Chapter 22 - Surrounded!

Lucas began to venture deeper. He had killed a few more Intermediate Beasts and had leveled up. "Status Window", he thought and it popped in front of him.

[Status]

[Name: Lucas Heart]

[HP: 100/100]

[MP: 100/100]

[Level: 7]

[Job: None]

[Title: Defying The Odds, Master Of Stealth]

[EXP: 1950/3000]

[System Level: 1/10]

[Strength: 43]

[Stamina: 33]

[Agility: 43+19]

[Perception: 36]

[Magic: 43]

[Stat points to be used: 0]

"I can now finally find out what this Map Of Beloved does", he thought as he pulled it out from the Inventory. An old yellow scroll appeared into his palms. Its edges were weathered and it seemed like no one had used it for a very long time. "It looks like an antique", he thought. He then used the [Inspect] to get more details.

[Map Of Beloved - An item that is used to locate people you want to find. Sync their blood with the map, and you will be able to find their location anytime]

[Activation Required]

[Requirements, Magic: 40]

"Alright, seems simple enough, but how do I activate it?", he thought. He then opened the scroll, and there were a few sentences written in it. "I hurt the most when lost, yet also when not had at all. I'm sometimes the hardest to express, but the easiest to ignore. I can be given to many, or just one. What am I?", he read it out aloud. "A riddle. Maybe this is an item made by the same person?", he smiled.

Kate and Sam now looked at Lucas and saw him frowning at a parchment. They walked up next to him and looked inside. "What's this? A riddle?", asked Kate. Lucas nodded his head, and then he turned around. "This is something that I got as a reward when I leveled up. It's called the 'Map Of Beloved'. I don't know what it is, but it seems that to activate this, I need to solve this", he said to them.

They smiled at him. "Well, you have bigger brains than we put together. Use it", they said in unison. Lucas smiled as he knew the style of the person who wrote the riddle. "So complex, yet the answer is always simple. Something that is always in front of us. And the name of the item, 'Map Of Beloved', must have some connection to this riddle", he thought.

He began to contemplate when he heard a howl in the jungle. 'It shouldn't be what I think it should be", he thought. Just as he was about to get ready for combat, he saw many pairs of red eyes glowing around him. "What? But when did this happen?", he thought.

There was a wolf that was on the front. It had snow-white fur and stood at a height of twelve feet. Its body was massive, and it was fuming its breath at Lucas. Lucas decided to use his [Inspect] on it. Just as he saw the information, he was shocked.

[Advanced Tier Beast: Snow White Alpha]

[It is a leader of a pack. The pack sizes vary from ten to twenty-five wolves. It can use the Ice element fluently. It can use its fur as needles, to inject paralysis in its opponent. Weak against Fire Magic]

[Intermediate Tier Beast: Grizzly Wolf]

[It has the strength of a Grizzly Bear and the Agility of a Wolf. Weaker than the Alpha in terms of strength, but it can fight in both bear and wolf styles. Weak to physical attacks]

A quest popped up, making him even more shocked than before.

[Quest Initiated]

[Defeat all the Wolves and the Alpha in front of you]

[Defeated Grizzly Wolves 0/25]

[Defeated Snow White Alpha 0/1]

[Defeated Fiery Flame Alpha 0/1]

[Rewards - EXP +2000, Blueprint of [Icy Flame Dual Blades]]

[Failure: Death]

"This is a first", he thought as he saw the failure in it. "And it's pretty much obvious. Death is imminent in this situation", he chuckled. He placed the Map back in his inventory, and he looked around. "Where is the Fiery Flame Alpha?", he thought. Sam and Kate jumped out of the circle and stood in one corner. "You sure he can handle this?", asked Kate with concern.

"This is the first time he is surrounded by beasts of different ranks. This will happen often soon. We need to prepare him not physically, but mentally. Think of this like his mid-terms for today. And it is almost time for lunch", he commented. Kate was fiddling her fingers. "Lucas, please be careful", she muttered.

Lucas was scanning around and didn't see the Fiery Flame Alpha. "Alright, for now. Let's take care of this mess", he thought. He channeled his Aura into his eyes, and he began to look for a weak spot. "Their heads are the weak spot", he thought. Just as he was about to engage in combat, a notification popped up.

[Title: Defying The Odds is activated]

[All stats increased by twenty five percent]

[Status]

[Strength: 43+11]

[Stamina: 33+8]

[Agility: 43+(19+11)]

[Perception: 36+9]

[Magic: 43+11]

"Sweet. With this, there is a chance that I will win. But is there any way that I can increase the buffs?", he thought. But that was the least of his concerns as a Grizzly Wolf headed towards him at high speed. Using its head, it threw Lucas back into the air, and straight into another Wolf's mouth. "Let's activate my spells", he thought.

[Flame Armor: Every Minute consumes 2 MP points]

[Skill Activated]

[Ice shield: Every Minute consumes 2 MP points]

[Skill Activated]

He twisted his body mid-air and plunged towards the Wolf that had its mouth open. He used the shield as a front, bashing it straight into its nose. When the wolf was about to close its mouth, he used the shield and placed it in between its teeth, not allowing it to close its mouth. After his strategic placement, he quickly withdrew his sword and plunged it into its brain from inside of its mouth.

"The element of surprise is over. It's time for battle", he thought as he jumped out from its mouth. He stood and took a deep breath, and he saw three wolves coming towards him. "Alright, let's do this", he thought as he deactivated the [Ice Shield] and [Fire Armor].

The extra buff made him move faster and his increase in strength helped him in stabbing the sword a little bit easier. He jumped straight at the first Wolf and prepared to stab it in its head. It avoided the stab by moving its head to the side, and the Wolf behind it got stabbed. "Know yourself and know thy enemy", he muttered.

The two wolves turned around to see their brethren on the floor, dead. It howled loudly. Then, the Snow White Alpha howled loudly. Another notification showed up.

[Skill: Battle Cry has been used by Snow White Alpha]

[All stats for the pack have been increased by seven percent for the next five minutes]

"They're stronger and faster than before?", he thought. He quickly moved towards the two wolves that were mourning over the loss, and stabbed it quickly, giving it a swift death. He began to weave through the Wolves, hacking and slashing at them whenever he got the chance. He tried to get on top of a wolf but ended up getting slashed across his chest. "Am I outmatched?", he thought.

Another came to bite him, trying to rip him into two. He quickly dashed to the side and he pierced his sword through the eyes, making it blind. Then he stabbed the head, killing it. "Four down", he thought. He quickly cast [Icicle], freezing one of the wolf's legs in place, and jumped into the air. After landing on its head, he cast [Icicle] again, but this time, on his own feet!

"Alright, now that I'm bound to this beast, let's finish them while I have the height advantage", he thought. He then pulled out both his hands, and began to cast [Icicle] and [Fireball] simultaneously. As he was using these skills, burning and freezing the Wolves, he saw a notification.

[Congratulations! Icicle has Levelled Up!]

[Congratulations! Fireball has Levelled Up!]

"The skills have leveled up? What changes does it give", he thought as he cast another [Icicle] as a test towards another wolf. The icicle was longer and shinier. It pierced through the Wolf faster and it was also denser than his previous Icicle. He then cast [Fireball] to see the changes. There was a slight change in size, but the most obvious change was the heat. It produced more heat than his previous Fireball.

"This is a good thing", he thought as he killed another Wolf. He then looked at his quest to see the number of wolves he had killed. The Snowy White Alpha hadn't made its move, and the Fiery Flame Alpha was still unseen. It was bothering Lucas very much. "Just where is it? And what is the reason for its hiding?", he thought as he killed another bunch of Wolves, leaving only two alive. He then cast a [Fireball], burning the wolf that was opposite to him, and he cast [Icicle] repeatedly to freeze the Wolf he was standing on.

"A good thing I froze my legs on top of it. If I hadn't taken them all out would seem a very hard task, even with the boost from the tile", he thought. He melted the Ice on his legs and cut the head clean off its shoulders. He then looked at the progress of the quest.

[Defeat all the Wolves and the Alpha in front of you]

[Defeated Grizzly Wolves 25/25]

[Defeated Snow White Alpha 0/1]

[Defeated Fiery Flame Alpha 0/1]

"Time for Round Two", he smiled.