Ch. 21 The Right Moment to Strike

Arthur's surveillance was quite uneventful, for a few days at least. For some reason he couldn't comprehend, Ethan was using kitchen knives as weapons. Even weirder, every one of his strikes was a sure kill. The girl, Ana, was also impressive though still rough around the edges.

They dealt with demon beasts while Oliver gathered herbs. The spear father gave him was wasted on him.

All was well on their first 4 trips. Then, on the 5th day, they were ambushed by a horde of low leveled goblins. Arthur watched from a tree, ready to intervene at a moment's notice, when giant wolves ambushed the ambushers.

It was a mess of epic proportions, so he could only hide and wait it out. Fortunately, the trio was hidden within a pile of dirt, at least for now.

After every last goblin was killed and most of them were eaten, the pack's leader finally made his entrance. It was a terrifying existence, more than twice the size of its peers.

While walking lazily, its head turned left and right as if analyzing the scene. Then, it saw the mound where the trio had hidden. With one swipe of its paw, the mound was destroyed along with several trees behind it.

'No!'

It took Arthur all his strength to stay still. Fortunately, there was no blood. Although the wolf struck the very bottom of the mound, only soil was sent flying.

'Thank God…"

While Arthur was heaving a sigh of relief, the alpha turned around towards its pack. Suddenly, the wolves began gathering goblins in their maws, and 7 others assembled in front of their leader.

'How are they communicating?' wondered Arthur. There were no growls or signs that might indicate a language.

Once the packs' maws were full of goblins, the Alpha stood up. It bobbed its head as if to nod, then turned around and disappeared into the forest. Most of the pack followed in the same direction.

Only the 7 remained and started sniffing around their surroundings. Soon, they caught a scent and ran in a certain direction. Arthur took a pill and gave chase.

After about 100 feet, the wolves stopped to sniff a small hole in the ground. 50 feet further, there was another.

'Oliver, you dumbass. You went into the forest without pills to mask your scent?'

Arthur's fears were soon confirmed when the trio rose up right under the pack's snouts. He wanted to interfere then and there, but Ethan managed to create an opening by killing one of the wolves.

'With a God damn Kitchen knife!?' Arthur once heard that commoners' bread was hard as bricks, but this was ridiculous.

The 3 didn't waste their opportunity and ran like the wind. Yet, how could teenagers who've just learned about mana outrun demon beasts 2 levels above them?

Arthur quickly made up his mind and jumped from his spot.

'If I don't do something now, it's over.'

His calculations were correct, since right as he was about to attack, one of the wolves caught up to the group. Arthur rapidly switched targets. He stopped his sword midway and forcefully swung it in another direction.

'Aura blade!'

Three large blades of mana split from the sword's tip and struck the wolf in its snout.

"I'll cover you, so keep going!"

With those words, one more youth had joined the fight.