Merlin growled, standing up, "That hurt," She stared at Aella. "But you got a hit in," she sat, cracking her neck.
Arad stared at her, "How could a wizard be so good at hand-to-hand combat?"
Merida smiled, "You don't have to rely on classes, do you?" She stretched her arm, making a fist. "You can learn martial arts freely, even swordsmanship. You won't get as fast or strong as fighters and barbarians, but you would be better than scrawny mages."
Alcott approached them, "Even the most dedicated fighter will have a slither of MP, which fuels basic spells if he studied them." Pointing his finger toward a small twig, [Bonefire] Alcott ignited it.
Aella stared at him, "You aren't an arcane fight."
Alcott nodded, "I'm a martial fighter. I only focus on physical and armed combat." He looked at her, "You're an arcane archer, mixing magic with your skills,"
Merlin puffed her chest, "I trained to keep this idiot at bay for one minute,"
Arad stared at her, "What?"
Alcott replied, "the goal of the training was to survive me, actively trying to kill her for one minute."
"I managed to do. Alcott didn't take me down for a minute. So you kids had no chance from the start," Merlin declared with pride.
"You used magic in that fight!" Alcott glared at her, "And Nina one shot you anyway."
Merila growled at him, "We don't talk about that woman. She isn't a human. She is a monster." She cried.
Arad giggled, "Nina? I can't imagine her doing that,"
Ginger approached them, "I watched that exchange. Just as the fight started, Nina delivered a straight kick, blasting right through Merlin's barrier and hitting her right chest, squashing it. When Merlin landed, we found several ribs shattered, and her right lung collapsed. It was a hassle to heal her."
Jack stared at them, "Nina did all that with one kick? No wonder the seniors at the guild fear her."
Merlin gasped, remembering Nina biting her sword. ^Did I almost anger a monster?^
***
After dinner, everyone went to sleep, and Merlin wanted to spend the night with Arad. But he left, staying guard with Ginger through the night. Those two can work at night.
The morning arrived, and the party marched back to Alina. AWOOOO! Howling was heard in the distance, Lydia and Merida pulled their blades, but no one else got alerted.
Alcott stared at them, "Wolves are smart, and they won't attack a wagon with too many people, especially armed ones."
Something clicked in Arad's head. Something that he almost forgot, "Excuse me for a moment. I will go catch a wolf or two," He jumped from the wagon, a stupid act for a sorcerer in everyone's eyes except for those who knew him.
"Where are you going? At least take two other people with you." Merlin stared at him. "Wolves hunt by ganging on people."
"I will be fine," Arad replied.
"Thud!" Merlin landed behind him, "You can't even use area spells. You would cause a wildfire. I will go with you," She pulled the wand from between her chest.
"I bet that wand smells fantastic," Arad glared at her.
"What?" Merlin glared back at him, and he sighed, "At least pull it from your pocket or something,"
Merlin smiled, using two fingers to part her chest, "A magic encryption." A black magic circle tattooed between her chest appeared. "This is a dimenstionell gylph. It needs to be close to the heart where the mana accumulated to get the best storing volume possible." She smiled, pulling a whole broom from the glyph and a sword, followed by a money pouch.
"Is that so? Why wouldn't you put it on your back then?" Arad stared at her, and Merlin tilted her head, "It's hard to reach," Replying as she stuffed everything back into her storage.
"How much can you store in there?" Arad asked, trying to compare her to his stomach.
"Eight thousand liters of water," Merlin replied with a smile.
"You count on that?" What is their problem with meters, feet, and now liters? Do people here never stick to one thing?
"How else could I measure it? I can't go inside and do it. The only choice with a spell like this is to fill it to the brim with something and then decide." Merlin looked at Ginger, "Isn't that right?"
Ginger looked at them, "Water is the agreed-upon method of measuring storage spells since it can fill any shape. I do have a 5500-liter capacity."
^Mom?^
[I'm sure your mother had enough space to store titanic monsters. I would say even you would have far more capacity than those two combined.]
"I'm going alone anyway," Arad sighed, glaring at Merlin, "You stay here,"
Merlin smiled, "Fine, but be careful."
[Arad, she's using magic to spy on us. Probably in case of an emergency, but we can't show any power under it.]
^So even if I don't take her with me. She will still watch us. What do we do?^
[Will hunt without magic. In human form.]
Arad rushed into the distance, chasing the howling of the wolves.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
[First, run on your fingertips and keep your head low,] Arad did that, speeding between the trees.
Arad spotted the wolves in the distance. He stopped, gliding behind a tree. They heard the noise and approached to check.
[You're a wyrmwolf. Your scent is a bit annoying for wolves to catch. Let them get closer,]
Arad took a deep breath, taking a small pebble off the ground. ^Time to start.^ He threw the little stone away, hitting a tree and pulling the wolves' attention for a second.
As the beasts turned around, Arad leaped forward, [Flame blade] Swosh! A red blade of pure flames emerged in his hand, stabbing one of the wolves in the head and burning a hole through the skull.
The wolves were alerted, and their attention shifted. In less than a second, over thirty hungry canines leaped at Arad.
Something was off. To Arad, they seemed slow. He is a dragon, a wyrmwolf, and even has vampiric blood in him. His reaction speed far outpaced those wild creatures.
Thud! Crack! Arad caught one of the wolves by the neck, stabbing him in the jaw with the flame blade. At the same time, he kicked the one who approached him from the back and dodged the two at his sides.
Merlin's image passed through Arad's head. Even with this reaction speed, she outmatched him. Hold a moment. How didn't she think anything was off fighting him?
BAM! CRACK! Arad grabbed one of the wolves by the tail, kicking him in the guts. AWO! A wolve put Arad's ankle, dragging him on the ground, and the rest ganged up on him.
Arad stood, lifting the seven wolves biting him on his back, red scales appearing on his face and arms. They were supposed to be purple, but Mom did her best to make them look red like Arad's claimed bloodline.
BAM! Arad smacked one of the wolves on the ground, stomping its head. "Come on. I can't damage your fur, can I?" He smiled.
Pew! Pew! Pew! Arrows took some of the wolves down, "I will back you up," Aella had follwed Arad.
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