They were surrounded by wolves.
Jess and Gerred looked around and found that there were almost three or four wolves observing them not far away. There might be more in the forest.
Recently, the wolves in Elwynn Forest haven't had an easy time either. The invasion of gnolls has squeezed their living space and competed with them for food, forcing them to come near human settlements to find a way to survive, thus coming into conflict with farms and herdsmen.
Jess took the stick on his back and held it in his hand. Only when facing wild beasts did he feel that a bladed weapon was much more reassuring.
At least as long as it touches, it will draw a bloody gash. It doesn't require much strength or skill. Besides being long... What other advantages does a stick have?
"Gerred, your dagger." Jess crooked his finger and said, "Lend it to me."
Gerred threw the dagger over. Jess quickly wrapped it with cloth and thin ropes for several turns and tied it firmly. After fixing it on one end of the stick and shaking and pulling it to make sure it wouldn't fall off easily, he felt slightly relieved.
"Do you think they dare to attack?" Jess asked.
Gerred replied, "Since they have shown up, they dare to attack. If they didn't dare, they would all run away as soon as they smelled us. These cunning creatures are no dumber than dogs. If they are not sure, they won't come this far."
As he said this, he still sat on the ground calmly as if he didn't care at all if the wolves would pounce.
Jess was already prepared for battle, holding the newly made simple spear with both hands and constantly paying attention to the movements around.
"These wolves are not big." Gerred threw a piece of biscuit into his mouth, stood up and patted the dirt on his buttocks and said, "They must not have seen many dwarves. Maybe they mistook me for a human cub. Coupled with your nervous look, they must think we are easy to bully. Then today we will give them a good lesson."
As soon as Gerred stood up, the wolves moved.
Jess raised his spear to prepare for an attack. Gerred stretched out his hand and said, "Wait a moment. They will test your threat. If you show too much bravery, they will think you are not afraid of them. Since you are not afraid of them, there must be some uncertain ability supporting your courage, such as magic or powerful weapons. Realizing this, these wolves will retreat, either run away or circle around to consume your energy and patience and wait for you to make a mistake. So we take it step by step. Don't show too much aggression at first. When these wolves get close and start baring their teeth and threatening us, then suddenly attack."
Sure enough, although these wolves approached, they didn't immediately start attacking. Some wolves watched from a distance, and some wolves were very close. Counting like this, there might be seven or eight wolves of different sizes. There were more than the man had said.
Jess slightly lowered his stance, but his heart became more and more nervous. He glanced at Gerred beside him. Gerred had already gripped his sword tightly, and his hand was even shaking. Was this also nervousness?
A wolf on the side suddenly approached and let out a low growl. Jess was so provoked that he immediately turned around and pointed his spear at this guy. But he didn't expect to hear a rustling sound behind him.
Gerred swung his sword down. A wolf that was about to attack Jess from behind had its front leg cut off on the spot and rolled on the ground howling. Gerred's speed was astonishingly fast. With one swift step, he directly chopped off half of another wolf's head and kicked the half-dead twitching wolf to pull out his sword.
Jess thrust his spear hard into the wolf in front of him, but he didn't expect the dagger to fall off.
The wolf that was severely stabbed in the back by the dagger let out a low moan and then retreated tremblingly. At this moment, several wolves still hidden in the forest had already rushed in front. Jess hit another wolf on the ear with a stick. This blow was solid. The wolf rolled around on the ground.
"They're running away!"
Behind him, Gerred shouted angrily. Jess looked back and many wolves had already disappeared.
"Chase! They might go in the direction of the wolf den... There we might find their food."
Saying that, the dwarf had already rushed into the forest.
Jess found the half-dead little wolf that had been stabbed by the dagger. He pulled out the dagger and chased while re-tying it firmly.
At this moment, he realized what Gerred meant by "food", that is, the place where the child of the Stormire family might be.
Chasing after Gerred, Jess ran wildly. But how could the footsteps of two people catch up with the speed of a pack of forest wolves? Soon they lost track.
Gerred, while panting, followed the messy footprints of the pack of wolves on the ground. He muttered, "The traces left by so many brainless fools running away in confusion... It's obvious. Today I will find out where your lair is."
Chasing all the way, unknowingly, Jess had already heard the sound of water. They had reached the river.
The traces of the pack of wolves followed the river downstream. After walking for a while, Jess suddenly saw a wolf standing on the opposite side of a stream branching off from the big river, looking at them and wagging its tail constantly.
Gerred couldn't wait to lift his pants and step across the stream and run towards that wolf. However, when he just reached the middle, he suddenly stopped.
That wolf didn't leave and still looked at the two of them.
The dwarf suddenly turned back and ran back across the water more urgently than before, saying, "Leave here, Jess!"
Jess instantly understood why that lone wolf was standing there. However, when he turned around, the grass in front of him was already full of dark shadows.
In the direction of the forest, under the moonlight, one large adult forest wolf after another was observing the two of them, like a group of victorious hunters looking at their prey complacently.
Gerred walked to Jess's side, sized up the pack of wolves, and snorted, "Now you know why I had to bring you along, right? I can't handle this kind of scene alone very well."
Jess helplessly said, "Don't act like you knew it all along. We were tricked. That's it."
Gerred didn't refute but said, "To solve the crisis of that farm, this pack of wolves will have to be eliminated sooner or later. Now I understand why those locals haven't accepted this writ for so long. It's because it's troublesome. But now the problem is simple. Just kill them!"
This time they were facing not just seven or eight little wolves, but a large pack. There were likely more than ten wolves, and several adult big wolves had joined in.
The dwarf pointed at the dark shadows and said, "The leading wolf should be among those few biggest wolves. It's not clear here. Later, we'll specifically kill those ones."
Compared to the pack of little wolves just now, this pack of wolves was obviously much more imposing. They quickly approached. Jess could already see the bared fangs of the nearest vanguard wolf.
Gerred was also much more nervous than before, constantly taking deep breaths. It seemed that this would be a very difficult battle.
Jess raised the simple spear in his hand, feeling a wave of heat on the back of his head.