Chapter 23 - An Intense Challenge!

The Snow White Alpha stood there looking at Lucas. Its eyes were calm instead of anger rushing through its eyes. It tilted its head upwards, and let out a deep howl. Lucas felt a small tremor behind him. "This isn't good", said both Sam and Kate simultaneously. "The Fiery Flame Alpha", Lucas muttered.

Fiery Flame Alpha was the opposite of the Snow White Alpha. It was the same size as the Snow-White Alpha, but its fur was a deep fiery orange. It came close to Lucas's face and let out a snort. The breath was hot that Lucas began to sweat in its heat! "As a user of fire magic, it has even made me sweat. This is a formidable opponent", he smiled.

The Alpha looked at the other one and looked around. It saw all the Grizzly Wolves lying there, some burnt while some others had an icicle piercing out of their skull. The Fiery Flame Alpha's s eyes showed a tinge of sadness, but it jumped towards the Snow White Alpha. Lucas used his [Inspect] skill to see the description of the Alpha.

[Advanced Tier Beast: Fiery Flame Alpha]

[It is a mate of the leader of the pack. It can use the Fire element fluently. It can use its fur as needles, to inject burn in its opponent. It can turn its fur into Fire, making it hard to approach it. Weak against Ice Magic]

"If they are together, they can nullify each other's weaknesses. They are smart. Maybe they have evolved their intelligence, hence this decision", he thought. "We must join now", said Kate. "Let's watch. I'm interested in how he will handle this situation", he smiled. "He isn't some experiment you can toy with!", she exclaimed.

"I am worried, yes. But he always shows growth when he is pitted against stronger enemies. And I believe that he will come out of this fight stronger", he said with confidence. Kate shook her head sideways, but she still stayed back reluctantly. Lucas began to analyze the situation.

"This is the worst match-up for me right now. They can nullify my attacks, and I don't know how to use this to my advantage", he thought. For testing purposes, he threw an Icicle towards the Fiery Flame Alpha. The Snow White Alpha jumped in front of it and protected the attack from reaching it. "This is going to be a pain", he thought.

He looked at his status to see if he had gained any EXP.

[Status]

[Name: Lucas Heart]

[HP: 85/100]

[MP: 5/100]

[Level: 7]

[Job: None]

[Title: Defying The Odds, Master Of Stealth]

[EXP: 1950/3000]

[EXP Accumulated: 7500]

[System Level: 1/10]

[Strength: 43+11]

[Stamina: 33+8]

[Agility: 43+(19+11)]

[Perception: 36+9]

[Magic: 43+11]

[Stat points to be used: 0]

"Accumulated? Which means unless I complete the quest, I won't be able to level up?", he thought. He didn't expect that to happen one bit. He thought that after killing them, he would have enough EXP for one or two level-ups. Then using the stat points, he could fight them. "It seems like the system has other plans for me", he thought.

He then used [Aura Jump], creating momentum to reach one of the alphas quickly. He wanted to use this as an advantage to at least injure one of them. The moment he bolted, the two Alphas bolted in his direction. There was debris flying all around from the momentum of their jumps. He began to channel his Aura throughout his whole body, bringing a slightly dark blue hue around him.

He didn't have MP to use any of the spells. "I'll have to do this my way", he thought as he saw a white paw coming to his face. He quickly slid underneath it, and he used the sword to damage the soles of the paw. The Snow White Alpha roared out loudly, and it began to limp. It moved behind the Fiery Flame Alpha, and after a few seconds, Lucas felt a chilling Aura cover the area around him.

Just as Lucas was about to move, he saw Ice needles coming towards him. It was thin and easily breakable. The problem was that there were a lot of them. "It's overwhelming", he thought, as he broke some of the needles and dodged some. He couldn't avoid all of it, and they began to pierce into his forearms and chest.

[Host has been paralyzed for Five Seconds]

"Five seconds? That's too much!", he thought. In a fight like this, even a second can change the outcome. But now he was paralyzed for five seconds? This was asking for death to came and take him! Lucas remembered the words he said to himself not long ago. "One day, I promise that I will become strong. Strong enough to stand next to you rather than behind you. Seems like this is going to be harder than I thought", he muttered.

"Let me try to use Stage Two Aura now. Although I haven't yet begun the process of cleansing, it will be harder for me. But if I can, this will give me the edge I need", he thought. He began to channel his Aura out of his nervous system, and into the muscle fibers throughout his body. His eyes began to redden, and he clenched his teeth in extreme pain.

Kate and Sam were shocked at what he was attempting. "In the middle of a fight? This needs extreme concentration. This is madness!", exclaimed Sam. Kate quickly pulled out her dagger to assist him. As she was about to move, she felt Sam's hand on her shoulder. "Look", he said as he pointed at Lucas.

[Paralysis effect has been forced out of the body]

The impurities that were in his muscles came oozing out of his whole body. As soon as it came out, the notification popped up. "That's what I was going for. These might also be regarded as impurities, so cleansing them out is the only solution", he smiled as he saw the Alphas close to his face. He smiled and stabbed the Fiery orange paw that was coming straight to his face. "ROOOOOOOOAAAAAAR", it roared out loud, shaking the ground along with it.

The Snow White Alpha had used its Ice element to stop the bleeding and began to move in a short time. "Now I'm sure of it, these beasts have unlocked their intelligence", he said. He was still channeling the Aura, as once the process was started, it cannot be stopped. "If stopped forcefully, the body will end up being crippled, making the person useless for life", he remembered his Master's words.

The more he channeled, the more he felt that he could move quicker. He didn't stop and his body response got faster. "It seems that although the numbers are higher than an average human being, the impurities in my body are what's restricting from bringing out the full potential of the numbers", he concluded his theory.

The Fiery Flame Alpha couldn't use Ice to cover up its wounds, hence it was limping. It then covered its body with intense flames, but it didn't affect the Snow White Alpha. "According to my system, it's weak against flames. Then why isn't it affected? Is it because they're mating?", he thought.

And Lucas was right. If they weren't mates, the flames will have affected the Snow White Alpha. But since they were mates, a special connection was formed between the both of them, making them immune to each other's attributes. But if another wolf attempts to do the same thing, it will affect them greatly. This was how the wolves increased their teamwork.

Lucas nodded his head in admiration. "Mother Nature truly is wonderful. This is beautiful", he said out loud. Sam and Kate were confused why he was saying this. The amount of black blood that was pumping out of his muscles began to slow down. "He is reaching the final stages", smiled Sam.

Just as Lucas looked down, the place was covered in his black blood. He suddenly felt that his muscles were convulsing with Aura. They began to course through at a high speed, and the faint dark blue around him began to grow intense. The Wolves were alarmed at the development, and the Snow White Alpha wanted to kill him instantly. Just as it was about to make its move, the Fiery Flame Alpha stopped it.

Lucas saw it and was astounded. "Don't they kill when they see a small sign of weakness?", he thought. The two wolves began to circle him, observing him. Suddenly, he felt some Ice and Fire needles pierce through his skin. A sudden notification showed up, confusing him.

[Yin Yang Needle Technique has been used]

[Releasing blocked points to make breakthrough successful]

[Points have been released]

[Breaking through.....]

As soon as he saw this, Lucas was stunned. "Why are they helping me? Shouldn't they just kill me and stay alive?", he thought. But now was not the time to worry.. It was time to break through to the next rank.