Chapter 16: Boss fight III
The wolf stood stock still, watching as Alex tumbled through the air, without moving an inch, as if it had truly become a carving.
After a few seconds, Alex finally impacted the ground, landing in a crumpled heap on the floor. After groggily rising to his feet Alex stared down the wolf as it remained unmoving, never breaking its gaze on Alex, not even blinking, it made Alex feel uneasy, as if there was a hook in his mind, trying desperately to drag him away.
But currently, an even greater hook was pulling him forward, anger.
"Did you," Alex asked through gritted teeth, "just give me a fucking handicap"
Maybe it was how he was raised, maybe it was his years of playing videogames, maybe it was the fact he had been at the top of the leader bord in every game he played, but nothing pissed him of more than an opponent giving him an advantage.
"Fine then" Alex muttered, dashing forward, crouching low when he reached the wolf, fist pointed upwards, coursing with purple energy "don't blame me for the broken jaw"
A dull thud came from the two figures, accompanied by a sickening crack and a howl of pain.
Alex leapt back from the wolf, scowling.
He cradled his right arm in his left, nursing two broken finger that hung limply.
The wolf didn't so much as flinch.
Alex contemplated using a potion, but he could still use his hand, if only barely, he was now starting to regret using his potions too quickly, he probably could have made it through with only one.
But it didn't seem like the wolf was fine either, blood oozed from its jaw, mixed in with a foul purple sludge, time was not on its side.
Alex gritted his teeth and widened the distance between them, there was no point in facing a dying beast head on, he'd just wait it out until it died.
As he got father away, a screen popped up Infront of him, flashing boldly.
[You have committed an act deemed as out of the realm of a fair fight
This is your only warning, one more and you will fail the quest
Please rectify your mistake]
"Huh" Alex briefly let out, pausing momentarily.
The moment he stopped; he knew he had made a mistake, a cold sweat began to coat his brow and hands, time seemed to slow down as his eyes fell on where the wolf had been seconds before.
Now his vision was obscured by a gaping jaw, the warm breath smothering his skin, strings of drool flicking onto his armour.
Alex pulled away as fast as he could, but it was too late, while the jaws did not crush Alex's head like they had aimed to, they still clamped down hard into his right shoulder.
Alex let out a howl of pain as his, warm, crimson blood leaked onto the forest floor and stained his armour crimson.
The wolf twisted its head, causing another yell of pain from Alex and even more of Alex's lifeblood to carpet the forest floor in a crimson waterfall.
With his uninjured arm, Alex grabbed the wolf's head and brought it closer, he couldn't let it pull away, and with his injured right hand, he began to slam his fist into the wolf's armoured neck, sparks of purple energy periodically sparking off in random directions.
Alex was betting everything on this one skill.
[Spatial straight]
[Spatial straight]
[Spatial straight]...
After every hit, Alex's hand became bloodier and even more broken, each hit becoming more and more painful, the intervals between each hit becoming longer.
Alex's vison was becoming more and more blurred and just keeping his head straight was a feat in and of itself, but Alex was not looking at the wolf currently sinking its fangs into his shoulder, but on something a little over its head.
From the moment he had landed the first spatial straight, it had been present over the beast head, a small symbol depicting a tear of some kind, with a small number one next to it.
As he had landed more hits, the number had gone up, currently it was residing at ten.
As he stared at the number, Alex's vision began to slip in and out of focus, had he lost the gamble?
Suddenly the wolf released its grip and pulled away, coughing up purple stained blood.
Alex did not waste his chance; he immediately pulled a potion out of his inventory and pulled down the jaw on his skull with a rushed and panicked pace.
As he was about to open the glass bottle and intake the precious healing fluid, he felt a warm, wet pressure around his arm, and a sharp pain in his wrist, the wolf was trying to bite off his hand, taking the potion with it.
With one last burst of strength, Alex let out one final punch, encased in a chaotic light-purple energy, this truly was his last chance.
As the broken and bloodied fist connected with the side of the wolf's head, the symbol over the wolf's head burst in a glorious display of chaotic power, like a dazzling light-purple firework.
The wolf's form began to phase in and out of reality, steadily increasing in frequency and speed, the wolf let out a howl of pain, the sound distorting and switching pitch at random, Alex pulled out his hand, not because the beast had released it, on the contrary it was biting down hard than ever, but the wolf's constant reality hopping made the beast basically intangible.
Alex retrieved the breaking bottle and slammed it into his mouth, ignoring the broken glass, too afraid that the potion would leak out of the many cracks the vessel had sustained while in the wolf's jaws.
After ten seconds, the chaotic roars faded, and the wolf stood stock still, not moving an inch, its wooden armour falling off of its injured body in broken pieces, creating a rain of splinters and sawdust.
Had it died standing? Alex didn't really care, he was too tired, the world was covered in a fog, pressing all around him, trying to make him fall and rest.
Alex unwillingly obliged, falling forward, it was like some of the old shows he used to watch as a kid, where the protagonist would collapse from exhaustion after defeating a strong enemy.
However, two things pulled Alex out of his stupor.
Firstly, he had received no notification congratulating him on killing the wolf, handing him a mountain of xp.
Secondly, he was sure his knees pointed out wards, his race had human legs and feet, if a little bigger than most, so his knees should definitely be pointing outwards.
So why where they pointing inwards like a deer's?
It took a second for him to realize what had happened, but when he did, the warm fog that had blanketed him before was replaced with sheer agony.
Before he could let out a cry of pain, a thick wooden root smacked him across the chest, causing his chest to become slightly concave.
Alex was flung backwards, tumbling through the air, landing hard against a tree, almost all of the bones in his arms where broken, and most of his leg bones where shattered.
[You have suffered fatal damage
If not treated soon, the user will die
Please heal as soon as possible]
Black spots began to appear in his vision, the world became more and more blurred, he was going to pass out, with only a sliver of consciousness remaining, he tilted his head up and activated one last skill, a light-purple energy coursing through the spyglasses wood.
[Void sprout]
The wood on the underside of his skull slowly retreated, letting a mix of shattered glass and potion drip slowly into Alex's mouth, mending his injured body to the point where he could at least move.
The wolf was in no better shape, it was barely standing, its legs trembled, yet it stumbled forward with the grace of a newborn deer taking its first steps.
Something had caught Alex's eye, something that could end this all quickly, he was in no shape to fight the wolf head on, even in its injured state, so he had to end it with this.
Just a bit longer, it needs to get closer...
Closer...
Just a little more...
Now!
Chaotic light-purple energy wrapped around his legs in an uncontrollable storm of power, encasing Alex's body in an instance, folding the space around him until he collapsed into a single point.
Without delay, he appeared directly Infront of the bewildered wolf, and pulled his head as far back as it would go.
With all of his remaining might, Alex delivered a terrifying head but, sending the old dealing back in pain, an echoing crack coming from both Alex's and the wolf's skull, but Alex did not let the wolf retreat.
He grabbed wolf by the back of the head and dug his gauntleted hands into the wolf's neck, feeling the wolf's blood trickle down his fingers, matting its fur.
The wolf desperately tried to pull away, but all succeeded in was digging Alex's finger further into its neck.
With the constant struggling of the wolf, Alex became slightly irritated, why couldn't it just die easily? To stop its erratic movements, Alex lifted his leg and brought it down hard on the wolf's, watching as the leg was crushed beneath his boot, feeling a few of his tender, newly repaired bones break again form the sudden impact.
The wolf opened its mouth to let out another howl, but Alex brought his remaining leg upwards, kneeing the wolf in the jaw, cutting its lamentations short.
"You know" Alex spat through gritted teeth, "Whenever you get hit, you create the most ear grating sound known to humanity, AND YOU DO IT AN INCH AWAY FROM MY FUCKING EAR, CAN YOU COMPREHEND THE AMOUNT OF AGONY I WAS IN EVERY TIME I LANDED A FUCKING HIT? SO AT LEAST HAVE THE DECENCY TO SHUT YOUR FUCKING TRAP BEFORE I TURN YOUR HEAD IN TO A WALL MOUNT"
With all his frustrations vented, Alex took his foot off of the wolfs crushed leg and raised the wolf's head as high as he could, a purple vortex appearing just off of the ground, directly below the wolf's neck.
Alex brought the wolf's head down as hard as he could, letting out a yell of frustration and satisfaction as he did. The space inside the vortex exploded, ejecting out a small, bladed disk at high speeds.
[Spatial skip-canceled]
The small disk flew upwards at incredible speeds, light purple energy still clinging faintly to it, upon colliding with the wolf's rapidly descending neck, it tore through the wolf's flesh, going straight through its neck, leaving a bloody slot through the poor beast throat.
Alex let go of the wolf's head, pulling away with a sigh of relief, that tenacious bastard was finally dead, or at least, so he thought, as when he let go, the wolf bit down hard on his hand.
Alex watched in shock as thin roots pulled the two slits forcibly together.
"Just die already" Alex yelled, a pure white light sparking off of his body, converging all together onto his fist, making the wolf's jaws glow from the sheer intensity of the light coming from its mouth.
[Divine radiance]
A pillar of blinding light erupted from the two figures, encasing their battlefield, consuming everything within it like a ravenous beast, obscuring all that happened within.
The pillar of light rose far above the trees, piercing the clouds above with its divine light, becoming a beacon for all to see.
Alex was certain he heard a heavenly choir within the light.
When the light dimmed, and its holy radiance faded, the two figures slumped to the ground, wills broken and determination fading.
As Alex lay slumped on the ground, his consciousness slowly ebbing away he saw one final notification pop up.
[Congratulations user 'Jack Aubrey for defeating a D rank, boss class, true level 50 blood red bark wolf
You have been awarded 10000xp
You have slain an E rank, boss class, true level 50 wood worm
You have been awarded 5000xp
Warning:
Due to use of skill 'divine radiance' you have depleted all mp reserves
You are inflicted with the negative status 'mana deficiency'
Your character will be unconscious for one in game hour
Quest completed
Rewards being distributed...]
Alex didn't see the rest, as he had already passed out, the forest was quiet and peaceful as the two warriors rested, one for the last time.
It was over, Alex had one.