The giant wolf howled before it tore across the field. Its speed appeared like a blur to anyone who had seen it, except for Emery who had casted his stone skin without hesitation and crashed himself against the giant wolf. The clashing of the human and wolf caused a loud boom that disturbed the ever gentle flowing river.
Due to his stone skin spell, unexpected burst of speed and battle power of 24 (17), which roughly equated to three times the normal prowess of a warrior in terms of strength, speed and endurance, Emery received the upper hand in the bout against the fey creature, throwing it five paces away from him in the middle of the river. Although the wolf lost that round, it didn't appear hurt at all as it quickly stood with its four limbs.
It turned its ferocious gaze against Emery coupled with great snarling that reverberated inside the bones of the people listening. Somehow, it understood that if it wanted to accomplish the order it was given, it had to defeat this one handed human first.
Raising his sword, Emery dash toward to fight the giant wolf when Luna yelled, "Any other condition we will accept!"
Emery looked at her then the old man. He noticed that the old man was looking at him.
The old man answered, "Perhaps we can come to an agreement, Stone-dweller. I am interested in that person. If he wins, I'll let the thief live."
Emery stared at Luna who seemed to be in deep thought. Of course, anyone would find it difficult to believe that a human would be as strong as and be able to win against this terrible monster.
Luna said, "Merlin, if you can win the fight, the Quintin family will be indebted to you."
With a smile, Emery answered, "Okay, I'll count on it."
This time Emery took the initiative and proceeded to rush the giant wolf. He did a wide slash, making the wolf jump back a bit, and followed up with another swing. It was out of his expectation though that the wolf would jump to meet him and bite his sword. He pulled back his sword but it felt like it was stuck inside a rock. He tried once more with a stronger force only for the wolf to chomp harder, finally breaking the sword in half.
Emery jumped back, but so did the wolf. He hastily called for the water element to execute whip splash, which he barely made on time, narrowly avoiding the sharp claw of the wolf. Once more he used the water to create a barrier between them.
With his sword gone, Emery thought about what else he could use. He wasn't about to fully commit to fighting this monster unarmed. Then, he spared a glance at the wolf, the expedition group, and the Chrutin warriors, wondering to himself if he should do that. Before he was able to make a decision though, the monster pounced on him again, he would've been able to dodge this, however, that moment of hesitation made him unable to dodge.
The wolf pressed its weight against him. To his back was the ground, to his front was the wolf. Then he remembered, Emery reached for his waist and cut the wolf's front limbs.
[Moon knife - tier 3]
Blood splashed on Emery's face as the wolf issued a yelp. Hearing how it had yelped, Emery's mind fell into disarray. He felt bad for having done so. He then stared at the black dagger and stabbed the dagger on the ground.
"What are you doing, Merlin?" shouted Luna from the back.
The action really shocked Luna and everyone around him, even the wolf itself seems surprised. He then stood still on the spot as the black and red giant wolf circled around him, seemingly waiting for the right moment to attack. The moment Emery slumped his shoulders, the wolf jumped, and he issued another spell.
As black smoke exited his palm, Emery jumped away. The dark cover though wasn't able to escape from the wolf's keen sense of smell, but no matter, that wasn't Emery's plan in the first place. He stopped debating whether to use it or not because it wasn't the time to hesitate.
Emery tapped into his legacy and underwent a magnificent transformation himself. His body became larger, grew fur, wolf-like ears as well as circular, wavy black markings on his body.
[Fey bloodline activated]
[Battle power increase 10 point]
[Battle power 34 (24)]
Emery now had the strength of five adults. He felt like he could crush a rock with just his bare hand.
The black smoke disappeared and everyone saw his transformation. Luna and her expedition group were shocked, but it couldn't compare against the Chrutin warriors watching from the side.
The old man's eyes appeared to gleam as well as the giant wolf. He gave another nod to the wolf and the beast responded with greater viciousness. Its speed now, however, couldn't compare to Emery who seemed to have disappeared and reappeared above it.
Emery landed on the beast's spine and proceeded to wrap his one arm around the giant wolf's neck. It struggled to break free but Emery strengthened his arm and after a few moments of thrashing around, the wolf stopped moving around, finally passing out.
Silence filled the atmosphere of the two opposing forces. Particularly the Chrutin warriors. Emery let go, when he was about to do a battle cry of victory however, he turned his gaze back at the wolf; the beast was no longer there. Instead, from where the wolf lay was a naked, unconscious young girl who looked to be around his age.
Emery removed his mantle and covered the girl's body. A moment later, his form started to become that of a normal human. He carried the girl on his shoulder, walked toward the old man and then gently laid her down.
The old man said, "Thank you for not hurting her."
The girl opened her eyes.
"How do you feel about losing for the first time, Morgana?" the old man said.
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