Ludwig picked up his sword shard and moved behind Van Dijk who walked with purpose. Though Ludwig had no idea where they were going, he just followed in his master’s trail since the latter knew where to go.
Ludwig kept his eyes peeled for anything that would ambush them, though he honestly believed deep down that nothing would probably dare do that with his master around, though there was no need to be too lax and relaxed.
His master on the other hand was walking nonchalantly whistling a cheerful tune, seemingly not caring much even though they were moving through this godforsaken land.
Several low growls echoed all around them, signaling the presence of an enemy.
“Go on, take care of that,” Van Dijk said to Ludwig who nodded and walked up ahead. Gripping tightly at the base of his sword shard.
It was uncomfortable, but it was all he could use here since it seemed to be the only thing on him that didn’t really care for all the acidic and corrosive substances in this bog.
Three malnourished-looking, rib-showing, and gut-spilled wolves walked forward. They had pustules and rotting sludge dripping slowly off their body. Worms and maggots crawled out of their eyes and the festering flesh on their patchy fur bodies. Undead Wolves apparently. But what was more disturbing than all that? It was because their lower jaws were split right in the middle, so when one of the wolves growled, its mouth opened up three ways, revealing a more shocking gullet.
Rows of teethe awfully similar to the third head of the alligator that Ludwig dealt with earlier, only these guys had some extra slime appendages that came out of their mouths.
Ludwig inspected one of the wolves to see what he was dealing with.
***
Name: White Wolf of Tibari
Type: Undead Creature.
Level: 20
HP: 1200
Status Effect:
[Pseudo-Chimerism]- Currently suffering from a malicious curse that would cause growths to appear on its body.
[Gluttonous Curse] Cursed with Eternal Hunger, sourced by the Gluttonous Death.
[Curse of Undeath] Cursed by Undeath. This creature is terribly weak to all matters of holy and fire magic.
Abilities:
-passive-
[Tuned Hunter] The White Wolf of Tibari is
-Passive- [Dissolving Membrane]: The membranes on the White Wolf of Tibari act as a second set of hands and feet, it can use them to hunt and defend itself. They are composed of highly corrosive substances that could melt even steel.
[Rip-Apart] Causes dismemberment once they lock their jaws onto a prey.
[Corrosive Slurry] The White Wolf of Tibari can shoot out a globe of corrosive matter that would melt off most organic and corrode most metallic matter in seconds.
Addendum:
The White Wolf of Tibari is extremely aggressive and is a pack hunter. They would usually hunt together and are extremely loyal to their packmates. This corrupted version though is consumed with hunger still retains some of its feral instincts.
***
Ludwig realized something from this information screen. That both the crocodile and the wolf had the same status effects applied to them. And both shared a few abilities. The Dissolving Membrane, which was probably that slimy thing coming out of their mouths when they opened them, and the Corrosive Slurry, which seemed to be their only long-range projectile.
The Glutenous Death seems to have had a rather terrifying influence on these poor creatures. The only one who’d be called a poor creature would be Ludwig if he were to underestimate them.
One of the wolves locked onto Ludwig and rushed at him, growling guttural barks and roars at the same time as he jumped at him, mouth wide open and paws pointing at Ludwig’s shoulders. If the wolf managed to drop Ludwig to the ground, he’d get devoured in an instant.
Fortunately for Ludwig, he was a fast learner. From what Van Dijk had taught him, the sword in his hands was a powerful tool, and he proved his understanding of Van Dijk’s words instantly.
Ludwig thrust the tip of the broken sword with all the power behind him right into the open jaws of the wolf. There was no style, no swordsmanship,and no finesse in his move. It was raw unbridled power behind a straight stab.
The weapon’s tip pierced with utter ease through the creature’s mouth and emerged from the other side. Ludwig didn’t hesitate to slam the weapon with the wolf still attached to it, though it turned limp onto the ground. Crushing its head in one blow.
A stream of notifications showcasing the damage he did showed up in front of him but he ignored it, he still had two more creatures to deal with.
Seeing how their companion was taken out in an instant made the two other wolves hesitate, but they didn’t retreat. Though their primal instinct told them that it is foolish to attack someone who could kill their friend in one blow, the hunger that they were cursed with said otherwise.
It took over their rationality and mind and forced them to seek consumption and gluttony on the expense of their own lives. Guided like puppets to a slaughter, without a will of their own. The worst type of undead. A living mindless husk that was consumed and corroded by its instincts and curse.
Deep down, Ludwig felt a repulsion like no other from these creatures, and it had nothing to do with their horrid sight. But more to the fact that he too could have become something like this.
One of the wolves dashed to the side trying to move away from Ludwig’s sight. If the two were on different positions Ludwig wouldn’t be able to properly take them both on. Divide and conquer, a basic wolf technique to attack from different positions.
But that only worked against animals with lesser intellect.
Without even following the wolf with his eyes, Ludwig pointed his palm toward its general location, “Fire Ball!” he said.
The flames caused the wolf that was facing them to instantly stop and back away, and the moment Ludwig let loose the spell, he ran after the second wolf who was too preoccupied with what seemed to be its mortal enemy. The flames were surging toward its companion.
The wolf noticed Ludwig a tad too late. Since our undead was already in striking motion and range, he swung the sword fragment down at the creature who desperately twisted its body to avoid the blow.
The sword unfortunately missed its head, but it landed firmly on one of its paws, depriving it from proper movement. Ludwig didn’t hesitate to strike at the panicking wolf this time with his foot, sending the creature sprawling on the ground, one of its feet still stuck under the tip of his sword.
“[Fire Ball!]” Ludwig cast, this time on the whimpering and dismembered wolf that tried to pounce away only for it to fall back down since it had not acclimated itself to having only three feet.
The ball landed right on the wolf, setting its body on fire. The creature in its panic ran away, in flames, desperately trying to not to fall as it balanced itself on three legs, falling over and over whenever it tried to run only for the flames to consume it all in less than ten seconds.
Ludwig turned to the other wolf who decided that it would be best for once to ignore its hunger and run away.
Van Dijk gave Ludwig a couple of slow claps, “Good, very good.” He said, “Let’s keep moving then,” Van Dijk advised.