Chapter 95: Hunting
Hunting
’Why are they so fast?!’ Theresa lamented as she jumped from tree branch to tree branch, trying her best to keep up with that pack of wolves along with Mike, but no matter how she sped up, they always seemed to be out of reach.
The infuriating part was that she knew that they weren’t even using their full speed. Especially Mike, considering he’d broken the sound barrier to escape from the titanic monster looming in the distance
As for how she was actually able to see the wolves despite their camouflaged state, well, Thermal Gaze.
After ten minutes of running, though, she saw them suddenly slow down, and Mike also eased up on his speed, finally allowing Theresa to catch up.
She was about to say something snarky when Mike held up a hand, shutting her up. He then brought a finger to his lips before dropping to the ground silently, and Theresa lingered before following suit.
She immediately crouched low to match Mike, and she looked around to see that the wolves had all slowed their advance to a crawl. Literally, all of them were slowly crawling through the dense vegetation without making a sound.
She glanced at Mike who had his gaze fixed forward, and her brows knit together.
’What exactly is the target?’ She wondered and looked forward. She squinted a bit as her eyes pierced through the obstacles, and when she saw what she assumed was the target, she shuddered.
Walking through the forest like a looming giant, a massive moose trudged calmly. She couldn’t properly make out its features due to the distance, but she could make out its size, and it was huge.
’Could I take it alone?’ She wondered. Perhaps, but it would not be easy.
She looked at her map, and sure enough, the place had a red dot. She looked into it, and her frown grew.
Greenwood Moose.
She glanced at Mike, and unsurprisingly, he did not share her look of apprehension. In fact, he didn’t have much of an expression besides one of pure concentration. It sort of reminded her of...
’A wolf that has locked on to its prey...’ She thought and shook her head. Why was she even surprised at this point.
The slow advance of the pack continued, and at some point, she started to feel a sense of impatience. She was wary of the creature, sure, but there were more of them, so they could probably take it out fast enough.
Compared to some of her classmates who were probably making in kills quickly, this was taking ages to finish.
However, she knew that bringing up her worries was a futile endeavor. More than that, though, something told her that they wouldn’t appreciate it if she rushed in to end the fight quickly. So she swallowed down her haste and went along with their pace.
This slow crawl continued for nearly an hour until they were only a few hundred meters from their target. That sounded like a lot, but with their speed, it could easily be crossed in a few seconds.
Theresa stopped advancing, though, and sent a message to Mike with her watch.
[I’m going to hang back.] Reading the message, Mike turned and gave her a questioning look, but she just sent another message.
[I’m an archer. Fighting up close isn’t my cup of tea.] He read the message and quickly understood. He gave her a nod and continued to move forward with the rest of the pack.
As they proceeded, he couldn’t help but marvel at the cohesion of the wolves. Despite it simply looking like they were advancing in one large mass, that wasn’t the case.
Their numbers were split quite evenly. The stronger wolves took the head of the group while those who were only a bit weaker stayed near possible escape routes in case the moose tried to flee.
The ones he guessed were a bit more durable also stood near the stronger ones, ready to take hits for them and provide openings, and the wolves with more lithe figures stood farther back, but Mike didn’t doubt that they would harass the moose a lot.
Moreover, he noticed that their tails seemed capable of releasing these faint, almost undetectable frequencies to one another, allowing them to communicate silently.
Compared to the felines he’d faced off when he just landed, these wolves were far more cohesive and coordinated.
’Wait, those felines also had two tails. What’s that about?’ He suddenly thought before shaking his head. Inconsequential coincidence.
Anyway, now that he got a good look at the moose, he was quite surprised.
The thing was large, a bit under ten meters tall on all fours. Its body was a deep green with vines growing all over its body. Faint flickers of light like fireflies flicked around its massive antlers that looked like ornamental decorations, as berries and flowers could be seen sprouting on them.
It walked calmly through the forest, head held high in regality.
However, Mike wasn’t deceived. Behind that regal appearance was heavy concentrations of harrowing power. He could feel it with his instincts.
The moose was strong.
And that excited him.
Soon, the distance between the pack and the moose was cut down to just 90 meters, and he suddenly felt the Alpha look at him. Shifting his gaze to it, he felt like it was waiting for him to do something.
He lingered for a moment as he contemplated what it wanted, then it hit him.
And he nodded.
Like it had been waiting for just that, the Alpha stood to its full height and howled.
What followed was the wolves springing from their hiding spots and immediately rushing the moose.
The creature was startled by the sudden attack, but it only lasted for a moment, and following that, a powerful bellow left it as the ground rumbled, and the surrounding vegetation came alive as vines, thorns, roots, and all sorts of plant life suddenly erupted and lashed out at the incoming wolves.
Mike, who had also run in to assist, got ready to unleash a Primal Rend to rip through the onslaught, but to his surprise, such a thing wasn’t needed.
The wolves were surprisingly agile. They dodged the attacks with relative ease and ripped through those they couldn’t dodge easily.
It only took a few seconds, but they were soon upon the moose.
The large creature didn’t just stand still, though. With a snort, it aimed its head down and charged at the closest wolves. But just as it reached them, the wolves specializing in defense suddenly barred its way and took the attack.
Blood was spilled as the sharp antlers dug into their fur and skin, but the damage wasn’t lethal.
More importantly, they slowed down the moose long enough for their companions to get close.
Claws and teeth met fur as numerous wolves dug into the large creature. Due to the size disparity, the damage wasn’t exactly encouraging.
However, there were multiple wolves and one moose. Soon enough, the damage would start to accumulate, and the moose would bleed out.
As Mike watched this, his eyes widened, and it felt like someone had struck a chord within him.
He watched as the wolves worked together expertly. They covered each other as they slowly whistled down the moose.
Its attacks weren’t to be looked down upon, though. Each swing of its antlers created powerful gusts of wind and tore up the ground. Every stomp of its hooves shattered the earth, and every vine it sent out shredded everything it came into contact with.
It was a mighty creature with lots of powerful attacks under its belt.
But it was alone.
Soon enough, blood marred its green coat, and it started panting as the damage began to accumulate to dangerous levels.
The wolf pack wasn’t unscathed, though. Numerous wolves had taken damage, some more significant than others, forcing those that were too injured to retreat to the back while their companions took their place.
The Alpha hadn’t made a move, though.
It stood in the back, watching as its pack members attacked the moose and made it weaker and weaker. Mike saw this and wondered what it was waiting for.
However, his instincts suddenly warned him, and the Alpha howled shortly after.
Immediately, the wolves halted their attacks regardless of how well they were doing and swiftly retreated.
Mike also went back a bit, and shortly after...
BANG
A wave of energy erupted from the moose as a green light of vitality shone across its body.
Mike watched as the wounds all over it started to mend themselves at a rapid speed. Moreover, the surrounding vegetation grew at an alarming speed, becoming denser and more vibrant.
Moreover, the vegetation on the moose’s body also grew thicker, like an additional coat made only from it had appeared, making it look larger and more imposing.
’I see. Round two, I guess.’ He thought as the light faded, and the moose huffed as it stared at them. However, Mike could see the faintest hints of exhaustion in its eyes.
It’s clear that it couldn’t sustain what it was doing.
"My turn, the–" Mike was about to step forward when a ray of immolating flame suddenly burst through the forest like a vertical pillar and struck the side of the moose with so much force that it’s entire body was thrown to the side.
Eyes wide, Mike turned in the direction of the attack, his vision easily piercing through the vegetation to see Theresa standing on a tree branch with her bow drawn. The branch was blackened from the residual heat of her attack, and around one of her eyes was a ring of fire that resembled a targeting reticle.
’Right. Archer.’ Mike noted. He was so used to fighting her or seeing her fight in relatively close range that he forgot that she was, first and foremost, a ranged fighter.
And from what he just witnessed, it seemed like giving her proper range made her especially lethal.