Oasis Online: The Toymaker

As loud growls reverberated through the desolate grove, bringing fear to all animals that dwelled within, a blue-haired boy, the reason for the snarls, smiled completely unfazed. He had purposely provoked the Demon-Eyed wolves after all. How could they intimidate him?

These wolves couldn't even play second fiddle to the monsters that he would see when he became a higher level. So, rather than following the expected course of action in such a situation, Ari smirked at the beasts and used a skill that would make them laser-focused on him instead.

"Provocation!" Ari yelled, watching as a red glow enveloped the six wolves before, with the quickness of a rabbit, bolting into the woods.

This caused a terrifying symphony of sorts to start, consisting of deafening growls and the stomping of gargantuan paws. Which was, of course, only the accompaniment for his panting.

If he was a true newbie, he would shit his pants right now at how these monsters were drooling over him like he was food. He would be terrified of their sharp teeth and claws and would beg for mercy. But he stands there calmly, meeting their gaze.

He knows he's not food, but he knew he could trust that player on the forums. Either way, he won't be testing that theory today.

Thankful for his high agility stat, he weaved through the trees at great speed, dodging branches and leaping over logs with ease. If he wasn't in a dire situation, this would be enjoyable. The sound of rustling grass followed by the wind on his face and twigs crunching under his feet as he swept by was something he had never experienced in his real or virtual life.

One day, he would have to go to Sleeping Meadows with his friends and try that frolicking trend that started up again in 2129. But for now, he needed to get these monsters to the planned location.

Looking ahead, he saw a rubber tree that was about half a mile away. Ari could only smile as an intriguing idea came to mind. Rushing to the nearest tree, he climbed it. When he was about halfway up, he saw the wolves were a couple of seconds away from catching up to him.

'Urg, if only my climbing skill level was higher,' Ari thought, groaning as he tried to climb faster but was completely failing to do so.

Suddenly, he heard piercing growls coming from underneath him. Even though he had not planned to look down, Ari couldn't stop himself from doing exactly that. And what he saw below left him almost petrified.

There were six gigantic wolves surrounding the tree, and they were all trying to jump up and grab him with their massive maws. It was horrifying.

Just the sight of the Demon-Eyed wolf's sharp and numerous teeth glinting in the sunlight, their long tongues dripping with saliva waiting to taste his delicious ass, was a mental trauma waiting to happen. He wasn't even going to get started about their red eyes that were looking at him like he was the last meal in an apocalyptic world.

'I already knew I looked like a 'snack' but damn, they are literally frothing at the mouths to get to me. I wonder if players are a delicacy to them?' However, Ari had no time to ponder that question, because the wolves were climbing up.'Oh, shit!'

Fear trickled its way into his mind as he wondered if he would have to take on these beasties by his lonesome. However, after thinking about it for a second, he knew it would cost him a couple of HP potions, but he could manage it... maybe.

But that was something else he really wanted to try today. Seeing that one wolf was coming closer, he pulled out his rubber hammer and bashed it on the nose, causing it to bring the others behind it to tumble down with it.

Knowing that he didn't have a second to spare before the creatures started climbing up again, Ari continued to climb quickly to his destination. As he was climbing, he heard the ding of a system alert in his ear.

[System: Your Climbing skill has reached LVL 2!]

Happiness surged through him because now he was 2x faster than the monsters on his tail. When he was certain he was far enough away from the Demon-Eyed wolves, he paused before looking down on them with a smirk and sticking his middle finger up at them.

It seemed the monsters understood the action if the growls becoming louder were a clue. Ari knew if stimulated them, the wolves could evolve, which wouldn't be in his best interest if it happened. So instead of continuing to rub his superiority in their faces, he resumed climbing until he was at his destination.

His destination, although strange, was a very sturdy branch. This branch was very essential to his plan. Why? Because of its sturdiness.

After grabbing the branch with both hands, Ari, with the grace of an acrobat, swung his body around the thick tree limb three times, trying to gain momentum. It seemed longer, but a mere second before one wolf reached out a paw to swipe at him was the moment he let go of the branch, propelling himself forward.

As he flew, he looked down back at the wolves, provoking them so they would keep following him. Not that he needed to, since they practically flew off the tree to follow him after he left.

Grateful for their commitment to catching him, he turned his head back. Seeing that the rubber tree was approaching fast, Ari quickly did a somersault. After all, he needed to have his feet pointed towards the tree, not his head.

As his feet slammed against the tree, he was thankful that rubber absorbed the shock of his landing, which caused him no HP loss. The impact caused the tree to bend farther than he expected.

This caused him to be launched westward, although it was the right direction. It propelled him at a speed way too fast for the monsters to keep aggro on him. So as not to lose the wolves, Ari pulled out his trump card, a skill called Antagonize.

Antagonize was a skill he was happy to have, but he would not use it often. This skill made monsters focus only on the caster, no matter who else was attacking. It lasted until either the caster or the monster was dead.

However, that wasn't the reason he didn't use it often. When he cast the skill, it causes a monster's rage to grow 3 times as large. Which causes their attack power to grow 3 times. The only good side is that it doubles the experience. That's if the caster can kill the creature.

Luckily, his cousin was waiting for him. They could deal with this together. Speaking of the devil, suddenly a communication bird arrived next to him.

"Kismet, where are you? I have been waiting for thirty minutes now!" a feminine voice spoke out from the bird's mouth.

Rolling his eyes at his impatient cousin as he free falls into a flip before landing on the ground. The wolves were right behind him as he started running once again. "I'm on my way right now, Nabi. I found a pack of six Demon-Eyed wolves for us, so hold your horses."

"Six of them? How did you find so many?" Nabi asked in confusion, before the realization hit her. "How far did you go?"

"It's only about five miles from where I left you," Ari laughed nervously.

"Only five miles! Didn't I tell you not to go so far? You're going to drain your stamina before you even reach me."

"I couldn't help it, though," Ari replied. "It's not my fault that we killed them faster than they could respawn."

Sucking her teeth at him, she said, "Whatever. How far away are you and what does your STA look like?"

"Around 5 minutes before I reach you," Ari said while opening his Avatar information screen. "My stamina is at 20% Once I arrive, I need you to hold them off me for a while so I can drink a potion."

"No problem isn't that why you made me get the provoke skill," Nabi said nonchalantly.

"Um... well... it might be a problem. I had to use Antagonize."

"You...," Nabi began angrily. "You bonehead, how am I supposed to stop them from killing you? Huh?"

Laughing, Ari said, "I don't know. Maybe you can try throwing your body in front of me."

"So I can die? No way?"

"Tsk, I thought we were family. Why won't you die for me?" Ari asked jokingly.

Shaking her head at the mere thought of doing what her Oppa said, Nabi replied, "Why do I have to die for you? Why can't you hide behind a rock while I fight them with pushbacks?"

"Hmm, that works too!" Ari said as he ran into Rocky Valley, where his cousin was waiting. "Nabi, get ready, incoming in 30 seconds!"