Not even allowing Silas a moment of thought, the wolf snapped its tail back, driving the other two forward with brutal precision, targeting his head.
Silas's left hand flashed forward, brushing the two tails to the side with a sharp swing of his daggers.
"Uhmm, Amelia, you can be a hindrance here," he said, turning back to Amelia while blocking the wolf's strike aimed at his head.
Amelia nodded, leaping up smoothly.
The pain in her shoulder stung her, but she managed to stay clear-headed.
She landed softly on a branch before a slow whimper escaped her mouth.
Silas ducked back quickly, avoiding a strike from the tail.
His aether flared, coating his body and daggers in a sheen of blue.
He said no words. His body shot forward, closing the gap in an instant.
His right hand pierced forward, towards the wolf's head.
The wolf jumped back, dodging the attack by a close margin.
Silas did not back down. His dagger struck again, slashing towards the wolf's head.
The wolf's tail deflected the blade, sending a rattle through Silas's hand.
Silas's grip tightened on the dagger.
He shifted his body, just in time to avoid a piercing strike from the wolf.
A second came, descending from over his head.
As if anticipating the attack, Silas's dagger tore upward. A smirk was on his face as he tore cleanly through the beast's tail.
The tearing sound of a blade cleaving through flesh erupted. The huge tail fell to the floor with a thud as black blood pooled beside the wolf.
Growl.
The wolf's enraged growl echoed through the empty forest.
It leapt forward, claws descending over Silas's face.
Silas ducked, avoiding the attack by a narrow margin.
The shockwave from the attack was enough to send Silas crashing into a nearby tree.
"Why is this thing this strong?" Silas thought aloud, feeling the pain in his side.
The wolf did not give him time to recover. It swiped its claw forward, three massive arcs of dark energy flying out.
Boom.
Splinters flew as the arcs crashed into the tree Silas had previously occupied.
Silas rolled before performing a sharp maneuver on the floor to get up. He blitzed forward, his body a streak of blue as he swung his daggers at the same time, at the beast's torso.
The blades grazed the skin, sending sparks flying as they failed to even cut through the beast's outer layer.
"Fuck, how did I forget to enhance the blade with aether?" Silas dodged an attack aimed at his head again.
Before he could rise, a tail shot forward, faster than his eyes could track.
Sparks flew as his daggers intercepted the strike.
"Why is it this strong?" he wondered. "It has not even used its skill."
Silas jumped back, creating enough gap between himself and the beast.
The beast did not chase. It stood, eyes locked on Silas like he was prey who had no chance of escape.
The tail that he had previously cut had regrown fully, moving in sync with the rest.
Silas's mind moved fast. "Illusion, or lie," he muttered after a brief thought.
Without thinking, he stabbed himself in the hand. The dagger pierced through cleanly, blood pouring to the floor.
But it all vanished.
The wolf stood rooted in place.
The tail that had been cut before had not regrown.
The torso Silas had slashed at was torn open, black blood dripping from it.
The wolf itself was moaning in pain.
Silas did not think twice. He shot forward, his dagger tearing through the air towards the beast's head.
A popping sound echoed through the forest.
The wolf's head exploded into blood and brain matter that splattered all over the place.
Silas heaved, returning the daggers to the sheath strapped to his lower back.
He looked up, in Alfred's direction. It was only for a fraction of a second before he looked away.
"I thought something was there," he whispered to himself, searching for Amelia.
On the tree, Alfred released a long breath, his form coming out of the haze of the wind. "This boy is something," he said with a bright smile. "Maybe we can spar when he is done here."
Silas jumped, landing on the tree where Amelia's unconscious body lay.
"Rion, give me one potion."
A vial flickered into his palm. It contained a green liquid.
Uncorking it, a sweet aroma was released into the air.
"Do I just pour it into her mouth?" he wondered in contemplation.
"Master Silas, I believe the only thing you can do is a mouth-to-mouth transfer," Rion said in his mind.
"I know, but she might kill me if she finds out," Silas joked.
He emptied the contents into his mouth, quickly pressing his mouth against Amelia's.
It flowed into Amelia's mouth.
Silas quickly removed his mouth and jumped back down. "Let's give it a few moment to work."
He walked towards the corpses, his fingers piercing through their heads.
After some scrambling, he brought out a dark gem.
"That is 7 void cores plus my own," he said after he picked the last void core from the wolf's corpse.
He had to search everywhere due to the explosion of the head.
He went to Amelia's tree again and saw that she still hadn't woken up.
"Maybe I should just carry her," he said, lifting her up casually.
He held her under his arm before dashing towards their temporary camp.
In less than 30 minutes, he reached it. After placing her body gently on the floor, he walked to a corner and brought out a nutrient bar.
He bit into it, his face turning pale as he chewed. "So tasteless," he complained to himself.
But he had no choice. The only thing that could last for their 2-week trip was this.
After filling his stomach, he thought of what he could do. A person cannot enter the Virtual Space while in a secret realm.
After some thought, he sat to meditate, drawing aether from the surroundings to fill his empty core.