Chapter 22: Wolfkin vs. Wolf

Early in the morning, the group departed from Marcus’ settlement. Paul had to promise to come visit again soon, but he had planned to do so anyway.

They rode on Rudolph’s cart until they reached Jonas’ village, then split up. While Rudolph went back to Prozor taking the northern road, Paul and Kana took the western road. Travelling to Steinnes was said to take a day by foot, so they would probably have to camp or travel through the night anyway, so they were not that much in a hurry.

The road itself was rather well-maintained and suited for travelling by carriage, so on foot it was a more or less pleasant walk. First, they passed by the fields and pastures surrounding the village, then a few plains. About an hour later the road was completely surrounded by forest. A large percentage of the trees were of the needle variant and there was quite a bit of shrubbery mixed in between, so you couldn’t see further into the forest than a dozen metres at best.

While walking, Paul was on the lookout for herbs and plants that he might be able to use for alchemical or medicinal purposes. He had also shown the sketches of the leaves and grasses to Kana, so she could help him finding some, but it didn’t even take half an hour and she started pointing out plants that had nothing to do with what he was looking for.

He praised her anyway, but told her to be on the lookout for anything potentially dangerous from now on.

His own efforts were less than satisfactory. He only found a plant that was said to help alleviate fever when made into a tea and one plant that was used to disinfect wounds by crushing the leaves and using it underneath a bandage. Not really bad, but nothing impressive. He plucked the plants including the roots, as advised in the book. Then he put them away in a linen bag he had attached to his belt.

“Hey Kana, lets walk a bit into the forest and then parallel to the road. I can’t find anything worthwhile next to the road.” Paul said so while drawing his short sword and hacking a path through a bit of shrubbery. He could keep track of the road with the minimap, so there was no danger of getting lost.

Unfortunately, the forest was too dense. Half an hour later they were back on the road, just a few hundred metres further down the road from where they started. It was so dark, that Paul had to use his [Night Vision] skill just to not scratch himself on random twigs and bushes all the time. He involuntarily shuddered a bit when Kana removed a spider from his hair.

“The crafting mechanics in this world are sure broken” He gave up on collecting herbs for now.

After a while, Paul noticed a red dot on the border of the minimap. It was a few hundred meters inside the forest, so anything large wouldn’t be able to get through the dense forest quickly. A boar or a wolf should not be anything of a problem for the two of them, so Paul ignored it after informing Kana that she should be on guard. The dot just followed them, sometimes vanishing from the map then reappearing a few minutes later.

“Kana, I already wondered but forgot to ask. You are a wolfkin, right? Do you have some special connection to wild wolves? Can you communicate with them? Maybe make one your companion?” A wolf as a party member would sure be bad ass. Or maybe a couple of them. Paul would have them hunt for bunnies and snakes without killing them, then drop them in front of Paul so he could easily farm experience. Paul smiled at the thought of an easy life.

Kana’s reaction was a bit strange. “Well, I’m not sure about talking to them. But the catkin and dogkin servants were always popular among the regular cats and dogs, so maybe they would not attack me outright? Making one of them my companion… if Master really wants it, I’m not against it, I suppose.” She looked like she was slightly blushing while saying the last part, but Paul wasn’t sure because of the bad lighting. She was probably thinking something strange again.

Paul sighed. “Let’s just walk on. If we meet some wolves, let’s see how it plays out.”

After a while they came to a small clearing next to road. There was a burnt out fireplace and a couple of rocks and a tree trunk arranged around it, as a makeshift resting side. Paul was hungry and Kana looked happy when he suggested to have lunch there. Paul had not seen the enemy on the radar for at least 15 minutes, so it was probably safe enough. Or so he thought.

After Paul took out a loaf of bread and some cheese, Kana was already chewing on a large piece of dried meat, the dot reappeared and was bee lining towards them.

Then a second dot and a third one appeared. And a fourth and fifth one.

“Urgh, Kana, stop eating for a minute. There are enemies approaching.” Kana looked a bit confused for a second, but when she saw Paul ready his bow and stand up on one of the rocks, she stopped eating and drew her sword.

“There are five of them and the way they are moving through that thick forest, they have to be beasts of some sort. I take a wild guess and say wolves. I guess you can try to get closer to them sooner as expected”

“Yes, Master” Kana had a battle ready stance and a serious expression on her face.

The dots were moving a lot faster than the single one before. “Here they come, we should be able to see them any second now”

The treeline was about two dozen meters away from them. Paul should be able to shoot at least a few arrows at them before he would switch to his spear and engage in melee.

First there was some rustling, then some movement in the bushes and then they saw them. Wolves, as expected.

[Alpha Wolf

Level 12]

What a ridiculously high level, Paul thought. The first wolf that stepped through the bushes was a lot larger than the one he had encountered with Marcus. It was probably heavier than Paul. The wolf looked over the both of them, then started growling at Paul, ignoring Kana.

It definitely didn’t look like it was going to negotiate first.

“Kana stay close to me. I will start shooting.” Paul shot his arrow at the wolf, aiming for its head.

You shot Alpha Wolf for 15 damage.

The arrow flew past its head and hit it in the shoulder. Paul immediately drew another arrow and took aim. The large wolf didn’t seem to attack and let out a loud howl.

Paul looked at Kana. He didn’t know if she could “understand” anything the wolf was communicating with its cry, but her expression got even more serious. That was a more or less normal reaction in front a wounded beast though.

Paul shot the next arrow at the wolf. To Paul it looked like the wolf was trying to dodge, as the arrow hit it in the right leg, a bit underneath the previous arrow. Perhaps his aim was just bad.

When the arrow hit, there was more rustling in the bushes and the other wolves jumped out. Not wasting any time, they started charging towards Paul. Paul didn’t hesitate himself and shot an arrow at the one that seemed like it would reach him first. From his alleviated position, he hit the wolf straight between the shoulder blades.

You hit Wolf for 25 damage. *crit*

Wolf is now [bleeding].

The wolf staggered and fell, but was immediately overtaken by the remaining three, which rapidly closed the distance. Their leader was barking and howling in the background, but didn’t seem to join them.

Paul tossed his bow to the side and grabbed his spear that he had stuck into the ground next to him. Kana was standing ready to his right side. Paul pointed his spear at the wolf in front, which was now just a few meters before him. He had the full attention of all the wolves, none of them seemed to be going for Kana.

When the wolf jumped towards Paul, he stabbed his spear forwards, impaling the wolf just underneath its head and then used the momentum to throw the wolf to the left. It worked rather well and the wolf went flying. The other two wolves jumped at him at nearly the same time and Paul had just enough time to hold his spear in front of him, preventing the wolves from biting him.

He couldn’t keep his balance though and fell backwards off the rock he was standing on, with the wolves now on top of him. He was barely managing to hold them off enough so they couldn’t rip his throat out. The wolves made a frightening expression and kept barking at Paul, sending spit and drool flying into his face.

Kana reacted quickly and brought her sword down onto the right wolf with full force. The blow nearly decapitated it, and the spit flying towards Paul was replaced with a torrent of blood. He got some into his mouth and even his nose.

Kana hit Wolf for 70 damage. *fatal crit*

Wolf has died.

Kana followed with a kick against the left wolf’s neck, which sent him rolling over the ground. Paul shoved the dead wolf off him and quickly got up. He wiped some off the blood off his face before getting into a fighting stance.

It was not a second too early. The wolf he had sent flying earlier was about to attack him and the one kicked by Kana got up again almost immediately. Even the one with the arrow sticking from his back was slowly approaching. Only the alpha wolf was still waiting near the treeline.

“Kana, finish off the one with the arrow to the right. I’ll hold these off… nnngh!” While speaking, the wolf started attacking him. Paul smacked it with the spear, only grazing it with the pointed end, but followed with a kick to its chest, where he had stabbed it earlier. The wolf jumped back a meter or so, yelping.

Paul could not relax though, the other wolf that had been kicked away was about to jump at him. Paul just threw his spear towards it. Whether it was due to his agility stat, his spear skill or both, the spear flew true towards the wolf and hit it straight in the shoulder just as it was jumping off the ground. The jump became an awkward tumble forwards, stopping the attack for now.

As Paul was about to draw his sword, the other wolf lunged at him. All he could do was stop the charge with his left arm, which the wolf happily bit down on while both of them toppled towards the ground once again, with the wolf pinning Paul down with its weigh. Luckily, Paul was wearing bracers to protect its underarm, but it still felt like his bones would snap any second from the immense jaw strength and the ripping motions the wolf made.

Due to being pinned down, he could not reach his sword or knife, so Paul punched the wolf in the eye with his right hand. This only seemed to make it even angrier. Paul then drew an arrow out of his quiver and tried stabbing the wolf into the eye with it.

You hit Wolf for 3 damage.

Kana hit Wolf for 30 damage.

Wolf is now [unconscious].

You hit Wolf for 2 damage.

Paul could not hit the wolf in the eye like he had planned, but the attacks with the arrow seemed to irritate it enough to make it slightly loosen its grip on his arm.

“Master!” Paul heard Kana approach and looked towards her. She was holding her sword up, ready to swing at the wolf currently trying to chew through his arm.

Paul lowered the arm holding the arrow to not get it caught up in the attack and pushed the wolf away from him as far as he could, which wasn’t very far.

“Hyaa!” He heard Kana shout, then felt a stinging sensation in his face and saw stars for a brief moment.

Kana’s clumsiness was no joke. She had grazed his cheek with the tip of her sword. The wolf was hit though, and his arm was still in one piece. The swing had struck the wolf straight in the face above the eye and actually severed its right ear together with a large part of its scalp, which was now dangling off to the side, only connected by a thin thread of fur.

Naturally, the wolf had lost its grip on Paul’s arm in the process. Paul ignored the pain in his face and the warm taste of fresh blood in his mouth and went after the now gravely injured wolf while drawing his knife. Still on his knees, he started stabbing the wolf into the neck and chest until the combat confirmed that it was dead.

When he looked up, he saw Kana pinning down the remaining wolf with her foot while stabbing it with her sword. Paul’s spear was still impaled into its shoulder.

Seeing its last pack member die, the large alpha wolf charged at Paul, barking angrily. This was bad. Paul was still on his knees, only holding his knife. The weight of that large beast alone could probably crush his chest if he got pinned underneath it. The wolf was closing the distance rapidly and Paul braced himself for the unavoidable impact.

Just before the wolf lunged at him, he saw Kana rushing at the wolf from the side, followed by her tackling the wolf mid-air with her armoured shoulder. It made a terrible cracking sound on impact and Kana and the wolf rolled off to the side. Kana then pinned the wolf down with her knee while punching it in the face, aiming for the nose. After a few blows the wolf stopped fighting and only whimpered.

“Master, I have subdued this one. Do you still want me to try to make it my companion? Although I think it will take some time before it gets into the mood.”

Paul realized that Kana had probably misunderstood something along the way. He was slightly afraid to confirm it though and had no energy left for correcting or scolding her anyway. “No, I have changed my mind. Just finish it off.”

Paul stood up and drew his sword while walking over to the unconscious wolf that he had shot with an arrow before. While he killed it, Kana stabbed the alpha wolf to death with her knife.