Even without looking to the sides, Sigma could tell that three wolves were trying to surround him. They sure had the nerve to think that only that much would be enough… Those were Sigma's thoughts.
"Is this confidence or arrogance?" Sigma thought and then nocked his first arrow. "There is only one way to find out."
The three wolves charged at Sigma at the same time once they saw him moving. They only ran for twenty meters, but one of them got an arrow in the eye socket even before they could jump to attack.
The other two jumped to attack him from the sides, and Sigma lowered his posture with one arrow in hand. When one of them passed above him, Sigma pierced the right leg with one arrow and quickly grabbed another, and nocked to attack the final enemy. When the creature turned around, it got hit on the neck by an arrow and began to agonize in pain.
Sigma turned around while grabbing his next arrow, only to see the second wolf limping with its wounded leg. It couldn't run anymore, so things went as planned, and Sigma finished it off easily.
"I definitely have some experience with bows… and with fighting," Sigma thought while recovering the arrows and losing one since it broke. "I didn't plan anything and acted out of reflex, and I managed to do this…"
Sigma didn't feel faster than the wolves, but his movements were a lot more fluid. The difference between theirs and his dexterity was probably pretty high. Or maybe it was just a matter of brains and experience
Without wasting time, Sigma began to move while looking for more sticks to craft into arrows. Fortunately, he had enough time for that, and only lone enemies came to attack him until he managed to find the exit of the forest. In that window of time, he managed to level up once, and just like before, Sigma increased his dexterity and speed.
Although Sigma left the dark forest, things still looked pretty dark outside as well. Dark clouds in all directions, a cold and uncaring wind was blowing in the area, and there were no signs of people around. Still, his eyesight had gotten good enough that he found traces of a road three hundred meters away.
"It seems like the path created by vehicles…" Sigma thought after he approached and found two lines on the path that was as round as the wheels of some sort of vehicle.
The path was leading to west and east, and Sigma couldn't tell which direction he should take. He could only see hills, bushes, and trees in all directions.
"There are no signs of animals or other creatures, so I guess this is a good sign," Sigma rubbed his chin thoughtfully while touching the ground of the road. "The grass is growing, so it is a sign that it has been a while since any vehicle passed through here."
Wasting any time wondering when he didn't have any information about the area was a waste of time. So, Sigma decided to head East while following the path.
While walking and checking the surroundings, Sigma also grabbed some more sticks and kept carving arrows. It felt pretty natural for him to do that. It wasn't like he was bored, but he felt more at ease while doing something. Even when his bag was filled with arrows, Sigma didn't stop. In fact, he grabbed some plants and made them into improvised ropes to tie the extra arrows together.
Still, after three hours of walking, he stopped since he could see a village in the distance. It looked quite old, and after focusing his eyes, Sigma noticed that some buildings had been destroyed, at least half of it.
"I guess I chose the wrong direction, but I need to check that anyway…" Sigma muttered while considering the possibility that the path continued beyond that village.
Even before arriving there, Sigma discarded the possibility since he could feel the salty smell of the ocean, and since the wind was blowing from the East, he could tell that he would find the same in that direction.
With an arrow already nocked, Sigma arrived in the village and realized that the place had been attacked by something quite hard to describe… half of the houses had been burned down completely, while others looked like they only had been hit and instantly burned down by a massive sphere of fire. The ground had marks that looked like it had been cut apart by something big and sharp, and there were also deformations on the ground that were pretty big…
When Sigma approached the houses, he noticed that skeletons were inside. Many years had passed since they decomposed since not a single worm was nearby, but the strong smell of death didn't leave the houses.
Without blinking, Sigma confirmed the same situation in all the places… It looked like people had been attacked in the middle of the night and didn't have the chance to fight for their lives.
Although he was supposed to feel bad for that, Sigma didn't hesitate in checking the houses for things that he could take and use. However, the moment he grabbed a pair of knives, he heard a weird sound coming from the side.
Sigma pointed his arrow to the side but only saw some skeletons over each other, and they weren't moving a single inch. His senses improved thanks to his dexterity, so that hadn't been his imagination.
Even after he raised his right eyebrow, Sigma didn't stop pointing his arrow since his senses didn't let him relax, and he did the right thing because the skeletons began to get up.
"Somehow, I feel that this is very unnatural…" Sigma thought and then fired one arrow at the skull of one of the enemies.
The arrow pierced the skull, but the skeleton didn't stop moving for even a moment.