Syl-Chapter 258: Werewolf

While Vee was surprised at the monstrous wolf, I was delighted.

A new type of monster for me to eat!

However, it wasn't all good news, as the monster's transformation had cleansed it thoroughly of all my debuffs. Frankly, I had never expected a "normal" monster to be able to resist them like that, as, from my perspective, they were quite foolproof.

It also dispelled my [Cyclone] with a roar, although the [Sand Pit] has a permanent effect so that stuck around.

As the werewolf leaped out of the sand trap, I threw out a new flurry of debuffs, but annoyingly, they kept getting resisted one by one.

"Looks like our werewolf is magic-resistant," I mentioned. frёeωebɳovel.com

"Um… do you still want me to leave the big guy to you?" Vee asked.

"Yeah!" I quickly responded. I wouldn't let a bit of magic resistance dampen my parade.

I sent out a flurry of [Wind Cutter] spells from multiple directions, intending to keep my presence hidden while landing multiple sneak attacks against it.

The werewolf dodged and evaded as best it could, leaping around erratically, but still fell victim to the endless barrage of spells. Shallow cuts appeared across its body where my attacks landed, but they were mostly superficial, and the monster seemed to ignore them.

Well, I can just keep this going. I have plenty of Mana to work with.

Abruptly, the werewolf's head jolted, staring directly at my current location. I thought it might have been a fluke and used [Wind Step] to silently change my position, but its gaze not only followed me but leaped towards me.

How the heck did it find me? It's not like my levels in [Vanish] have been slacking!

With the ferocious mass of muscle and fur charging toward me, I changed my tactics a little and focused more on utilizing my [Earth Magic]. Chunks of earth were ripped from the ground before rapidly compressing and transmuting into dense rock before being sent hurtling toward the monster. Unlike the [Wind Cutter] spells, it emphasized trying to dodge these attacks, and I knew why.

[Earth Magic] is a great way to bypass anything with good magic resistance. So what if you can resist a spell? That's still a massive chunk of rock flying toward you!

But what the werewolf hadn't expected was that I was fully prepared for it to dodge, and the projectiles it thought it was safe from immediately rebounded toward it for a second and even third attack! The reason? [Geokinesis]! I had decided to dedicate a portion of my [Sub-Cores] into casting this spell to redirect any rocks back towards the monster.

Rocks pelted the monster, delaying its approach and knocking it off course. Sadly, while my plan was working, the beast had robust physical defense and natural regeneration, and this method of attack was not going to seal victory anytime soon.

That was when the monster used its own [Wind Step] to appear before me. I retreated using the same skill, but to my surprise, it followed! One jump, two jumps, three jumps, four—I had reached my limit, and the werewolf was still on my tail!

That's when I instead used [Thunder Step] in rapid succession to dance around it, building up a massive crescendo of lightning energy. The werewolf stood its ground, however, only flinching at the thunderous booms and took deadly-powerful swipes at my previous positions—the cutting power so strong that nearby trees and ground were even marked with its claws!

I cast [Lightning Bolt] at the same time that I unleashed the burst of energy stored up in my [Voltaic Slime]. I intended to hide my slime power while pretending it was a spell, and I knew the latter would be unaffected by its magical resistance.

It roared defiantly as the crackling energy struck it. The spell had barely any effect, but the "natural" lightning burned into its flesh and actually caused it to yell and whimper out in pain!

Ha! Take that, you mangy mutt!

The blast of energy sent it ragdolling backward while it appeared to struggle with regaining control of its limbs. It was an unexpected but welcome surprise, and I took the opportunity to launch more rocks and blades of wind at it, which it was forced to endure.

When it leaped to its feet, it let out another howl, an immense sonic blast that combined offense and defense to anyone too close to it. At the same time, its body began to bulge out with even more muscles while its wounds rapidly regenerated—cuts sealed, bruises cleared, and even its lightning-burnt fur had regrown.

"This guy just really doesn't want to stay down," I grumbled. I was beginning to think I couldn't kill him with just air and earth magic.

"Werewolves are weak to silver!" Vee replied.

Surprised, I blinked, "Why the hell would they be weak to silver of all things?"

"Uhh… because it's pure or something?" Vee suggested, evidently unsure of her own idea.

I had access to silver through [Metal Slime], but that was very much something Sylthaeryn couldn't do. I was at a bit of a loss. I really wanted to use my slime abilities, as this was precisely the situation where I wanted them! This werewolf was clearly a mage's worst enemy, but the table would be flipped with any of my slime abilities.

Well, if it's resistant to spells, could I attempt to drown it? My old suffocating slime tactic, but recreated with [Water Magic].

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I quickly changed my elemental alignment to water and began a new barrage of attacks in coordination with my [Sub-Cores]. I first started with a volley of [Waterjet] spells. I had expected the werewolf to tank the hits, but he evaded them as best he could. I wondered if I'd found a weakness, but the few spells that hit him did less damage than anticipated. It was far more than the rocks or wind, but still disappointing.

But I actually wanted the spells as a distraction as I formed multiple [Water Whip] spells. I knew they would lose their efficacy when they made contact, so I hoped to overpower the resistance with pure quantity. I kept forming and forming more hidden whips, and when the werewolf finally leaped towards me, I lashed out!

As If I'd summoned an army of jellyfish, multiple water tendrils burst out and grappled with the werewolf, but he kept going. The first few that made contact, he broke free nearly instantly without slowing, but soon, more and more grabbed hold of him. I was using almost every [Sub-Core], and every one of us was also using [Multicast] to reach an absurd number.

Eventually, the werewolf was stopped, and using the multitude of watery tendrils, I lifted him off the ground so that he had less leverage to work with. I controlled the water tentacles to begin drowning him as he desperately struggled.

"You good?" Vee asked.

"Got everything handled," I replied. I knew Vee could kill him for me, but it had grown into a matter of principle for me now.

Using [Soul Sight], I witnessed firsthand how his body's magical resistance interacted with my spells. From my point of view, it was like he was constantly draining the spells of their magic while in contact, and thus, the spell would eventually run dry. Using this knowledge, I began replacing "dying" spells with fresh new ones. But before I could bask in my countermeasure, I found myself in a rapidly increasing cycle of endless replacements.

Does he become more anti-magic when he's wounded? Or can he control it?

My thoughts stopped when the werewolf gave a mighty flex. I was expecting a roar, but instead, a baleful aura seemed to radiate off of it. It flexed again, the watery restraints rapidly losing their form and pouring to the ground in a deluge of water. At this point, I needed to replace a [Water Whip] mere moments after it touched him, so I knew this situation was rapidly becoming unsustainable.

Okay… uhh… shit. Do I ask Vee to help? Or should I just get into melee with him? If I reinforce my body, I don't think he can cut me. I could also keep blasting him with [Voltaic Slime] and pretending it's [Lightning Magic]…

I paused and held out my hand. I formed a ball of slime that looked visually identical to my magically conjured water. When I examined it with [Soul Sight], it was glowing so brightly with Mana that it appeared like I was holding a live spell rather than a mass of slime.

Back when I was first learning magic, I wanted it to hide my slime abilities. Going even further back, I pretended my [Poison Slime] was some form of [Corrosion Magic]. Would this work?

My thoughts were interrupted by a bestial howl as the werewolf abruptly broke free and used [Wind Step] to appear before me before even Vee could warn me. Drawing on my slime reserve, I reacted by instinct, formed a solid " water " tentacle, and lashed out at the beast.

It made no effort to dodge, bringing its claws down to cut into me. It clearly thought this was just another minor nuisance easily worth ignoring. So when the tendril struck it with surprising solidity and immense force, it was utterly unprepared and tumbled to the ground.

Bet you weren't expecting that!

Despite the surprise counterattack, it recovered quickly and began its savage assault. Withdrawing what extra slime mass I could, I started enlarging and even splitting the whip into multiple tentacles to attack it.

This time, it didn't let me strike it freely, and it lashed out to cut apart my attacking tentacles—the look on its face when it not only failed to slash them apart but couldn't pull back after touching them was priceless.

"Got you," I replied smugly as the tendrils started to wrap around it and restrain it.

The werewolf howled in rage, so I muzzled it with slime. It began to fight and emit that baleful aura again, but it did not affect my slime. Panic was starting to set into its eyes, and it even began to deflate in muscle mass as if hoping that would let it wriggle free—but I never let my food go.

"Looks like it's over," Vee commented, appearing on my shoulder.

I nodded, although I was still curious about what Vee had mentioned earlier about silver. I could've easily activated [Metal Slime] for my tendrils, but I was worried it would ruin the "magical water" performance I was putting on.

Instead, I withdrew a "dagger" from my storage and stabbed the werewolf with it. Unexpectedly, the dagger was immediately down to the hilt while emitting a strange burning smell from the wound. The monster looked in horrible pain but was helpless to do anything about it.

I didn't even use [Acid Slime]. For all intents and purposes, this is just a silver dagger. Who knew it would have such a strong effect!

"Is that a cursed dagger or something?" Vee asked, a little concerned at the horrifically visible effect it was producing.

"Nope. Just silver," I answered. "Looks like your theory was right! I should have used a silver weapon to begin with."

I pulled the dagger from the wound and gave it a little flourish. The wound also refused to close up and was now the only visible injury on its entire body as everything prior had closed up by now.

"Of course I was right!" Vee said smugly. "Although, jeez, that's a horrific weakness if one little dagger did that much damage!"

I nodded in agreement, both of us ignoring the restrained werewolf drowning in slime. I would've loved to kill it quicker with [Acid Slime] and start eating it right now, but that would be a dead giveaway of what that water truly was.

"So… do you think there are werespiders?" Vee asked.

"We can ask, but why would you want to become an oversized muscle spider?" I asked.

"No, I don't want to turn into some roided-out spider," Vee chuckled. "It's just that in my world, werewolves were either wolves that could turn into humans or humans that turned into wolves. It would be one way I could possibly get a human-ish form, or at least maybe talk?"

"Oh! Well, once I get a look at its traits, I'll let you know," I offered. Vee and I were the only participants in this telepathic conversation, so I felt safe mentioning that.

"Thanks!" Vee replied, sounding hopeful.

And I'm totally interested in its magic resistance. Depending on how effective it is for me, I might not even need to carve my resistance enchantments into my core! I could pick something else like self-repair or durability!

When the last moments of life winked out for the werewolf, Paeris finally appeared. I stored the corpse away before he could say anything, as it was a resource both Vee and I were immensely interested in.

"Good work, Lady Sylthaeryn," Paeris said with a surprising amount of genuine praise in his tone. "Werewolves are known as mage slayers, so I'm glad to see you handled it without sustaining even a single injury!"

"Sheesh, no wonder your spells didn't work," Vee commented.

"Although I must say I'm astonished," Paeris continued. "I thought you said you couldn't control raw elemental magic yet? Did you have an epiphany while in the throes of combat?"

Confused, I tilted my head and held out my "water whip."

"Are you saying this is what you've seen Hydromancers do?" I asked.

Paeris nodded, "It looks very much like that. Although I admit to not being a caster myself, perhaps we should get it verified by Llewel. Having said that, I'm not lacking in sensory traits, and from what I can tell, that appears to be the case!"

I was double-surprised by that reveal. My somewhat silly idea had bore fruit, but elemental mages could wield the elements supposedly as well as I did my slime! I had one big question on my mind.

I wonder when I will get that ability?

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