Neil's gaze became more focused as he warily scanned his surroundings.
'It seems they're all hidden right now' Neil had recognized this scene as one described within The Tales of Archemia (full board game name), it was the scene of an ambush.
Likely within the small flower field in front of him were two to three creatures known as light wolves. They were roughly the size of a normal wolf and had radiant golden fur, they are quick creatures that hunt in packs. They possess camouflage so they can better hide from both predators and prey. Their main style of attack was to ambush people as their presence often elevates the wildlife around them to be more beautiful through the mana that radiates off of them. A trap that Neil had just nearly fallen for.
If one were to compare them to the scorpions Neil had faced earlier these wolves were slightly less dangerous as they didn't have the strong armor like the scorpions or their paralyzing poison. Still, they had a tough hide and more importantly, were much quicker creatures. They could easily outrun a human and were a difficult target for someone to properly hit as they were very good at dodging. Neil a level two adventurer had now come into contact with his second creature that one would normally fight at a much higher level.
Neil knew he was already stuck in an encounter with them as they were hiding within the flowers in wait for Neil to continue approaching. If he were to turn around they would attack him from behind but if he continued moving forward they would all jump at him from unknown locations. Knowing this Neil grabbed his pouch and pulled out his armor from it, all while making sure to keep his eyes on the field of flowers.
He put on each piece of armor carefully and slowly, prepared for the wolves to jump with his axe at his side. In his mind, he was calming himself trying to think of the best method to deal with this issue.
He knew he wasn't yet strong enough to simply slay all of the wolves with ease, but he also knew that with a good strategy, he could come out of the encounter stronger. He had the benefit of having good equipment and of having realized the potential ambush. That being said he still didn't know where the wolves were lying in wait.
He wasn't going to use his divine luck quite yet as he was worried he'd need it for getting the artifact later.
He pulled his axe and held it with his right hand and began to cautiously approach the flowers. He had given up on being the one to take the wolves by surprise and would instead lure them out himself.
He slowly walked through the meadow of flowers scouring everything he walked past trying to spot one of the wolves.
'THERE!' Neil quickly jumped back managing to dodge the pouncing attack of the wolf that was now in front of him.
Neil stared at the creature in front of him and was slightly saddened by the fact he'd have to kill such a pristine creature. Its fur was well-kept and glowing yellow, its teeth shined a bright white and it had golden eyes that seemed to stare into his soul.
"GrrrrRa!!" The wolf snarled at Neil, angry to have missed its target, and began to approach him. Out of the flowers behind it came three more wolves all of which were now growling as they approached Neil.
"Four of them, how wonderful," Neil said sarcastically to himself upon seeing the emergence of all of the wolves.
Neil decided to use a similar strategy to the one he used against the scorpion, hopefully, to better effect, as he placed both of his hands on the axe, one near the bottom and the other near the head of the axe.
He swiftly closed the distance between himself and the front wolf with one quick stride, while doing so he brought the axe above his head and swung downward in the same way he had done when he chopped wood as a child.
Neil heard the sound of puncturing skin and felt a cold liquid cover him.
"HiaHia!" He heard the sound of the wolf whimpering and looked down to see the wolf stopped in front of him.
He was able to catch it decently well and delivered a larger gash to the wolf's flank which was now bleeding profusely.
He swiftly remembered his last fight and stepped back, pulling his axe out of the wolf, and gaining distance from the wolf he had just injured. The three other wolves began to come from his sides and were now flanking him as there was one in front of him and one on either side, the fourth wolf stayed behind watching as it tried its best to contain the wound it had just gotten.
"Time to use that attack," Neil said to himself as the three wolves slowly stalked closer to him.
Neil brought his axe above his head and infused his small reserve of mana into it. The three wolves went to lunge at him, but before they could make contact Neil brought down his axe in one swift cleave.
"Burning Conclusion!!!" He yelled as loud as possible.
His axe became planted into the ground under him and a wave of blue fiery particles shot out of it burning everything that it came into contact with. The three wolves that were approaching were launched back and yelped from the pain of the attack.
They now lay on the ground paralyzed from the pain of the blue fire that was eating at them, Neil took this opportunity to swiftly finish off the three wolves. He pulled his axe out of the ground and quickly closed the distance between himself and the wolf that was in front of him.
Using the same cleave as the one he had before he brought his axe down on the wolf's neck hastily killing it. He turned towards the wolf to his right and did the very same, as it lay there unmoving.
'One left' He thought to himself as he turned towards the one remaining wolf and prepared to do the very same to it as he had done to the other three.
He was now in front of the last wolf and he brought his axe up above his head.
"Ahh!" Neil yelled out in pain as he felt an intense pain at the back of his leg.
He turned to look at what was behind him to see the first wolf which had crept up on him and was now biting into his hamstring.
He fought through the pain of his leg being bitten and lifted his axe again, this time to bring down the wolf that was attached to his leg. He then saw something out of the corner of his eye and swiftly turned and turned his axe to stop a lunge attack from the fourth wolf.
'I thought it was supposed to be paralyzed, and how is that one even moving!!!' Neil thought to himself in worry as the situation quickly turned dire with two of the wolves regaining their physical abilities.
He fully shoved off the wolf in front of him and tried to kick the wolf on his leg but failed and ended up falling to his back.
"Shit!!" Neil yelled out in anger.
The wolf that was on his leg moved to the sides, though Neil felt better about that spot due to the armor he had on. The larger issue was the second wolf which in the blink of an eye had jumped on Neil and he was now holding it off with the handle of his axe.
The combined attacks of the two wolves were quickly exhausting him and he could feel himself losing strength. He began to worry about his situation, he didn't want to die, he had finally gained a companion and was having fun in a fantasy world.
With his final ounce of strength he shoved the wolf back off of him and stood up, barely managing not to fall he stared at the two wolves. They both stood in front of him looking nearly as exhausted as himself, but their will to live was still very strong as they stared back at him with their bright eyes.
Neil knew his overhead swing would be too slow and was well-expected by the wolves at this point so he had to think of another move to use.
Neil held the axe with only his right hand letting his left fall to his side.
'Bingo!' He had thought of a move that would work.
The two wolves began running at him in a last push, Neil dropped his body into a slide and brought the axe right overtop of his sliding body and into the body of the wolf that he had slid past.
Neil sat looking at the aftermath of his attack.
'It needs some work' He thought to himself as he held the handle of the axe that was currently stuck deep into the previously unwounded wolf. The wolf had already fallen over it seemed exhaustion and pain had finally gotten to it as it was completely passed out.
He pulled the head of his axe out of the unconscious wolf and stared at the final one, it was now a 1v1 with the wolf who had first ambushed him. Neil couldn't will his body to stand, especially with the pain he was feeling in his left hamstring.
He held his axe with both hands and stared directly at the wolf, it began to approach him gnashing its teeth the entire time.
"Huu" Neil sighed to himself, now extremely tired of the fight, wishing the wolf would simply keel over already.
"Phweesh" Neil heard a familiar whistling sound, he watched a single arrow pierce the wolf's skull. All of the wolves had finally died.