ugh! We need to run now. This wolf has a protection blessing!" said Myer, as he was getting crushed by the wolf's weight.
Even without seeing, I could feel the team going into panic, but not me, who was just confused. I knew the world didn't have skills, so I couldn't possibly guess what the blessing was.
"Can't we just wait until the blessing is over?!" I suggested waiting until deactivation.
"I sometimes forget that you're new as well. Blessings don't deactivate!" he shouted.
As he finished, the sound of cracks could be heard from the shield he was holding. This was very bad since although Myer was grabbing the monster's aggro, without a shield, he was no different than a normal swordsman.
I could see others ready to flee the battle, just like Myer suggested, so I readied myself as well.
Crack-! As the shield got completely destroyed, Myer created enough distance between us and the monster so we could run away. Thanks to the big wolf's low agility, running away didn't seem to be an unreasonable decision... until something unexpected happened.
Slice-! "Ugh, my leg!" shouted Dan as he received a lethal attack from the wolf.
Dan, unable to walk, was very close to the monster, who was about to attack him. Without much thought, I quickly turned around and started using my knife to blind the enraged wolf.
The wolf, noticing my approach, retreated to the back, which also gave me an idea.
"Lisa, the eyes!" I shouted as I dragged Dan to a safer location.
Lisa understood me and shot an arrow directly at the wolf's eyes. The wolf, being distracted by me and the injured Dan, did not notice the arrow and lost one of its eyes as a result.
Arff-! The wolf, whimpering in agony, created the best opening to flee the fight... but Dan was wounded.
"Leave me and go. I won't hold anything against you," said Dan slowly.
"You don't need to worry about that," I said with a soft smile.
Of course, I didn't want to leave the battle just because of Dan's inability; I didn't want to leave because I felt like I wasn't in a losing battle.
I placed my knife into my pocket and grabbed Dan's sword.
"Lisa, shoot the other one." As I said, Lisa let another arrow fly at the other eye, but it only damaged the eyebrow.
Awoo-! The wolf looked ahead after letting out a battle cry. With only one eye, which was covered with blood, it looked at me with anger.
It was intimidating, but I didn't fret and stood firmly while pointing the sword at it. My confidence knew no bounds, which was reckless of me... but somehow, that recklessness made me laugh in excitement.
I ran forward, as did the wolf. It was letting out an unfathomable roar, and I had unreasonable confidence... which both collided as I was blocking the wolf's jaw from killing me.
I had no idea how I was facing such a beast head-on without dying instantly. Maybe it was dopamine, or my [Adapt] trait, but no matter what, it made my already grown confidence boil to the brim.
[ Skill "Swift Slash ⌜2⌟" Activated ]
I swung my sword and damaged the wolf ahead of me... but it could hardly be called lethal damage.
The cut did not hit any major vital points that I knew and studied in my life as a porter.
"I'm dead," I said to myself, knowing very well how things went wrong... my confidence.
"Hmm? I found you," said an unfamiliar voice from behind the wolf.
Slice-! A cut was heard, but no bleeding for a second. The fierce big wolf, bound to kill me in a second, dropped to the ground, lifeless.
From behind the wolf appeared a muscular man with purple hair and eyes, wielding what seemed to be a greatsword, tainted with the wolf's blood.
As he placed his sword against his shoulder, he said with a smile, "Were you the one who had something to tell me?"