Ninjutsu Online

Wolves and Down A Cliff

An intense feeling of adrenaline and energy rushed through me as my mouth expelled a gust of wind so powerful it lifted the wolf off it’s feet and threw it against a tree. The real damage of this wind technique came from its ability to push an opponent back, and in the right environment, it could proof fatal.

Either way, just after I used the wind release technique, I felt my chakra drop to 40%. It had cost a lot just to use the wave fist and follow it immediately with the wind jutsu. Somehow though I felt that there was a way I could have spent less chakra in utilizing this techniques. But I wasn’t really sure how. But that was a problem for another day, as the wolf was shakily getting back up to it’s feet.

I pulled out a Kunai and rushed towards the dazed wolf, and unceremoniously brought down the dagger on the back of it’s neck. But then I struck it the second and the third time, ignoring the prompts from the system about the amount of damage I had dealt to the thing. And then I stopped, bloodied from head to toe with a brutally slaughtered wolf beneath me, it was rather gory.

{You have slain Striped Black forest wolf level 8, gained 200 exp.}

I got back up to my feet taking deep breaths in the process. Our levels weren’t too far apart, and I’ve trained my base stats a bit, but yet this wolf could still toy with me as it did. I had to be more careful, and in retrospect I had to allocate the extra five stat points I had, just to avoid any sort of danger.

Based on what I could glean from my fight, the wolf was faster and stronger, and it expended way too much chakra just to fight it. However the expenditure of chakra seems more like a problem that had to deal with my unfamiliarity with jutsus I used. Those can be fixed soon enough by leveling those skills up, however what I need right now was more strength and speed. So of the five stat points I put 3 in speed and 2 in strength.

It might be good to have a stronger attack than your opponent, but if you had the faster attack speed, it meant you had the advantage and probably the entire battle from the beginning. I had barely completed my stats allocation when I heard a growl behind me. Relying mostly on instincts, than on skill, I jumped to the side, rolling into a berry bush where thankfully my tanto had landed.

Then I looked up Just in time to see another one of striped black forest wolf, but it was not alone. There were five other wolves, each of them slowly making their way out of the forest and trying to surround me. Of course! How could I have been so gullible, wolves always traveled in packs, that was a fundamental rule of nature that wouldn’t change even if I was in a game. But seeing as I was completely outnumbered and very much outmatched, I did the only thing I could in a situation like this, I turned and ran.

I’ve not really had a time to put all of my stats to the test, to know how fast and for how long I could run, and how strong and sturdy my body was. I guess there was no time like the present.

The area of the forest where I was had densely packed trees and vegetation close to each other, it made running one hell of a hassle and my pursuers were getting closer. Even though the route ahead of me would prove to be a difficult terrain for both me and the wolves chasing me, they still had the advantage due to the fact that this was their home turf. It would take a lot more large roots to slow them down, but maybe there was a way.

As I ran my hands flashed through multiple hand seals, my speed wasn’t as fast as I wanted it to be, but it was just good enough for me. I slid under an extremely large root and fell right into a small brook that had carved a part around the tree the root belonged too. My hands touched the stones on the river bed and I had to thank the heaven above for my luck, this was just what I needed.

I got back up and ran away, cursing silently at my now wet clothes and my chakra that seemed to have dropped by another 3%. I looked back just in time to see three of the wolves chasing me, jump over the root I had slid under and right into the small brook. And that’s when it happened.

“FuinJutsu: Shock!”

The three wolves let out a series of pained yelps and whines as they were shocked by the seal I had left on stones resting within the brook. It was a gamble and it paid off, but I knew at level one the seal couldn’t administer much damage, and even if the water seems to have increased the power behind it, it was still not enough to slow those wolves down. All it did was buy me some time to come up with another idea, and fast too, because I still had two wolves on my tail.

My heart pounded within my chest as I pushed myself forward with every ounce of energy within my body. And as I moved forwards, it was then I realized I that I was heading straight for a cliff. Turning left or right would expend to much time and energy, and those wolves would catch up. And there was no way in hell I was jumping off the cliff. I turned back in time to see that one of the wolves had a silver glow around it’s paws as it flickered and leaped, crossing the nine meter distance between the two of us in a mere second. It was coming for me, and I couldn’t stop it or muster up any sort of defense, this was it, I was actually going to get killed. I think I’ve made peace with this, I was ready to fail my quest, and then I tripped, and the wolf flew harmlessly over my head and crashing to the ground in front of me.

I struggled to regain my balance after tripping and was stumbling all over the place. My bumbling act drove me right into the dazed form of the wolf and we fell into each other, with my still wielded tanto finding purchase under it’s soft jaw and straight into it’s brain. It was a lucky shot, but none the less it meant that I was still alive.

I pulled the short sword out and quickly got back up to my feet, and just in time to see the second wolf use the same skill it’s now deceased comrade had used. This time I wasn’t as lucky to have a stone appear out of nowhere to trip me, so I did the best thing I could do, which in this case was to have my tanto pointed in front of me, ready and waiting to meet the leaping wolf.

The wolf first crashed into my tanto, and for a moment I could a little bit of resistance as it scrapped across it’s rib bone, before finding purchase in it’s soft insides. But the wolf was coming at me with full speed, and it also had considerable weight. It crashed right into me, sending me to the ground hard, which was followed by a loud pop as my sword arm was dislocated. I couldn’t help but cry out, however my scream was muffled by the bulk of the dead wolf on top of me.

I wanted to cry, really! This was all getting to be too much, but there was no way I’m going to do that. I never cried when I lost my parents, or when I was bullied by classmates, so I won’t cry now. Besides I’m a grown ass man who’s about to be a father, crying would be embarrassing.

I shifted a bit and got the wolf off me, I had to strain a lot more than normal because of my dislocated arm, but as it stands I didn’t really have a choice. I got back up to my feet and pulled my tanto out of the wolf, wincing a bit as it’s edge grated against the bones of the dead canine. But my relief was short lived as a series of loud barks and yelps assailed my senses. The remaining three wolves that I had administered a little shock therapy to had caught up with me, and judging by how the numbers more than quadrupled, I would say that they brought a few friends along.

So right now I was left with a choice, death by being torn to pieces by wolves, or death by jumping to your death from the top of a cliff…….I think the answer was pretty obvious. I turned around and made my way to the cliff, ‘sorry wolves, not today'. I gritted my teeth and then jumped, sheathing my tanto in the process, though it was quite awkward doing so in midair and not as cool as I imagined.

For a moment I felt the wind caress my face, it was soft, smooth, kind and quite nice. It sort of represented what I wanted for myself at the moment, freedom. The ability to live my life happily with the people I love, but alas reality was always a hard pill to swallow. A sea of trees spread out below me, moving ever closer as I fell, and soon all I knew were leaves and broken branches, and squawking birds and hissing snakes. Until finally I met the ground, hard. It was cold, which was why it was so easy for the darkness to claim me.