Chapter 9 9: Damn Hacks!
—|Europa VII, Ruined Vampire Kingdom|—
A loud smash sounded. The rotten door snapped open, and two wolves burst inside. They smelled prey and approached the black-haired boy who stood in the centre of the room. His body stood with a greatsword over his right shoulder and black left hand in clawed gauntlets pointed towards the grey-furred wolves.
— Flamra!
His glossy lips opened as he snapped his left finger. Two large balls of flame erupted from behind him, blazing with crackling heat as they shot forth with a second snap. Both wolves growled and jumped apart. They fought mages and humans many times, with countless wounds and mottled hair attested to those bitter fights.
The flames should crash into the ground anytime now.
Zell tilted his head, wondering what these wolves were doing. His flames shot through the air and smashed into them, erupting into a beautiful violet pillar of fire. The pillars spurted towards the ceiling while the wolves yelped in pain as they melted.
[Zell] [HP: 8/8] [MP: 7/9]
[Young Wolf] [HP: 0/10]
— Killed Young Wolf, gained 2 Exp (2 Exp Added to Free Exp Pool)
— Killed Young Wolf, gained 2 Exp (2 Exp Added to Free Exp Pool)
Class: Magic Knight: Level 1: 4/100
Sub Class: Lady Killer: Level 1: 14/200
He knew this wasn't the end; it only named these two Young Wolf. This was a common newbie trap. The first enemies have a lower mob. With a fraction of the primary enemies' status and skills. As if the game wished to teach humanity the harsh truth of survival from Level 1.
A tremendous burst of wind smashed into the broken slate, smashing the wooden walls and windows and revealing the true enemies that stalked in the dark. It was likely even more than this hid in the shadows.
"Awuuuuul!"
Countless wolf cries sounded bitter and filled with despair, anger, and passion. Zell lowered his left arm and clenched tightly. He knew. These animals were just like him, brought here to avoid death. The demons destroyed their worlds, too. Yet he couldn't be weak…
A black helmet with dual feathered wings, a metal jaw, with a mouthful of fearsome, spiked metal teeth. Which covered his handsome face, only showing glowing red pupils. His left arm glowed with a pale light as he restored his mind.
This was part of his Magic Knight class. He did not need armour but would be weaker than someone that spent countless gold on an expensive high-level plate suit.
Later, though, his defence and bonus status would exceed even the most expensive artefacts.
—Wurgen!
—Flagen!
[Zell] [HP: 8/8] [MP: 3/9]
[Hungering Wolf] [Male] [HP: 20/20] x 5
Veronica could not enter the battle; she could only flutter her little angel wings and watch the action from above. Her eyes fluttered, remembering his past fights in his past life. She wanted to help him but could only watch in silence.
? "Stupid Zell acts all cool. These stinky mongrels will piss on his dead body and eat his useless flesh club!"
—|Veronica: 'Back then… I could never say thank you! Please, don't die, don't cry, and fight hard! My hero!'
An eerie black flame burst from the black gemstone adorned on his sword as fire spewed from the dragon's mouth and covered the entire blade, swirling around the claymore. He felt his emotions dampen, and all his worry faded.
The dragon's wings on his hilt fluttered as a pale green wind spurred from the dragon's movements instead of coating the blade. His wind spell fused with the black flame, causing it to become aggressive and filled with explosive power.
[Feat of Strength Earned!]
I mixed two elements to form a more substantial weapon buff! Good job, handsome!
— Flurgen - Enchant sword with a raging storm of black flames empowering strength and gain haste for 15 minutes.
[5 Fire damage, 5 Wind Damage, STR +2, haste]
—|Zell: 'Replace my skills with this one! Too much clutter is bad. I will refine my skills, spells even myself into the perfect knight!'
Zell still wondered when his system would show its face, somehow thinking it might be better to forget it altogether. He would become a tyrant, conqueror, and Demon Slayer, with no one else's help.
"Hmph! It's just some black fire! Try better to impress this queen!"
—|Veronica: 'So cool! Hehe, my hero is the best! Punch those smelly dogs!'
The five wolves estimated his maximum power. They dashed with rapid steps towards him, drool sobering down their jaws. Human meat was tasty, and they would never allow him to escape.
Two frantic wolves jumped towards his flanks, seemingly faster than his other enemies.
Zell watched two enormous jaws approach him. They had sharp teeth and came closer, almost in slow motion.
His lips muttered a few words quietly. Even Veronica didn't hear them before a violent, devil-like grin appeared under his helmet.
"Wolfsjagd!"
He placed his sword tip on the ground in front of his left foot; sparks flew from the tip as his left leg kicked forward. He swung his claymore overhanded to the right side. Its thick black blade sliced through the wolf's face like cheese, blood seared and crusted before it could even seep out.
A burst of wind tore through the wolf's body, causing blood and sinew to spray out like an explosion, followed by dozens of wind blades that damaged the walls and concrete floor.
Flurgen was a scary technique of two combined spells, the initial burning wound, intense heat and severe piercing damage. A chaotic wind penetrated the body through the first attack, tearing the victim apart.
— Zell Attacked with Flurgen
Wolf Took 20 Damage and Died!
— Killed Hungering Wolf, gained 5 Exp (5 Exp Added to Free Exp Pool)
Zell ignored these pop-ups. He would not remove them for now, as the numbers made him smile. His momentum caused him to pivot in a full circle. Huge yellow fangs approached, now less than 10 centimetres from his neck.
— Glacira
His left hand shoved into the wolf's mouth; thick fangs tried to bite his soft, defenceless neck, only to be shattered by his mighty black-plated gauntlet.
Suddenly, the fluid inside of this wolf was used to create a shard of ice. Blood poured from its eyes as the spike tore his lungs and heart apart to form.
[Feat of Strength Earned!]
Killed an enemy using its health to power your attack!
— You evil monster! Using the poor wolf's blood and moisture to create a spell.
Gained + 1 STR! (6—>7)
In this game, if you run out of MP, you could cast a spell using your HP, but this would cost far greater than usual. An attack that costs 1 MP would cost 10 HP, and 2 MP would cost 20 HP. Thus, he drained the wolf with no MP of its HP instead.
However, some people abused this method because you could go into negative values if you didn't burn over 50% of your total health. This will cause you to enter a weakened state if you don't heal past 50% health to remove the debuff.
For example:
If Zell had 6 HP and 0 MP, cast a one mana spell.
He would enter a weakened state with -4HP and need to heal back to 3HP to remove the state, which lowers all combat stats by 40%. f𝗿e𝙚𝘸e𝐛𝚗𝐨𝙫𝚎𝙡.c𝒐𝐦
— Killed Hungering Wolf, gained 5 Exp (5 Exp Added to Free Exp Pool)
Zell didn't use this spell to target the wolf from the beginning. He had to kill five wolves. Or scare them off with superior ability. This was risky, and his mana was down to 2 after he regenerated 1 point.
His head leaned to the side before he snapped fingers inside the wolf's body as it burst morbidly. Blood and guts rained down on his beautiful black armour and naked chest.
Instantly, his light blue spike of ice, now stained with wolves' blood, fired from his fingertip like a sniper rifle shot. Its glitter only flashed in the middle wolf's eye before its head exploded into mush and grey matter.
— Zell used Glacira
Wolf Took 20 Damage and Died!
— Killed Hungering Wolf, gained 5 Exp (5 Exp Added to Free Exp Pool)
Class: Magic Knight (Greatsword) - Level 1: 19/100
Sub Class: Lady Killer - Level 1: 29/200
At that moment, the remaining wolves howled into the air as if to lament their fallen brothers! Zell planned his next move. He watched in silence, sword in the Ox Guard, his blade tip pointed out towards the two grey wolves, the sunlight causing a bright glint along its blade. Both wolves bulked up, and their eyes turned red.
He lost the gamble!
[Zell] [HP: 8/8] [MP: 2/9]
[Hungering Wolf] [HP: 40/40] x 2 (Berserk! Double Stats)
Awuuuu!
"Humanoid! We will rip your throat out, tear apart your flesh and devour your entrails!" (Wolf Speak)
"Fuck you! Stupid dog and your hacks! I will piss on your fur and let an orc shit in your mouth!"
Veronica hurled insults and curse words at the dogs. Thankfully, Zell could not see her crass gestures of raising her middle fingers and slapping her ass in taunts at them.
Zell's eyes narrowed, wondering how to manage this situation. He could not accept the debuff from dying; his pride refused to lose to some mangy wolves!