When Richard turned around, he saw a big figure jumping at him and reflexively jumped to the side.
As he hit the ground, he realized that it was a second wolf.
He barely dodged it by a hair's length.
But there was no time to be relieved—
Because the wolf was already going in for another attack, clearly intent on biting his throat.
Richard froze.
He had never felt this close to death before.
But just before it reached him, his view was blocked by William's behind.
"Bang!"
The wolf crashed into William's shield.
While being pushed back, he swung his axe at the wolf, but it retreated before it could be hit.
"Grr!"
"The scouting report was wrong. I will definitely leave a complaint after we get out of this!"
"Hey, stand up already! Where's that serious attitude from before?" William yelled at Richard.
Richard quickly came out of it and stood up.
He picked up his bow, but the wolf was already charging at them again.
"Don't worry. I'll block it. In the meantime, create some distance to find a shot."
"Got it!"
Richard retreated a few metres back, while William was fending off the wolf.
'I shouldn't be struggling this much against a wolf. I have improved both my skills and equipment since I joined Osric.'
'I don't think this one is particularly stronger than other wolves, but it acts more careful.'
'This one doesn't seem to act on hunger or simple instincts. It's actually trying to figure me out. Similar to a Forest Lynx, not as fast but definitely stronger.'
The wolf kept attacking and retreating, trying to find an opening.
Richard had already calmed down and was aiming his arrow to find the right shot.
'Are the wolves in this monster forest different from wolves in normal forests?'
'It seems stronger and more difficult to predict.' Richard thought.
The wolf came for another attack.
But this time, William didn't block it outright—
He deflected its claws with his shield and shifted, so that it would be pushed to his left side.
That was the perfect opportunity for Richard, who was a few metres behind him, already aiming his arrow.
"Shwing!"
"Whoosh!"
The wolf was only stunned for a moment due to the deflection—
But that was enough for Richard.
The arrow came fast and straight for its head.
"Tchk—Krrk"
Richard's arrow pierced right into its skull.
The strength behind that arrow definitely wasn't average, and William could see that.
"Damn! That was one hell of a shot man!"
"Good job." He said.
Richard nodded.
"Thanks."
He also meant that because of being saved by William before, but he didn't say that outright.
"Oh crap!" Something came to William's mind.
"I should've asked Paul to be our porter! Shit. Usually Osric thinks about such things."
"Looks like we'll have to carry two wolf corpses to the city by ourselves."
Richard sighed.
'He completely went back to his normal behaviour. What a strange guy.'
—
By the time the sun had set, Osric was already on his way back to the underground arena.
His resolve had only hardened after yesterday, including completing the system trial of becoming a champion.
He still had around 48 hours to complete it.
Before going around the corner to enter the alley that led to the arena, he was stopped by the sight of someone.
'Alice?'
She was leaning against a wall.
"You seem to be doing better."
"Yeah." He answered.
"Somehow I had a feeling you would be back tonight. You don't seem like the type to stop after something like that."
"Alright."
Alice came closer.
"So, how are you doing with what happened yesterday? I think you either have incredible mental strength or you're just cold blooded."
She looked serious.
Osric thought about it a little.
"Maybe a little of both?"
She smiled faintly and turned around.
"Let's have a rematch soon."
"Sure. Hold on." He reached out his hand.
He handed over a paper.
"This is where I reside, if I'm not there, I'm probably at the adventurers' guild. Come find me anytime if you want to have a spar with me."
Alice was surprised.
Not many people would just hand over such personal information, unless they were stupid.
"Why are you giving me this?"
"I just told you the reason."
Osric walked past her, into the alley.
Alice looked perplexed.
'Is he also someone who needs to have the last word?'
'What a weird guy.'