"Wolves hunt in packs, so how does a wolf without a pack fight?" Rhamn also observed the beast with curiosity.
The wolf wasn't in a rush to attack. It continued to circle Cyril with a calm gait.
Suddenly from the shadow at Cyril's feet rose a hand made of pure dark, attempting to grab him.
Cyril easily broke it apart with a single hit and got ready for a possible follow-up, but nothing came.
The wolf was only measuring his reactions for now.
It's being cautious."Smart"
Soon the beast stopped in its tracks, and its huge body began disappearing bit by bit into the darkness.
An ability similar to Tigris?
Cyril looked around but couldn't catch the beast's position, but soon something else caught his attention.
From all sides something began forming out of shadows. They took the appearance of the wolf, only smaller, and all began audibly growling at Cyril.
I guess he has his pack after all.
"How interesting; it's still a wolf at the end of the day." Rhamn nodded with intrigue.
The copies positioned themselves around Cyril, from the front, from the back, and from the sides.
Suddenly a wolf on his side jumped in, attempting to bite at his neck.
Cyril put his left hand in its path, letting it bite it.
Holding the wolf in such a way, Cyril swung it around him, hitting the other copies away.
They all dissipated from this, including the one biting on his arm.
They aren't too strong... Thought Cyril while looking at his arm.
Aside from torn clothes, he was completely unharmed.
Soon more wolves appeared around him, ready to strike again.
"How many copies can this wolf create?"We'll find out.
"Morpho! Come down, there is no need for a sneak attack here," Cyril loudly said into the empty air.
Such an action even confused the wolves a little; they started looking around and soon found something.
A beautiful red butterfly flew from somewhere, hovering near Cyril.
"Let's see what else you can do." Cyril once again took a fighting stance and called out to the wolf.
The wolves all moved, displaying a brilliant degree of teamwork, attacking at the right moment one after another.
What confused the magic creature hiding in the shadows was the strength of this seemingly feeble insect.
With a single dive, it was capable of dealing serious damage, destroying the copies outright.
In addition to that, the combined attack of Morpho and Cyril carried a surprisingly good amount of coordination, rivaling that of this pack.
They perfectly guarded each other's blind spots, disposing of the copies with more and more proficiency.
Cyril wasn't sure how many copies they'd struck down; he was lost in the moment.
There was something incredible about being on the receiving end of the wolf's hunting strategies.
What he only read in the book before was now being experienced by him in person. He quite liked it.
This was finally feeling like the zoo trip he envisioned.
At some point, however, the continuous onslaught stopped; no more wolves appeared.
Cyril and Morpho, with similar confusion, looked around, but everything was quiet.
Is it trying something else? Thought Cyril and raised his arm above his head.
A bright flash illuminated the place, getting rid of the shadows nearby, but nothing happened still.
He vigilantly stood there for a few more minutes.
"Cyril... I think it escaped..." Rhamn appeared in front of him with a helpless expression.
No matter how long he stood there, nothing was happening. It was completely quiet.
"How unlucky..." Finally Cyril relaxed and sighed.
Both he and Morpho carried a similar expression of dissatisfaction.
Morpho was doing it in her own butterfly way.
It was a reasonable decision made by the wolf.
As a wild beast that used to live in nature, it knew that not every fight needed to be taken.
Often times it was better to simply escape once the situation didn't go in your favor.
There was nothing Cyril could do about it; he let Morpho land on his shoulder, and together they started walking.
On the way, Cyril briefly hoped the wolf hadn't escaped and would attack once he relaxed, but nothing of the sort happened.
He freely walked towards the next commotion happening without any interruptions.
"What a coward" said Rhamn in disappointment.
Not too far away in the thicket, someone was fighting with an ice bunny, a fast and elusive creature relying on magic quite heavily.
As he approached, Cyril noticed the presence of another person, stealthily spectating the fight behind some bushes.
Once he got a good look, Cyril found out it was a familiar figure writing something down in the notebook while crouching.
Cyril quietly approached unseen behind this person and suddenly said, "Hi," in a quiet voice.
"!" Rose almost screamed from surprise but prevented herself in time.
When she realized it was Cyril, she made a sigh of relief, interrupting the spell forming in her hand.
"Why would you do that? I could've blown my cover!" She whispered a complaint.
"Sorry, you were just too open." Cyril apologized and asked, "What are you doing anyways? Aren't you going to help?"
The battle wasn't going too smoothly for the mage fighting the bunny.
Actually, the fight looked to be over already.
A mage from the zoo was lying down on his back with his limbs gradually becoming more frozen. He had a despairing expression and struggled in vain.
The bunny was doing what can only be called an interpretive dance in front of the man, rhythmically jumping from one leg to the other.
Rose made an awkward face at his question and evaded his eyes.
"When I arrived, they were already like that, and it's not my job to save people; I am a visitor here!" She said with a nervous voice.
After an awkward second, she sighed and lowered her shoulders in defeat.
"Just don't tell the others, alright? I know it's 'bad,' but I think it's an opportunity to observe these magical creatures beyond what's written in the books" She pursed her lips and continued.
"A few people might suffer, but it was their job to keep things under control in the first place; it's not my fault they've failed."
Rose said in a somewhat morbid voice while evading Cyril's gaze, "Aren't you curious about these magic creatures? How do they use magic? How do they treat their prey?"
Her eyes were staring down at the ground.
"A little, yes, I understand you," Cyril agreed with a nod.
"Eh?" Rose stared at him in surprise, almost forgetting to whisper.
"You don't think this is messed up?" She cautiously asked with some hope.
"It's a very normal curiosity. I have it too. And I have a solution for the current situation," Cyril calmly said.
Rose looked at him with relief and curiosity. "What is it?"
Cyril directly got up from the bushes and went towards the battlefield.
"I'll just take his place. You can research all you want; I don't mind. I will even help if you have anything particular you want to check," he said on the way.
Rose's face first turned to surprise and fear, then to intrigue as she listened.
In the end she nodded and picked up her notebook again with an eager expression.
"Who are you? Stay away, this magic creature is out of control!" Upon noticing a student, the mage called out in distress.
The bunny made a human-like surprised expression, almost stumbling on the ground.
When it recovered, the creature stared at Cyril with hostility and bared its little fangs.
Unlike a regular bunny, these ones were carnivorous.
"Despite its danger, it looks quite cute."
Once Cyril approached, the bunny's ear twitched and above it's head appeared an icicle that soon flew out in attack.
Cyril hit it midair with his backhand, destroying the spell with no issue.
Seeing this, the bunny warily jumped away a certain distance.
Cyril thawed the poor man with a fire spell, leaving his back to Morpho.
"Go, I'll deal with this," he said to the mage.
"S-Sure, be careful; this damn thing is slippery!" The man yelled and ran away with no issues. This student looked like he could handle this.
The bunny wanted to pursue, but Cyril and Morpho stood in its path, blocking the icicles it sent out.
The magic creature then stomped on the ground in frustration. An almost ready meal escaped just like that!
"The ice bunny surprisingly differs little in size from a normal one. Its only viable way of attack against a human is using ice magic," Rhamn mentioned what they've learned before.
Should be a quick fight, Cyril thought and took a stance.
From what he saw, this beast was less dangerous than the shadow wolf.
Cyril approached on his own, determined to attack, while Rose continued to write in her notebook with interest.
In the past this creature relied on its natural agility to run away from the opponent, then bombard them with ice-based attacks from afar.
However, now it was facing Cyril and Morpho at the same time.
Cyril could destroy whatever ice bolt was going his way easily enough, and he was quick to boot. The bunny had to spend most of its time escaping.
But there was Morpho as well. This butterfly was even faster than the bunny itself, so there was little the creature could do to win.
Numerous times Cyril had to call Morpho back in order to not end it too soon. There were still plenty of things they wanted to know.
Soon Rose began voicing her ideas for an experiment.
They've tried numerous different things, like using fire on its fur, testing its reaction speed, the coldest temperature the bunny could output, they checked it's ears in detail.
By the end of it all, the bunny was lying on the ground with its leg twitching, tired from everything.
Morpho flapped her wings right above in triumph. Another beast bested by the butterfly.
Rose was already standing right in front of the magic creature, no longer writing anything down.
"That's enough, thank you, Cyril! What are you going to do about it?" She asked while staring at the twitching leg.
"I suppose we can't just leave it here," said Cyril, and he grabbed the bunny by the ears, raising it in the air.
The bunny stared at Cyril's face, and a slight curve of his mouth gave it a very bad feeling.
"Make an ice shield and try to brace for a fall. Remember I won, so don't cause trouble anymore, unless you want to die." Calmly said Cyril, and started spinning while holding the bunny, gaining momentum.
Rose looked dumbfounded as the bunny turned to a blur while continuously whining.
Once he gained enough speed, Cyril stopped and, with a twist of his whole body, threw the creature with all of his strength.
With a scream, the creature flew all the way somewhere far away from here. It covered quite a distance.
"Is this... alright?" Rose hesitantly said.
"Don't worry, this bunny is tougher than it looks. It will be fine." Cyril reassured her.
This wasn't really what Rose meant. But looking at the refreshed Cyril, she decided to not think about it anymore.
In a good mood, the two continued to search the park for more creatures.