“NOW!” Ren bellowed.
The mage lobbed little puffs of firebolts. Firebolt had longer range compared to arrows or rocks.
She planted her boots on the rocky ledge, squared her shoulders, and aimed both hands at the snarling Shadow Wolf Alpha.
A flickering, unstable ball of fire sparked into existence between her palms.
“Firebolt!” she yelled, unleashing the spell.
WHUMP.
The little fireball smacked into the Alpha’s side, leaving a small singe mark.
-3 HP floated up from the wolf’s health bar.
Ren, still tucked safely way in the back, nodded approvingly.
‘Good hit. Even if it’s only three damage, it’s something.’
The mage immediately started casting again.
Firebolt was the starter spell for all mages in Towerbound.
It didn’t cost much mana compared to higher-level spells—but at Level 1, she could only fire it four times before running dry.
Which meant she had to make every shot count.
The second Firebolt blasted the Alpha square in the haunch.
-5 HP.
The wolf snarled, furious, but its attention was still locked on the ledge—still confused about where all the pain was coming from.
The third bolt hit a glancing shot.
-4 HP.
And the fourth—
The mage grunted in frustration as the spell barely clipped the ground near the Alpha’s paws, dealing no visible damage.
Mana exhausted, she slumped slightly, panting.
“I’m out!” she called back over her shoulder.
The Shadow Wolf Alpha was not happy about being used as target practice. It had been charging furiously toward the mage—exactly what Ren had been counting on. Rocks, even in free mode, had a shorter range than the mage’s Firebolt, and that difference mattered.
“Start throwing rocks and firing bows! Keep the aggro up!” Ren shouted.
He lobbed another stone himself, which sailed harmlessly past the wolf’s tail.
‘Damn it,’ Ren thought, grimacing.
‘Not a damage dealer. I’m a professional coward, not a sniper.’
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The warriors and rangers kept up their barrage.
Meanwhile, Kanuka’s ghost floated nearby, arms crossed, muttering under his breath.
‘At least I died doing something important,’ he thought, then added bitterly, ‘Important for someone else.’
The Shadow Wolf Alpha, battered by the constant pelting of rocks and low-grade attacks, gave a furious howl—
—and charged toward the base of the craggy cliff, trying to leap up.
Ren’s heart leapt into his throat.
“More rocks! Hit it harder!” he shouted.
The entire group roared and hurled everything they had.
It wasn’t pretty.
It wasn’t heroic.
It was pure desperation—
—but it was working.
The warriors hurled rocks like angry kids in a street brawl.
Even Ren, the epitome of cowardice, hurled a rock from his very safe spot way in the back.
The air buzzed with stone and magic.
The Shadow Wolf Alpha staggered under the first impacts but didn’t stop.
It let out another furious howl and launched itself in a massive pounce—
CRASH.
It was still out of range.
“Alright, team! Keep throwing! This Alpha’s not dead yet!”
And above them, the battle against the Shadow Wolf Alpha raged on.
The fight kicked into high gear.
Up on the craggy ledge, everyone continued their actions.
The warriors hurled rocks as fast as they could grab them. The ranger fired arrow after arrow, his bowstring snapping back and forth like a machine. And the mage, standing tall in her shabby robes, unleashed a volley of Firebolts, each one slamming into the Shadow Wolf Alpha with a thwump and a hiss of scorched fur. The thief? Unable to do thiefy things was on getting more rocks duty,
Rocks didn’t do much damage individually—maybe one point each—but they kept the Alpha staggered.
More importantly, they interrupted its passive regeneration.
Because like most elite monsters in Towerbound, the Shadow Wolf Alpha naturally healed over time.
Leave it alone for more than a few seconds, and it would start slowly recovering health, undoing all their hard work.
The real damage was coming from the ranger’s arrows and the mage’s Firebolts.
She had recovered enough mana to fire them off slowly.
Every hit shaved chunks off the Alpha’s health bar.
It wasn’t pretty, but it was working.
Kanuka, floating as a ghost just a few meters away, watched all of it unfold with a kind of hidden satisfaction.
‘At least they’re not completely useless without me,’ he thought.
The Alpha growled low in its throat, pacing furiously at the base of the cliff, trying to find a way up.
It took a Firebolt right to the snout and staggered back, its health bar dipping dangerously low.
25% health remaining.
Then—
[System Warning: Berserk State Triggered!]
The Shadow Wolf Alpha threw back its head and let out a bone-shaking howl.
The sound echoed across the fields.
Within seconds, more shapes appeared out of the misty woods—seven Shadow Wolves answering the call.
If the group had been standing on open ground, it would’ve been an instant slaughter.
But thanks to Ren’s careful planning, they were perched safely up on the ledge, where the wolves would have to climb awkwardly one at a time.
“FOCUS ON THE ALPHA!” Ren roared, his voice cracking from how hard he was yelling.
He wasn’t joking.
If they didn’t finish the Alpha fast, it would regenerate during the confusion—and once it recovered, all their work would be for nothing.
The Alpha bared its fangs and lunged again, trying to leap up the cliff—but a rock caught it in the shoulder mid-jump, knocking it back.
The ranger loosed three rapid shots into its side, arrows sprouting from its ribcage.
The mage hit it with another Firebolt, right in the mouth.
Kanuka watched it all with wide ghostly eyes.
‘Goddamn,’ he thought.
‘They’re actually doing it.’
Below, the Shadow Wolf Alpha stumbled, its movements sluggish now. Smoke curled up from its burned fur, and blood soaked the ground where it limped.
The seven normal Shadow Wolves howled and paced around the base of the cliff, but none could climb fast enough to reach them.
Everyone focused every attack they had on the Alpha.
It stumbled once, twice—
—and finally collapsed with a massive THUD that shook the ground.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE: Congratulations! You have defeated: Shadow Wolf Alpha.]
[Bonus Rewards Earned.]
The ledge exploded into cheers.
Kanuka, floating beside his corpse, gave a ghostly pump of his fist.
‘Hell yeah,’ he thought. ‘Worth it.’
Now they just had to deal with the mop-up.
