<What do you think of them so far?> Cerila asked as we moved through the forest.

Mmm...

From what I could see with Soul Sight, none of them was anything special. But that was just based on the strength of their souls; it had very little to do with their skills. And if these people could go into the forest and come back out alive, then they must be good at what they do, or they would be stuck on border patrol duty.

<From what I can tell, they seem rather skilled. They work well together, and each can perform their duties. I suppose we’ll have to wait and see when we run into something.> I signed back.

<It’s already been four hours, right? Maybe we are just lucky that we haven’t run into anything yet.> Cerila signed with a shrug.

The moment her fingers stopped, her head turned in another direction, and I also heard the sound of footsteps. "Ask, and you shall receive..." I muttered.

Durak heard the footsteps not longer after us and stopped as Santer came out of the woods. Thankfully, he seemed fine as he stopped before Durak.

"What did you find?" Durak asked.

"Tracks. A few of them. Wolves," Santer said.

"A pack?" Durak questioned.

Santer shook his head. "Not here, but further. Small group of seven to eight heading toward the river; finished a hunt. Might have our scent if we leave them," he answered.

Durak rubbed his beard as he looked over to Geoffrey. The man smiled as he said, "It could be those Turtleback Wolves we ran into not long ago? We never did manage to track the whole group down."

Durak grunted as he nodded to himself. "Could be. We’ll take this group out and see if the alpha comes to play. No much point in leaving them be to get ahold of some poor bastards," he said.

"Santer, go track them down with Ingra. We’ll get movin’ and catch up. Don’t engage them. Just have Elowen knock’em away if they get feisty," Durak ordered.

"Yes, Sir," Santer said as he took off at a sprint, as Ingra yelled after him.

"What’s a Turtleback Wolf?" I asked.

"A wolf monster that came from some dungeon a long while back. Annoying bastards nest in lakes and rivers. Hard to root’em all out, and they are big and mean as they come," Durak answered.

I accepted the answer as it was as we jogged off into the forest. If Durak believed his group could handle them and had before, then there was no point in worrying too much. Durak struck me as the type who, if he ran into something too much for him, would rather retreat than fight a needless battle.

I half expected the two Dwarves to struggle with running in the wild forest, but the two of them, along with Geoffrey, seemed to be doing more than just fine. They moved through the forest with practiced ease, and none of them showed signs of being tired. I guess they had to at least have this much stamina to survive here.

But I wonder...how will they fare against these wolves?

—

"And that’ll be that. Don’t overthink it too much; we’ve done it a million times. Just stay alive," Durak said with finality as he sent his team away.

<This...isn’t much of a plan, right?> Cerila signed with worry.

I shrugged and signed back, <No, it’s more like they don’t need one? Perhaps they are just that confident.>

<I hope so.> she signed.

"What would you like Cerila and I to do?" I asked Durak.

He turned around as he rubbed his beard. "Stay by me, would you? I sent Geoffrey with Santer and Ingra this time. I’ll need some protection just in case things go bad," he said.

As everyone got closer to the river, they began to slow down as they crept to the edge of the treeline. As the foliage withdrew, we could see the bank of the crystal clear river. It was a picturesque scene, the forest with its orange leaves, and white bark stood tall as the river snaked away.

Well, it would not have been for eight massive wolf turtle hybrid monstrosities. What the hell are these things? Did a god get bored and slap a turtle and a wolf together just to see what would happen?

Deguzman’s book I received from Grandpa years ago was expansive but not all-encompassing. New monsters showed up yearly from dungeons with all kinds of appearances and quirks, so I had never heard or seen a Turtleback Wolf.

They were far bigger than an average wolf. Their fur was the color of mud, and from their backs, a turtle shell seemed to sprout, as if they were wearing a backpack. Truly an odd creature.

Durak signaled for everyone to ready themselves as he grabbed at his neck. He pulled a necklace that looked to be a miniature toy crossbow on a chain. But it stopped being a toy as it seemingly unshrunk from its palm-sized figure and grew into a full-fledged weapon.

It was already pre-loaded, and with a pull of the trigger, there was a loud snap as the bolt raced off at an abnormal speed. The larger Turtleback Wolf at the center raised its head only for its skull to explode into a mist of bone and blood. And before the other wolves could react, two more suffered similar fates.

Another was struck by Santer and Elowen’s bows, the first tagged it in the neck, while the other struck above its leg. The creature let out a howl before perishing, and another joined it as Thrak’s sling crushed another’s foreleg, sending the wolf to the ground.

Unfortunately, Ingra and Geoffrey both failed to do much. Her arrow barely scratched a wolf, while Geoffrey’s sling ricocheted harmlessly off the creature’s thick shell. And now that the wolves knew they were being attacked, the six uninjured ones immediately began sprinting toward us as the one with the broken leg let out a long howl into the air.

Durak already had his crossbow loaded; he was moving with practiced ease and a mana-enhanced body. He only needed a moment to aim at a wolf that seemingly saw it coming and tried to dodge, but it was already too late. Durak aimed well, and his bolt pierced straight through the creature’s chest, dropping it.

Santer, Thrak, Elowen, and Ingra began targeting their own wolves as Geoffrey readied his sword and shield. Before the group could close in, they had managed to kill another and severely wound the sixth.

I was slightly surprised to see Elowen holding her magic back, but I shook my head at the thought. I had to remember I was surrounded by monsters when it came to mages, and even I was abnormal. Even if she was a well-trained intermediate mage, she didn’t have the mana to continuously sling spells all day in a forest this dangerous, and the more she used, the longer it would take her to recover, which would only slow the group down. It made sense for her to hold onto her mana when she could afford it.

But I was more curious to see how they would react now that the wolves were too close. And my question was answered swiftly. Like a well-oiled machine, the two groups converged on each other as Geoffrey took the helm, Ingra with her spear spaced to his side, along with Thrak.

Elowen and Santer never stopped losing arrows, but the wolves were moving far more comfortably, using speed and agility that beguiled their large stature. Whatever shock had hit them was gone as the last two leaped forward with bloodshot eyes and snarl of sharp teeth.

Geoffrey was dwarfed by the monster, and I anticipated him to try to take it head on, but he dodged to the side, behind the tree, as the wolf overshot. Geoffrey was the one who punched instead, but I understood what Durak had meant. His sword thrust was left much to be desired as the wolf managed to dodge it.

The monster’s return attack was far more fierce, and I nearly jolted forward to help as the wolf reared up and tried to tower over Geoffrey, its forelegs gripping onto the shield to drag him down. But Geoffrey stood firm, not even budging as the muscles in his arms and legs pulsed with power.

He freed his shield and, with a swing, bashed it against the wolf, who dodged to the side. But that would be its last move as Durak’s crossbow sank into the creature’s belly as Geoffery slammed his sword into its head, killing it.

As for the other wolf, Ingra made short work of it. Her spear kept it at bay, and when she managed to run it through with help from Sander and Elowen, it was Thrak’s cudgel that smashed the creature’s head to paste.

I looked to Cerila and grinned as she smiled wryly. <Not bad of a plan at all then, huh?> I signed.

She was about to sign to me when she started sniffing into the air, as did Santer. The injured wolf with the crushed leg was still howling proudly as Elowen finally silenced it with an arrow. Everyone went quiet as we waited, but it was clear why they only smelt it now.

Elowen and I both locked onto the same spot of the river as a large group of wolves began to crawl out onto the bank. There were about fifteen of them now, most of them even bigger than the previous eight. But at the back was one that made the rest seem like children.

Its fur was a warm brown, and its shell was a bright green. And it was clearly a lot smarter, and it howled once, and the rest of the pack rushed toward us with malice and hate in their snarls. Santer, Elowen, and Durak let loose their shots, striking what they could. But the situation had changed into a bad one rather quickly.

"Fall back to the trees! Regroup and close up!" Durak ordered.

"Durak, let us handle this group," I said.

"Aye, we’ll need it. Do what you can," he said as he reloaded his crossbow.

I started to move forward as Cerila put a hand on my arm. <I’ll take care of it.> she signed with a smile.

I nodded and prepared some spell cores just in case, but it would turn out to be unnecessary. Cerila strode forward, and Elowen’s head snapped to her with wide eyes as Cerila gathered her mana.

From the river, a giant thick wall of ice sprang up and began sliding forward like a freight train. The wolves on the outer edge, toward the river, were run over and swept up by the wall, pushed into their brethren, toppling them over. The wolves were quick to get away, and they did outpace the wall, but not the second one.

Cerila summoned a second wall on the other side and collapsed the two together. The wolves were sandwiched together, and as they were tossed around, the walls tipped over on top of them, crushing them. There was a brief moment of silence before the alpha broke through the ice alongside four survivors.

They kept their momentum, but Cerila swiped her hand out in front of her as five large lances of ice raced off. They moved at remarkable speed and were created almost instantly. Four of the five took the lives of the minor wolves; only the alpha remained, as blood dripped from its fresh chest wound.

Cerila was already out of the treeline, the alpha only a few steps away as it leaped at her with fangs and bared. I canceled my spell core the moment I saw it do that, as its fate was sealed. A glacier of ice erupted from the ground in front of Cerila as it took the alpha wolf directly in the chest.

The giant monster was impaled into the air, its fresh blood leaking down, running over the pristine blue ice. It let out a single weak howl before going limp.

I turned to look at the others, each in a different state of shock and awe. It wasn’t every day that someone got to see someone of her skill at work.

Thrak let out a weak chuckle as he looked to Elowen. "By my beard, can you do that, Elf?" he asked.

"No...not in a hundred lifetimes," Elowen muttered.

Ingra looked back at me with wide eyes. "Has she always been that strong?" she asked.

"Yeah, she’s great, isn’t she? She’s been like that for a long time."