Extra's Guide to Surviving a Dark Fantasy World-Chapter 51: Pack of Jakaras

Making sure that we were prepared, all of us entered the city with Tess taking the lead. At the same time, I summoned Duskwraith and Stormraven as well, both of whom moved into the city acting as our scouts, guiding us so we could avoid the groups of jackals roaming through the city or otherwise hiding in the building.

Earlier when we were discussing the plan, I had described the creature to Aria who had concluded it to be something called a Jakara, it was supposedly a low level beast who hunted in groups trying to compensate for their little to no elemental ability.

Still, they weren’t something to be underestimated. Their large numbers and vengeful nature had resulted in several cases where they had documented taking down even monsters from higher tiers.

Given their capabilities and my role as the scout, I stood in the middle of the group, constantly monitoring duskwraith, observing the area through his eyes.

"In the left alley," I spoke as we ran inside the alley, while the other half of my mind was carefully observing a large jackal pack about to intercept us on our current route.

"On the street to our left."

"Continue straight for now."

"In our right."

Duskwraith stealth had been one of the most valuable abilities in our journey, the point which he was proving once again. Through his eyes, we were easily dodging the jackal packs, continuously changing, and could see most of the routes going towards the inner district.

Unfortunately, the number of jackals was a bit too large for us to completely avoid. Soon, we arrived at a point where we were sandwiched between the two groups.

We were standing in the middle of a fairly wide street. Our current route lead us to a sufficiently large jackal group, while a retreat would force us into facing an even larger one.

In the end, the decision was up to me.

"Group of Jakaras, around thirty, just a few meters ahead. They have already sensed us; we have no choice but to intercept." I spoke while preparing my new sword and calling in stormraven back to my body. At the same time, I sent Duskwraith behind us to monitor the other group and warn us just in case they try to come after us as well.

Aria and Tess nodded as well, preparing their weapons without hesitation. Stormraven and Duskwraith had done a good job of letting us avoid them all this time, but that didn’t mean we weren’t prepared for a fight.

A dozen or seconds passed when the first jackal emerged from the shadows, only to be instantly struck down with an arrow from Tess, who had already shot up in the sky. Then came the second one, arriving from our side, its glowing red eyes locked onto me, saliva dripping from its oversized jaws.

Looking at the hideous creature, I instantly activated Static Timefall; time slowed down as I dashed forward, narrowly avoiding its swiping claws, and slashed across its exposed ribs, dark blood spraying onto the cobblestones.

Just then, Tess’s arrow whizzed past, piercing another beast lunging toward Aria’s side. Ice erupted from Aria’s palm, freezing the legs of a snarling jackal mid-pounce, allowing me to shatter it with a downward strike.

"More incoming!" Tess shouted from above, losing another arrow that pinned one of the creatures to a nearby wall.

A trio rushed us from an alleyway, their claws skittering on the stone. I activated Static Time fall once again, stepping between their snapping jaws and reducing them to lifeless heaps with precise slashes. At the same time, Aria conjured a wall of jagged ice spikes, impaling two more as they charged recklessly.

On the roof, a jackal leaped at Tess, but she vaulted backward, releasing an arrow mid-air that struck it clean between the eyes.

"Behind you!" I yelled as a jackal lunged at Aria’s exposed back. She spun, freezing it solid before I drove my blade through its brittle skull.

Tess rained arrows from above, thinning the circling pack with deadly precision. When a larger beast charged at me, its roar shaking the air, I sidestepped just in time, thanks to my slowed perception, severing its leg and driving my blade into its chest.

Our battle progressed as more and more Jakaras began pouring out into the street, howling and lunging at us, hoping to get a free bite. The more of them entered the battle, the more I began to understand what Aria had meant when she said they could take down beasts above their tiers.

Individually, they were weak, but the way they could disregard their lives was almost commendable, jumping into the battle with no regard whatsoever for their own safety, their minds focused on killing their prey and nothing else.

As our fight continued, I noticed something alarming. The group of Jakaras behind us had begun to move; perhaps all this commotion had been too much for them to ignore.

This was bad, if things continued like this, we were soon going to be swarmed by both side.

With no other option, I asked Duskwraith to reveal itself to the group, hoping that it would be able to distract them for a couple of minutes. At the same time I shouted towards Aria And Tess telling them about the situation.

"We need to finish this quick; there is another group coming up from behind. I can only stop them for a couple of seconds."

Listening to my warning both of them grimly nodded and began fighting with an increased intensity, thankfully we had already dispatched a large number of them by now.

Behind us, Duskwraith kept distracting the second Jackal group, revealing itself at random intervals while trying to lead them away from the fight. Thankfully, it was able to buy us enough time.

The last monster howled, retreating, but Tess’s arrow ended its escape before it vanished into the shadows. Silence returned, broken only by our labored breathing and the faint crackle of Aria’s dissipating ice.

"Is that all of them?" Tess called, landing lightly beside us. "For now," I muttered, wiping my blade clean before meeting Aria’s exhausted gaze.

"Let’s get out of here before something else shows up."