Silas laughed, seeing Dwayne able to keep up with him despite Silas's assassin background—and Dwayne being a mere student.
Guess being part of the game's main cast had its perks.
Spinning around, Silas caught two more wolves lunging at him simultaneously, barely dodging their snapping fangs as he grazed their skin, the white sparkle in his eyes glowing even brighter.
"Twin Flash Fire!"
He yelled, both arms firing concentrated blasts of fire at once, taking out the two wolves in a single strike.
[EXP: 100]
Silas laughed again as he caught sight of Dwayne handling the rest of the wolves, relying more on brute strength than technique.
"Flame Whip!"
Dwayne roared, conjuring a blazing whip into his hand and incinerating three wolves in one sweeping arc.
Silas grinned widely. Good thing he wasn't stuck with some greenhorns who got queasy at the sight of blood.
Then, another wolf lunged at Dwayne—the last one—its eyes glowing bright red, clearly the leader of the pack.
"Combustion Rune!"
Silas stretched out his arms once more, pointing directly at the final wolf.
"Explosive Railgun!"
And finally... my new ultimate move!
He shouted in glee as a concentrated beam of compressed air blasted from his palm, striking the wolf square in the cranium. In the next instant, the bullet path where the air had traveled erupted in a chain of explosions.
The sheer force launched Silas backward, his body tumbling across the grass and dirt.
"Oh man! That was... incredible!" he gasped, now covered in dirt, exhaustion flooding his limbs.
[Mana Supply: Low]
"You know... I didn't really take that into account..."
He let out a breathless chuckle before collapsing, the last thing he saw being Dwayne, standing over him with a wide grin on his face.
After what seemed like only a second, Silas woke up again.
The forest was now cloaked in the dead of night, and the once makeshift fire fort had transformed into a real stronghold—built from rocks, logs, and dirt.
The night air was heavy with mist, the trees creaking in the wind like old bones. Somewhere in the distance, a wolf howled—a reminder that survival here was only temporary.
"Huh... so that's the result of using too much mana, huh?"
He let out a satisfied sigh, amused by the incredible power he had unleashed.
Then, from behind him, a voice spoke up—it was Dwayne, now wearing a makeshift amulet fashioned from bones, with a glowing red eye in the center—the same as the wolf pack's leader.
"Finally up?"
Dwayne said, tossing Silas a rock engraved with a water rune.
"You bet."
Silas chuckled, using the little mana he had left to imbue the rune with magic. A stream of water trickled out, and he eagerly drank from it.
"Man... that hit the spot."
Silas wiped his mouth, refreshed.
Dwayne laughed in amusement, watching a student from such a prestigious school drink from a crude rune-etched rock without a second thought.
"What's up with you, anyway? You used combustion magic back there. You related to the
Bravehearts?"
Dwayne asked, squatting beside Silas, who was still sprawled on the ground.
Silas only laughed.
"Nah, just a genius."
Dwayne raised an eyebrow, then smirked and stood up again.
"You're gonna fit right in with the rest of us."
Silas chuckled, but another question that had been lingering in his mind finally slipped out.
"So, uh... it's already night... Ain't anyone gonna come looking for us?"
Dwayne laughed, drawing an earth rune in the air and lifting a massive slab of dirt to block the fort's only entrance.
"This whole place is locked with a time rune. Time moves faster here than outside."
Silas stood up, brushing dirt off his uniform.
"Guess this ain't your first time here?"
Dwayne placed a hand on his chest, pride flashing in his eyes.
"Been here five times already! But it still feels like hell."
Silas chuckled again, wandering over to inspect the fort the other delinquents had built.
Sturdy wooden walls reinforced with dirt served as the foundation, and piles of rocks were neatly stacked at key points, ready to be used as projectiles when the next attack came.
"Guess the others aren't new to this, either."
Cracking his neck, Silas let out a sigh.
"Status Screen."
He declared it confidently, already getting the hang of it thanks to all the LitRPG novels he'd read back on Earth.