Notes: Alright so first off, I know I haven't updated in awhile so I figure I would let you know whats up. Its not that I haven't been writing, rather I have been writing a lot lately. I have just been spiting my efforts between so many things I haven't been able to put anything up. However I think I got a good line up of stuff prepared for you guys so look forward to it.
Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY and Also a special thanks to MartunaMajor for proof reading.
ROR Part 11: The Wolf's Den
Alpha Wing: Path of the Precursors
Jaune watched on with his jaw slackened and his expression twisted in bewilderment as he watched his guild leader land crushing blow after crushing blow on the Golems. By the time he witnessed the last one crumble beneath Nora's final attack, he almost found himself at a loss for words. "Amazing." That was about the only thing he could say, nothing else really described what he'd just witnessed.
Jaune had certainly heard that his pink clad guild leader was good, but there's a difference between being good and being down right godlike and he wasn't sure which really applied here. She'd not only managed to tank all three of those massive Golems at once without even being properly geared for the job, but she had also been the one to deal the finishing blow on each of them.
"She really is amazing, isn't she? With the way she acts even we sometimes forget that, but she does a good job of reminding us." Pyrrha declared as she came over to stand beside Jaune and join him in his gawking.
Noticing his friend's presence broke Jaune from his trance and he glanced over to see Pyrrha smiling at him. "Yeah, but how?" He asked.
Pyrrha gave Jaune a confused look. "How what? I'm not sure I understand the question."
"How was Nora taking all those hits? I've felt how hard those things hit and it's hard, but they didn't even seem to be fazing her once she got low. Also why is it that she sometimes hits super high numbers? A critical bonus shouldn't be able to boost the damage that much." Jaune inquired.
"Oh." Pyrrha said now understanding. "Well that is because of Nora's specializations, you know the way her skill points are spread out. What you have been seeing is likely her Battlecry ability and her Frenzy Mode.
"What do those abilities do? I haven't heard of them before." Jaune asked.
"Battlecry is a passive warrior ability that gives the user a damage buff on their first attack when entering a new encounter. Since Nora is specialized in that skill, her first attack is always a dozy. As for the Frenzy, well you know how Berserkers have that Rage mode, right?"
Jaune nodded. "Yeah, you mean like the one that bird guy used against you on the day we met?"
Pyrrha nodded. "Yes, the Berserker Rage is an ability that boosts the user's attack and defensive power based on the amount of health they are missing. Nora's is a bit different though, she has upgraded her Berserker's Rage into what is known as a Death Frenzy. While in her Frenzy mode, she not only reaps all the benefits of the Berserker Rage, but she is also effectively immortal. Until the ability times out, all damage that would take her below one health point is prevented. On top of that, her specialization allows the ability to trigger automatically when she falls below a certain threshold, in this case it's ten percent of her maximum health." She explained.
"Wow, that's cool!" Jaune declared before he glanced back towards his leader who seemed to be sifting through the rubble of the Golems like she was looking for something. He thought it was weird, but figured she must have been looking for loot. "By the way, how long does the Frenzy Mode last?" He inquired.
"Usually it lasts for about thirty seconds. After that it has a ten minute cooldown period before it will be useable again." Pyrrha replied.
"Oh, then I guess it should be wearing off any second now." Jaune mused before he was startled by a rumbling sound coming from his leader's direction. When he looked back towards Nora, he saw that she had pushed over a rock that had once been part of one of the Golem's heads. The rock was shaking violently and a moment later it exploded as one of the Geists that had been controlling the Golem's burst forth to hover above her. These ghostly figures had no faces, but based on the way the small gem in their foreheads was letting out a bright red glow, he could tell it was angry.
Nora jumped back from her enemy and took another fighting stance. She had known that this wasn't over quite yet. Just because they had no new bodies to return to didn't mean the Geists were dead. "Finally decided to show yourself, huh?! Where are your friends, surely they will want to join our little party!?" She barked and almost on queue the other two Geists burst from the rubble littered around the battlefield.
Noticing that the Geists were back out caused the rest of the party to surge into motion. "Into positions, everyone remember that physical damage won't hurt them!" Weiss shouted as she began preparing another spell.
Nora smirked. "Time to pay you guys back for all the trouble you just gave me! I won't be falling for any of your tricks so you best be prepared to di-" Nora was cut off when the last tick of her Death Frenzy wore off and a small damage indicator appeared above her head. She froze in confusion, before she remembered that she was still cursed and without her Frenzy keeping her from taking damage the curse had just claimed her last life point. "Son of a…" Her body lost color and she collapsed on the ground motionless.
The Geists seemed to become quite pleased with themselves and all swarmed Nora's body as if they intended to devourer her remains. "That dolt," Weiss muttered while shaking her head. "Everyone ready!?" She asked.
"Ready!" Little Red, Blake, and The Monkey King replied.
"Attack!" Weiss commanded causing the others to unleash a magical bombardment. Then a combination enchanted bullets, icy spears, balls of fire and light struck the Geists from all sides before the elements mixed together and caused an eruption. The Geists were instantly vaporized.
Alpha Wing: The Wolf's Den
Once the Geists had finally been dispatched and their remains had been looted, the party had decided to take a short break to restore their health, mana, buffs, and most importantly since Nora had died they needed to allow her enough time to revive herself. Then once their fearless leader sprung back on her feet, they set off and were now heading towards the lair of the first official boss of the Emerald Forest, the Alpha of the Doom Pack.
"I can't believe you guys stole my kills!" Nora complained in a huff.
"Oh would you stop pouting already?!" Weiss hissed. Weiss along with the rest of the party had been listening to the same complaints for the last five minutes and they were all growing tired of them. "You were dead! What did you want us to do there?!"
"You could have revived me!" Nora retorted.
Weiss scoffed. "And put my resurrection on cooldown right before a boss fight?! Don't be stupid!"
"Alright fine, but we could have at least had Blake use her Reanimation Jutsu! I mean, she's not even going to be fighting in the next encounter so what's the harm!?" Nora shot back while pointing towards the girl in question who didn't even seem to be paying attention.
Weiss actually seemed uncertain for a moment, but quickly recovered. "Well that's obviously because we can't be certain how things will pan out. That might be the plan now, but maybe something unexpected could happen that requires her to use it. It just seems silly to blow it on something so petty."
This time it was Nora who scoffed. "I guess, but since we're on the topic of being petty. There is something that has been bugging me about that last encounter. Why didn't you heal me after we defeated the Golems? I feel like this could have been easily avoided if you had." She asked in an accusing tone.
"Wha-what about it? I certainly didn't avoid healing you just to pay you back for all the trouble you caused. Nope, I wouldn't stoop so low." Weiss assured her leader in a tone that was somewhere between sarcastic and nervous.
"Treachery! High treason! Snow Angel, for your crimes against the crown I sentence you to death by tickle torture!" Nora declared before springing forward and landing on top of her white clad guild member and when the girl let out a startled squeak, Nora began mercilessly tickling her.
Watching this scene play out, Pyrrha let out a small amused chuckle and she shook her head. Then Jaune turned towards her and asked. "So is this normal for those two?"
Pyrrha gave him a nod. "Yeah, but it's not as bad as you might think. Those two actually get along quite well most of the time."
"Really?" Jaune asked, not quite believing his friend's words.
Pyrrha shrugged. "Well as you may have noticed, Snow Angel's personality can be more than a little abrasive at times. I've even heard that she's gotten kicked out of a few guilds before she joined up with ours because of it. However, that sort of thing just doesn't really matter to our leader. As long as the person is serious about this game and has the skills, you're in. Of course that doesn't stop Nora from pushing Snow Angel's buttons whenever possible. Though, I think the only reason Nora does that is to remind everyone, including the girl herself, that she's part of the gang."
"You think so?" Jaune asked as he took another look and noticed that Snow Angel, while being snappy and seemingly frustrated with their leaders antics, she didn't appear to be trying very hard to break away from the Berserker's grip. Sure Nora was likely stronger than Snow Angel, but If she really wanted to, she could just turn off her player collision to slip right through their leaders hands or she could even lower her sense of touch to counteract the tickle attack itself. "Hmm, I kind of see what you mean."
Pyrrha smiled before she returned her focus to the path ahead. The forest had been getting thicker and the tree campy was starting to become so dense that the light of the Sun wasn't able to penetrate. "We're getting close." She announced.
"You mean to the den of the Doom Pack?" Jaune inquired. Pyrrha gave him a nod in response. "Speaking of which, it's been bugging me for awhile. Why are they called the Doom Pack?"
Pyrrha hummed in thought for a moment before replying. "Well I'm not really sure myself, never actually looked into the lore, but I get the feeling it has something to do with that." She said while directing Jaune's gaze towards a white figure resting against a tree along the path ahead of them.
Because of the distance between him and the figure along with seemingly endless shadows the tree canopy was casting, Jaune wasn't quite sure what he was seeing at first. However, as he drew closer and began to make out more details he had to stifle a gasp. The figure turned out to be the remains of a long dead adventurer, now nothing more than a broken pile of bones wrapped in tattered red tinted clothing and rusted armor. By the looks of it, the adventurer had lost a lot of blood before death, but if he had to place bets on what actually did them in. Well then he would have to put his money on decapitation, if only because the former person's whole skull and part of their upper spine was nowhere to be found.
"That's not the only one." Pyrrha declared before she directed Jaune to similar remains sprawled out all over the forest path, all were missing their skulls.
"Gees, what the heck is this? Did the Doom Pack do this?" Jaune asked. He knew that these adventurers had never been alive and were mostly placed here as set pieces, but the thought that he would soon be fighting something theoretically capable of doing something like this to a person was still a little unsettling.
"Yes, I believe so. The Doom Pack isn't really like your typical wolf pack. They have very unique behaviors and abilities. One such behavior is the tendency to take trophies from their kills and wear them on their bodies." Pyrrha explained.
"Wait they're wearing them!?" Jaune shot back, Pyrrha nodded. "The skulls?" Jaune asked just to be clear, Pyrrha nodded again. "Why would a wolf wear a skull? Is it just video game logic?"
Pyrrha shrugged. "Maybe, like I said I don't really know that much. However, there is somebody here that I'm sure would know the answers." She said before she glanced over to the soul Ninja of their party, Black Cat. The girl in question was walking in pace with them a few feet away. "Hey Blake, I got a lore question for you!" Pyrrha called out.
Hearing her name and the word lore instantly caught the Ninja's attentions, even her character's cat ears shot up straight before her head snapped over to see Pyrrha and Jaune. "Did you say you have a lore question, Pyrrha?" She asked.
"Yeah, I was just wondering something about the Doom Pack. What are they exactly?" She inquired.
"Ah, the Doom Pack, they are quite interesting. Though, I feel like I should ask, do you want the long or the short answer?" Blake inquired.
Pyrrha looked to Jaune to see what he wanted to hear, but since he didn't really have any point of reference all he could do was shrug. Though, Pyrrha knew better so she replied with. "The short answer please."
Blake almost seemed disappointed by that response, but she bounced back quickly as she began to explain. "Alright, so basically there was once an evil witch with incredible magical power and this forest was her domain. Wanting to keep out unwanted intruders, the witch used her dark magic to place a curse on some of the local wildly. That's why the animals here are generally so large and aggressive. However, the Alpha of the Doom Pack was special, his body was infused with a part of the witch's very soul. This not only gave the witch complete control over the beast and by extension all of its minions, but it gave the wolf an equal amount of power and intellect. The witch did this so that the Alpha could guard the front gates if you will. These displays of brutality you see around you are likely a behavior left over from that time, much like how warlords would place heads on spikes to frighten off their enemies."
"I see, well that was interesting." Pyrrha said.
"Wait, so what about this witch? She is not a listed boss for this dungeon, so is she not around anymore?" Jaune inquired.
Blake's eyes seemed to light up after hearing Jaune's question. "Ah yes, I would actually like to know that myself. According to the lore the witch suddenly disappeared one day, leaving her creations to their own devices. A lot of people have been going back and forth on the threads trying to figure out who she actually is and why she left. Some think she invoked the wrath of the Ruby Queen and was killed by one of her followers. Others think she is not only still alive, but far more involved. Possibly even the true identity of the Reaper, though personally I strongly doubt that theory. There are just too many holes in it."
"Do you know how this new content plays into all of that?" Pyrrha asked.
Blake gave a nod. "I have the basic idea. Everyone on the forums kind of assumed she was here. After all, the developers couldn't have been much more obvious about it. It's kind of how the forest got its namesake."
"She?" Jaune inquired.
However before Jaune could get an answer to his question, a low growl coming from the path ahead followed shortly be the sound of weapons being drawn and his pick clad leader's booming voice. "We got some mobs ahead, you guys all know the drill, tanks forward, attackers at the ready, and Angel don't forget those heals this time!" Nora commanded casing everyone to snap into motion before she raised her own weapon and taking a fighting stance. Stood before him was a horde of warped black wolves covered from head to toe in pieces of human bone, their faces covered by a masked made from the skulls of their own kind and behind it their eyes gave off a menacing red glow. "Alright you monsters, who's first!?"
Nora and her minions had made quick work of the trash mobs that had blocked their path and now they had finally arrived at the boss chamber. Well perhaps chamber wasn't really the right word for it since it was basically just a pit at the bottom of a cliff face decorated with discarded bones of all shapes and sizes.
"Wow how nostalgic is this?" Nora asked to nobody in particular as she gazed out over the wolf's den. There were a few Doom Pack Wolves shuffling about in the perimeter while at its center rested a slightly larger wolf with a dirty white coat of fur. This wolf didn't seem to be wearing a skull mask like its brothers, but instead a necklace beaded with human skulls hung loosely from its neck. Seeing this wolf seemed to arouse some recollection in Nora and her smile deepened.
"It has been awhile since we've come here last, hasn't it?" Pyrrha asked.
"Yeah, not much of a surprise there though." Yang chimed in. "We didn't have much reason for coming until a few days ago when the patch hit. What with no new members and everyone already in our group having all the items they need from this dungeon. That's even counting our alternate accounts."
"Whelp guys, there's no sense dilly dallying, so I'm ready if you are?" Nora asked before glancing around and when everyone gave her a nod she smiled and turned back towards her enemies. "Awesome, then let's get in there and bust some skulls!" She shouted as she hoisted up her maul and her comrades joined her in a cheer before they all broke into a charge towards the center of the wolf's den.
Upon setting foot in the den proper, a few of the wolves patrolling the outer rim must have noticed that they had company since they jerked their head in the Crusaders direction. Now seeing their approaching enemy, their hateful red eyes narrowed into slits before they let out a chorus of growls and proceeded to give chase.
Seeing the wolves coming to intercept them, Nora called out to her two assassins. "Hey Jade, Cat, you two care to buy us some time!?" She asked. The two assassins in question both glanced in their leader's direction before giving her a quick nod and breaking away from the group in the direction of the incoming mobs.
Jaune watched with poorly hidden confusion as Blake and Jade intercepted the wolves, running right through them hacking and slashing randomly before coming out the other side and continuing to sprint off. After doing so, the wolves all came to a dead stop before spinning around on their heels and giving chase, leaving the rest of the party ignored.
"Okay, what the heck are they doing? I thought they weren't going to be a part of this fight?" Jaune inquired.
"They're not, well at least they won't really be a part of this fight." Pyrrha responded. When Jaune's questioning look persisted she decided to elaborate. "Since they're going to be leaving the area anyway, we're having them kite away the patrols while we engage the boss."
"Oh, I see!" Jaune exclaimed as understanding begun to sink in. He could see how that made sense, since it would mean they wouldn't have to fight as many enemies all at once. At least not right away, but there was one thing that still bugged him about it. "Wait, isn't the plan for them to gather the relics? How're they going to do that with a pack of wolves on their tail?"
Pyrrha giggled to herself before replying. "I wouldn't worry about those two, they're assassins after all. Their movement speed can easily outpace that of those wolves, and once they get far enough away they can simply activate their vanish abilities to reset their aggression levels and disappear from view. That will cause the wolves will lose interest and allow them to track down the relics uninhibited."
"That does seem sound." Jaune said with a nod. "By the way, is that the boss? He is not quite what I expected." He asked while directing his friend's attention back towards the large white wolf in the center of the den. The wolf in question seemed to have finally noticed their group and had gotten out of its resting position to face them.
Pyrrha shook her head. "Hmm not quite, take a look at his name." She told him.
Jaune did just that and read the name above the wolf's head aloud. "Fenrir, Herald of Doom. Level unknown and he is an elite monster. So he is elite class, not boss class?" Jaune took a brief moment to process this fact before speaking again. "So wait, if he isn't the boss, where is it?"
Pyrrha needn't had answered Jaune as the large white wolf took in a deep breath before letting out an ear splitting howl. Then he found himself unable to move, he wasn't sure why until he noticed a paralyzing debuff had been applied to him and many of his other teammates as a result of the howl. Then he heard Nora's excited voice cut through the echo of the howl. "Here he comes."
Jaune didn't really need to ask about who or even where because he could feel it. He could feel a sickening feeling creeping into him as the ground beneath his feet rumbled violently. Something incredibly large was moving at a ridiculously high speed and that rumbling seemed to resonate from the top of the cliff that was overlooking this wolf's den. When Jaune finally managed to crane his head up to look upon the source, he felt a new lance of fear shoot through him as his gazed met the first true boss of the Emerald Forest Dungeon, the Alpha of the Doom Pack.
Standing at nearly two stories tall, the Alpha dwarfed all the wolves they had seen up to this point, and yet despite the increase in size, the Alpha had managed to decorate nearly its whole body with the trophies of its previous kills. It even wore a skull mask like its brethren, however no wolf skull could possibly contain its head, so instead it had dawned the skull of a dragon. How the wolf had obtained the skull could only be guessed at, but it suggested that this wasn't a creature to be trifled with.
Jaune swallowed hard as he watched the Alpha begin it's descent from the cliff top. It kicked off the top into a straight drop before bounding off a large rocky outcropping about half way down and landing paws down into the far side of the den. Now on the ground, the Alpha began its slow saunter towards the center. Despite its careful steps, the ground beneath its feet shook and crumbled with each movement. Before long the mighty beast was looming over the Crusaders, glaring down upon them with such cold hatred that Jaune feared his blood might freeze solid in his veins.
It was then that the paralyses effect had worn off, but Jaune didn't notice until he saw Nora and the others begin to make experimental movements. Stretching out their limbs and rolling their shoulders to make sure they had full use of their bodies back. He also noticed that none of them exhibited any of the fear that he currently felt. Though some of their expressions were impossible to read behind their helmets, the ones he could make out were all focus and anticipation.
Not wanting to let his discomfort show, Jaune shook his head to dispel his negative thoughts and stepped forwards to stand in front of the party with his shield at the ready. Pyrrha followed suit and they gave each other a nod once they were in position.
That is when Nora tapped Jaune on the shoulder to get his attention. "Remember the plan. Leave the big one to Pyrrha, there will be more enemies coming before long and we'll need a spare tank to handle them when they do." She explained and Jaune gave a nod of understanding before taking a step back to allow Pyrrha the lead.
"Shall I? Pyrrha inquired.
Nora smiled. "Yeah, let's thrash this bone faced freak!"
Pyrrha needed no further confirmation and using her leap ability, she launched herself up off the ground like a loaded spring and soared up over the heads of the Alpha and his herald. Then when the two wolves glanced up to see the incoming enemy, she activated her Meter Strike ability to turn herself into a human projectile.
Seeing the attack coming, Fenrir broke away from its master at an unnaturally high speed, its body turning into a blur of motion as it went. As for the Alpha, the beast didn't seem the slightest bit interested in evading. Instead he used his strong hind legs kicked off the ground to meet Pyrrha half way. A moment later when the two collided, a shockwave erupted from the center and the force of the blast sent both wolf and warrior flying backward.
Despite the massive forces involved in the impact, Pyrrha had no trouble righting herself and even less sticking the landing. When her eyes met her massive opponent again, he was slamming into the ground a few yards way, landing with equal amounts of grace and poise. Then without missing a beat, she charged back in for another attack and now that the wolf's attention was squally on her, the other Crusaders soon followed suit.
The Yellow Dragon and The Monkey King rushed in to get in striking range while Snow Angel and Little Red chose to hang back to fight from a distance. As for Jaune, he was pulled aside by Nora and pointed in the direction of the fleeing Fenrir. "Keep an eye on that one, he's going to try flanking us!"
"I'm on it!" Jaune declared as he tried to train his eyes on the blur of white fur zipping around the den at a blinding speed. Tried being the keyword, since the wolf wasn't making it easy to track him. It was far faster than anything Jaune had encountered in the game so far. He supposed that made a lot of sense when he thought about it. This was his first time taking part in a real boss encounter after all, and it's kind of a given that these monsters would be a cut above the rest.
"Here he comes!" Nora warned when the white wolf finally zeroed in on them.
Heading his leader's warning, Jaune quickly made to raise his shield and brace himself for the impact and not a moment too soon as not a second later, the white wolf barreled into him with enough force to knock the air out of his lounges. Thank goodness his digital body didn't actually need air, not unless he was underwater of course. Game logic is so strange sometimes. Of course none of that was really important right now. What was important was the plus sized wolf that was currently pressing up against his shield and aggressively trying to claw out his throat, though Jaune got the feeling it would have settled for his intestines
Fenrir wasn't like the wolves Jaune had held back earlier on in the dungeon. This monster was twice their size and at least three times as mean. Worst of all its increased size came with longer reach. That was an advantage the beast made good use of as it repeatedly took swings over and around Jaune's shield and carving out large chunks of his life points.
"Ouch, hey not cool that really hur-OUCH! Crap this sucks!" Jaune complained as he fought to hold Fenrir back.
"Hey new guy, make some room. I got this!" Nora shouted, causing Jaune's eyes to be drawn to his leader who was falling out of the sky above them with her maul pulled back in a ready position.
"On it!" Jaune shouted back as he jumped back and when Fenrir made to press in on him again, he quickly pulled back his shield and activated his shield bash ability allowing him to jam his shield into the beast's face hard enough to force it backwards and stun it. Jaune was almost surprised that the attack actually worked. He'd heard that some boss level monsters were immune to stun and silence effects like this one, so either that just didn't apply to Elite monsters like Fenrir, or the beast was merely an exception and Jaune had just gotten lucky. Regardless he was quite pleased with himself all the same.
"Wah-pow!" Nora cheered as she slammed the head of her war maul down on the wolf's head. Upon contact, her battlecry ability kicked and caused a large hit marker to appear above the beast and taking an equally large chunk of its health bar along with it.
After being struck, Fenrir howled in what one could only assume is pain before it sprang backward in an attempt to put some distance between himself and his new attacker. However, Nora was instantly upon him once again, this time swinging wide and striking him in the side. On impact, Nora's maul made a meaty crunching sound before the beast was knocked off its feet and sent skidding across the ground a few feet away, and this time it was far slower to recover and it seemed be dazed when it did.
Nora didn't give her opponent the chance to recover as she pressed her advantage. Over and over she struck the beast, each of her strikes coming faster and harder than the last until the wolf was nearly at half health. It looked battered but still managed to look very threatening.
"Nice, what did you hit him with!?" Jaune inquired.
"It's an upgraded version of the crippling blow ability. I'm sure you're familiar with that one since you're a also a warrior. Though my version is called pulverize and it's unique to berserkers like me and Yellow Dragon. Great for when you literally want to bash some skulls in." Nora boasted.
Uninterested in Jaune and Nora's conversation, Fenrir charged in again intent on cutting down Nora. "Watch it!" Jaune warned as he rushed in between them with his shield held up to block the wolf's first attack, its claws dragged across the surface creating an ear rending screech.
"Good save, Jaunny boy!" Nora complemented. Then she quickly repaid Fenrir for offending her eardrums by slamming the business end of her maul into the side of the wolf's head, sending it toppling over once again. Then Nora looked like she was about to rush in again when an earth rattling howl began emanating from the direction of the main boss.
Jaune craned his head to see that the Alpha had already lost about ten percent of its max health, but the rest of his team were now all on the ground grasping at their ears while the massive beast howled into the sky. "What is that about?" He muttered to himself.
"Oh crap, phase two already! I better go help!" Nora declared before spinning on her heels and sprinting off towards the rest of the team only to stop a few feet away to yell back to Jaune. "Jaunny, I'm going to need you to hold our new friends off for a little bit. I will send you some help as soon as I can!"
"Wait, what!?" Jaune yelled back, but his leader was already out of earshot. Hearing a menacing growl, Jaune turned his focus back to Fenrir, but was stricken by confusion when it didn't seem like it was his doing. That is when he noticed movement in the surrounding tree line, dark shadows and red eyes jumping back and forth in a blur of motion. That was when he recalled something that had been mentioned earlier. "Oh right, the adds… Crap!"
Nora didn't like leaving Jaune hanging like she just had, if only because in this case she was literally throwing him to the wolves. However, she was sure he could handle himself. He was picked out by Pyrrha after all so there has to be more to him than meets the eye. Perhaps all he needs is a chance to really show his stuff.
Besides it wasn't like Nora had much choice in the matter. She had a rampaging boss to deal with and they would need all their heavy hitters to wrangle the beast. That is precisely why she had wanted to put Fenrir down before they reached the second phase. Now with all the extra wolves running around it will complicate things. Oh well, what can you do? She will just have to take it up a notch, or perhaps a few notches. It's not like she didn't have the energy to spare, rather she was enjoying herself far too much to slow down even if she wanted to. Spoiler alert, she didn't.
On her way towards the Alpha and the rest of her party, Nora spotted Little Red-or rather Ruby-crouched behind a small pile of human remains and taking shots at the boss from a distance. The sight of her friend taking cover like that made Nora giggle a little. She didn't see what good that pile of old bones was going to do her. If she actually pulled aggro, the Alpha would smash right through it in an instant. It's also not like she could use it to hide either since the Alpha's heightened senses made stealth useless. That's why they'd sent the assassins ahead in the first place. Though, she supposed the girl was just acting on instinct and it wasn't like it mattered one way or the other. There was no way Pyrrha was gonna let the Alpha out of her sights.
The red clad guardian in question was currently busy staving off continues attack from the enraged Alpha. Pyrrha was managing to hold her own, but the massive beast's claws were carving up the terrain around her with each exchange of blows and making it difficult to find good footing. With her feet struggling to find perches, Pyrrha had to forsake evasion dodge and take the Alpha's relentless onslaught head on. However the beast wasn't making it easy. Even with her incredibly high defense and her shield taking the brunt of the assault, her health bar was still steadily being chipped away.
"Hold on Pyrrha, I'm on my way!" Nora declared as she picked up the pace. Slowing only for a brief moment as she past Ruby to tap her on the shoulder and tell her. "Tag out, I got this! We got adds on the way, think you can cover the new guy for me?! Thanks a bunch, Red!" Nora shouted back not really listening for Ruby's response.
"I, what, huh? Hey!" Is all Ruby could get out before Nora continued on past her and was nearly out of earshot.
"There, she should be able to take some of the heat off of Jaune." Nora mused to herself. Gunslingers were generally good at dealing with fast moving targets like these wolves and Ruby was a marksmen. A skilled Marksmen like her could pick off most of the small fries before they got anywhere close to Jaune.
Satisfied that the new arrivals would be dealt with, Nora focused on the task at hand. Now that the Alpha had started to call for his minions, she knew that they had to kill him as soon as possible. Failure to do so would just mean the number of enemies would keep increasing endlessly and eventually they would be overrun.
Luckily it seemed like Nora's team was already making good progress on the killing front. Even if Pyrrha wasn't being left much room for counter attacking and Weiss was stuck chaining healing spells to keep the red clad guardian fortified, the others were going almost completely ignored by the boss. Yang was clawing at the Alpha's back legs to keep it off balance and lower his defense, the Monkey King was focusing on the beast's weak underbelly to maximize his damage, and up until a moment ago Ruby had been peppering his eyes with sniper rounds to throw off his accuracy. They were a well oiled machine to be sure.
"Let's see if he can ignore this!" Nora roared as she once again activated her leap ability to fling herself up into the air, clearing the remaining distance between her and the Alpha. The beast seemed to pay her no mind until she was right above it and she delivered a powerful strike to the side of its head.
The Alpha's skull rattled as its head jerked to the side and carried its body along with it to slam into the base of the cliff that surrounded the den. Upon impact a little chunk of its health bar vanished and the beast quickly shrugged it off and with renewed vigor he rushed back in to face his opponents.
Once Nora was right above the beast she readied for a strike. However, before Nora could actually follow through with the attack, the Alpha's behavior suddenly changed. Its glowing red eyes which had been locked on Pyrrha since their first exchange broke away from the guardian to glare up at Nora. Then the wolf breathed in deeply before unleashing a sonic howl so loud it vibrated the air in its wake and blew Nora backward like a concussive blast.
Nora wasn't too surprised by the boss's shift in awareness. She knew that the Alpha was more protective of its head than anything else. It makes sense due to the fact that his greatest weakness was actually hidden under that dragon mask of his. Because of that he tended to lash out at anyone the moment they come close to his head. That is why he had been so focused on Pyrrha up to this point. The Guardian's Meteor Strike had been aimed at the Alpha's head as well. It was a calculated move by her, a practiced strategy they often used in this encounter to guide the boss where they wanted him.
Now since Nora had been prepared, she was able to effortlessly right herself in the air as she fell and stuck the landing with enough grace to make an Olympic gymnast look envious. She didn't stop there though, the moment her feet touched the ground she was back in motion. Her heavy metal greaves kicked up digital dirt as she made a beeline back towards the boss.
"Be careful Nora, he's not happy!" Pyrrha warned once she realized that the boss was becoming increasingly less interested in her taunts.
"Yeah, it looks like you really pissed him off!" Yang chimed in as she tried in vain to jolly horse the beast's rear legs only to catch a hind kick to the face. "Ouch! You son of a-"
"Don't worry Pyr, I got this!" Nora shouted back as she picked up her pace.
Anticipating Nora's next attack, the Alpha disengaged the rest of the party and leapt towards the pink clad berserker. Its front claws were extended outward promising a visceral end to anything caught on the wrong side of them. Wanting no part of that Nora slowed her pace and jumped to the side just in time to avoid the flying mass of fur and hate.
Realizing that it's attack had missed its intended target. The boss spun around and began thrashing wildly, its razor sharp claws performing wide sweeping patterns in Nora's general direction. The pink clad berserker was managing to avoid the attacks easily enough, but every time she tried to advance on her opponent it would start to back pedal and attack even more aggressively.
After a few minutes of this exchange Nora was finally forced to block one of the boss' attacks and the force behind the blow was so great that she got thrown backward several feet. "Dang it, this guy isn't letting me get close!" Nora complained.
"Oh really, I wonder why!" Weiss deadpanned before letting loose another volley of icy lances that struck the Alpha in the side of the face.
Not appreciating the cold bite, the Alpha directed its gaze towards Weiss and looked like it was going to make a move towards the summoner, but soon found its path blocked by both Pyrrha and Nora. "Nora we need to work together on this one!" Pyrrha declared.
"Alright alright, I get it already! Can you guys help me slow this guy down!?" Nora asked.
"I'm already on it." Weiss declared as she began a new magical incantation.
"Good, Pyrrha can I get a distraction real quick!?" Nora inquired causing the red clad Guardian to glance in her direction. "Make it a big one!" She added while a swooping motion with her arms for emphases.
Pyrrha cracked a smile and gave her leader a nod. "Got it!" With that the gladiator activated all of her defensive buff abilities and rushed towards the boss while spamming taunts. "Over here please!"
The boss growled and grunted its displeasure, but switched its sights back on the guardian. With a snarl it lashed out towards her, but the moment his claw was about to make contact with the girl a transparent sphere of some kind materialized around her. When the claw struck this sphere it flashed brightly and the beast's claw bounced back and it came back hard, striking him in the face with all the strength he had put into the attack. The blow was so strong that it caused a massive hit marker to appear and send him staggering backwards.
Once the Alpha was facing upward and only supported by its hind legs, Pyrrha lept forward towards the beast's chest. "Meter Strike!" She roared making her body turn into a projectile which proceeded to crash into the boss' chest with a meaty crunch.
The Alpha wailed in pain as it was sent toppling over onto its back and its health bar took another sizable blow. It still had plenty of fight left in it as it quickly tried to roll its body so it could get back on its feet. However, before it could manage to right itself, it was struck with another wave of cold ice. Only this time it struck at its lower body, freezing its limbs to the ground.
After a failed attempt to pull itself free the Alpha let out a furious growl in the hero's direction, but it was quickly silenced when a pink clad girl wielding a maul flew into his line of sight right above his head. "Eat this!" She cheered as she brought the hammer down.
"Down boy! Sit, heel, or at least roll over and die you damn mutts!" Jaune spat angrily as he struggled to fend off attacks coming from seemingly every direction. The Doom Pack wasn't too much tougher than the wolves from earlier on in the dungeon, but those still weren't a walk in the park and that was with back up.
Now however, Jaune was left all on his own. He was forced to fight back more wolves than he could be bothered to count just to hold his ground. Even if he stopped to try counting them, he was fairly sure it would end with him being torn apart. If not by the hordes of black bone covered wolves than by their lightning fast beta Fenrir. The white wolf was still popping in and out of strike range to attack at Jaune's exposed flanks. It was really annoying.
During Fenrir's latest surprise attack, the best slammed itself directly into Jaune's right side while he was busy grappling with another wolf. Fortunately the beast didn't seem fit to use its razor sharp claws or teeth, but with the speed the beast was travelling the attack was more than enough to knock Jaune off his feet and send him flying across the den. His momentum was only halted when his body slammed into a pile of discarded remains, scattering bone fragments everywhere.
"Ouch, well that sucked." Jaune groaned before trying to pull himself up out of the pile. It was easier said than done since he was practically buried in the thing, and since his character's health was now below fifty percent he was experiencing a minor stat debuff. By the time he had managed to pull himself free, the Doom Pack had already spread out around the pile and surrounded him.
Jaune let out a deep sigh as he raised his shield and prepared himself to continue the fight. Then he heard what he could only assume was the sound of Nora engaging the Alpha in combat. While he couldn't see the two from his current position it did give him some comfort. "I need to keep my cool. This is all part of the plan and if I can hold out a little bit longer the others will be able to deal with the Alpha." He reassured himself.
However, Jaune's confidence soon died an ugly death when Fenrir once again reared his head, leaping up over the other wolves to land before him staring baneful daggers into Jaune's eyes. It was at that moment that Jaune got the feeling that this wasn't going to work out as swimmingly as he would've hoped.
That's when Jaune heard a sharp crack from somewhere behind him and he watched as the bone mask of one of the wolves in front of him was shattered and the head encased behind it vanished in a cloud of red mist. Jaune knew that sound and could wager a guess as to its source, so when he turned to investigate, he wasn't surprised to see a certain red clad gunslinger posted up on top of the bone pile he had just crawled out of. "Little Red!?" Though, he could still act like he was.
"Hi Jaune." Little Red said with a little wave before she pulled the bolt back on her rifle to eject a spent casing and slammed it back to lock in another round. "Nora figured you could use a little back up. Will I do?" She asked.
"Yes please!" Jaune answered immediately, relief evident in his voice.
"Cool," Red declared with a giggle before pointing towards Fenrir. "Hey that guy is given me the evil eye." Jaune glanced back to see that the wolf in question was now staring up at the red clad girl with blood thirsty eyes. "Can you do something about that?" She asked.
"Oh, right leave it to me!" Jaune shouted up at his new ally before rushing towards the wolf and shouting a taunt.
Fenrir responded in kind and lashed out at the charging guardian, but found itself stunned when a magical round struck it in the face. It would have reeled back in pain, but the magical round sent an electrical surge through its body causing a paralyzing effect. "He can't move, let him have it Jaune!" Little Red declared.
Jaune didn't need to be told twice as he quickly threw himself into the beast's guard and activated his whirlwind ability to send his body into a deadly spin. With each rotation his blade would hack at the beast's chest carving out large gashes into the fur and dealing decent amounts of damage.
Meanwhile a few other wolves tried to flank around Jaune, but each one that made the attempt caught a round in the head for their troubles. These shots weren't as powerful as the first one that the gunslinger had fired, likely because she had used an ability of some sort to increase its damage. So the wolves she hit weren't all going down in one hit. However, the distraction proved just enough to trip them up and cause them to run straight into Jaune's spinning blade and getting hacked to pieces.
"Hey this is actually working!" Jaune cheered as he watched Fenrir's health bar steadily decrease, but he had to stifle his glee when he saw that the paralysis was only a second away from wearing off. "Not good, time to bail!" He shouted before he ended his attack and leapt backward just in time to avoid Fenrir from eviscerating him with a wild series of claw swipes.
"Hmm, he's not looking too good." Little Red observed. Jaune had to agree, Fenrir was wearing down and it showed. However, the wolf could still work up the energy to snarled and shoot his enemies a baneful glare that grew more and more intense over time.
After a moment Fenrir's white fur started to stand on end and darken, turning a deep shade of crimson red. Feeling a little concerned about this new appearance Jaune looked towards his more experienced companion. "Hey what is he doing?"
Red looked confused for a moment as if she was uncertain, but then realization must have struck her. "Oh, right. I totally forgot that this guy had an enraged mode."
"Is that bad?" Jaune inquired suddenly feeling nervous.
"Yep." Red replied.
"So I should be worried then?" Jaune asked.
"Yep." Red echoed.
"Grand." Jaune said with a sigh as he braced himself for the storm of claws and teeth that fell upon him a moment later.
Fenrir had unnatural speed and strength to begin with, but now it almost seemed otherworldly and the beast was fighting like it was possessed. Every blow Jaune actually managed to block sent sharp lances of pain coursing through his limbs and every blow that he failed to block, which was most of them at this point, would take a large chunck of his health out and send him flying like a ragdoll.
Little Red was trying her best to offer some support to the struggling blond guardian, but the horde was unrelenting. She was being forced to pull double duty flipping back and forth between keeping the Doom Pack runts in check and stacking damage on Fenrir. Unfortunately, the mob showed no signs of thinning and the boss, while low on health, was still on a rampage, making far more resistant to damage.
"I think we may be in trouble." Little red declared.
"You think!?" Jaune deadpanned before taking another blow from Fenrir, sending him flying back into the bone pile Little Red was using as a vantage point. Since the pile had already been destabilized from his first visit, the pile gave way toppling on top of him and spilling bones in every direction.
Little Red let out a yelp as she felt her footing disappear and gravity taking hold of her. Her reflexes kicking in, she quickly trilled her body to right herself and performed a perfect landing on the ground below. However, she was startled again when she heard a groan coming from directly below her. When she looked down to see that she was standing on Jaune's face her eyes widened and she leapt off.
"Oh no, Jaune I'm so sorry!" Red apologized in a panic. Looking up at her, Jaune could see that there was a little bit of red slipping onto her cheeks. He had to marvel at this game's attention to detail.
"It's fine, it was not the worst thing that's happened to me today." Jaune deadpanned before he fought to get back up onto his feet. His whole body felt stiff and one look at his display was all he needed to know why. His health was below ten percent and his stats were taking a hefty penalty to match. What he wouldn't give to be a berserker right now. They never have to put up with battle fatigue. "I'm not going to be able to fight like this."
"You might not have a choice." Red stated as she took aim at the enemies who had begun to approach them.
Jaune groaned before he hoisted up his sword and shield in an attempt to step into a fighting stance. His limbs complained at the effort at first, but then suddenly felt much lighter. All the weight that had been holding his body down just seemed to fall off his shoulders like snow.
"Huh?" Jaune mumbled. The blond guardian was quite confused by his sudden burst of energy, but a quick glance back at his display showed that his health had partially restored. His health was now sitting at about twenty-five percent and on top of that he had a new set of stat buffs to replace his injury debuff. When he saw what these buffs were he knew right away who was responsible for this. "Monkey King?!"
"Yo guys!" The blond monk replied as he seemed to pop up out of nowhere to jam his staff into the faces of a few of the Doom Pack grunts. "You want a hand?"
"Sun!? Shouldn't you be helping the others!?" Little Red asked.
The Monkey King shrugged. "They seem like they had it handled." He said before directing their attention back towards the melee with the Alpha. When Red and Jaune glanced over, it was just in time to see Nora slamming her war maul down on top of the Alpha's head.
Nora's attack must have been a strong one since it completely shattered the dragon skull mask the Alpha had been wearing and revealed that there was a strange purple gem imbedded in the Alpha's forehead.
"Besides," The monk began bringing attention back to him. "This fight looks like it will be way more fun!" Fenrir must have agreed with the Monkey King's sentiment since it instantly homed in on the monk and with a snarl lunged for him. "Woah!" Monkey shouted as he made to dunk out the way.
"I got it!" Jaune shouted as he jumped into the Fenrir's path causing the beast to slam into his shield. Jaune had expected the blow to knock him off his feet again, but the defensive buffs Monkey King had given him seemed to help.
"Nice one bro! Now just hold him there like that!" Monkey King declared before he leapt over Jaune to deliver a spin kick to Fenrir's head, causing the beast to be sent twirling backwards and collide with a few other grunts that had been approaching and stunning the whole group. Then the monk turned back towards their red clad gunslinger. "Ruby it's about time to bust out the big guns!"
"Roger that!" Red replied cheerfully with a salute before switching her sniper rifle out for another far bulkier weapon she had been carrying on her back. The new weapon looked like some sort of handheld cannon painted a deep shade of red. Then she crouched down on one knee and used her shoulder to stabilize the weapon so she could line up the barrel with Fenrir. Once she had the beast in her sights she smiled viciously and squeezed the trigger. "Astalavista baby!"
Jaune looked on in awe as a single rocket was launched from the barrel of Red's cannon and sent screeching forth towards her disabled target. Once it was a few feet from the cannon it seemed to unfold entering some sort of second phase before suddenly increasing speed and gaining height. Then a few seconds later the rocket broke apart to reveal a few dozen smaller rockets that all scattered in different directions only to all gather back together on Fenrir's position.
A chain of explosion induced tremors rocked the den as Fenrir and several of his kin were engulfed in flames and smoke. Meanwhile Jaune had to take a moment to retract his jaw so he could speak. "What was that thing!?" He sputtered.
"She is not a thing!" Little Red said in mock offence before drawing back out the weapon in question and caressing it fondly. "Her name is Rosehorn and she is part of my ultimate ability."
"So, you could have done that this whole time!?" Jaune asks earning himself a nod from the red clad gunslinger. "And you didn't why?"
That question seemed to be enough to make the smaller girl pout. "Well as cool as Rosehorn is, she has a really long cool down, and on top of that her ammo is really expensive. So I don't like to use her when I don't have to. Besides you were always too close to Fenrir, didn't want any collateral damage."
"Oh, yeah I guess that makes sense." Jaune said as he began scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment.
"Umm, guys we got more baddies!" Monkey King warned, directing everyone's attention back towards the clearing smoke and the moment he did the sound angry of snarls filled the air.
From the flames Fenrir hobbled forth. For a moment the sight of the beast caused Jaune's breath to catch, but he quickly noticed that the vigor the beast had earlier had all but evaporated. Its pale white fur had returned, indicating that its enraged mode had ended and its health bar was so low it was practically invisible. None of that would stop it however, the beast was angry and determined so it continued its slow march.
"Now that's just sad. We should put this guy out of our misery. The only question is who wants to do the honors?" The Monkey King offered. Little Red shrugged before they both looked towards Jaune expectantly.
"I'll do it." Jaune replied, determination evident in his voice.
"Alright, if anything goes down remember we got your back!" The Monkey King cheered. "Now get in there and kick his butt!"
Jaune didn't need to be told twice. He sprang forward towards Fenrir, ignoring a few grunt stragglers milling about between them who were promptly taken out by his allies anyway. Then once he had closed the distance between himself and his opponent, Fenrir reared back like he was going to attempt an attack, but the movements were sluggish and easy to read. Jaune dunked to the side with more than enough time to avoid the strike and before Fenrir had nearly enough time to try for a follow up, Jaune slammed his shield into the beast's chest knocking it over.
Once on its back and too drained to roll itself over Fenrir howled in frustration while Jaune let out a battle cry of his own and thrust his blade down into the beast's throat. The blow not only silenced the beast's cries, but completely emptied the beast's health. Fenrir flailed desperately for a few more seconds before falling still and beginning to dissolve to dust.
"Woot, you did it Jaunny boy!" The Monkey King cheered.
"Yeah you kicked butt!" Little Red added with equal cheer.
Jaune gave his allies a nod before taking a look around to see what else he could do. Most of the adds were about cleared out now thanks to Red's abilities. Soon they would be able to go help the rest of their team. Or at least that was what he thought until he heard a familiar gut wrenching howl coming from the direction of the main battle. "Ahhh, what is that!" He shouted over the ringing in his ears.
"Phase three!" Little Red shouted back before pointing towards the Alpha who was in a sitting position and howling towards the sky, then towards the tree line that was now once again brimming with enemies.
Jaune let out a tired sigh as he looked at the approaching horde. "Grand, well let's get started!"