Mash threw himself at the wolf. The movement felt too unstoppable to be called a simple jump. He was moving so fast, that there was nothing he could do but brace for the impact. His arms only barely managed to cover his face when he slammed into the wolf. It had attempted to dodge, but it was far too slow. He definitely felt more like a thrown rock or something, and the way the wolf broke around him added to the fact. He honestly thought that he would just rip through the creature.

The bigger wolves were a lot stronger than he expected and it took the blow. That didn’t stop a satisfying crunching noise from spreading from the wolf. Even if it was strong, its bones had been shattered. It tried to scream, but it only managed a pained wheeze. Mash quickly rose to his feet and knew that he didn’t have the time to relax. More of the large wolves were running toward him. He thought quickly and kicked the broken wolf toward one of those that was charging at him. His foot sunk deep into the wolf. Its body was no longer as solid as it was a moment ago. He felt a little bad and wondered just how many bones he had broken. The guilt passed quickly, as the wolf ignored the kicked body and jumped over it. The monsters obviously didn’t care for each other.

The wolf that had jumped wasn’t able to turn, but it didn’t matter. It was on a crash course with him, and there were two more coming up behind. They had him surrounded. Well, almost surrounded. He jumped into the air, though the wolves could catch him if it was just a simple jump. Though this wasn’t that easy. He used his wind affinity to push himself further upward, turning and facing the ground. His jump had carried him high enough that he couldn’t see the wolves within his domain anymore. Although, he was quick enough to see two of the wolves collide. Neither was injured, but he wasn’t expecting it to do any damage. He wanted the vantage for a different reason.

In the air, he could see most of the wolves, and most of the surroundings too. He could catch the rustling of trees and see the subtle movements of wolves in the area. In the process of falling, he pushed his hands to the side and opened his mouth. Lightning spread from his fingers raining down on the wolves in the trees around him.

The blast of lighting that he shot from his mouth was different though. That was more like Priscilla’s spread attack, and he aimed it at where he was landing. It blinded him temporarily, but there was nothing he could do about that. He could still track the lightning a little though. It shot downward striking the ground and then it spread out in a circular discharge. The way the lightning moved, it seemed like it was chasing the wolves. However, the reality was much simpler than that. It merely struck at everything around where the bolt impacted. It did look like more intentional as it spread out in a series of branches. Lightning couldn’t actually be circular after all. No, it just branched wildly in every possible direction, and it would hit whatever was around.

All of the lightning was loud, and he was hoping the noise would disorient the wolves as he landed. While he could keep flying, he didn’t think it would help much against the wolves. Even the big lightning blast only killed a few of the smaller wolves. There seemed to be a big difference in power between the two types. It was simple, size mattered. At least it did for the wolves.

Mash landed, but he was not even given a moment of reprieve. Wolves lunged at him jumping from behind others of their kind. They had used one another as shields. It was a surprising tactic for a bestial monster, but they had been pretty smart so far. That was all he could think, as two wolves bit into him simultaneously. He managed to block the one going for his head with one of his arms but couldn’t stop the other from biting into his thigh. It actually managed to bite him two. The monster’s teeth cracked and punched through his scales. Even if it didn’t get very far, he was momentarily stunned. Few things had managed to break his scales, and he didn’t think that these monsters would be able to.

His body was jerked roughly as the two wolves attempted to drag him in different directions. The one that had leaped for his head wound up biting his forearm. It yanked his arm as it the monster flew past him. The momentum of the wolf’s jump was enough to pop the arm out of its socket. That hurt more than he liked, but he wasn’t completely helpless against these wolves. They had dared to give him a vulnerable place to attack, and he would take full advantage of that. Without really caring about what magic he used, he simply decided to do everything. Wood grew from his body. It grew within the wolves’ mouths filling them and wrapping around their tongues and teeth. They tried to complete their bite and jump away, but he wouldn’t let them.

He wasn’t the most skilled in a fight. He knew that the style he developed was best for fighting with weapons against other people. In a situation like this, he went with a more brutish mindset. Taking hits didn’t matter so long as they weren’t vital. He was durable enough to withstand anything else. That mindset helped him work through the pain. The wolf’s teeth dug deeper as it managed to close its mouth a little more. However, it was too late. He aimed to kill these monsters and filled their mouths with an amalgamation of all the magic he could think of. Lightning, water, wood, even demon fire, and anything else he could think of attacked the creatures from within. He even remembered the weird magical distorting thing he got from those desert worms back in Aifell’s world.

All of that combined created quite the reaction within the wolves. It ended up being a mistake. Even without using all of that the wolves would have died. His attack did a little more than just kill the wolves. They exploded in viscera. The monsters’ everything spread over the area. Covering the remaining wolves in blood and giving Mash a coat of guts and goop. He knew that his magic was unlikely to do any damage to himself. Every affinity he gained improved his resistance to that magic as well. Plus, he almost always used his anti-magic to protect his body. That didn’t do anything to change the result. The smell and sight were disgusting. The wolves had practically ballooned before they erupted. The smell of burnt intestines was also terrible, and most of the splatter had hit him directly. At least most of the pain was gone.

The attack also didn’t leave any corpses for him to devour, and it made him vulnerable to the other monsters. It was dumb, and a dull reminder to control himself. While experimenting with his magic like that was fun, it was excessive. He should be fighting more efficiently, otherwise, he would build some bad habits, and he knew that he already had plenty of those. The attack did slow the stall the remaining wolves’ response. Mash looked over them and realized that they seemed significantly more apprehensive now. It was probably rather intimidating to see your own kind explode like that. Mash was pleased to feel the rush of a level up. He waited for a response from the monsters but realized that he would need to take the initiative. It seemed like the monsters were deciding whether to continue the fight or not.

He didn’t give them the time to think, and finally felt a rush of stats as hunt triggered. The stat boost would let him do more than just keep up with the wolves. What he wasn’t expecting was his arm to reset itself, and the wound on his leg closed too. It took Mash a second to realize what had happened, but it was when vision returned to his eye that he realized what exactly was happening. Mash met eyes with Luke and remembered that he could use his magic remotely now. In the future, he should fight within Luke’s line of sight. Especially in difficult fights. The ability to receive such high-level healing in the middle of a fight was huge. It would definitely be better than anything he could manage, even if he picked up a healing affinity of his own.

The healing of his injuries washed away any hesitation of his own. He took another jump at the wolves, this time he aimed for the densest pack. There were five of the larger wolves there, but he would cut that number down in one attack. Closing the distance in an instant, he plunged his clawed hand into one of the wolves. It yelped, clearly unprepared for the sudden shift in Mash’s strength and speed. His hand easily dug into the wolf’s side, the fur and muscle were not able to stop him anymore. The monsters were still durable though, and it tried to snap at him. He didn’t let and moved his hand within the wolf’s body. Blood gushed out of the wound. He was already covered in blood so it wasn’t like it would do anything. Mash focused his strength and tore his hand out of the wolf. It was going to die soon.

Mash understood that his physical abilities were better suited for this fight. The wolves seemed to have some natural resistance to magic. However, his magic wasn’t completely useless, and the bonus stats from hunt didn’t just apply to him. Priscilla also got significantly stronger when his skills were activated. Imitations of Priscilla started pouring out of his body, intercepting the wolves that attempted to bite him. All the wolves except the one in his hand had taken the opportunity to lunge at him. Nearly all of them were met by a wooden imitation of Priscilla. His imitations were looking more and more real, and he couldn’t really distinguish these from Priscilla’s real bodies.

Priscilla hadn’t been doing much in the fight thus far. She had warned him about some attacks and was helping him keep track of all of the wolves, but she could do more. Without a second thought, he handed over control over all of the imitations to Priscilla. He didn’t stop making them either. Even with the boosts, they wouldn’t be able to beat even the smaller wolves alone. Although he wasn’t planning on leaving them alone. He made imitations continuously. They just poured off him like sweat while he kept fighting with the larger wolves.

The battle was quickly growing more chaotic. Dozens of snakes poured off him, many getting destroyed before they could grow to full size. Meanwhile, he was busy dodging and blocking the larger wolves. Even with his bonuses he only matched the wolves’ speed. Their speed was unbelievable. He was worried for the others but knew that Jill and Red were probably fine. Honestly, the wolves probably didn’t have a method for hurting Red. Unless the wolves had a way to stop Jill from teleporting then she would be able to escape any attack. Even if the larger wolves got involved. Mash was most worried for Luke. Although he could heal most injuries. There were a lot of wolves though, and the others would eventually run out of mana. He was surprised to see one of the larger wolves finished off the one he had injured. Were they stopping him from gaining levels? They were that intelligent? That was worrisome. It might be a good idea to come up with an escape plan soon.