That earlier howl had probably served not only to coordinate their encirclement and attack, but also to make him tense. They hadn't launched a direct frontal assault. The branches he'd arranged in a circle couldn't stop them, but they would certainly cause some trouble, making a sneak attack the better choice!
Matthews rolled aside, his right hand gripping Hanguang, its blade crackling with electricity. As the wolf pounced from where he'd been, he slashed upward toward it.
"Awooo—"
The Wind Wolf King let out another howl. At its call, two Wind Wolves charged over the branches and pounced at Matthews.
Hanguang, infused with electrical energy, sliced through the belly of the Fifth-Level Magical Beast Wind Wolf as it fell, unable to brace itself. Its diving attack might have caught its target off guard and greatly increased its chances of success, but it had exposed its weakest point—its belly.
Matthews raised Youying in his right hand to block the gaping jaws of a Wind Wolf lunging for him. Using the force of its attack, he sprang to his feet and put his back against the boulder.
"Clever."
Matthews didn't pause. He swung at another Wind Wolf as it pounced. The branches he'd prepared based on the wilderness survival techniques he'd once read seemed useless now.
As Matthews wielded his two blades, Youying in his left hand defended while Hanguang in his right attacked. He managed to hold off the Wind Wolves, but after fighting for a while, he'd only killed the one that had ambushed him. If the battle dragged on, the pack would wear down his Battle Qi in turns.
In the end, he'd inevitably fall into the mouths of these beasts and become a lump of dung they passed that night. Matthews couldn't accept such a fate. Before the fight, he'd already used the howls to roughly locate the Wolf King.
His only chance was to kill the Wolf King. Then the others would surely retreat on their own.
After his blades clashed with a wolf's jaws once more, Matthews retreated onto the boulder. With a few quick bounds, he scrambled up the rock behind him. From the higher vantage point, he quickly spotted the Wind Wolf pack's leader.
Matthews raised his left leg to shield his stomach, then pushed off hard with his right foot. Electricity flickered around both feet as he used electromagnetic force to launch himself toward the Wolf King.
The Wind Wolf King opened its jaws to bite, blocking the downward strike of Hanguang in Matthews's right hand. But his true attack came from Youying, the blade he usually used to defend with his left hand.
With a quick motion of Youying in his right hand, he slashed the Wolf King's throat.
After landing the blow, Matthews kicked off with both legs and used the electromagnet-like properties of his feet to soar high into the air.
As expected, after seeing their king killed, the Wind Wolves howled a few times and then all left.
Only then did Matthews land and dig out the Magic Beast Cores from the two Wind Wolves he'd killed. Then he left.
"Boss, why are we leaving?"
As Asolun's puzzled voice rang out in his mind, Matthews explained, "There's been a slaughter here, and there are Magical Beast corpses. Magical Beasts can easily smell blood."
Traveling at night was dangerous, but Matthews had no choice but to leave. If he stayed, the scent of blood would probably attract more Magical Beasts.
Matthews used electromagnetic force to leap and fly among the surrounding trees. After traveling for half an hour, they stopped high in a tall tree, and he lay down on a branch to rest.
"Asolun, you take the first watch tonight. I'll sleep first. I'll take the second watch, and you can rest."
"Sure, Boss."
The next morning, Matthews and Asolun woke up in the tree. In the days that followed, Matthews realized that the wilderness survival precautions he'd read about were completely useless in this world.
He became much more cautious. He practiced his swordsmanship in the morning, traveled in the afternoon, and occasionally hunted Magical Beasts. At night, he secretly roasted meat, ate, and then moved somewhere else to rest.
One morning, after practicing his swordsmanship, Matthews had Asolun keep watch while he began restoring his Battle Qi and strength.
An assassin watched Matthews from nearby. He'd been following the lone traveler all morning and had seen him practicing his swordsmanship. After estimating his target's strength, he judged him to be about the level of a sixth-level warrior and decided to strike.
Using the shadows of the trees to approach, he was certain his target had entered a deep state of cultivation. He ignored the level-three Magical Beast nearby.
"Whoosh—"
As the assassin struck, Matthews smiled. He'd been a university student, after all. Though he hadn't yet comprehended any Laws or Profundities in this world, and hadn't begun cultivating the Electromagnetic Profundity of lightning using this world's methods, the principles of electromagnetism had already been proven. Just as magic was an attack method the Chief Gods had created by simplifying the Laws and Profundities, he had plenty of scientific methods from his previous life that he could use to wield this world's electromagnetic power.
Ever since the Wind Wolves had ambushed him, he'd been trying to control his Battle Qi to form electromagnetic waves. Inspired by the electromagnetic waves bats used, he'd detected the assassin long ago. Now he was simply waiting for the man to take the bait and come in for the kill.
"Clang—"
The assassin's dagger struck Youying. He saw the smile on Matthews's lips.
"What—"
He realized he'd been tricked and immediately leapt backward, trying to flee. An assassin lived by the principle of killing with one strike and leaving at once, whether or not the attack succeeded.
"Hehe, you think I'd let you leave? I've been putting on an act for you all morning."
The assassin was fast, but he was no match for Matthews, who could accelerate with electromagnetic force. Matthews quickly caught up with him and killed him.
"Not bad. Two Fifth-Level Magical Beast Cores and six Fourth-Level Magical Beast Cores. Just no Sixth-Level Magical Beast Core!"
After searching the assassin's body, Matthews left without taking anything else. He didn't even take the salt, a necessity for daily life. Assassins lived by the blade and often did whatever it took to kill their targets. Who knew whether the salt had been poisoned? If he ate it, he might die without ever knowing why.
Over the past few days, Matthews had felt his swordsmanship nearing the second realm of Blade Mastery. He needed to find somewhere to break through to that level.
That realm would greatly increase his combat strength. If his swordsmanship reached the second realm, he could easily kill the pack led by that sixth-level Wind Wolf King if he encountered them again, instead of having to drive them off by sneaking up on the king.
One day, Matthews found a waterfall. He and Asolun stopped there to practice swordsmanship.
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