We'd arrived at the meeting point. It was near the 4-meter wooden wall built by the villagers 14 years ago to defend this part that connected the forest. The ones present there were Chief Feldor, Alfredo, Mado, a man named Waldo, and three other young adults whom were residing near this place. I didn't know their names. Actually, the village had almost 200+ people, so it's natural that I wouldn't know them. Besides, our house could be found in the southwest part of the village. They were all carrying different weapons like knives, axes, and spare swords.
"Good morning, Chief. Vaissien the idiot said he wants to join the party today." Ferm animatedly said.
"Is that so? I'm glad. So, we have to start our briefing, then. Waldo, begin." The Chief replied in the same atmosphere.
"Yes. Okay, everyone, please gather. Our target today is an unusual cave-like or it's like a whole believed to be a potential shelter for some animals." He opened an old scroll. "As you can see in this map, it's directly north near this lake."
"That's correct." Chief Feldor added. "What's tricky in this, though, is the thoroughfare which is a bit complicated. After all, we haven't explored this place before. The reason of course is due to monsters being sighted in this place often."
"As you know, this is an off-limit area for low-ranked adventures. Be reminded that if some monsters do appear, leaning the place at all cost should must be the priority." Waldo announced to always proceed with caution.
"Wait, if I may ask, is this really worthy of the danger? Plus, who found this place first?" Rayha queried.
"I and my party found it just the other day when we did some surveying. What's good is that we heard some noises inside that could be a sign of animals. I don't know if we had overlooked some other details. So, we must be careful." Alfredo reminded everyone.
"May I ask a question? What is this cave made up of?" The Chief curiously asked while touching his chin.
"Oh, we didn't come near the last time. Sorry, we don't know."
"It's fine. Now, please prepare the carriage and your weapons." The Chief instructed.
Everyone started to ready themselves. Some were wearing their thin armors, bows and arrows, beat-up swords. In our case, we had simple knives which our Big Sister Belle kept from our parents long ago. Although we didn't have sets of armor, it's fine. It's not that we'd be indulging in a war.
The party went into the forest. It was indeed tricky. In addition, there hadn't been so many instances that this place was attacked by monsters. People didn't know why, and since it was uncertain, they just built walls on vulnerable areas. When we traversed halfway, something halted us.
"Please, don't stray from the path we created. Some adventurers have actually placed some traps for vagabondish animals and monsters." Waldo admonished everyone.
But before anyone could reply, a huge white and golden wolf suddenly ran towards us like a hurling storm. Everyone was very shocked except for me and Waldo. Chief Feldor was also a bit surprised as he gazed at it. I'd been so used on being in a pinch always. I had even experienced being gunned down by some unknown dumbasses several times. For Waldo…
(Oh, this guy's so used to these kinds of situations, huh? Amazing.)
The wolf ran in Waldo's direction. It forcefully attempted to gnaw him while its very sharp nails tried to lay a wound on his flank. Waldo wasn't able to dodge swiftly because his sword was held immobile by the wolf's sharp fangs. He was scratched a bit. Thankfully, it wasn't deep. If his reaction time was a tad faster, he would've dodged it.
"Everyone, calm down. And hurry up, hit it while it's still stationary." He instructed those behind him.
(What!!?)
I was utterly shocked on what I saw. The moment Waldo gave the instruction, the wolf moved back and prepared to retreat. But, Waldo saw it as an opening so it was wounded in the face.
"Everyone, kill it before it goes back to its pack. If it goes back, we'd be dead." Waldo shouted.
"No. It's so fast."
"I can't hit it in this distance with my arrow."
"Seriously? It's smart for an ordinary wolf." Alfredo said.
"Alfredo, it's very agile." He added.
The two men, whom I didn't know, frantically complained. Same with Alfredo and Mado. Vaissien and the others were still shocked. They weren't able to move.
(Seriously? Why are your faces like that? Especially you, Ferm. Hays. I almost shouted at them for their uselessness.)
"Don't worry. It didn't howl for help. It means, his pack is quite far. We should begin our pursuit." I told them calmly as I ran with a sharp knife in my hand.
When I said that, Alfredo and Mado followed me. Not long after, the wolf was already visible. Its speed wasn't that extraordinary. It was like some fatso cops I'd known before in my past life. Now that I thought about them, they looked hilarious on their uniform. Anyway, I checked the surroundings if it was just a bait and some of its kind were hiding somewhere. But it didn't seem to be the case. So I jumped high to catch it off guard. When it saw me, it turned around and started facing me in desperation. However, it was too late. It rolled on the ground as I threw a quick kick. Before it could recover, I immediately closed our distance and tried to stab—.
(What!!?)