Standing in the midst of a field of corpses, our little angel was currently deep in thought.
Maria had witnessed the earlier events that transpired which led to the wolves' deaths. After the wolf in front of her had bit her hand, the feathers on her wings had suddenly shot straight at the wolf and reaped it of its life.
Maria deduced that something similar had happened to the other wolves that attacked her.
"...it has to be because of [Angel's Rage]...right?"
Maria quickly opened the skill window and scrutinized the first skill she gained from the game.
[Angel's Rage Lv. 1 (51/100)
Attack every enemy you designate in an area 10 meters around you with your wings, dealing 200 Pure Damage and an additional (STR x 0.5) damage every two seconds for the next 10 seconds.
Warning: Every usage causes a 10 point increase in Taint Value (1720/500)
Warning: Taint Value has exceeded max index, further increase will cause changes to appearance and some skills and effects.]
"...every enemy I designate...AH!"
Maria finally remembered the first time she had ever used this skill. It was during the time when the wolves had been eating at her flesh and she had experienced pain like never before.
She had specified the target of her skill to 'everything that was hurting her'. She hadn't been paying attention to her skill window after looking at it only once after her encounter with the AI-possessed wolf.
Maria now understood why those players who were once surrounding her had suddenly disappeared and why everyone was now maintaining safe distances from her...
"I killed them?!"
Upon remembering those bodies that were punctured and ripped apart by her feathers, Maria paled greatly.
"B-b-but...I didn't mean to!"
With Maria raising a ruckus like that, more wolves were attracted to her location. By the time she noticed, she was once again surrounded.
She didn't cower, however. Her thoughts of remorse for killing those players were thrown to the back of her mind as she stuck her chest out and began laughing haughtily at the surrounding wolves.
"Ha! Ha! ha!!! I have no need to fear you puppies now!"
Now that she understood the inner workings of her unique skill, Maria strutted forward arrogantly.
"Attack me and have a taste of my feathers!"
Maria ran straight towards a wolf and swung her staff at it. The poor wolf was sent into the air and Maria didn't forget to follow up with a downward swing to strike the poor thing into the ground once again.
The wolves surrounding her had rushed up to attack and just like what she thought, once the small jolts of pain hit her, her feathers immediately detached themselves from her wings and retaliated at the attacking wolves.
All it took were a few waves of feathers before multiple dings sounded in her ear.
*DING*
*DING*
*DING*
*DING*
*DING*
*DING*
*DING*
*DING*
*DING*
*DING*
*DING*
*DING* [Wolf slain! (20/50)
Maria received a sizable amount of experience points from her mini-m******e. She began roaming deeper into the forest, slaying any wolves that dared attack her!
*DING* [Quest Updated, Slay 50 Small Wolves (50/50)]
Maria had finally completed her quest, but she was too elated to even register the quest window that had popped up.
She simply waved it off thinking that it was just another experience gain message window. She then continued to strut around the forest like it was her own backyard!
Eventually, a unique chime rang in her ear.
*DING-A-LING* [Title acquired! Wolf Slayer!]
[Uncommon Title: Wolf Slayer
A slayer of wolves! Provides a 5% passive increase in damage dealt with all wolf-type monsters!
Equipped effect 1: Increases damage dealt with all wolf-type monsters by 20%!
Equipped effect 2: Deters all wolf-type monsters from attacking within a 3 level difference!]
[Would you like to equip the title? YES/NO]
Another prompt was shown and Maria automatically pressed her finger on the [Yes].
"Yes, sa~"
Above her head, the Wolf Slayer title appeared just in front of her name in a light blue color. Maria smiled in satisfaction and continued roaming about the forest.
With the title equipped, all the wolves in the forest ran away from Maria as if she was the plague. Now, she had literally conquered her fears in both the spiritual and physical sense.
There were other monsters in the forest such as small monster boars, birds, sprites, and others. These monsters weren't affected by her title so they still went forward to attack her.
Naturally, they met the same end as the previous wolves. It didn't take long before a couple of more chimes rang in her head.
*DING* [Level up! +20 free stat points!]
*DING-A-LING* [Title acquired! Boar Slayer!]
*DING-A-LING* [Title acquired! Sprite Slayer!]
*DING-A-LING* ...
*DING-A-LING* ...
Maria had been walking around the forest for at least 3 hours by now. On her way, she had killed multiple monsters with her staff and her skill, Angel's Rage. She had gained a couple of new titles but didn't bother equipping them. Only one title was allowed to be equipped and she opted to stick with the [Wolf Slayer] title.
She hated the wolves so she kept it equipped. Her [Angel's Rage] skill had also leveled up during this time.
[Angel's Rage Lv. 2 (11/200)
Attack every enemy you designate in an area 10 meters around you with your wings, dealing 250 Pure Damage and an additional (STR x 0.5) damage every two seconds for the next 12 seconds.
MP Cost: 50 Mana/Activation
Warning: Taint Value has exceeded max index, further increase will cause changes to appearance and some skills and effects.]
"[Status]"
[Maria Lv. 6]
HP: 260/260
MP: 800/800
SP: 30/30
EXP: 50/600,000
Race: Fallen Angel
Class: ---
Titles: N/A
ATK: 50
DEF: 33 (+15)
M.ATK: 8 (+20)
M.DEF: 40 (+15)
STR: 10
AGI: 10
VIT: 10 (+3)
INT: 10 (+6)
LCK: 10
Free Stat Points: 120
Maria smiled in satisfaction. She had leveled up plenty today. She also noticed that her quest was completed as well. Just as the girl was about to head back to the city, she heard a low, menacing roar come from right behind her.
"Ueh?"
Maria slowly turned around to face the monster growling at her and saw a large wolf about two meters in height. It had a coat of dark brown fur with red, menacing eyes peering straight at her.
It roared in anger at her and looked about ready to pounce forward.
"I-I-[Inspect]!"
[Dire Wolf Andar Lv. 10
(Uncommon/Field Boss)
HP: 10,000/10,000
Skills: s***h Lv. 5, Lacerate Lv. 2, Howl Lv. 5, Call Pack Lv. 10]
Maria stared at the wolf's status window and couldn't help but be surprised at its level. It was level 10! Only 1 level away from being affected by her Wolf Slayer title, no wonder it didn't turn tail at the sight of Maria.
"F-Field Boss?"
"ROAARRR!!!"