The things bounding out of the forest weren't wolves, at least not only wolves. Whoever created these monstrosities combined parts from humans with parts from wolves. One ran straight at them, a male torso with an animal's hind legs, but arms reaching. Its head was that of a wolf, except for two human eyes staring.

  Inspected: Monster. Flesh Howler. Level 9.

  It leapt at them, and Mateo's spear slammed into it, killing the beast in an instant. More broke from the shadowed protection of the trees. Shadows wrapped around several, wrapping themselves around the monsters. Bones popped and crunched and the creatures whined and died.

  Inspected: Monster. Flesh Howler. Level 9.

  Inspected: Monster. Flesh Howler. Level 6.

  Inspected: Monster. Flesh Howler. Level 7.

  More and more of them entered the clearing, varying in level and appearance. Some were women, some men. Those with human heads screamed, trying, and failing, to emulate the growls and howls of wolves. Most of the Flesh Howlers were fanged and clawed, but a few, like the first one, had human hands and feet. For some reason, Luke felt the most disgust at one that was fully human except for a wolf's head. It still ran on all fours. This was not the result of some experiment to create more dangerous beasts. No, this was a demented person's idea of a joke.

  "What is even the point of those things?" Ray asked.

  More and more gathered, howling, screaming, and circling the group.

  "I have a new spell I want to try," Penny said. "Let me deal with them."

  Luke didn't know what song Penny borrowed from this time, but the effect was undeniable.

  "One spark finds you in the night…"

  "Two more follow, no time to fight."

  "Three, four, five, now all of you bite!"

  Lightning surged from her hands like before. But this time, when it struck one of the Flesh Howlers, it didn't just electrocute a single monster. Instead, it spread to three more, then three more, chaining outward and cutting off howls as it went, killing huge swathes of monsters. It grew weaker each time the spell leapt from target to target, going from an instant kill to wounding, smoke rising from charred, but still living monsters. After that, those affected received a small shock, and then the spell fizzled out.

  "Nice one, Penny," Colt called.

  She stood there for a moment, not answering. Her eyes rolled back, and Penny collapsed to the ground.

  "Penny!" Colt shouted, getting down on the grass.

  "You keep the wolves off us," Luke hissed, stepping in and down to the fallen Penny.

  Weaver's Eye told him right away that she'd spent too much mana and that her metaphysical heart hadn't been able to keep up. But it wasn't until he touched her, a Thread of Mana connecting his palm to her chest, that he saw just how little remained. Just a glimmer of mana left in her meta-heart. None in the rest of her body.

  He had seen this before in Tiffany, but hadn't questioned why then. The answer was obvious. She, too, had overspent mana. And like with Tiffany, Penny's physical heart fluttered, on the verge of failing. Using Thread of Mana, ignoring the growls of approaching Flesh Howlers, Luke gave her some of his own. Penny's meta-heart drank like a man lost in the desert having found water after endless wandering in the sun. It took and took, growing stronger, but at a significant cost to Luke's own mana stores.

  He severed the connection once the meta heart had enough to keep itself going. Even then, with Luke having lost almost 80% of his own mana, Penny didn't wake. A grunt from Colt and a squeal of pain from a Flesh Howler made Luke withdraw and stand, swaying a little as he brought out his quarterstaff to join the fight, the loss of mana taking its toll.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Several monsters were dead or dying, killed by Ray, Mateo, Hannah, and Colt. But more poured in, so many more. They threw themselves at the group with claws, jaws, or arms reaching, grabbing. One reached for Colt's shield arm, biting down with enough force to make him cry out and drop the shield.

  Mateo's spear punched through its back, killing it, and Luke slammed his quarterstaff down on an approaching Flesh Howler, striking its head but doing little damage. He stepped back, used Healer's Grasp and Thread of Mana to reach Colt, going in through his back, extending the thread by following the Vanguard's mana channels to the arm, where Luke set to closing the wound.

  Colt grunted and cried out, slamming his sword into the face of another Flesh Howler. As Luke worked, Colt's health bar rose little by little. Soon, he could retrieve the shield from the ground.

  Ray was having trouble with the many opponents, even with Hannah holding some off him. He ducked and weaved, using his dagger to great effect, showing far more fighting prowess than he'd ever exhibited before being Integrated. Choosing a melee class must have given him some inborn talent, because it was a sight to see. Even then, an assassin was supposed to kill from the shadows. Dealing with multiple opponents while standing his ground worked to his disadvantage.

  A monster charged in and bit down on Ray's leg. Another threw itself at his chest, pushing him off his feet and into the grass next to Penny. He cried out, stabbing, but more creatures joined in, biting and rending.

  Colt used a skill that pulled the Flesh Howler's attention to himself, all of them leaping off Ray, giving him a moment's respite that soon wore off. Mateo stabbed, killing Flesh Howlers in great numbers, but they kept piling on, nipping at his legs as he turned, then biting down, and Colt was unable to keep the monsters off the rest of the group, much less himself. Hannah screamed as one bit down on her arm, tugging her to the ground. Light flashed in the monster's eye, killing it.

  It was a losing battle. More and more Flesh Howlers streamed in, scores of them coming from all directions, the howls becoming deafening as they sensed the battle was almost won. How there could be so many, Luke didn't know, but he worked feverishly to close his party's wounds, heal the bites and rents from claws, but he couldn't keep up, couldn't even reach Mateo.

  The Lancer danced, laughing as he killed, fighting just a few steps away. His spear whirled through the air, turning black and multiplying to kill multiple Flesh Howlers in an instant, but the wounds kept stacking up, and Mateo was slowing. "?Pelearé hasta el último aliento, riéndome en la cara de la muerte!"

  Dodging back and forth, Ray screamed as several monsters mauled him. Luke rushed in, closing the wounds almost as soon as they appeared. While that kept his friend alive, it meant doubling the poor bastard's pain, and the curses and shouts as he stitched Ray back together, fighting to keep his focus and not lose his control over Threads of Mana and Needle of Life.

  System Message: Boon of Potential grants you an attribute point (+1 Focus).

  System Message: Boon of Potential grants you an attribute point (+1 Willpower).

  Penny woke and screamed as a monster reached her and closed its jaws around her arm, mauling her and shaking its head, jerking her about. She almost lost consciousness again from the pain, and her song came out slurred, as if half-asleep, set to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

  "Crackle, crackle, little spark…"

  "Light me up and hit the dark…"

  "One last flash to make it stop…"

  A spark crackled along her arm and into the Flesh Howler's jaws. It surged through the beast, killing it, but Penny lost consciousness again, either from the pain or from having used mana again too soon.

  Luke activated The Healer's Moment. He didn't have much time, but he breathed in deep and concentrated, reaching out to first heal Penny's wound, stitching her back together, doing his best to repair where the monster had ripped some of her flesh away. With her back to something resembling health, he checked her meta-heart. Satisfied that she wouldn’t die from the lack of mana, Luke then strained, reaching with Weaver's Grasp to join himself to Colt. At first, it didn't reach, but Luke forced it to move forward and outward until it did, seeing it grow by almost an inch.

  Though his mind was dimmed at that point, he hadn't picked up on just how injured the football player was. Several deep bites covered his arms and legs, and a Flesh Howler had somehow reached up to his neck, biting down before Colt got away. Luke refused to open his eyes and look at the damage, focusing instead on healing it. The neck wound closed, but mana was getting scarce, so he pulled on Colt's, using their tank’s resources to heal him.

  System Message: Congratulations! You have reached Level 9!

  The Healer's Moment ended just as Luke was about to close another wound, and Colt stumbled forward with a groan, severing the Thread of Mana, holding a hand to his neck in horror as he turned to Luke. "We have to run! I'll carry Penny!"

  "I am sorry, my friend," Mateo shouted, "but there is no way for us to escape this. They have us surrounded."

  "Stupid! Bullshit!" Ray snarled as he flailed, still on the ground.

  He disappeared, but not into stealth. Instead, he reappeared a few steps over, standing, blood pouring from wounds all over his body. Then he disappeared again. "Screw this!" came Ray's disembodied voice. "I'm not dying here."

  "Ray! Where are you going?" Luke shouted, but got no reply.

  Then the sound of a horn reverberated through the underbrush. A long, bass-filled tone that made the Flesh Howlers stop for a brief moment, turning to another new sound, the sound of thundering hooves approaching the clearing.