Close Call

one of these cursed wolves was edging closer and closer to where I was, I quickly abandoned the plan of killing one by throwing spears I could hardly do that with one so close.

My body tensed but I forced my breath into calm and quiet, fearing what would happen if I revealed myself now.

Running away was the obvious choice but I didn't know how far I could get with the beasts so close.

I noticed 7 preparing himself to run away, he was clearly hesitant.

Turning off my motion sense I looked at the creature, when before I could roughly make out its shape now I could clearly see its disgusting form in all its glory.

As the creatures drooling maw drew close and idea formed in my mind, a crazy idea. With my foot I tapped the root of a tree on my left which made a noticeable 'thunk' noise.

The creature started walking over and right as it turned around the tree nearest to me I stabbed the spear right into the things throat. Then after it staggered then fell to the ground I stabbed it through the eye for good measure.

Looking over to see the two other cursed wolves dashing towards us at full speed I immediately stood up and turned around to run 

"Lets go." I Shouted over towards 7 as I started running.

7 started running before I had even told him to however.

The other two cursed wolves were quite a lot faster then us, we were no where near the trap and they were nearly right on me.

looking around for where 7 had ran I found absolutely nothing.

'That bastard, where is he?'

Noticing a wolf about to pounce on me I waited for the perfect moment then dropped to the ground as fast as I could to avoid the attack.

'Well good job on avoiding the attack, but now you are trapped in between both of them and there is no way to get to the trap.'

As the wolf who had leaped over me was getting back up I noticed a gleaming clear spear appear from behind a tree then stab it in the leg.

'Holy shit I love you 7, never doubted you for a second' 

Revealing himself 7 charged the injured wolf to make a path for me. The other wolf was fast approaching but using my acceleration ability we might just get there in time to use the trap.

Me and 7 absolutely sprinted towards the trap, the terrain was annoying but was advantageous for the agility we had as humans.

I could finally see the where we agreed the trap would be and I eventually saw a log which hadn't been there before and a extremely leaf covered part of the ground on the other side of it.

I was infront of 7 now purely because of my ability, which made me truely respect just how fast the guy was without using his ability

'What is his ability again?'

I nearly slapped myself at getting distracted at a time like this. 

When I reached the log I used it as a spot to jump and launch over the pile of leaves. 7 did the exact same, then just as I had planted my feet on the ground and looked back I saw the wolf jumping in the exact same manner we had. 

In my mind I realised he was going to clear the entire pit, but there wasn't enough time for the words to appear in my mind.

Instantly making a decision I nearly jumped right onto the pit going exactly under the cursed wolf. The scene must have looked like I made the decision to kill myself with the trap rather then die to the wolf, but that wasn't my plan at all. 

Grabbing the wolf's back leg with both arms I musted all the strength I had and while also accelerating the wolf I threw the wolf into the hole, and used the momentum of doing so to keep me from falling in.

It had worked flawlessly though I could hardly celebrate with my dislocated left shoulder.

49 and 13 came out of hiding to see the wolf creature in the hole then 13 asked. "Where are the others."

"One dead, ones leg is injured. You two go after that one, 7 can finish this one." I shouted while grasping my shoulder in pain. 

I looked down the hole to see the the wolf in a spike pit, it wasn't quite dead yet but with the spears on the side we could easily just throw spears at it until its death.

It's deafening wails sounded throughout the surrounding forest, but our spears quickly silenced the creature.

7 was looking around before saying "You think any other cursed heard that and came running?"

"I mean maybe, but these groups are normally so spaced apart that it shouldn't be an issue." I responded while trying to clear his worries.

In truth I feared the same thing.

Turning on my motion sense I took a second to adjust to it and then search the whole area around me.

The range of my motion sense was increasing quite quickly but the speed I could actually understand the information was the main limiting factor.

The cursed wolf had finally stopped its wailing and just laid there lifeless and then a few seconds later the spears started quickly melting but the liquid simply evaporated rather then making a puddle like how actual water would.

While there are blessing which make actual matter, these abilities normally require astronomical amounts of roh but creating an imitation of matter was far more efficient though needed constant upkeep.

'That means they've killed the other one 7 injured'

Turning around to 7 I said "I'm going to go check on the others. You alright with saying here for a bit?"

"I mean the thing is dead for sure, it had a spear right in its skull. I'll just go back to the MTV, safer in there then just standing out here in the open." 7 replied.

"Fair enough, see you in a bit." I said while walking away.

"Cya" 7 responded while waving.

The motion looked weird the world of motion serving as my sight but I still waved back.

At the edge of how far I could sense I eventually saw 13 and 49. Rushing over to them I called over. "Hey."

They both turned around then 49 shouted. "Hi, we just finished up here."

Coming closer to them and speaking normally now I asked. "You been to the nest?"

13 corrected me saying "You mean the den, and no we haven't. Why?"

"When the wolfs came back to their den" I said emphasizing the word 'den'. "They dropped some kind of orb."

"A mana core?" 13 asked, seeming to figure out immediately what it was. "How did these wolfs get hold of a mana core?"

"I have no clue, logically they are far too weak to kill something for it." I responded, realising at the same time that he was right, it would be a mana core.

13 took a moment to think before saying "What colour was it?"

"No clue, I only saw it with my blessing not with my eyes." I answered.

49 was looking very confused then mustered the courage to ask. "I'm sorry what's a mana core?"

13 looked at her shocked, as if she said something incredibly stupid.

I had only learnt about mana cores from reading once I actually became part of the corps. Before then I had no clue, and if I had never researched anything I would be in the same situation as 49 over here.

After 13 had enough disapproving of 49's knowledge he explained. "A man core is basically just a place the cursed use to store large amounts of mana within their body." 

13 took a second before realising he should probably explain more. "The cursed's bodies are both made of mana and use it as a fuel. Mana cannot be used by humans and disappears when outside of a cursed's body, this mana is what causes the dissolving effect the cursed have around them. Back to mana cores, creatures with a mana core have the ability to use the mana in their body making them stronger and usually have some kind of special ability."

49 took a second to process this then asked. "Wait so some of these cursed will have the same type of abilities as us?"

13 Simply responded saying. "Well that's not exactly wrong but their abilities stem from mana and therefore their abilities use the properties of mana to create the effects. So their abilities are usually fairly consistent. Like a cursed being able to create fire might be able to also heat up the surroundings but won't be able to see the future or something. Our abilities are more unique and more powerful but their bodies are stronger and they are more versatile."

"I'm just going to go pick up the mana core and go back to the MTV, you can keep explaining everything to 49." I said while going over to where I remembered the mana core was.