Shooting arrows into the sky and letting them fall to hit a target is one of the most terrifying skills for the archer class. It's an attack that's difficult to defend against; constantly watching out for incoming arrows means losing sight of the enemy in front of you, and ignoring the enemy entirely could lead to being hit by falling arrows.
However, despite its deadly power, it's incredibly difficult to use. Even high-ranking archers struggle to accurately hit their target with an arrow shot into the air. Besides accuracy, it requires anticipating the enemy's movements.
For this reason, archers often use this method to ambush unsuspecting enemies. Firing multiple arrows simultaneously, as Nawa is doing now, has virtually no chance of hitting the wolf pack leader, as Nawa doesn't know their direction.
The wolf pack leader is therefore quite certain that Nawa's arrow-shooting is just a threat. But even without a threat, it doesn't care, because it hasn't used its full speed yet.
When it uses its true speed, not only will the arrows not miss their target, but they'll likely be fast enough to devour its throat before they even reach the ground.
Nawa's eyes widened slightly in surprise as he watched the wolf pack leader's speed double in an instant. He now clearly realized that he wasn't the only one strategizing; the wolf pack leader was also a master strategist. Ultimately, whose plan would prevail would be decided in the final act.
At this moment, Nawa was left with only his bow to defend himself from the wolf pack leader's long, sharp fangs. Even so, he dropped the bow and extended both his empty hands towards the sky.
At this point, Nawa activated his full telekinesis power. He controlled the five arrows that were about to fall, making them descend at even greater speed.
"Zoom!"The sound of arrows whizzing through the air at exponentially increased speed echoed, heading towards the wolf pack leader from multiple directions.
Amplified by the Air Bomb skill and the telekinesis, the arrows were twice as fast as before, reaching the wolf pack leader before it could even reach Nawa.
At that speed, if an arrow hit a vital point, there was a chance to kill the wolf pack leader in a single attack. But Nawa didn't think it would be that easy. It seemed this wolf pack leader had the ability to teleport. If that were true, it would easily evade this attack.
Nawa watched the wolf pack leader's every move without blinking. When arrows came from multiple directions less than ten feet from the wolf pack leader's body, its body vanished from that spot, only to reappear several tens of meters to its right in an instant.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Loud explosions echoed. All the arrows struck the ground with force, sending dust and smoke billowing.
Even so, Nawa's face showed a hint of joy, a smile even appearing at the corner of his mouth. He noticed three wounds, almost a foot long, two in the middle of its torso and one on its hind thigh.
Now Nawa knew that this wolf pack leader didn't have the ability to teleport. If it were dimensional travel, the arrows wouldn't be able to inflict wounds on it.
Nawa guessed that the wolf pack leader's ability must be... High-speed movement over short distances, almost like teleportation.
In reality, some of these wolves possess a special ability to increase their speed 2-3 times for a short period, similar to a C-rank skill called "Sprint." However, this pack leader has developed this ability to a whole new level, able to increase its speed dozens of times in an instant. At first glance, it resembles short-distance teleportation.
This ability of the pack leader is similar to the A-rank skill called "Dash," considered a top-tier movement skill. Many Warrior and Assassin class players, including Natee, aspire to possess this skill.
Even though it's only a short distance of a few meters, the speed increase of dozens of times in an instant is enough to decide the outcome of a battle.
Natee is confident that if he successfully masters this skill, he can handle or even defeat stronger opponents, such as high-ranked players.
The pack leader, originally possessing professional-level strength, is now facing a formidable opponent. Combined with its A-level skills, its terrifying power rivaled that of an Elder-level monster.
However, as long as it didn't use dimensional teleportation, Nawa was confident he could handle this wolf pack leader.
The wolf pack leader licked the blood from its leg before turning to look at Nava with a vengeful yet fearful gaze. Since becoming pack leader, it had rarely been injured, but today, a single human had inflicted three wounds in a single attack.
The wolf pack leader took a deep breath, its chest expanding to more than twice its original size. The next moment, it released the stored air through its mouth, letting out a roar.
"Roar…"
It was a powerful and terrifying roar. This roar was a type of debuff skill; it instilled fear and diminished morale in those who heard it. The effect was even stronger on those with weak minds or who were already afraid of the wolf pack leader, potentially causing them to become so terrified that their legs went weak.
For Nawa, who had learned meditation techniques from the wizard Alforma, this type of skill only served to annoy him. It couldn't shake or disturb his mind at all. But it seemed the wolf pack leader's target wasn't Nawa, but its subordinates.
"What's happening? Why isn't my taunting skill working?" Somchai exclaimed in surprise. Suddenly, the wolves abandoned the fight and frantically ran back to their pack leader.
"It seems the wolves are under the influence of another, more powerful skill of yours," Ploy explained, observing the other wolves exhibiting similar behavior.
As a healer, she was well-versed in buff and debuff skills. These types of skills work on the mind, some overlapping, while others, when used simultaneously, cancel each other out.
Those who use these types of skills must have a thorough understanding of them; otherwise, what starts as help could turn into harm, or vice versa, as happened when the wolf pack leader used a debuff skill that instilled fear. To free its minions from Somchai's taunting skill, which proved effective.
"Mai, what happened?" Natee shouted, pulling the Craym sword from the lifeless body of one of the wolves.
As soon as Natee finished speaking, Mai activated her Eagle Eye skill. A blue aura began to converge on her eyes, causing them to glow blue. Simultaneously, her pupils narrowed, resembling those of a hawk. This was a C-rank skill that significantly enhanced a player's vision at long distances.
"It seems the wolf pack leader was injured, so it called its minions back," Mai quickly analyzed and reported what she had seen.
"What?!" Natee exclaimed, disbelieving what he heard.
Although he knew Nawa was no ordinary being, in such a short time, not only had he dealt with three mid-level Professional Guard wolves, but he had also injured the wolf pack leader, a high-level Professional monster, forcing it to call its minions back for protection.
Natee realized that even he, no, even his entire team, couldn't have done that.
"Brother Nawa is truly amazing!"
"I told you Nawa could do it," Ploy said, a joyful smile on her face. But soon, it turned to worry as she realized Nawa was in danger. The entire pack of wolves was heading back to help their leader.
"Oh no! We have to go help Nawa! He can't possibly handle a whole pack of wolves alone!" Ploy exclaimed, her voice filled with panic.
Natee frowned before speaking.
"We can't do that. This is our only chance to escape. If we miss this opportunity, we might never get another."
"What are you talking about? Nawa risked his life to save us, and you're thinking of abandoning him and saving yourself? And you still dare call yourself the team leader?"
Ploy said angrily, her face clearly showing disappointment.
"He can manage. Don't you see how strong he is?"
Somchai chimed in. Natee nodded in agreement. As the team leader, he had to use reason in his decisions. Natee gritted his teeth before speaking.
"If we go there, not only will we be unable to help, but..."
"There's a high chance we'll all die."
"You guys are cowards. Fine, if no one's going, I'll go alone," Ploy said and immediately ran off.
"Natee, are you really going to let Ploy go alone like this?" Mai asked, looking at Natee with a worried expression.
"Damn it! Her stubbornness will get us all killed!" Natee cursed angrily before running after Ploy.
Nawa had initially thought that once the pack leader was injured, it would attack him with the same ferocity as the other wolves. But this pack leader didn't do that; it chose to call its minions back to deal with him. This level of intelligence is rare even among humans.
Although this was beyond his expectations and put him in a much more dangerous situation, Nawa was still glad. The pack leader's decision to call its subordinates back meant that Natee and his friends could escape.
Once he was sure the entire pack of wolves had been called back, Nawa didn't intend to stay any longer. But before leaving, he needed to make sure Natee and his friends were safe.
Nawa extended his hand, and instantly the bow that had fallen to the ground floated back into his hand. Simultaneously, he pulled arrows from his dimensional inventory and activated his Air Bomb skill.
"Boom!"A loud air explosion echoed as Nawa fired the arrow.
This time, he didn't shoot into the air, but chose to aim directly at the wolf pack leader.
Even though it was only one arrow, the much closer distance, combined with his telekinetic control of its direction, forced the wolf pack leader to use high-speed movement in a split second to dodge.
Having forced the wolf pack leader back, Nawa wasted no time, using his Air Bomb skill to propel himself through the air in the opposite direction of the approaching wolf pack.
"Grrr!"
The wolf pack leader roared in fury. Seeing Nawa attempting to escape, it charged after him with incredible speed.
Frankly, even without his Dash skill, the wolf pack leader's speed was still considerably faster than Nawa's, who was using the Air Bomb skill to enhance his movement.
If it weren't for the fact that the wolf pack leader was injured and had to constantly dodge Nawa's arrows, it would have been in serious trouble. It would have reached Nawa a long time ago.
Nawa was well aware of this, but his confidence in escaping the wolf pack leader stemmed from his meditation skill, which allowed him to regenerate mana while fighting.
The wolf pack leader, however, couldn't, and coupled with his injuries, would soon run out of strength to pursue Nawa.
Nawa deliberately retreated in the opposite direction to where Natee and his friends were. One reason was to create distance between himself and the returning wolf pack, and another was to create an opportunity for Natee and his friends to escape. While fleeing, Nawa activated the player device's map system.
"Ding!"
A familiar sound rang in Nawa's head, and a system window appeared.
It displayed a map showing Nawa's surroundings, as usual. However, this time, Nawa used the (Party) function to team up with Natee and his friends. The system map then showed arrows indicating the locations of party members within a 3,000-meter radius.
Nawa wanted to check if Natee and his friends had left the map's radius, but what he saw made his expression difficult. Natee and his friends… Besides being within range on the map, the system's distance indicator showed that they were getting closer.
"What the hell are they doing?" Nava cursed, his face a mixture of emotions, unsure whether he should be happy or upset.
At the same time, the alpha wolf stopped chasing Nava and turned to look in the direction Natee and the others were, sniffing around before immediately running in that direction. Seeing this, Nava's face tensed, and he changed direction, sprinting after the alpha wolf at full speed.