As both Selene and the female [Northern Alpha Wolf] started to regain their eye-sight Katherine had been busy casting her next spelclass="underline" [Holy Barrage]. After two seconds of casting the wolf had already regained its vision and had resumed its attack on Katherine, only to get hit by three consecutive orbs of light that were shot out with force and traced and homed onto the moving target.
Exploding on contact the three orbs repeatedly staggered and knocked the wolf off course once again.
The wolf was only temporarily knocked back though and quickly bit onto Katherine's arm while she was attempting to cast a [Holy Blast]. As the wolf gnawed at Kate's arm, the physical damage of the wolf's teeth tearing through her forearm was rapidly draining her health. But the attack had also interrupted the [Holy Blast] mid-cast and the backlash from the rebound stunned her in place.
The disabled girl couldn't do anything to protect herself as she was knocked down on her back. Attempting to fend off the wolf's mouth with her hands as it mounted on top of her and continually snapped at her face and neck was all she could muster.
Desperation was starting to set in.
During the brief respite between the [Burst of Light] and the [Holy Barrage] Selene managed to grab her bow and shot off an arrow into the wolf's side. Though it did little to stop the adrenalized wolf that was ferociously snapping and frothing at the mouth on top of Kate, it was all Selene could do.
Another arrow flew; hitting the wolf in the neck, but Kate was still getting mauled to death with nothing she could do to defend herself besides continuing to throw her hands and arms up in a feeble attempt to block her vitals. Blood was flying everywhere and Selene let off another arrow that landed in a non-fatal spot once again.
Seeing that her friend was quickly nearing death, Selene dropped the bow and grabbed the knife that was on the ground. Sprinting towards the wolf, Selene leaped onto the back of the wolf, hoping that she could at least stop the wolf's attacks.
Even if it was only for a moment, any amount of time would help Katherine.
As Selene wrestled with the wolf she was soon knocked back as the wolf broke loose but it had given Katherine enough time to open her hand in front of the wolf's face again.
White light instantly flooded the visual zone and Selene again was forced to grasp her face as her head and eyes were hit with sudden pain and blindness.
The wolf had been hit again as well and snapped wildly at the surrounding area while Katherine quickly started casting a [Holy Light] while on her knees.
The cast time for [Holy Light] was the same as the duration of the blind from [Burst of Light]. As both the female wolf and Selene regained their eyesight a soft beam of golden light enshrouded the kneeling Katherine for but a brief moment.
It was all she needed to stave off death.
With a large portion of her health restored and her condition stabilized, Katherine stood up ready to better defend herself from the [Northern Alpha Wolf] that was only three feet away covered in Kate's blood.
The wolf made an attempt to attack again but Selene was able to intervene while plunging her dagger deep into the nape of the wolf. The wolf jumped and was able to buck Selene off but it soon caught a rapidly flying large sphere of holy energy to the side of its face, exploding with a yellowish-white brilliance that only Holy Spells could offer.
As the staggered wolf attempted to shake off the sudden concussive blast it found itself standing above a patch of ground that was radiating with a soft white hue, unaware of what was to come.
The wolf had suffered numerous injuries and was standing in place with a low growl as it knew it was fighting a losing battle but didn't want to make a move. Selene had gotten back to her knees, but with one glance at Katherine, stayed where she was.
After three seconds had passed from when the [Holy Blast] had hit the wolf head-on, two seconds after that soft white hue had appeared on the ground underneath the wolf, the ground erupted.
With a sudden dim outward pulse and then a rapid collapse of light the small space immediately above the ground erupted in a plume of white fire, shooting straight up towards the sky and engulfing the wolf entirely in flame.
The wolf cried in pain as it found itself burning from the [Holy Fire] that had been cast underneath it. Unable to withstand the damage the Alpha wolf collapsed to the floor with smoke rising off the freshly burnt corpse.
The fight was over.
Katherine soon collapsed to her knees as she struggled to breathe while Selene fell back on her ass. Plodding down on the ground with hands clasped on her knees taking in the scene before her, Selene could only muster a sigh of relief.
The fight had progressed smoothly until the second [Northern Alpha Wolf] appeared in front of them. If Selene could have maintained enough of a threatening presence to hold the wolf's aggression the fight would have been much easier.
But threat maintenance and monster aggro was something many players struggled with in gaming and is why players who play the role of a tank typically specialize in threat and aggro management.
As an archer or hunter archetype, Selene could only produce as much threat as her damage done and when compared to the flashy holy spells that Katherine used, were inconsequential to most creatures.
She simply wasn't built to tank effectively.
Selene spoke up first, "Ah that was tough."
Katherine had used nearly all of her mana during the fight and had just regained enough to cast another [Holy Light] on herself, bringing her to a comfortable health level but not enough to heal her mangled left arm. Selene looked over at her childhood friend and felt remorse for having nearly failed her once again.
She may have been the level-headed and grounded one, the more experienced and mature one but in the difficult moments Katherine always came through where she had sometimes failed.
For Selene it didn't mean anything for the little events, but this was now the third time she had nearly failed in a critical moment that could have left either of them dead. Katherine would never say anything of it and Selene knew that too, but it wasn't of any consolation when she knew Katherine had saved the day with her quick thinking and strategic use of spells even in the most dire of situations.
That same Katherine, who was so insecure over her looks despite being an absolute beauty, who was often immature and silly when going about her daily life but incredibly poised and sharp when it mattered.
It hurt Selene's pride knowing that she wasn't nearly as dependable as Katherine despite all of the appearances. That it was basically her little sister that she was failing hurt Selene even more.
Katherine had regained her composure as she used [Holy Hand] to heal and restore her mangled arm back to its previous state, smiling once she had finally returned herself back to normalcy.
Katherine then turned her attention to Selene and spoke up, "I think I ruined some of those wolf pelts… do you think the Master will be upset?"
Selene nearly choked on her saliva and started coughing, eventually clearing her throat enough to get out a bewildered statement, "That's what you're worried about?! And who's our Master?! We're just temporarily repaying a debt!"
Katherine immediately stood up and raised her voice as she replied, "Selene! I swore I would serve him if he rescued you, we owe him our lives! Why are you so obstinate?!"
After uttering the last line Katherine had puffed her cheeks while placing her hands on her hips like an angry child, causing Selene to burst into laughter moments after she was choking in bewilderment.
It was just that kind of relationship.
The two eventually gathered six wolf corpses and found four were in excellent condition minus the few arrow punctures, but two were severely burned and wouldn't be of much use except for their leather and meat.