I jumped back however the claws still managed to create a gush in my left arm.
I smelt the burnt flesh before I felt the pain. I took a quick glance of the wound.
It wasn't too deep and the heat from the claws had actually done me a favor and cauterized the wound. I looked forward where the wolf was…
Except it wasn't.
I heard a growl behind me and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end and a shiver ran down my spine. The air whistled behind me. I reacted and hastily turned around just in time to block off two sets of claws from the wolf's front legs with my sword.
I felt the slight strain in my arms however it was tolerable.
A slight groan escaped my lips as I pulled my strength to push the against the beast before sending a vicious kick of my own into the wolf's side. The force from the blow pushed it back just a little bit to give me time to prepare.
I only needed a second before I followed after it with a burst of speed.
Once I got in range I slashed in a downward motion from the top. The wolf growled as it dodged to the side causing my sword to miss. However I didn't stop my motion, I let it carry forward and just when it seemed to be about to hit the ground the muscles in my arm constricted as did the muscles in my torso.
I twisted my body shifting from the downward strike to a horizontal attack. My sword travelled parallel to the ground in a sharp arc.
The wolf was caught off guard and as a result it didn't dodge in time. The sword tore through it's pelt and curved out its right eye, sending sprinkles of blood through the air.
The beast yelped and jumped back three times trying its best to create distance now half blind.
I chased after it.
The wolf sent its sharp needles through the air like they were missiles. I paused momentarily, then I jumped to the side. The needles whipped past me and I shot forward once more. Kicking up dirt behind me.
'Lets close the distance as fast as I can' I thought as shadows covered my feet.
However that wasn't the only thing I did. I reinforced both of my legs with mana adding another layer of speed to my movement. I felt the air burst in a concentric circles behind me as I shot forward like a rocket. My feet barely touched the ground at this point.
In what felt like a blink I appeared before the large wolf. I slashed at the beast's blind spot however there was something I felt coming up from above. I looked up with wide eyes.
'Shit…I forgot about its tail'
It was exactly that, the large beast swung its tail the spikey ball aiming for my head. It was only for an instant but I managed to activate my defensive skill.
Mana surrounded my body in a bluish glow as I activated
I was knocked into the ground backwards digging broken burrows in the earth in the process. I found myself rolling at some point, my vision switching between the leaves overhead, the floor and the wolf a distance before my back hit a tree.
The air was knocked out of my lungs. And the side of my head stung. I reached up with my left hand and winced. There was a light injury that was leaking blood.
'It broke through my defenses'
I groaned as I stood up. The wolf stood in the distance just looking at me. Its aura exuding unhinged confidence.
"Alright big guy…" I said as I held my sword in both arms, raised it above my left shoulder and pointed the tip of it in its direction. "…lets go"
We both moved at the same time. The wolf throwing out needles like it usually does. I didn't stop this time. I parried all of them and when we got in range of each other. We struck out at once.
I clashed against its searing hot claws. Feeling the heat radiating from them. From there the battle took a higher degree that bellied even our previous clashes. We moved across the forest. Uprooting trees and breaking the ground in the process.
I felt my mind sharpen and my perception grow. Everything moved at a slightly slower pace, not because I had gotten physically faster but because my mind and thoughts worked at a faster pace than it usually did.
Six needles came my way. I rounded behind a tree and at that moment the needles pierced into its trunk.
'I need to do something about that tail' I thought my thoughts churning as the gears in my head worked in overdrive.
I slashed at the beast making a small cut in its side. 'Too shallow'
I dodged to the side as the spikey ball at the end of its tail smashed into the ground causing the forest floor to sink and break.
'Lets gather my mana and use mana bullet' my thoughts were calm even as the beast swiped its claws at my chest. I jumped back before attack once more. The wolf dodged this time it jumped up to a nearby tree.
It growled as it threw out needles my way. They moved faster and unlike before they gave off an orange glow that grew more and more intense as they got closer.
I was about to use deflect them as I usually did. Just as my blade was about to make contact, I froze.
"Shit"
BOOM!
An explosion akin to a grenade resounded with a deafening ferocity that shook that part of the forest and scared away nearby beasts who were below the Second Star Order. Dust, debris and pieces of wood were sent flying all over the place but the wolf cared for none of this.
Its red eyes were locked onto the smoke as though to see through it. It had hoped that the annoying prey he had been after had been killed or at the very least sustained a heavy injury.
When the wolf had attacked the prey, it had hoped that it wouldn't turn into a full blown battle. In fact it was supposed to end with a sneak attack and nothing else. But…
Not only did the prey somehow catch on to his attack but it was the toughest opponent it had faced and it wasn't even in the Second Star Order and it hadn't even reached the peak of the First! That was why it had to do everything in its power to kill it, there was no doubt that its soul essence would be pure enough to push it to even higher levels.
This prey was its key to even greater strength. It wouldn't let it get away. Not now.
Just then it saw a blue light flash from within the smoke.
Grrroowwl?
And then it flashed with the intensity that surpassed even the light from a lighthouse. The light continued to gather in a single point for a few more seconds then it shot forward at the speed of light. A beam of pure and highly concentrated mana travelled through the air.
Super heating the very particles that made up air itself.
The wolf couldn't even react before its tail was blown right off as though it was shot off by a gun.
"Awoo!" the wolf howled in agony as it fell to the forest floor.
The pain it felt was similar to what one would feel from losing an arm or an ear. It was terrible and it was the worst kind of pain it had ever experienced in its life.
The wolf tried to stand but then the temperature seemed to drop. An intense feeling of fear welled up from the depths of its soul. It shivered uncontrollably as though it had taken a dip in the coldest waters of the planet.
It felt as though it was in the presence of a higher being who could kill it with a simple swing of the arm.
It could only look forward as the dust cleared to reveal its prey…no it could no longer afford to treat it as such.
It was no longer prey in its eyes. It was a predator.