Chapter 41

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Chapter 041: Riverbank Wolves

They were surrounded by wolves.

Jesse and Greed looked around and saw about three or four wolves observing them not far away, there might be even more in the forest.

Recently, the wolves in Elwynn Forest have been struggling, squeezed by the invasion of Gnolls that push on their living space, and competing with them for food, forcing them to come near human settlements to find opportunities, which led to conflicts with farmers and shepherds.

Jesse took the stick off his back, held it in his hand, and only when facing the wild animals, he felt much safer with a sharp tool in his hand.

At the very least, once they are touched, it can leave a bloody wound. It doesn’t require much strength or skill, besides being long, does the stick have any other advantages?

"Greed, your dagger," Jesse gestured with his hand, saying, "Let me borrow it."

Greed threw the dagger over, and Jesse quickly wrapped it with cloth and thin rope, securing it tightly to the end of the stick. After shaking and pulling to ensure it wouldn’t easily come off, he felt slightly relieved.

"Do you think they would dare to come at us?" Jesse asked.

Greed said, "Since they’ve shown up, they’re daring to approach us. If they didn’t dare, they would have run away after smelling our scent. These cunning creatures are not as foolish as dogs. They wouldn’t have come this close if they weren’t confident."

He said this but remained sitting on the ground calmly, as if he didn’t care at all about the wolves leaping towards him.

Jesse was ready for battle, holding a makeshift spear in his hands, always watching the movements around him.

"These wolves are not big," Greed threw a piece of biscuit into his mouth, stood up, dusted off his butt, and said, "They must not have seen many dwarves before. They might even mistake me for a human cub. Plus, with you looking so nervous, they probably think we’re an easy target. So, let’s teach them a lesson today."

Greed stood up, and the wolves shifted.

As Jesse raised his spear to strike, Greed reached out and said, "Hold on, they will test your threat level. If you show too much bravery, they will think you’re not scared of them. If you’re not scared of them, you must have some uncertain abilities supporting your courage, like magic or powerful weapons. Realizing this, the wolves will retreat, either fleeing or circling to tire you out and wait for your mistake. So let’s take it step by step, don’t show too much aggression yet. When the wolves get closer and start threatening us, that’s when we strike by surprise."

Indeed, although the wolves approached, they didn’t attack immediately. Some wolves were watching from a distance, while others came closer. There were probably seven or eight of them, big and small, more than the men had mentioned.

Jesse slightly lowered his stance, but he was getting more and more nervous. He glanced at Greed beside him. Greed had tightened his grip on his sword, his hands even trembling. Was he nervous too?

A wolf suddenly approached from the side, growling softly. Startled, Jesse turned around, aiming his spear at the creature, only to hear a rustling noise behind him.

Greed raised his sword and struck down the wolf that was sneaking up behind Jesse, chopping off one of its front legs. The wolf howled in pain and rolled to the ground. Greed was incredibly fast, taking one swift step to chop the other wolf’s head in half, then kicking the twitching half-dead wolf to retrieve his sword.

Jesse forcefully stabbed the spear into the wolf in front of him, but to his surprise, the dagger fell off.

The wolf that was viciously stabbed in the back whimpered and shivered before retreating, while several other wolves lurking in the forest had already charged towards them. Jesse hit another wolf on the ear with a stick, causing it to tumble and roll on the ground.

"They ran away!"

Greed roared angrily behind them, and when Jesse looked back, many wolves had already disappeared.

"Chase them! They might head towards the wolves’ den… Maybe we can find their food there."

With that, the dwarf charged into the forest.

Jesse found the small injured wolf that had been stabbed with the dagger, pulled out the weapon, and proceeded to chase after the wolves while securing it tightly.

It was at that moment that he realized what Greed meant by their "food" – it was likely where Stomir’s children might be.

Jesse ran after Greed, but their footsteps couldn’t catch up with the fast forest wolves, and soon they lost track of them.

Greed was panting heavily as he followed the jumbled footprints of the wolves on the ground, muttering to himself, "These foolish creatures left such obvious traces by fleeing haphazardly… I will find out where your den is today."

Unknowingly, as they chased, Jesse started to hear the sound of water, and they had reached the river.

Following the tracks of the wolf pack along the river downstream, after a while, Jesse suddenly saw a stream branching off from the big river on the other side, where a wolf was standing, wagging its tail and looking at them.

Impatiently, Greed rolled up his pants, crossed the stream and ran towards the wolf. However, he abruptly stopped in the middle.

The wolf did not move, still watching them from the other side.

The dwarf swiftly turned back, running back even faster through the water, saying, "Leave this place, Jesse!"

Jesse instantly understood why the lone wolf was standing there, but as he turned back, the bushes in front of him were already filled with dark figures.

In the direction of the forest, under the moonlight, several large adult forest wolves were gazing at them, like a group of victorious hunters proudly eyeing their prey.

Greed walked over to Jesse and looked at the group of wolves, then said with a snort, "Do you know why I had to bring you here? I can’t handle this situation alone."

Jesse sighed and said, "Can’t you act like you didn’t know this was going to happen? We’ve been tricked, that’s it."

Greed didn’t argue but instead said, "To solve the crisis at the farm, these wolves will have to be dealt with sooner or later. I understand now why the locals have been avoiding this task for so long, it’s troublesome. But now the problem is simple, we just have to kill them!"

This time, they were facing not just seven or eight young wolves, but a large group, likely more than ten, with some adult wolves joining in.

The dwarf pointed at the dark shadow and said, "The leader of the wolves should be among the biggest ones, we can’t see clearly from here, but later on we’ll focus on killing them."

Compared to the earlier group of young wolves, this group had a much stronger presence. They were closing in quickly, and Jesse could already see the sharp teeth of the nearest vanguard.

Greed was more nervous than before, taking deep breaths continuously. It seemed like this would be a very tough battle.

Jesse raised the makeshift spear in hand, feeling a wave of heat behind his head.