Shadow Wolf

Chop, spin, sweep, lead, lock... A few simple movements flowed like water in Li Yan's hands, full of violent aesthetics.

"Generate force as a whole, use your waist, not your arms. Keep your wrists flexible. The blade follows the person; the person doesn't chase the blade. Hooking and locking isn't about pulling hard, it's about following the opponent's momentum, using softness to overcome hardness."

Li Yan explained coldly while demonstrating.

Chen Guan watched with rapt attention, branding every detail into his mind. Li Yan's demonstration was more intuitive than any written description.

Finishing the demonstration, Li Yan threw the battle axe back onto the weapon rack and looked at Chen Guan: "Keep practicing. Practice those few moves until you can do them without thinking. Also, think about how your coffin coordinates with this thing—one for offense, one for defense. Don't trip yourself up."

"Yes, thank you, Instructor!" Chen Guan thanked him sincerely. Li Yan's guidance always hit the nail on the head and was worth its weight in gold.

Li Yan nodded, said no more, turned, and left the training room.

With Li Yan's guidance, Chen Guan's practice became more targeted.

He no longer blindly pursued power and speed, but focused on the fluidity of force generation, physical coordination, and the coordination between the scythe and his footwork.

Sweat soaked his clothes time and time again, only to be evaporated by his body heat. His arms went from aching to numb, and then to a feeling full of power. Chen Guan could clearly feel himself improving; his control over the scythe and his understanding of combat were rapidly elevating.

Looking at the slowly climbing stats on his panel, he revealed a smile. He liked this feeling of getting stronger bit by bit.

...

Early Wednesday morning, as the sky just began to brighten, Chen Guan carried his coffin on his back and arrived at the academy's east gate on time. He had stored the scythe in his ring; after all, the coffin was too big, and holding a scythe as well would leave him with nowhere to put it.

An Changqing and Su Yuehe were already waiting there. Both of them had the habit of getting up early for morning exercises, so they always arrived a bit earlier.

An Changqing maintained his usual steady demeanor, a longsword at his waist, standing there like a warm morning sun.

"Morning, Classmate Chen." Su Yuehe greeted him, resting her chin in one hand.

"Morning, Classmate Su."

Although their forms of address were still somewhat distant, Chen Guan and Su Yuehe actually had a decent relationship. She was a cheerful girl who loved to read, so Chen Guan would occasionally bump into her at the library.

As expected of a Knowledge-type Esper, always having a book in hand was just her basic routine.

An Changqing simply nodded: "Everyone's here. Let's go."

It was the teleportation array once again. After a flash of light, the three appeared in a desolate, barren hilly area covered with jagged, grayish-black rocks.

In the distance, a massive fissure appeared. A canyon, as if cleaved by a giant axe, stretched across the earth. On both sides of the canyon were steep rock walls, and the air was filled with a faint smell of smoke and dust.

This was the Ashen Canyon, a dormant volcanic region.

"The map shows that the Shadow Wolves' area of activity is mainly in the Shadow Stone Forest on the outskirts of the canyon."

An Changqing brought up his terminal map and pointed to a dense stone forest made of black, oddly-shaped rocks flanking the canyon entrance: "The terrain there is complex and the lighting is dim. It's an ideal hunting ground for Shadow Wolves. We'll head straight there."

"You've all read the data on the Shadow Wolves' characteristics."

While taking the lead towards the stone forest, An Changqing quietly reiterated the key points: "They are Tier 2 pack animals, though their individual strength is only Tier 1. Their fur has a weak shadow affinity, making their stealth capabilities extremely strong in dim environments."

"Their claws and fangs have a corrosive effect; getting injured by them will cause a continuous loss of stamina. They excel at coordinated combat and possess simple tactics. The Alpha Wolf is suspected to have stronger shadow manipulation abilities and might reach Tier 3. Leave it to me."

Chen Guan listened silently, his hands unconsciously tightening their grip. A Tier 3 Alpha Wolf, plus a pack of Tier 1 Shadow Wolves, and on their home turf... The difficulty of this mission was indeed a level higher than clearing out Rock Beetles.

Before coming, he had already allocated points to bring his Strength attribute up to 9. Even so, he was probably still the one holding the team back.

He could only hope that his performance wouldn't be too terrible.

An Changqing continued, "Classmate Chen Guan and I will draw the wolf pack's attention from the front. Yuehe will use the terrain and sonic interference. Once we find the Alpha Wolf, we will concentrate our power to kill it quickly. Remember, do not drag out the fight, and do not let the wolf pack separate and surround you. If things go south, immediately retreat out of the canyon. I will cover you."

"Understood," Chen Guan and Su Yuehe replied in unison.

The three said no more, quickening their pace as they approached the stone forest that resembled the fangs of a giant beast.

The closer they got, the more obvious the cold, gloomy feeling in the air became.

The sunlight seemed to be mostly absorbed by those bizarrely shaped black rocks. The lighting inside the stone forest was dim, which was always somewhat uncomfortable for humans.

[It's pitch black... so scary.]

[Hugging the commenter above, I'm scared too.]

[+10086, barrage protect me, Little An protect me.]

It seemed it wasn't just him; even the live comments felt creeped out through the screen. However, to prevent the screen full of comments from affecting his combat, Chen Guan chose to temporarily turn off the barrage. Suddenly, his field of vision became clear.

The moment they stepped into the stone forest, Su Yuehe raised her piccolo and played a low, prolonged investigative sonic wave.

Chen Guan and An Changqing also immediately heightened their vigilance to the maximum. An Changqing's longsword was slightly unsheathed, while Chen Guan gripped his scythe in his hand. An Changqing glanced at the suddenly appearing black scythe, his heart stirring slightly.

Could it be that Chen Guan was finally going to use his hidden power?

The stone forest was terrifyingly quiet. There was only the whimpering sound of the wind passing through the rock crevices, along with their own faint footsteps and breathing.

After walking for about a hundred meters, Su Yuehe suddenly stopped, her expression changing slightly: "Careful! In all directions, there are many of them. They are moving in the shadows, very fast."

Almost the moment her voice faded, the surrounding shadows seemed to come alive.

Several pitch-black, liquid-like figures dashed out silently from the shadows of the strange rocks, moving so fast that only afterimages remained.

Their bodies were slightly larger than ordinary wolves, entirely covered in matte black fur. Their limbs were long and vigorous, their sharp claws gleaming with a faint blue luster in the dim light, and their scarlet eyes were exceptionally piercing.

The newcomers were precisely the Shadow Wolves. There were no less than ten of them, pouncing from different directions in an encircling formation.

"Back to back," An Changqing shouted in a low voice. Instead of retreating, he advanced, taking the initiative to meet the three Shadow Wolves pouncing from the front.

His longsword left its sheath, and a golden light burst forth. The fierce sword aura instantly forced back two of the Shadow Wolves, while the third had its neck slashed by his sword, leaving a deep wound as it fell with a howl.

Chen Guan's reaction was not slow in the slightest. He spun around abruptly, using the black iron coffin on his back as a barrier to protect his and Su Yuehe's rear.

At the same time, the scythe in his hand traced an arc of light, slashing towards the waist of a Shadow Wolf pouncing from the side.

That Shadow Wolf was exceptionally agile. In mid-air, it strangely twisted its body and narrowly avoided the scythe's blade. It was only struck on its hind leg by the end of the handle, letting out a grunt of pain before landing and quickly vanishing into the nearby shadows.