Chapter 21: That’s Not How That Works

Sen fell through the treeline with his magic artifact still extended toward his foe. The wolf dove after him, its jaws snapping as gravity lured them toward an inevitable meeting. The others jumped away out of fear, survival instinct, and common sense. Mana Protection protected him from the worst of the impact as his back smashed into the ground. A stone block landed on top of him, and his world went black.

He opened his eyes in his temporal world. He couldn’t stay here long; it still wasn’t stable, and if the world fully shattered with him in it, there wouldn’t be any going back. Sen would float in nothingness forever. Still, he was grateful for the emergency ward. He checked the small band of paint around his wrist. It faded away. A physical ward designed to pull him into his temporal world in the event of an emergency. That paint was rare, and he didn’t have a source for it in this time yet. Still, it was better than testing the power of Mana Protection under duress. Either it worked, or he’d be a Sen pancake.

[Look on the bright side, at least you don’t have an excuse not to wash that wrist anymore.]

Sen didn’t want to reveal his temporal world just yet. So he willed a one-inch opening back to the real world to form so he could peek out. He saw the body of a wolf in a dark place. “Huh.” He realized the creature was trapped within his tomb. As soon as the portal opened, the magic artifact began buzzing.

[Black Wolf Pack Leader’s power consumed.]

[Spell: Black Wolf Howl – Summon the pack of the Black Wolf and its leader to terrorize your enemies.]

Sen blinked. This is what the artifact meant when it said he could absorb powers? No, it likely varied from opponent to opponent. But still, this power was wonderful. He needed to analyze the specifics, but it felt like a creation magic spell. He was familiar with creation magic, and in the old days he’d created so many random guardians for friendly kingdoms and people that might still be lingering in the world even today. The last beings he’d created had been the Tomeseekers, but he hadn’t seen any sign of them since coming to this world, and of course Xanadrell, whose presence was muted to him. He still needed to look into both accounts. But for now, he wanted to examine this power further.

“Tutor, how exactly does this work?”

[The spell is a hybrid spell. A mix between summoning magic and creation. You summon the spirits of the wolf pack into bodies created temporarily for the fight. The bodies can be destroyed, but not the spirit unless specifically targeted.]

“So, we have an endless supply of them, as long as I provide the magic to make physical bodies?”

[You’ll be limited by the number of wolf spirits within the spell, but otherwise, yes.]

Sen nodded. He split the portal open further and stepped fully inside the tomb. It was cramped with the giant wolf in there, but at least it wasn’t breathing. He closed the portal behind him and released the power in his magic artifact. The tomb dissipated; the body of the pack leader went with it. When light returned, he saw four giant golden hands working alongside Girch. They’d been trying to lift the rock off him.

The hands turned to look at one another. Girch scratched his head. “You were in it?”

He turned to see where everyone else was, and a blur of pink rushed him. Milim. She hugged him. “I thought you died trying to save me!”

Snake scoffed from another side of the room. He was standing where the large tree had blocked their exit before. “The runes would’ve saved him. You’re all way too worried. We’d be better off if he were back outside by now,” he spat.

[Master, I have a brilliant suggestion. We could—]

We’re not testing the wolves out on Snake.

Sen noticed Joseia and Susanna standing not far away. “Hey, thanks for the help back there,” Joseia said. “As soon as you took out the big one, the others ran back into those holes. Guess they realized it was over now that you were back in the fight!”

Snake tsked and walked out of the room, moving further into the dungeon. Sen started after him before realizing Milim was still holding onto him. She realized it too and blushed, backing away. “We should hurry after him. It would look pretty bad on us if we let our team captain get eliminated.”

Sen nodded a silent thank you to Girch and Susanna for trying to help him.

Girch shrugged. Susanna nodded back. She was an interesting character. He wanted to learn more about her powers, and he made a mental note to analyze her in combat the next time he got the chance. They hurried after Snake, moving deeper into the dungeon.

“You handled that well, Milim. Thanks for the assistance back there,” Sen commented.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“I don’t know if I would call a wolf rodeo handling it well,” she said.

Susanna stifled a laugh. “For what it’s worth, I’d pay to see that again, minus the danger, of course.”

Snake looked back. “Fire Kite would cruise right through enemies like those. We need to pick up our pace if we’re going to beat them to the boss.”

Though he wasn’t the most popular, everyone agreed with his general sentiment. They hurried through the dungeon.

They fought more monsters as they moved through the dungeon and encountered two more rooms full of creatures. But they were quickly getting the hang of fighting alongside one another. Joseia stayed close to Susanna during combat, guarding her so her light constructs could eviscerate foes from afar. Girch and Snake fought on the front-lines with devastating power. Sen and Milim moved quickly through the battlefield, sharing Encapsulation. Milim would incapacitate their foes with her quickly improving dream spell, and Sen would finish them off. Compared to the first fight, each subsequent one was faster than the last. They moved like a well-modified spell, and their confidence only grew with each battle and encounter they faced. Things were going well.

They hurried through the dungeon, everyone sensing that the boss room couldn’t be much further ahead. If they kept up this pace, surely they’d be the first to find it.

Snake held a hand up. “Stop.”