The Way of the Future: Age of Machines(Completed)

Goodbye, R-324

Severed metallic parts of what was R-342 were spread all over the forest floor. The parts were riddled with frozen shards that pierced through the thick layer of armor while the metallic skin was completely frozen, R-342 was no more.

Valentine was examining the parts and the peculiar egg shape being that she had destroyed. It wasn't anything she had ever seen, everything was completely alien to her. Valentine chased down R-342 and cast a tier 6 freezing spell which shattered the drone after the sudden temperature drop froze it and it fell from the treeline and into the ground.

"What.. are you..?" Valentine continued to examine each piece of the drone, repeatedly calling it a metallic beast whilst also showing signs of curiosity and disgust. She was baffled by the fact it fell after such a simple spell and that it ran other than fight, she was expecting a usual response from an enemy mage.

She then inspected the eyes of R-342, the advanced components of the drone coupled by its alien experience made Valentine conclude that it was indeed the demon that the Pope was referring to. An odd demon, she thought.

She went through all the parts under the blistering day, she didn't realize it at first but the sky was suddenly clear, no clouds could be seen from afar and the temperature under the shade was equivalent to that of direct sunlight.

Using her magically enhanced senses, she began to track the sudden heatwave. It was not a natural process but could be the legendary Heat Fox, though creatures like that only existed in legends and hightales. Unbeknownst to her, she was being surrounded by a pack of Blister Wolves, monsters who mutate from regular foxes when exposed to unbearable hot temperatures along with high concentrations of magic.

The Blister Wolves were rare monsters, the heat that escapes their ridged and lava-like bodies produce a high temperature equivalent to that of the sun's rays. The Blister Wolves could be easily spotted if they can penetrate through the illusion magic their skin cast as means of camouflage. In Vilvintine's case, the camouflage was a tad too strong for her senses to detect.

The wolves easily blended into the surrounding vegetation but were also slowly burning the leaves and branches forcing them to move continuously which also risks them being detected if a bush or a branch suddenly rustled or moved.

The rarity of the wolves didn't help them as they were easily spotted regardless of their efforts when in thick vegetation. Valentine noticed the peculiar rustling of nearby bushes, she crouched and drew her small dagger whilst scanning her surroundings. A few moments of eerie silence passed with no movement from either side against the other.

Then, the wolves all lunged at Valentine from all directions, Valentine expected this. She jumped a few meters from the ground, dodging the menacing wolves.

"Tsk"

The Wolves had rocky skin similar to that of cooled magma while a searing heat escaped the miniature cracks spread all across their surfaces. Their mouths dripped of magma which resembled a sort of saliva that gave an eerie sight to those who would come face to face with them.

Valentine quickly jumped into the treeline and scurried off, the wolves were in hot pursuit. Her frost magic directly countered the blistering wolves but they were far too many for her to take on all at once and so she decided to carefully deal with each.

There were ten wolves in total, three were just a few steps away from her and this presented an oppurtunity to turn around the numerical disadvantage. Using her forst magic, she called forth ten ice shards from her 'Frost Shard Spell' the shards appeared a few meters above her head and levitated, the wolves noticed this and quickly changed directions, with a slight flick of Valentine's index finger, the ice shards suddenly moved from their positions.