Chapter 25 24 – A Bitter Fight

Lena's shout drove Gale to act without hesitation; he turned around and ran with all his might in the direction they came from. Meanwhile, the alpha cast water magic to restrain Lena who in response shot wind blades at him; Fire was weak against water shields, but air blades were quite effective.

The Wolf stepped back to dodge the blades and used earth boulders against her. Out of the other 9 wolves, one was in the third stage, four were in the second stage, and the last four were in the first stage, acting as lackeys for the stronger wolves.

"NOO!"

Lena yelled when she saw the wolves running after Gale.

A few days ago:

Lena was sitting in a secluded place, fire and wind were raging around her in turns, yet never at the same time.

"I can't get the fire mana and wind mana act at the same time. One acts only when the other diminishes."

Lena sighed; she told Gale and Nina she would come to check on them occasionally, but she remained in the same spot all this time, trying to use both elements simultaneously. It was an arduous task, and not even all sixth-stage mages could do it.

Most dual-element mages would simply switch between their elements according to the situation, while the others rarely ever used their sub-element in combat.

Back to the present:

"NOO!"

Lena yelled when she saw the wolves running after Gale. Suddenly, dozens of orbs made of fire were shot from her open mouth toward the chasing wolves. The amazing part was that the wind blades were still attacking the alpha wolf!

In her moment of desperation, Lena instinctively requested the fire mana to help her, and the fire mana complied without waiting for the wind mana to diminish. The wolves immediately responded by raising large waves to contain the bombing, and the stronger ones took the front. That was the way a pack worked; they defended each other.

However, even if the 9 wolves worked together, it wasn't that easy to contain attacks of a mage when they were still in the third stage and lower. The orbs exploded, evaporating the waves and splashing them everywhere. The third-stage wolf in the front took the full brunt of the attack and perished on the spot.

The second-stage wolves were sent crashing against the trees with loud whimpers, breaking most of their bones. Unfortunately, the four first stage wolves were only slightly bruised after the other wolves took the real brunt of the explosions.

Lena tried to make another request from the fire mana to obliterate the wounded second stage wolves and kill the first stage ones too; although she wanted Gale to fight against four wolves she wanted to be there to intervene should the need arise. Yet, the mana didn't listen. She was limited again to one mana type at a time.

*Howl*

A furious howl resounded; the alpha was angered by the sight of its subordinates getting killed while it was kept at bay by the wind blades. It commanded the wolves to chase the human who ran away, as it knew they couldn't help him against the female human. The fight between Lena and the alpha wolf kept raging as boulders, waves, air blades, and fire snakes could be seen everywhere.

Gale was running away from the wolves when a loud BOOM reverberated throughout the forest, shaking the ground. He could feel the wind and the shockwaves from the explosion on his back as he kept running.

Suddenly, he heard a noise behind him, prompting him to turn around and see 4 wolves with light bruises closing on him. He could sense the mana around them, and he knew they were only in the first stage. Although he was a fire-type Advanced Magician and they were earth and water type first stage beasts, his speed couldn't match that of a beast strengthened by two elements.

He decided to take the initiative rather than being defensive, so he quickly prepared two fireballs; one in each palm. Once they were charged he jumped on the trunk of a thick tree, stopping his momentum, and pushed his feet as strong as he could, causing himself to be thrown toward the nearest wolf.

"Got you!"

The surprised wolf couldn't change its course of movement in time and could only put up a water shield. The fireball evaporated the shield and left a wound on the wolf's fur. However, it wasn't over yet. Gale raised his left palm and shot the second fireball he had prepared in advance, hitting the wolf's head directly and killing him.

It all happened in a matter of 2 or 3 seconds, yet it was enough time for the other wolves to react. They quickly changed their positions and pounced at Gale from three different directions. Gale already anticipated this result after fighting with wolves the whole day, and he quickly jumped toward the right wolf, making the ones from the front and the left miss and crash against each other.

He had one final trump card; he shot his last fireball which he started preparing the moment he shot his first one from his mouth. The wolf already cast an earth spell in an attempt to wound Gale with bullet-like stones, and couldn't defend itself nor dodge in time. The fireball hit his neck under the jaw and opened a hole, letting a sunray pass through to the ground.

Unfortunately, Gale didn't leave this exchange unscathed; he was hit by 2 blunt stones in his left arm, which got broken in two different spots. Moving it now caused him immense pain, rendering him unable to use it to its full potential. He was once again exasperated by his lack of spells, he only knew how to use a fireball properly.

"I must nag Lena to teach me more spells, especially multi-target ones!" Gale said to himself.

In theory, one could make any request from the mana and it would do it if it wasn't beyond the recognition one was given, spells were pretested requests that would achieve maximum results in minimum mana consumption. If Gale tried making a request he didn't have a spell for and it was deemed too complicated, the mana would do nothing or only cast a spell with a weak effect.

2 wolves remained, and before Gale could readjust himself he was bombarded by stones again. He went down to the ground and rolled behind a near tree, using this chance to catch his breath. The stones didn't hit his bones, but they did leave a few deep cuts on his arms and legs. One stone even penetrated his stomach and was stuck inside. He bled profusely as he planned his next move.

"I must execute my plan perfectly if I want to live." he thought and prepared himself.

He knew the way the wolves act; they would try to surround him and attack from two different directions, which meant they would appear simultaneously from each side of the tree. He quieted down his heavy breaths, ignored the pain, and listened.

He heard the sound of their paws on the ground getting closer and he prepared two fireballs again; this time one with his right hand and the other with his mouth.

When the sound was right behind the tree, he chose the right direction as it required less body movement since he was using his right arm. He raised his palm at the surprised wolf and shot the fireball. The wolf jumped to its right as Gale was too close for him to cast a spell in response.

The attempt wasn't completely futile, the fireball from Gale's right hand missed his head and hit his left side, leaving a huge gash in its side across its body from the front shoulder all the way to its behinds. The wolf collapsed in pain and could only watch the second fireball leave Gale's mouth and end its life.