22. First Times

Rakna zoomed through the forest, shaking leaves and bushes as he passed by. His speed was so high that only a shadow could be seen. He currently was enjoying the feeling of the wind on his fur and the uncanny but pleasant control he had over his nine tails.

It was without saying that he had chosen to transform into a wolf to get to his location faster. With a seventy percent increase in his speed, he quickly reached the perfect vantage point behind one of the school buildings. To put things into perspective, he was to the west of the grounds while Leis’ group was to the east; where the gate was.

When Rakna landed on a tree to look at his target, one could now see that Sonata was still on him even in this form, and Pronos was latched around his neck to not be ejected when he sprinted.

‘The guard is higher than I expected,’ he commented inwardly as he spotted the goblins walking on the periphery of the school grounds.

It was necessary to precise that the building in front of Rakna at the moment wasn’t facing him. In other words, there weren’t any doors leading to the west. So, it was only natural to think that there would be fewer monsters here.

“Pronos, the usual,” he spoke with the distorted gruff voice he had in this form. Pronos hissed to show he understood and jumped down before blending in with his surroundings.

Then, Rakna squinted and laid prone on the tree branch, waiting for the right moment. At the same time, a prompt came from the System.

❮ ◈ ❯

Through executing a specific action and meeting several conditions, you have learned a new skill; Stealth.

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Stealth (Lv.1): A rudimentary skill for those seeking to become dwellers of the shadows.

Once entering stealth state, while immobile, the Host will become 50% less perceptible to other living creatures. The effect will be halved when moving.

Note: The true effectiveness of this skill depends severely on the environment and the effects may vary depending on the difference between the senses value of the user and the one looking.

Cost: 1 MP per min

❮ ◈ ❯

‘Would you look at that,’ Rakna jested internally and immediately activated this skill. He then felt as if his entire body was placed underwater. It felt oddly comfortable. While in this state, he watched as the first goblin fell on the ground due to Pronos’ poison.

One thing Rakna had been wondering about was why the Eion poison worked almost instantly for most creatures although they evidently had mana like the nine-tailed wolf he fought. ‘It probably has more to do with how much mana one has than just merely possessing some,’ he concluded.

“I wonder if…” Rakna mumbled as he looked at Pronos slithering toward its next target. He first opened his contracted pet’s status and used Appraisal on the Eion Poison trait.

❮ ◈ ❯

Eion Poison: This poison is also known as the Blue Molten Worm.

When it infiltrates the body system, the rate and scale of the propagation entirely depend on the quantity injected and the initial strength of the poison formula. The more Eion energy is put into it, the deadlier it is. It has no antidote; it can only be suppressed or extracted. However, it only stays in the body for three hours before disappearing without a trace.

Note: For the poison to work, the victim’s remaining mana has to be lower than the user’s maximum mana. However, the rate of propagation, as well as the damage done by the poison, will depend on the difference between the victim’s defense value and the actual quantity of mana infused in the poison by the user as well as the specific amount of mana left in the victim.

Cost: Variable. The more mana is channeled into the poison, the more potent it is.

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You have discovered you’re able to analyze System components; Appraisal has leveled up!

❮ ◈ ❯

Rakna snorted. He should have tried this sooner. This gave him a considerably clearer view of the possible applications of this poison in a fight and as a bonus, Appraisal had leveled up. Based on this information, he could tell for instance that Pronos must have had used around 30 MP on the Nine-Tailed Wolf.

The wolf had 26 of defense and its Nirvana Skill had siphoned the entirety of its mana. These two facts, coupled with the quantity of mana used by Pronos, were probably the reason why the poison acted so fast on its entire left side. It had been paralyzed in literally a second after it had been forced to use the rest of its mana.

As Rakna was thinking that, he heard one goblin make a confused noise. After three of them had fallen to Pronos, it was finally time for one of them to notice.

‘Now.’ Rakna jumped down the tree branch and accelerated in record time. His sudden appearance was noticed by the many goblins in the area but before they could even croak, Rakna opened his eyes wide and activated his Intimidation skill.

All of the goblins that were looking at him suddenly froze in fear and before they could process what was happening, he sprung on the closest goblin. He made it fall on the ground before ripping his throat apart with his fangs.

❮ ◈ ❯

Lv.5 Lesser Goblin killed.

Requirement for level up updated.

Current progress: 22/80

❮ ◈ ❯

Rakna didn’t waste any more time and immediately targeted another goblin and Pronos similarly discarded any intention to camouflage himself and rushed from one goblin to another.

With the two of them, in less than ten seconds, ten goblins had fallen. After that small time period, the goblins finally ran away once the daze they had been put into by the intimidation was over.

“It’s time,” Rakna uttered and lowered his head for a second before howling to the sky. His call got an immediate result as several howls responded to it.

* * *

From their hiding point, Leis’ group heard these calls and immediately made the connection.

“So, that’s what he meant by army,” Flavia whispered, seemingly to no one but everyone agreed with her.

“I had no idea there were so many wolves in this forest,” Leis commented. “They probably were meant to be a secondary threat after goblins. It’s quite lucky that we had someone with the ability to command them,” he said and his group nodded.

* * *

Meanwhile, Rakna calmly sat as a massive group of gray wolves gathered behind him. After only a few minutes, their number had already reached the fifties.

It was then that Rakna growled out one word, “Attack.”

The entire pack of wolves rushed past him the second he gave out his order. They spread out into two groups and circled the building in front of them. Not even a second later, goblins’ shouts and cries of pain could be heard.

Now that the diversion had been taken care of, Rakna looked up and saw a shadow behind one of the windows of the last floor. He stood up and waved his nine tails before kicking the ground.

He jumped toward the closest window and used the ledge to propel himself to another one higher. He repeated the same move twice before using his claws to break the lock of a window on the last floor.

He leaped inside and silently landed on the ground. He scanned the room before sniffing the air. He growled a little bit, more out of instinct than anything, and slowly returned to his human form. Or rather, therian form would be more accurate.

He used his spatial ring to re-wear his clothes and promptly transformed Sonata. When he was done, as if on cue, Pronos came in through the opened window and climbed his shoulder again.

However, Rakna remained still even after a minute. As Pronos was gradually growing confused at his master in title’s actions, the latter finally moved and it was right on time when a crack appeared on the wall to his left before being destroyed by a very large fist which he dodged by leaning backward.

Rakna glanced at his assailant through the cracks and a pair of yellow eyes stared back. He gripped Sonata and tried to sever the arm in front of him with a rapid swing but the opponent quickly pulled back and made the rest of the wall to collapse.

Rakna then stood face to face with the monster who was supposedly leading the army of goblins outside. This creature was bigger than even the hobgoblins. It was as tall as the ceiling was high and vastly larger than its brethren. It wore leather and metal armor and held a large scimitar in its right hand.

Wordlessly, Rakna used Appraisal and a transparent System window appeared in front of him.

❮ ◈ ❯

Name: None

Age: 2 | Level: 13

Race: Orc

Attributes:

Strength: 13 | Endurance: 12

Speed: 4 | Dexterity: 5

Intelligence: 2 | Luck: 1

Weapon:

- Steel Two-Handed Sabre: +30 Attack

Armor:

- Plated Leather Armor: +30 Defense

Sub-Attributes:

Stamina: 46/46 | MP: 20/20

Swiftness: 12 | Agility: 14

Senses: 23 | Atr Cap: 37

Attack: 97 (67 + 30) | Defense: 79 (49 + 30)

Magic Attack: 6 | MP Regen: 0.04/min

Proficiencies:

- Greatsword-Mastery (Lv.3)

Magic Skills:

- None

Cognitive Skills (Passive):

- Leadership (Lv.1)

Spontaneous Skills (Active):

- None

Unique or Racial Traits:

- Minor Regeneration: Wounds heal a bit faster. A far cry from true regeneration.

Note: The chieftain of a nameless tribe of goblins.

❮ ◈ ❯

‘Slow but strong. Mediocre dexterity but very tough. Decent sword proficiency…’ Rakna singled out the most important points in an instant and made a decision. “Pronos, this one has too much defense for your poison. Go deal with the two hobgoblins downstairs. You should be able to.”

The little snake looked at him a bit unsurely at first before slowly nodding and slithering out of the room. The Orc looked at him leave without doing anything. In fact, this monster seemed very relaxed in contrast to the goblins and the hobgoblins.

“How nice of you to let him go,” Rakna uttered without truly meaning anything but the Orc turned back toward him and flashed a grin.

“A Duel is An Orc’s Style,” it spoke with a low toned voice and Rakna’s eyes widened slightly.

“Interesting… you’re the first monster that I hear speak human speech.”

“And You, Are My First Battle,” it said and gripped its sword with both hands. “Entertain Me, Beast Man.”

Rakna whirled Sonata with an unreadable expression and took a stance with the blade of his weapon pointing forward. “Gladly, Orc.”