He didn't bother to count the coins he had received in this small, murderous heist. He felt a bit numb for killing so many people. And if he did that in his world or even on the interstellar planet, he was sure he would receive the fate of capital punishment.
But Aric knew that he needed to go back and save the lives of the residents from the village. He appeared again, and this time near the small camp that the bandits had set up. As he stepped into the light, the women and children backed off in fear while the small group of men came forward.
It was as if to shield the children and women from the danger. Aric wanted to speak but stopped himself. His accent was foreign here and if he spoke and in future met again, he would be exposed. He couldn't make the same mistakes as he did in the interstellar world.
Any wrong move and he would be in danger and probably banned from this world. This was a magical world and he would put past some weird magic that might be able to trace him. He needed information of this world but he couldn't ask.
He was in a fix of how to ask them questions when the lens lit up in bright red.
"Warning....
Warning...
Animals detected in the vicinity. Please pay attention.
Warning..
Warning..
"
"Shit," Aric cursed under his breath. He turned his back on them and looked at the dark and devouring forest. The men who had small sticks in their hands taken from the fire were confused, but then they heard a sound.
*Howl*
This was enough to make these courageous men shiver. One of the children almost cried out loud but a terrified woman put her hand over the child's mouth to prevent any noise. Aric felt anger and frustration when he saw the wolves approaching on the drones.
He had avoided them because he was sure they were magical and now they were here because he made a lot of noise. He needed to learn more about stealth tactics so that he wouldn't be in the same situation again. But then again, there was no other choice and if Aric let them move for one more day, it would have been over.
The crackling flames of the campfire danced against the shadows, casting an eerie shadow on the sides of the wolves as they slowly approached into the light. Aric scanned the darkness beyond the flickering light, senses heightened, every rustle of leaves, every growl sent shivers down his spine.
He wouldn't have been afraid if they were normal wolves but he had a feeling that he would be killed if he made any bad move and his instincts told him to run away from here and never come back.
"Mother, you always told me to run when we see the wolves. Why are we not running?"
"Mother..."
"Everything is fine my child. These men out there will protect us. We don't need to run. Just close your eyes."
The small child whispered those words, but Aric could hear them clearly. The wolves had surrounded them from almost all sides, and there was nowhere to go. The captives had witnessed Aric's swift and deadly precision as he dispatched their captors, though it was only in cries and flashes, but now, surrounded by the ominous whispers of the forest, they feared they had traded one peril for another.
One wolf growled heavily as it slowly crept towards Aric. Its intelligent eyes hovered around Aric as if it could feel that the most dangerous being here was Aric himself. The wolf put its nose high in the air and smelled him. And for some reason, the wolf seemed to smile.
Aric had never seen an animal smile as it was almost impossible for a wild creature to express human emotions, but he could swear that the wolf smirked in mockery. Then the wolf growled at the others, and each other took their steps forward.
Their intentions were clear as it seemed like they were here to pounce on them and tear them apart. Aric got agitated as he couldn't waste any more time in this whole situation. He pointed the pistol at the alpha wolf and shot, while praying that the wolf wouldn't dodge.
After taking the shot, he didn't stop. He shot multiple of them at the same time and hoped that the bullets would hit them. The alpha wolf actually jumped at Aric when he took the shot, and the bullet hit him midair and then another shot grazed its feet.
And after that, Aric randomly shot at multiple of the wolves in the back, hoping it would scare them away. The alpha wolf had its jaws separated as the bullet went right through its neck and burnt everything in its path.
The other shots hit the other wolves at multiple places, killing three almost instantly while the other two just growled and shrieked in pain. If one looked closely, one would see Aric's hand shaking a bit. He almost teleported himself as the wolf jumped at him from a distance of at least 5 meters, and from the looks of it, the wolf almost chomped on his head.
Thankfully, the wolf didn't expect a move like that from Aric, and it had a very confused look on half of its face before it landed and skidded to his feet. The other wolves shrieked, howled, and some of them growled as they looked at Aric with fear reflecting in their eyes under the flickering light of the fire.
One particular wolf growled at all of them, and then miraculously, the wolves stepped back while maintaining eye contact with Aric. It was slow, but after a minute or so, they vanished. Aric wasn't sure of anything but kept an eye on the situation around. In about two minutes, the wolves left the place altogether as he checked through the drones.