Wizard Of Cosmos

12 - It is Complex

“Brother, are you trying to sneak up on them? Let me help.”

Jason looked at Logan thinking if this man actually had a brain inside his head. Sneaking up to a wolf was something maybe only a master assassin could do, and he wasn’t even close to that.

“You are dumb, aren’t you?”

Dawn wasn’t able to hold back like Jason.

“Don’t call me dumb.”

“Shut up! I am going to rush. So stay here.”

“What about that abnormal one?”

“I’ll think about it later.”

Jason sneaked forward a few more steps, hoping to buy more time.

‘I am the worst when it comes to luck, aren’t I?’

He felt the direction of the wind changing. There was no time left.

…

Jason took out his sword in haste and adjusted his poster before running toward the three wolves without hesitation. 

First, he had to pass through this place. Second, unlike the players, this man wouldn’t respawn after death.

The wolves noticed his presence as soon as he made the loud noise. 

The two smaller ones were the first to move. The one on the left was slightly quicker while the one on the right moved second.

Jason gripped the hilt with his right hand and placed his left hand on the side of the blade as he ran forward.

The first wolf leapt toward him, trying to reach his throat, but he was ready for this. 

Jason lowered his body, thrusting the sword upward. His target was the ribcage of the wolf. He felt the sensation of the sword piercing through flesh. He used the force from his left hand to stop the momentum of the wolf and pinned it to the ground. 

Jason didn’t waste any more time before using his right hand to draw out the sword, swinging it to the right while stepping to his left. He felt the flesh being cut from the swing, but he didn’t stop.

He pressed his feet firmly to the ground, taking a full swing with the momentum before plunging the sword deep into the wolf’s belly. 

The whimper that instantly became silent was proof of his success.

‘Huff… Huff… I am… Pathetic.’

He stared into the eyes of the mutated wolf trying to catch his breath. After running for so long, his body wasn’t able to maintain its condition during an intense fight.

“Grr…!”

The furious growl took him back to his senses. 

He saw the intense bloodlust in the eyes of the mutated wolf. It was staring right into him.

‘I really don’t want to die, even if there is a respawn.’

His body felt the pain in his bones after these basic movements.

He rushed forward for the second time. 

The wolf didn’t move at all. It had its body sideways, leaving an opening. However, Jason knew better.

The moment he closed the gap, the wolf moved. It launched itself off the ground, reaching for his throat.

Jason rolled on the ground, trying to avoid the jaws of death.

‘Fu**!’

He cursed when he felt the claws ripping into his shoulder. 

He barely made it back to his feet with his back against the tree.

The pain was more than real. Red blood came down his shoulder, dyeing his shirt in red.

The cut wasn’t deep, but it was painful. 

“What did you do to piss that thing off?”

He asked the man on the tree.

“I… I did… Nothing, brother. I heard it in the bushes and I climbed to this tree. It was trying to kill me.”

“I see.”

He didn’t break his focus because of the tingling sensations of liquid flowing down his arm.

He wasn’t afraid of this one wolf, but he had to be wary of its sharp claws and quick wits. 

“Hey! You bastard. Look here!”

“Little dog, we are here!”

Jason suddenly felt amused when his two companions started throwing rocks at the wolf while yelling at it. This would have worked easily on any other animal, but this was a mutated wolf. It knew better than to turn it back toward the dangerous enemy. 

However, all the yelling and the rocks created enough distraction for him to take the lead. 

He again charged forward, looking for an opportunity to end its life. Scaring it away wasn’t an option. A wounded, mutated beast was far scarier than one would imagine. It might even wait for days to kill him.

He closed his gap as fast as possible, swinging his sword at the beast, but it was ready for the attack. The wolf jumped backwards, creating a distance between them. 

Jason didn’t back down. Instead, he moved forward with the momentum to catch up. However, the wolf didn’t back away, either. It jumped forward, trying to bite him in half. 

Jason slid on the ground, slicing upwards.

He felt the fresh blood spraying over his face as the sword cut deep into the wolf's chest.

He didn’t hesitate to thrust the blade with even more force, driving it deep into the wolf’s body. 

The mutated wolf stopped its movement halfway past Jason.

He immediately rolled away and stood up before kicking the wolf with full force. It finally fell to the ground with a thud, releasing its last breath.

‘I am so weak.’

Jason drew the sword out of the dead beast, pondering on his weak body.

“Thank you, brother.”

Jason simply nodded his head without looking at the man. He felt this man was rather quick for his plump build.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Coal, brother. I am a wandering merchant.”

“Did you come from the Light Shone?”

“Ah… Yes, brother. I left early, hoping to get to the Forestedge. Who thought I would get into such trouble? Anyway, I have an ointment for wounds. Would you like to try it?”

“That will be good. And… Do you have a skinning knife?”

“Yes, I have a boning knife too, do you want them?”

“Yeah, let me borrow them.”

He was happy to have something to cover up the cuts and bruises on his body. The last thing he needed was an infection. Until he figured out how these game mechanics worked, it was better to be safe.

“Bro, are you alright?”

“Does that hurt?”

His two companions came running to him.

“I am good. It hurts like a real cut.”

He wiped the blood off his face and lifted his short sleeve up, revealing the cuts. He took the water sack from Logan and washed away the blood and dirt before applying the ointment given by the merchant.

Luckily for him, the cut wasn’t deep.

“I will skin these three, keep an eye out for danger.”

…

“Is he a hunter?”

“I don’t know.”

Logan shook his head.

“But he is damn good.”

Jason was skinning the wolves without paying any attention to them.

“So, killing animals doesn’t drop anything? Do we have to do everything by ourselves?”

“It seems so….”

Logan didn’t mind answering Dawn. He was also equally puzzled by everything. What worried him the most were the bleeding wounds on Jason. He was hurt and only after applying the ointment given by the merchant was the bleeding stopped. Even the battle was brutal. 

He could see the dried blood on Jason's clothes. The spilt guts and blood were all over the place. If not for the fear of missing Jason, he would have logged out of the game to calm himself.

He was a soldier and wasn’t afraid of such a scene. However, this was supposed to be a game. This was nothing like a game. He felt like he was in a world of magic for real.

‘No wonder they said that children are not allowed. How can a child fight like this? Even I can’t fight like him.’

He realised he had so much to learn from Jason. 

‘I should have recorded it from the beginning.’ 

He only managed to catch the battle between the bigger wolf and Jason.

‘It is called a mutated wolf.’

He looked at the merchant who was sitting beside them.

“You guys are strangers, right?”

The plump man smiled at them.

“Strangers?”

“People who are not from this world? That thing on your arm. It is the way to identify.”

“Ah….”

He looked at the armband and back at the Merchant.

The NPCs were also too realistic.

“Hey, can you buy these?”

Jason finally approached the group with the three wolf skins and the claws and fangs of the Mutated wolf. The skins of the normal wolves could be used in making clothes while the content of the mutated wolf could be used for arrows and armour. 

“Ah… Yes, brother. I can buy them. How about… Five silver coins?”

Jason simply pondered on the amount. Honestly, he didn’t remember the rates in the early days. In the later days, hunting became almost impossible, and the price of a simple hide came to an astronomical value. 

“How… How about six? That is the best I can do.”

“Alright.”

That amount was nothing to Jason, but he preferred having something instead of nothing. 

The merchant looked relaxed after the agreement and he immediately handed him the coins. 

“Here… Your knives.”

“Keep them, brother. It is my thanks for saving me. Eh… If you need, you can have something else from my lot, too.”

“Hm….”

Do you have any weapons?”

“Weapons? I can offer you a couple of daggers, brother.”

“Can you give me two of them?”

“Sure.”

The Merchant didn’t hesitate to find two good-looking daggers from his lot.

“Oh… I found this inside that big wolf. What is it?”

He showed the merchant the bluish crystal he found inside the wolf’s forehead. He knew exactly what it was; a mutated crystal.

“That… That is a mutated crystal. You can use it to create potions and enchantments. It is not a mature one, though. Damn… You actually killed a real intelligent wolf.”

“How much?”

Jason wasn’t interested in compliments.

“If you go to Forestedge, it might be around twenty, I can offer you seventeen.”

Jason silently gave the man a nod, giving him the crystal. He could sell it later, but this man gave him two weapons.

“Can you go alone?”

“Yes, brother. I will go fast. This road is usually safe.”

Jason nodded his head, hoping that it was true. His clothes were soaked in blood and he had to find a place to wash them before going to the village. Besides, this could attract animals.

The merchant started preparing his stuff to leave. 

“Here.”

He gave Logan and Dawn the two daggers. They helped him to distract the mutated wolf.

“This….”

Logan looked a bit hesitant, but he immediately took the dagger when Dawn did it first.

“Try swinging them. You will unlock the skill tree.”

“Really?”

They immediately tried his advice.

“Cool. But why is there no way to unlock these skills?”

“I have some of them lit up, but only a very small amount after that fight. I guess the only way to unlock them is to properly execute them.”

“Huh? But I can’t see any description of these moves. How are we supposed to execute them?”

Jason was impressed by Dawn’s mind. She quickly grasped the basics of the situation.

“Hmm… I am using the ones I learned in real life. I guess you have to learn them first.”

“Is there anything different in this from real life?”

Logan felt annoyed by this. He knew combat moves for knives, but he didn’t think those moves could work against animals. In fact, he thought he had no way of winning even against Jason.

“Hm… It is complex.”

Both Logan and Dawn looked at Jason, thinking there was more. However, both of them realised he was looking warily into the forest. 

“Let’s move. Fresh blood might bring us unwanted surprises.”