"Stay behind me."
The hulking monstrosity of a man didn't even bother turning around as he spoke. Gareth covered the party from ahead, acting as an insurmountable wall between his companions and the iron-hide direwolves that were trying to back them into a corner.
The growling of the feral mana beasts bounced off the dimly lit cavern walls, the glow of the mana crystals growing in vicinity barely enough to illuminate the monsters' shape. It was a terrifying situation, bleak visibility, unknown beasts stalking you, truly a nightmare in all senses.
Though what was concerning was the fact that the pack was not a particularly large one, if anything, this one was on the smaller side.
The party were wary because not the size of the pack, but the size of the beasts itself.
Each one of these monsters were twice the size of a normal dire wolf, coupled with the mystical attributes they evolved from living in such a mana rich dungeon, even the experienced awakened in the party could not afford to slip up right now. Hesitation meant death, it was as simple as that.
"Don't let your guard down, cover each others' back" The sounds of steel unsheathing from a metal scabbard. "i'll take the leader." The captain said as he readied his sword, his voice a low reverberating growl, just as terrifying as those of the wolves.
"But captain—!" Someone tried to protest from behind, only to be cut short, by the deafening sword of steel piercing rock.
Aris blinked.
The wolves growled in return to the eccentric action, snapping at Gareth.
Gareth pulled his sword out of the crater he just made, readying his sword once more as he told his companions to get ready for combat.
Though Aris did manage to catch the large man glimpsing in his general direction before turning back to face the wolves.
The beasts were visibly agitated now, mostly from the bloodlust leaking from the combat ready awakened. It did not take them long to attack.
One of the smaller ones moved first, silently slipping out of the pack to lunge at Gareth. In a heartbeat, the direwolf was already upon him, snapping its jaws in an attempted to tear his neck clean apart.
Gareth moved faster than his size suggested, swiftly side stepping and stabbing the wolf on the head, his movement unnaturally graceful despite what his physique suggested.
Capitalising on the moment of chaos, the rest of the pack broke into motion. Two more lunging towards Gareth, three of them circling towards the rest of the group. And the largest one, the leader, heading straight for Aris, the primal hunger in its eyes quite the spectacular sight.
The rest of the party didn't fail to notice when the leader moved, after all, as disorganised as they were, they were still an A rank party.
Gareth shouted something about hiding to Aris as he frantically dealt with his opponents, shouting orders to the rest of the party to cover him.
Aris, however, simply stood there. A certain kind of confidence apparent in his posture, the kind that wouldn't be expected of someone as meek, timid looking as him.
The leader of the pack closed the distance between them in one great leap, ricocheting towards Aris in an attempt to end the encounter in one strike.
The faintest hint of amusement flashed through his dull aquamarine eyes as time slowed down.
"You're smart." The words drowned in the clamour of battle, only heard by the beast and its supposed prey.
The wolf was upon him a moment later.
Aris didn't dodge, didn't step back, didn't even flinch.
Instead, he took a simple step forward, moving with the grace of a dancer as he raised his hands.
There had been no cuts, no blunt force, not even a spell had been casted in the encounter.
The wolf simply failed to stop its momentum as it reached Aris, who gave it a light tap on its furry chest, not failing to notice how strange the metallic hair felt on his palm.
Instantly, the spark of life faded out of the beast's eyes, and its momentum stopped, the earlier vitality all but the action of inertia as it continued its path in the air now.
Another moment passed before Gareth was suddenly upon them, having already dealt with the wolves going for him. Before the corpse could fall onto the ground, he brought his great sword down in a brilliant arc, cleaving through the wolf in one precise sweep, not knowing that it had been already... disposed of.
Time started flowing again as Gareth let out a long huff, turning to Aris as he shook the blood away from his sword.
"You alright?"
Aris nodded, trying his best to not look awkward as he maintained eye contact. The man was almost a whole head taller than him, so angling his face correctly was quite the task.
By the time they turned around, the rest of the pack had already been dealt with.
His companions, all stood over the corpses of the slain wolves, were panting for breath. Thick, Murky blood covered their armour, and in the dim light of the cave, Aris couldn't help but compare these guys to a group of lunatic cultists he had seen online a few years ago.
He cleared his throat, shaking away the silly thought before turning back to Gareth.
The captain was already addressing the group, sheathing his sword as he spoke.
"We'll keep moving, the stability is good enough for us to push without worries."
They all nodded, not saying a word more, following behind the man who lead them deeper into the dungeon.