Chapter 34 : Chapter 34
Chapter 34 : The Wolf in Front Pretends to Sleep
Ryan’s eyes sharpened, and his body instantly entered a combat state.
He did not retreat in panic. Instead, he took a deep breath and planted his feet firmly on the ground as if they had taken root. Both hands rose at once, and his ten fingers began tracing basic yet practical defensive magic runes at a speed nearly impossible to follow with the naked eye. His lips moved slightly as silent chanting flowed through his mind.
Mana surged through his body, rapidly constructing the spell model.
He pretended not to notice anything. He even took a tentative step toward the suspicious bushes, as if he were merely adjusting his stance.
That single step—
“SWISH—!”
The bushes suddenly exploded apart.
A black-and-red shadow shot out like an arrow released from a bow, accompanied by a foul wind and a low snarl, rushing toward Ryan’s throat at astonishing speed. The movement was so fast that it left only a blurred afterimage on the retina.
Ryan had already been prepared.
The moment the shadow lunged out, he pushed off the ground and rapidly retreated. At the same time, the spell he had just completed activated instantly.
“Triple Rock Barrier!”
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ground trembled repeatedly as three curved rock walls of varying thickness burst up from the earth in front of Ryan.
BANG! CRACK! CRASH—
The shadow slammed violently into the first wall—the thickest one. The rock barrier shook violently, fragments of stone flying from its surface as several cracks spread across it, but it successfully blocked the fatal strike.
The shadow’s momentum weakened slightly. With a swipe of its claws, it easily tore apart the second, thinner rock wall, yet the third barrier delayed it just a little longer.
Using that precious moment, Ryan had already retreated to a safe distance and finally saw the attacker clearly.
It was a massive black-and-red demonic wolf, its body as large as a small calf.
Its fur was dark and dull, almost blending perfectly with the mottled forest light and shadows. Only its crimson eyes burned with savage ferocity.
The most striking feature was its claws.
They gleamed with a metallic cold light, nearly twice as long as those of an ordinary wolf. Dark red Mana flowed along their edges with an ominous glow, clearly possessing terrifying tearing power.
A mid-tier magical beast.
Ryan’s heart sank.
According to the academy’s common knowledge materials, most low-tier magical beasts could only use basic Mana abilities and posed limited threats.
However, once they reached the mid-tier, their physical strength, speed, and Mana intensity would undergo a qualitative transformation, allowing them to rival experienced intermediate mages or warriors.
Although such creatures usually possessed limited intelligence and relied on direct combat instincts, they were absolutely lethal threats to students of the beginner division.
In forests near imperial towns, magical beasts of this level were already rare.
They should never have appeared in the academy’s teaching practice area.
The black wolf had missed its first strike. Its crimson eyes locked onto Ryan as it emitted a threatening growl.
The muscles of its hind legs tensed, digging shallow pits into the ground. Clearly, an even fiercer attack was about to follow.
Ryan focused completely, not daring to relax for even a moment.
While rapidly shifting his position to avoid being locked into a straight line of attack, he released several instant wind blades and earth spikes to interfere with the wolf’s movements. At the same time, his mind raced as he searched for a solution.
Direct confrontation was not an option.
The beast’s speed and attack power far exceeded what he could handle at his current level.
A distress signal?
Even if the senior guards came, they would need time—and this creature would not give him any.
The black wolf dodged most of the harassment spells with agility. Only one wind blade grazed its flank, drawing a line of blood droplets.
Instead of weakening it, the injury enraged the beast completely.
It raised its head and released a short howl.
Dark red Mana surged around its body, and its speed suddenly increased again.
It became a streak of red-black lightning, lunging from an extremely tricky angle.
This time, its target seemed to be Ryan’s waist and abdomen.
Ryan’s pupils shrank.
He twisted his body to the limit and instantly conjured an ice shield in front of him.
“SHRRAK!”
The ice shield was shredded like paper by the Mana-infused claws.
The icy claw wind swept past. Ryan’s clothes at his waist were torn open, and his skin burned with sharp pain.
Blood had already been drawn.
The intense pain slowed Ryan’s movement for a brief moment.
The black wolf’s eyes shone with vicious excitement. Seizing the opportunity, its other front claw flashed with even denser dark red light and shot toward Ryan’s chest at an even faster speed.
If the strike landed, it would tear him open completely.
It’s over.
The shadow of death suddenly enveloped him.
Ryan could even smell the foul scent on the claw tips. He struggled desperately to gather Mana for defense, but there was no time left—
At that critical moment—
The Emerald Wind Oath, the gem he kept close to his chest from the secondhand shop, suddenly grew scorching hot without warning.
In the next instant, a gentle yet overwhelmingly powerful green light burst out from inside his clothes.
The light was not dazzling, but it carried an indescribable vitality and the pure rhythm of wind.
In an instant, it enveloped several meters around Ryan.
The light seemed to possess its own will. It intertwined and condensed in front of him, forming a radiant emerald-colored barrier.
The black wolf’s claw struck the barrier fiercely.
There was no earth-shattering explosion.
Only a strange sizzling sound, like a hot knife slicing through butter.
The dark red Mana that could tear apart rock walls and shatter ice shields melted rapidly before the seemingly gentle green barrier, dissolving like snow under sunlight.
The black wolf released a shocked and painful howl.
The Mana on its claws was completely purified. Where its flesh touched the barrier, wisps of green smoke rose. It jerked its paw back as if shocked by lightning and staggered backward.
For the first time, fear appeared in its crimson eyes.
However, the danger was not over.
As if responding to the first wolf’s howl, another vicious presence suddenly erupted from the shadows behind Ryan.
A second black-and-red demonic wolf, slightly smaller but even faster, burst out silently like a ghost.
Its bloody jaws opened wide as it lunged straight for the back of Ryan’s neck.
This was the real killing blow.
In front of him stood the injured yet still ferocious giant wolf. Behind him came a long-prepared deadly ambush.
Ryan’s heart, which had only just calmed due to the gem’s sudden change, sank to the bottom once more.
This was truly… deadly.
The Emerald Wind Oath in his chest seemed to sense the stronger malice and danger.
It no longer remained satisfied with passive defense.
The gem suddenly became unbearably hot, and the green light erupted violently.
Two streams of solid emerald-green radiance shot outward, as if carved from jade.
They resembled living tendrils, or perhaps swift serpents of wind, launching forward with perfect precision.
One wrapped toward the injured black wolf in front of him.
The other shot toward the ambusher behind him.
Both wolves roared in terror, attempting to dodge or counterattack.
But the speed of the green radiance far exceeded their expectations, and the power contained within it carried an ancient and noble authority far beyond ordinary Mana.
“PUFF!” “PUFF!”
Two soft sounds followed.
The emerald radiance struck its targets with perfect accuracy.
There was no explosion and no shockwave.
Like the most ravenous predator, yet also like the purest purifying flame, it instantly enveloped and swallowed the two mid-tier demonic wolves.