The Calling of Wrath - Book 2 - Chapter 43 - Short Lasting Combat (Patreon)

You may ignore these lines as they are because a certain website is stupid and has made some stupid new changes.

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                                                                 Cassandra
                                               Year 820 | Month 3 | Day 26

I continue to study all of the monsters for a few minutes, just watching as they move about fighting over veins. And during this time, I come to a few conclusions.

One, they seem to only be fighting amongst their own species, making each vein opening only have one specific species fighting over it. Which implies they have enough intelligence to reason with each other and delegate these vein openings. That or they’re just being forced to act like this by the lich or the wyverns.

Two, all of the monsters are around the same level as me on average, most of which being somewhere between levels 25 and 29. Only two of which are at the peak of Tier 3, both of whom are just kind of hogging an opening to themselves like the wyverns.

Guess those two are the leaders of the yetis and ice wraiths? Both of them really just look like slightly larger versions of the other ice wraiths and yetis. The yeti being nearly four meters tall with stark white fur, the form of a bear that’s walking more like a human than a bear, and glowing blue claws and eyes, and the ice wraith being a ghostly specter similar to the reavers back in the Dark Forest, but leaking an icy mist and having undead-seeming faces.

And of course, the last conclusion I came to was to not bother the lich. Since one of the yetis for some reason decided to try and ended up turned into a skeleton who is now stuck guarding him within seconds of stepping within a hundred meters of the creature.

Not that I was gonna bother a Tier 4 creature anyways. Especially one that didn’t seem intent on bothering me.

I let out a sigh before getting up from where I was crouching at the edge of the glacier’s top.

Well, if I had to pick an opponent between the yeti and the ice wraiths, I think I’d pick the ice wraiths. Purely because the creatures are weaker towards me, what with my claws’ ability to pierce ethereal creatures.

From what I’ve come to understand, since this System came about at least, ethereal creatures are generally immune to most physical attacks and can only be hurt by magical ones, or items capable of hurting them. Which on average means they are physically weaker and more breakable than non-ethereal creatures. In fact, the only reason these ice wraiths aren’t fighting the yetis is clearly because they can harm them through their little frost bite inducing claws.

And the yetis likely aren’t fighting them because of the nuisance that their ethereal form causes. So they’re instead just fighting amongst themselves.

I extend my claws before knocking my hood back off of my head and grinning down at the vein below.

Now to pick a vein opening.

Amongst the twelve openings down there with ice wraiths competing over them, there are about six Tier 3 wraiths at each opening. But two of them in particular have less, with only two of them there. Both of which being on the outskirts of the vein itself. Which is likely why there are fewer there.

On the outskirts or not, though, I immediately lock my sights on the one closest to me before identifying each of the wraiths there and finding that they’re all around my level.

So I jump down from the top of the glacier, slowing my fall a little bit with my aura thickly spread out around me until I make a small crater in the ground from my landing. This attracts the attention of some of the wraiths and yetis, but most of them just begin to ignore me when they notice me heading towards an opening that’s not theirs.

The ones at the opening I’m going to, on the other hand, immediately stop fighting and tense up, making a bit of distance between us as I walk up.

Out of the corner of my eye, I can’t help but notice the leader of the ice wraiths stop for a second to look at me, only to continue sipping the drops of ichor leaving the vein without paying me any mind.

As I thought. It doesn’t care.

And the lich just grins at me and tips his head before continuing as well.

How a lich is able to grin is beyond me, but he did. And it’s honestly creeping me out.

The ice wraiths at the vein opening begin to hiss once I get within a dozen meters of it, joining their little encirclement. Then I flare out my aura a little bit, just enough to cover our area, before I rush straight at the nearest ice wraith. This immediately causes the others to begin moving as well, two of them going at each other with the other two coming towards me. One of which being the one I charged towards.

The creature raises its chilly claws, but it’s too slow for me and I duck straight under it, avoiding both it and the one heading towards my back as I swipe my claws on my right hand upwards in the process, cutting straight into the creature and leaving wisps of red Wrath energy in its wake across its body. And the creature immediately lets out a howl of pain that seems to bring silence to the entire vein as everything looks our way. Even I can’t help but tilt my head a little in confusion as I see the ice wraith suddenly collapsing to the ground while shrilly screaming in pain.

“Uh…” I mutter, just blinking in confusion as everything around me watches the wraith writhe in agony. “I don’t think I scratched you hard enough for you to be doing that.”

I mean, it’s just a single swipe of my claws against something a level above me. Why is it having such a big reaction?

“Interesting.” I hear an eerie, deep voice echo in my ear, making me physically jump in fright. And when I turn around, I immediately find the lich standing right behind me, alternating his gaze between me and the ice wraith. Meanwhile all of the other ice wraiths immediately back off, sending looks of fear towards both me and the lich as the lich starts to focus his empty, soulless gaze on my eyes. “Very interesting.”

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