Cyberserk

Chapter 23 - Evil Wolves

Dan enjoyed looking at the new mercenary sword he bought at the store.

[Mercenary sword.

Damage: 7-12 (9.5)

Durability: 62

Weight: 1kg

Requirement: Level 7

Cost: 330 XP.]

Level 7 Sword Skills allowed for 20 points of damage. A particularly useful skill was Powerful Blow. The sword blow threw the enemy back and it was very useful and handy in a battle with ravens.

[Powerful Blow.

Required level: 7

Requirement: None

Mana cost: 2. Applying the spell adds +7 points of damage to the attack. Increases attack power by 16%. 

Powerful Blow increases the damage dealt with enemies and throws them back. Knockback an enemy to deal more damage!]

Three hits were enough to take out any bird. The clone didn't tired and gathered new flocks of ravens from the nearest section of the forest.

There was a narrow strip of the bank between the river and the trees. Sometimes the trees blocked the path along the river. Tom confessed that he disliked this forest very much.

"Only a map helps to navigate among the chaos of these huge trees. It's very easy to get lost in a forest like this. I can see the section where the river flows past the rocks. Alas, I can't see you on the map," Tom confessed.

"I can't see the point that shows your location either," replied Dan. "The ring has a line in the description. At higher levels, players will gain Surveillance skills. It seems to me that these will be level 50 skills. As useful as attribute enhancement skills and Phantom summoning. Players will become dangerous and be able to hurt each other. That's when the ability to see an intruder approaching on the map will come in handy."

"We'll raise our levels and see," laughed Tom. "What do you think of a cautious movement along the river?"

"Going deep into the location? The normal idea," the man nodded his head. "There aren't more than ten ravens reviving around us. The aggression zone isn't big. Ten ravens aren't scary even for one man. Do you think we'll enter a wolf aggression zone?"

"I want to attract them to us. We have to start learning how to fight them. Fur and feathers give weak protection. Fur is a stronger defense. But the usefulness of the defense in warrior skeletons was even indicated in the description of the monsters! These spiders and the rest of the animals have no solid defense. Even the Queen was a regenerated animal. With all due respect to this beauty," muttered Tom.

"Ugh! Don't remind me of the Queen. I'm ashamed," frowned Dan Raven. "I've never experienced such horror in my life. Tom, it's creepy and abnormal for any human being."

"Stop worrying. You're a good man. You used to be a regular citizen of the city. You're going to have to learn to control yourself. I'll be waiting for you to be able to fight me next to the new bosses!" Tom put on his helmet and showed he was ready for more fights with the animals.

"Run deep and attract the wolves to us. Tom, try not to get in their teeth. Bleeding is dangerous!" Dan tapped his partner on the shoulder.

"You're so funny. Thanks for your concern. I'm not afraid to die. Don't forget that. Wait for me with more guests," the clone ran toward the trees and quickly disappeared into the narrow passage between two huge trunks.

Dan summoned the hobbits.

"Boys, welcome to the world of the big sassy blackbirds. Show who's the best of you," laughed the player.

The hobbits immediately began the old argument about who was the tougher warrior. Ravens flew in from the woods and rocks greeted the uninvited guests on the approach. Dan heard the howls of wolves. He thought an interesting challenge was about to begin.

The phantom jumped out of the forest and immediately stood next to the player. Several wolves jumped out from different directions in pursuit of the daring clone. 

The wolves proved to be good opponents. Dan was afraid the wolves would be as big as spiders! But the wolves were as tall as a man's waist. A wolf jumped up to Dan with its mouth gnarled. Dan swung his sword from above and applied the Powerful Blow skill.

The effect was quite ridiculous. The magic power of the skill threw the animal to the ground and the wolf fell on its stomach. The swordsman quickly landed two more blows. In the meantime, ravens pecked at his helmet and shoulders. The hobbits threw stones and were ready to draw their daggers. 

One of the wolves bit into Dan's leg. The hard bite failed to cut through the material of the armor, but Dan felt pain in his leg. The player rushed to fight the enemy, who began to restrict his movement. 

Tom handled his katana and dagger deftly and quickly. He wasn't worried. He wasn't intimidated by the size and appearance of the animals. To him, they were bags of experience. The clone was careful to make sure his partner was not in great danger. He was always in time to help. 

Unfortunately in this fight, Dan did not have time to react in time to the condition of the hobbits. When the shaggy-haired warriors ran out of stones they pounced on the birds with daggers. One hobbit died. Dan quickly applied the sacrifice skill and restored mana. 

"We have to give them orders all the time! They have absolutely no sense of self-control!" Dan quickly walked over to the river and took off his gloves and helmet. Washing the face and hands after a fight was a true pleasure.

"Check the condition! Did you get the Bleeding Curse?" Tom knew how to act seriously and think only about the important points. 

"It's okay. I guess the wolves have to bite into the exposed part of my body that isn't protected by armor. I lost 41 points of health," the player replied.

"Start developing Healing! I got hit harder. I can make you happy. Wolves run fast, but they're stupid. When a wolf sees an enemy it lets out a howl before attacking. I heard the howl up close and ran to you. The other wolves joined the one that spotted me. Five animals. We made it but it wasn't easy," the clone finished the report with a familiar request. "Renew me.'"

Raven had time to become accustomed to conversation with this incredible helper and mate. He immediately continued the old theme with the new phantom.

"The experience with the wolves is great. 81 experience points are great!"

"What do you say Lord of the Hobbits? Should I run after the new wolves or should we go along the river?" Tom had time to put on his armor and pick up his weapons.

"I don't know brother. I'm not ready to continue the journey so quickly. You're thinking about the mountains ahead of us, aren't you? We tend to have the same thoughts and conclusions. I suspect that this location looks like a copy of the old one," the player said quietly.

"And there are mountains and guards of level 8 monsters ahead of us. And in the mountains there must be an entrance to a new dungeon," Tom continued. "I'm not ready to advise you, and I don't want to insist. But I think we'll get through the new dungeon. No monsters will scare us. But we will meet a new boss. We will kill the new boss!"

The clone took off his helmet and showed that this topic of conversation is very serious. Such a topic should be discussed slowly.

"We spent a lot of experience buying daggers. The k******e method may bring victory over the boss. But we need to accumulate a huge amount of experience," whispered Dan.

"Weapons get more expensive with every new level," Tom nodded his head. "You said it right. Now I'm pleased with your silly dislike of the game as a mage. We don't need to develop many magical attack skills. Slowing needs to be developed to level 7. And I think we should raise the level of the ring."

Raven took a quick look at the description of the artifact.

"That damn thing requires too much experience to develop! 22700 experience points to upgrade an artifact to level 7. Every skill for 4 levels requires that amount of experience," the player muttered indignantly.

"But our precious is a collection of remarkable skills. Don't forget that. Just 4 skills of enhancing all attributes are worth the cost of developing the ring," the clone clarified.

"That's right," Dan smiled. "I don't think we're going to go exploring today. The river and the rock provide shelter on both sides. Let me spend the night in this place. You can guard me in peace. We'll accumulate experience to develop the ring and make a stock to buy more weapons."

"That's the normal solution. There's no need to rush. Even if we encounter level 8 warrior skeletons at the entrance to the new dungeon I can handle a couple of enemies on the other side of the location," Tom said.

"I have no intention of sleeping next to level 8 monsters. Don't even think about it, it's too stupid. I won't sleep in such a dangerous place. I'd rather take my chances and we'll break into the dungeon as we did before," the player shook his head. 

The friends continued to fight in their usual conditions. Ravens had become familiar and non-threatening opponents. Twice the clone ran to attract aggressive wolves. They now knew the exact description of these creatures.

[Evil Wolf (Animal ]

Level 7. 

Vitality 80.

Damage 7-23.

In ancient times, these predators were common inhabitants of the forest. But the forces of Evil have changed these dangerous animals. Now their attack has acquired a special curse. Any bite from an evil wolf can cast the curse Bleeding. The victim loses 2 health points per second. The curse lasts 60 seconds]

Dan Raven received a cursed bite once. After that, he had to forget about using combat magic for a while. The player had several times applied a healing spell to himself. The increase in the level of this skill came in handy for players. With a +2 level bonus from the ring, the spell showed its undeniable usefulness.

[Healing. School of Water Magic. 

Level: 9

Required level: 7

Requirement: None

Restores 9 health points. 

Cost: 3 mana points. 

Cooldown: 0.9 seconds] 

Evil wolves delighted players with pleasant surprises. From these monsters, the guys were able to knock out two boxes with level 7 skills! Unfortunately, both skills belonged to the school of fire. The Fireball skill didn't get any excitement from Dan. He also looked condescendingly at the book with the skill Protection from Fire Magic. Raven had learned the skills but wasn't about to waste experience on developing magical attacks.

He spent the night quietly. With the healing skill, the clone could regenerate his health well and was not afraid to die from an attack by even three ravens. 

To the great joy of the friends, the influence of the epic ring extended to the phantom! Now that was the most joyful news for them. Now both players were sure that their journey would be filled with difficulties but they would be able to avoid deadly dangers.