Zectas Volume III: Malediction of Veneficatl Valley (17 page)

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Sierra received important calls from Adder about the situation in Verbrannt. Problems with the different immigrants and races had increased.
She asked him to create smaller communities and give all the different immigrants their own space for now. She wanted to return, but she could not leave without defeating this other Alpha.
The rushed training with her new pack only lasted two days. It was extremely short, yet in that span of time, her werewolf pack had hunted ancient bisons and war elephants with surgical precision.
After each hunt, she would share their food equally to all her pack members. This gave the previously low-ranked members of the pack a noticeable increase in Strength and Agility.
Sierra also made sure to allow more experience points to go to Phen and Rear. In the past two days, her level hadn't increased at all, but the levels of the two Betas increased by 2.
This unorthodox method intrigued the pack and it greatly increased her intimacy with each pack member. As a whole, her werewolf pack had reached 90% Intimacy.
At that point, she gained another ability.

Sierra enjoyed the many achievements she earned by herself. 'I guess Smoke is right - it is better to focus on yourself.'
She had not experienced this many improvements to her character since she joined Smoke, but now it was as if a limiter had been removed from her.
'My werewolf pack's abilities may have increased, but I want to spend another two days increasing their levels. Phen, Rear. Plot a course towards your old territory.'
Her thoughts would only be heard by her pack members as her Pack Mental link was always enabled. Sierra was bothered at first, but she found that she had nothing to hide from her werewolf pack.
They hunted monsters along the way with intention of fighting other werewolves. If there were no monsters to hunt, they would have skirmishes amongst themselves.
The Gray Gammas, Black Deltas, Brown Epsilons and Red Omegas learned to cooperate outside of their own special squad. This was all thanks to Phen and Rear's training method.
The two Betas would pick several pack members at random and assign them into a team. This not only allowed for everyone to expanded their pack efficiency, but also increased their camaraderie with one another.
At the end of the first day of their two-day journey towards the other Alpha's territory, Sierra sensed other werewolves running towards them.
This pack had fourteen werewolves alongside two Betas and an unusually large Therianthrope. She assumed this Therianthrope was the other Alpha.
Sierra roared loudly and called her pack to attention. The red werebear ordered them to head to the plains. She wanted terrain with no hiding spots and no escape routes.
They formed a semicircle in anticipation of the other pack. It was one day earlier than she had planned, but she welcomed the other pack's challenge.
When the enemies came into view, Sierra was surprised to see a white werebear leading the other pack from the front. 'Of course! Why in the world was I thinking that the other Alpha would be a very large werewolf?' She thought to herself.
The white werebear brought his pack members to a halt when they were twenty meters away Sierra's pack. He stood up straight and called out to Sierra.
"Finally! I've been searching for you ever since I got this curse. We are destined to be together, you and I." The white werebear aimed a devilish smile at Sierra.
Sierra raised her eyebrow. "You're a Zectian. Why would you say that we're destined to be together?"
"Oh? I take it you haven't spoken with Mistress Horrabelle? We are her magical creations. She even begged her sisters to lend some of their powers to her just to create us."
"Horrabelle? I don't know anyone by that name."
"Perhaps you might know her other name - The horrid witch of Wysteria."
Sierra's eyes turned blood-red with rage. This was the witch she had been hunting for.
The white werebear went on to say. "I'm Wodin. Father of our future pack. Did you know that a werewolf pack doubles its overall abilities when it has a male and female Alpha? So, I've come here to meet you. I'm guessing that you were rushing to me to unite our packs, right?"
"You're partially right, but my pack will only have one Alpha." The red werebear growled at Wodin.
The white werebear raised his paws in the air. "Stop! If we fight now, I can assure you that we will lose precious members of our pack."
Sierra held her ground. She agreed with what Wodin said. She did want more members into her pack. At thirty-four versus sixteen, her pack's victory over Wodin's was assured. However, it did not guarantee that she would have thirty-four members left after their battle.
Her thoughts disrupted when she heard Wodin speak up.
"I have a proposal for you. A straight up one-on-one battle. If I win, you will become mine and we will lead the pack together."
The red werebear looked at her pack members. Her gaze lingered on Phen and Rear. "You didn't even mention what I could get if I win."
The white werebear answered with a smug smile. "Well, that will never happen. So I didn't bother to bring it up."
"A one-on-one would be fine, but it wouldn't show off our abilities as Alphas. I propose a three-on-three. You and your Betas against me and mine."
"I have no problem with that. Geraz and Frekaz, step forward."
Two Beta werewolves with furs of brown and red were larger than an average werewolf. Yet Sierra didn't fail to notice that Wodin's Betas were slightly smaller when compared to Phen and Rear.
Sierra recognized Wodin's red Beta werewolf from Phen's inaccessible folder.
Wodin's Beta werewolves walked proudly into the circle created between the two packs. They stopped when they reached their Alpha.
Sierra gave her orders through the Mental Pack link. 'Phen, Rear, make yourselves look smaller and weaker.'
Without question, Phen and Rear did as they were told. They walked towards the inner circle with their tails between their legs.
Sierra keenly observed all of her opponents' reactions. Geraz lightly punched Frekaz's shoulder and gave him a knowing nod.
'Phen, Rear, you two first take Geraz head on. Don't give him a chance to move at all. Wodin looks strong. There is a fifty-fifty chance he could kill me. I want you to come to my side ASAP.'
Both of Sierra's Beta werewolves replied in unison. 'Your will, our claws!'
The red werebear stared straight into the white werebear's eyes and with a howl, their battle for unifying the Lycanthrope Pack began.
With both of his sharp claws up over his shoulders, Wodin came rushing towards Sierra. The red werebear had high confidence in her defense, so she calmly planted her feet into the ground and made a cross guard with her arms.
Wodin's claws deeply scratched Sierra's arms and damaged her for 30,000 points each. Sierra's life bar displayed (246,433/356,433 HP).
This was only the second time she had received such high damage from a simple attack. The first time was from Mitleid, the Maneator King.
Sierra reflexively dodged Wodin's next attack and pushed him away with a counter attack. She used her Double Slash ability and sent the white werebear five meters away from her.
This gave her enough time to check on Phen and Rear. After she saw the progress of her Beta werewolves' battle, she resumed her evasive maneuvers.
She dodged each of Wodin's attacks by retreating slowly. She led him away from the Betas' fight. None of Wodin's attacks reached her.
She wondered whether she was indeed faster than the white werebear. It was possible that Wodin had his own plan. 'Over thinking won't do me any good.'
Sierra remained calm and focused. She took a step back and taunted the white werebear. "This is it, Wodin. This will be our last exchange."
Wodin leapt into the air and aimed his claws at the red werebear. Sierra checked on Phen and Rear once again. This time, she smiled. She took on a defensive stance and planted her feet into the ground.
Wodin's attack was coming straight for the red werebear, but this time Sierra did not bother to cross her arms to block it. She took the white werebear's claws straight into her stomach.
The white Alpha's eyes widened in fear. Sierra understood then and there that Wodin had no intention of killing her. Sierra's life bar had been reduced to (126,4333/356,433 HP).
After Wodin's attack, Sierra executed her plan immediately. She held firmly onto Wodin's arms and used all of her strength to hold them.
The white werebear tried to escape Sierra's herculean grip but was unable to. As Wodin was focused on retrieving his paws, Phen and Rear came from behind him and severed both of his legs after a series of well-coordinated strikes.
Sierra held on firmly to an amputated Wodin. She could feel Wodin's pain as his claws trembled inside her stomach.
"I bet you're thinking how such a thing can be happening. Let me tell you what I learned as an Alpha... It always pays off to take notice of all your pack members."
Wodin strained his neck and saw decapitated bodies of Geraz and Frekaz behind him.
"Wodin, your overconfidence was the key to my victory today. Too bad you won't have a tomorrow to learn from this mistake."
Phen came forward and bit off Wodin's left while Rear did the same attack on Wodin's right arm. Sierra painfully took out Wodin's claws from her stomach.
With apathy, Sierra watched Wodin's stumped body being devoured by Phen and Rear. The gray werewolf went straight for the head while Rear wolfed down the white werebear's intestines.
Normally, she would not allow for such a horrific act to occur, but she needed to show this to Wodin's pack members. For them to know that she was the rightful ruler of the unified pack.

Phen and Rear gathered Wodin, Geraz and Frekaz's loot. They gave all three items to Sierra. The red werebear received a Druid's mace, a Witch's cloak, and an Alchemist's belt.
Sadly, these items could only be added to her Backpack window for now. In her werebear form, she could not equip these items.
However, a different information window popped up and surprised her.

Sierra grinned proudly. She excitedly got to know each of her new pack members.
 

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Smoke checked his surroundings. He couldn't believe the battle he was witnessing. He carefully studied whether the participants of the battle below him had sensed his presence. If he had not seen it with his own eyes, he would have doubted it being true. He recalled how he found the party of ten Sonstwelters accompanied by one Zectian each.
He assumed that the Zectians accompanying the Sonstwelters were either hired mercenaries or their own personal guards.
He thought that it was rare finding another Sonstwelter this far out in the Wysteria continent. So he decided to follow them for a while.
Mount Yunggo was a host to a variety of monster lifeforms, but the aggressive ones were limited to below ten species. The unknown party of twenty went up against the monsters of Mount Yunggo with ease.
The aggressive monsters they faced were an army of tree frogs, a pack of badger dogs and a family of ruby bears. They dealt with the monsters like they were made of paper.
The three-foot slimy tree frogs' poison was usually lethal. The small-sized monsters would attack in hundreds. They would use their tongues like whips and poison their targets.
Luckily for Smoke, his high poison resistance protected him from the tree frog's poison attacks. They left him alone after realizing they could not harm him.
The unknown party, who had no poison resistance, relied on the Zectians who accompanied them. All ten Zectians had the Job of Battle Monks.
They had an ability called Antidote shield which protected themselves and the Sonstwelter they were paired with. Two Sonstwelters stepped to the front of the party.
One was a female HighElf Aero Magus. She had long braided red hair which reminded Smoke of Sierra. She took out her wand and created a whirlwind strong enough to pick up all the loose rocks, logs and leaves nearby, as well as the tree frogs, and vacuumed them all inside.
Smoke had to use his rare gloves, the Claws of Chiropterra, in order to get a strong grip on the tree he was on. Otherwise, he would have also been sucked into the whirlwind.
The other party member was a male Human with unruly black hair. He followed the Aero Magus' attack with a lightning surge aimed at the monsters caught in the whirlwind.
Huge bolts of electricity were coming out from the Electro Magus' wand as he kept on killing the tree frogs until he finished off all of them.
The Aero Magus dispersed the whirlwind and the party of twenty people climbed up to the next level of Mount Yunggo. There, they faced the badger dogs.
These monsters were the masters of the middle tier of Mount Yunggo. The badger dogs only had a body length of 1.8 meters from head to tail, but their deadly attributes were their coordination, stealth, and speed.
The badger dogs built an intricate tunnel system in the mountain. They would spring out and attack stone deers, rabid racoons and sometimes a ruby bear if the opportunity presented itself.
Since Smoke was stalking the party, he decided to remain on top of the trees. When the party reached the middle level of the mountain, forty badger dogs came out from their burrows hidden in the mountainside and surrounded them.
The Zectian Battle Monks proved to be very formidable hand-to-hand fighters, as each of them dealt with two badger dogs at a time.
As soon as the badger dogs leapt out to attack them, they were met with spiked metal gloves worn by the Battle Monks. The monsters' skulls were getting bashed in by the sheer impact of the gloves.
The party's six Daemon Knights equipped with demon bone armor took out their black Ogre slayer swords and shields. It only took two slashes from their lengthy swords to kill a badger dog.
In a flash, the whole pack of forty badger dogs was wiped out. He heard one of the Daemon Knights shout. "You can't handle us. No one can stop the Dikaya guild!"
Two male Lioumerean lions with the job of Arch Bishops equipped with red and blue Bishop vestments reprimanded the boisterous Daemon Knight at the same time.
"I told you to keep your voice down." Said the Arch Bishop clothed in red vestment.
However, the Daemon Knight kept on making loud noises. The two Arch Bishops simultaneously attacked him with a Purification Ball.
The force of the surprise attack pushed the Daemon Knight down to the ground. The Arch Bishops' synchronized attack made Smoke realize that these two Sonstwelters looked exactly the same.
He immediately thought that the two lion Lioumereans were identical twins. From the reactions of the rest of the Dikaya guild, Smoke could tell that these two were their leaders.
The blue Arch Bishop then addressed the rest of his party members. "If you ever want to catch up to Decane, you better stick to our rules."
With sullen faces, the rest of the party members followed the red and the blue Arch Bishop up to the next level of Mount Yunggo.
There, the party of twenty saw the entrance to a cave where they met the ruby bears. The three-meter monsters emitted a red glow from their sharp ruby-like bodies.
Ten ruby bears came out from the cave and engaged the party of twenty in a fierce battle. The party was in a disadvantageous position of being on lower ground.
Fighting on an inclined surface was generally favorable for those higher up, and the ruby bears looked like they understood this concept as well.
The hardened monsters charged downwards at full speed. The Aero Magus and Electro Magus attacked with their spells at the same time, but their attacks simply bounced off of the ruby bears.
The Daemon Knights met the ruby bears' charge with their shields. Each Daemon Knight managed to stop one ruby bear, but there were four more charging at the Dikaya guild.
Always on the lookout, the Battle Monks tried to double-team the four ruby bears, but their metal gloves could not penetrate the ruby bears' hard armor.
The four charging ruby bears pushed on unperturbed. The red monsters went after the Arch Bishops and Elemental Magi behind the Battle Monks.
Boldly, the Arch Bishops stepped in front of the Elemental Magi. Both of them placed their cleric maces on the ground and created casting circles with Anti-Blessing runes written around them.
With the downward force and the speed that the ruby bears ran at, they could not help but step into the blue and the red Arch Bishop's casting circles of Anti-Blessing.
As soon as the monsters made contact with the casting circle, their hard ruby-like armor turned into red fur. Ten Battle Monks jumped at the four furry ruby bears.
The Battle Monks' metal gloves dealt their intended damage. Sound of broken bones could be heard with each impact.
The two Lioumerean Arch Bishops roared. This time, the two of them ran to help the Daemon Knights locked in combat with the ruby bears still equipped with ruby-like armor.
Careful to remain unnoticed, the red Arch Bishop cleverly positioned himself behind the ruby bears and created an Anti-Blessing casting circle right under the ruby bears' feet.
At the same time, the blue Arch Bishop cast an aerial spell Offensive Blessing on the Daemon Knights. Two golden sword icons appeared over the Daemon Knights' heads.
With the ruby bears' ruby-like armor dispersed, all six Daemon Knights attacked in a synchronized manner. They lopped off the ruby bears' arms and sliced off their heads.
Smoke wasn't sure how these Sonstwelters learned about the exponential damage inflicted by lopping off limbs and then going for the head, but it clearly showed that these members of the Dikaya guild knew what they were doing.
After the battle, the red Arch Bishop replenished the party members' life bars with another aerial spell. Red crosses appeared over their heads.
The blue Arch Bishop did a similar gesture, but this time blue stars appeared over their heads. With their life and mana bars both filled, they took out pieces of bread to increase their Satiety.
Smoke thought that his method of preparing meals was better, as it raised intimacy amongst comrades and the delicious taste of the dish was very realistic, but he envied how cost-efficient Dikaya's methods were.
The DarkElf situated on a redwood tree noticed that the party began preparing their equipment. He did the same. He was ready to jump to the next tree, but stopped once he noticed the presence of four Human-sized creatures approaching.
He saw four Simiavulgs carrying long black metallic staves step out of the bushes and into plain view. The group had all four of the Simiavulgs sub-races. A gorilla, a chimpanzee, a gibbon and an orangutan.
The DarkElf remembered Eldmar's description of them having Humanlike stature, but with dominant apelike features.
The gorilla Simiavulg stood at a height of six feet and two inches. He had black fur covering most of his arms and legs. His hair had a military cut and it stood up increasing his height in appearance.
The chimpanzee Simiavulg was the shortest among the four. She stood at a height of five feet. Her black hair was so straight that Smoke thought she could work as a shampoo model. Provided that only her hair was seen.
The female gibbon Simiavulg stood beside the chimpanzee and she had an equally beautiful blond hair but this was curvy and bouncy.
Finally, the male orangutan Simiavulg walked in front of the three Simiavulgs and spoke out to the Dikaya guild.
"You have entered Simiavulg territory. Leave now and no harm will come to you."
The red Arch Bishop replied with a big smile. "At last. We've found the Simiavulgs. We've been looking for your village for quite some time."
The blue Arch Bishop added. "We're not leaving, especially now that we've found what we were looking for."
"Please leave peacefully. Cuezaltzin would not wish for us to shed any needless blood." Pleaded the orangutan Simiavulg.
"We're here to increase our strength. A quest informed us that if you train in a Simiavulg Village for a month you could get unimaginable powers. We don't know if it's an item or a level increase but we're dying to find out."
"Howk, howk. That might be difficult since there hasn't been a non Simiavulg in our village for hundreds of years." The gorilla Simiavulg answered back.
The blue Arch Bishop let out a maniacal laughter. "BWAHAHAHAHA. True, but we know that if we defeat you, you will be obliged to take us to your village."
Despite the Simiavulgs pleas the Dikaya guild went on the offensive. Immediately, the Arch Bishops cast buffs on their party members.
The Aero Magus cast her strong whirlwind and it picked up all the loose objects in the area. A dust tornado formed around the four Simiavulgs and they disappeared into the tornado.
Lightning struck down from the heavens as the storm clouds gathered by the Electro Magus appeared. Bolts of lightning kept on attacking the insides of the tornado.
The red Arch Bishops created an inner Anti-Blessing casting circle while the blue Arch Bishop created an outer version of the same ability.
The double Anti-Blessing casting circle would not alone remove all buffs but would decrease the life and defense of its victims by at least 30%.
Three minutes passed and the tornado and lightning's power started to fade as their Magus ran out of mana. Twenty Dikaya members surrounded the area near the tornado's edge.
When the Aero Magus' tornado attack finally dispersed, the Dikaya members found four Simiavulgs intact. Their targets holding firmly onto their black metallic staves.
The Simiavulgs' life bars appeared and it revealed that all of them had over 250,000 HP. Yet, the truly terrifying thing was that even after the tornado and the lightning attacks, all of the Simiavulgs' lives remained at 100%.
The Daemon Knights and Battle Monks ran towards the unscathed Simiavulgs. Their Ogre slayer swords pointed up to the sky and came crashing down against the Simiavulgs.
A yellow force field covered the four Simiavulgs in a dome like shield. None of the Daemon Knights' swords could penetrate the barrier.
The Battle Monks metal gloves only created sharp ringing sounds every time they made contact with the yellow force field.
Three minutes of constant sword strikes and metal gloves pounding ensued against the Simiavulgs' yellow barrier. Yet, Dikaya's members could not make a single dent.
Special attacks from the Daemon Knights and Battle Monks all used mana, and they stopped when they all ran out of it. The two female Simiavulgs stepped outside of the barrier when their attacks ceased.
In a flash, the chimpanzee Simiavulg and the gibbon Simiavulg rammed their black metallic staves into the Sonstwelter Daemon Knights. Instantly killing two of Dikaya's members in a single attack.
The Aero and Electro Magus were both about to drink a blue potion bottle when the orangutan's black metallic staff skewered both of the two Sonstwelters at the same time.
After witnessing the one-hit-one-kill ability of the Simiavulgs, both of the Arch Bishops started to retreat, only to be faced with the gorilla Simiavulg.
"You should have listened to what Doctus was offering you. He told you to leave quietly, right?"
In sudden panic, the red and the blue Arch Bishops used up all of their known abilities against the gorilla Simiavulg. They cast various purging orbs, toxin orbs, anything they could think of until they used up their last mana point.
The gorilla Simiavulg grinned from within his barrier. "Tsk tsk tsk. I told you, you should have listened to Doctus. Oh well, know that I, Tenvis shall wait for your return if you are stupid enough to do so."
Tenvis ended his barrier and raised his black metallic staff over his shoulder.
KLOOGG! KLOOGG!
A swift downward-motion strike to each Arch Bishops head knocked them to the ground and killed them. The orangutan faced the Battle Monks and asked them.