Mercenaries and Adventurers

After everyone judged the direction where the northern wolf might exist, they originally wanted to set off to find out. However, considering the time, including the time to go back from now, they would have to arrive at the agreed meeting place.

Both are important. After consideration by Knight Lanissa, several people decided to return first. After all, these northern wolves will not move without direct conflict with the northern wolves here.

Therefore, they can definitely go back and gather more people to come back.

So, after leaving sufficiently conspicuous signs on the surrounding tree trunks, everyone quickly walked back. On the way back, the female knight asked the hunters to leave a sign that was conspicuous enough to facilitate their search next time.

More than a day later, they arrived at the agreed forest clearing first with the carriage team.

They simply rested next to the snow tracks left by the carriage when it moved before, where they waited for the carriage.

Around the afternoon of that day, the neighing of horses and the sound of carriages driving through the snow came from the south-facing side.

"Hey! Everyone has been here for a long time. Now we are a little late." After the carriage approached, one of the two old hunters driving the carriage said hello.

"Did the journey go well?" Knight Lanisa sat up from the ground, then climbed onto the horse in one breath and sat on the horse's back and asked.

Kiel and the others quickly approached and handed the things he was carrying on his horse to the inside of the carriage. The two young hunters opened the door from the rear of the carriage, held the rear partition of the carriage's warehouse with both hands, and jumped in. .

"There are some. The villagers guarding the supply point said that there are always shadows of northern wolves nearby. At first, the howls of wolves were only heard in the distance at night, and then as time went by, they could also be seen in the woods during the day. Traces of animal activity." An old hunter threw a piece of food to the female knight and Kil, and then continued.

Kil caught what the old hunter threw to him and looked at it. It turned out to be a soft red pickled radish. It looked and smelled bad, but when Kil took a bite, a sour and appetizing taste bloomed in his mouth.

This sour taste not only revived his appetite, which had been dwindling recently due to poor eating and sleeping in the woods. His brain was stimulated by the sour taste, and his whole body became energetic.

He followed the carriage on horseback, listening to the chatter of the old hunters, and at the same time, like a rabbit, he cut and chewed the pickled radish with his sharp teeth.

"Recently, those northern wolves have even come to the base of the sentry tower at night, howling loudly at the villagers inside the sentry tower at close range. Not only is the noise making it difficult for them to sleep, but it also makes many villagers quite nervous. .Tell me what to say. I think of the northern wolves that were at their worst a few years ago, surrounding the village day and night."

Knight Lanisa narrowed her eyes: "Those northern wolves were testing at first, and then they saw that the villagers guarding the sentry tower were incapable of attacking them, so they became more and more aggressive."

Another old hunter patted the bow and arrow on his body at this time: "So, after we arrived, we thought we could ambush those arrogant northern wolves."

Keir asked: "So how did you do it?"

A young hunter sitting in the carriage, close to the driver's seat, took over and said: "It was daytime when we arrived at the stronghold. We confirmed that we were not discovered by the Northern Wolf when we passed by, so we all discussed it at the time and immediately came out to clear the carriage. The traces have been removed partially near the sentry tower stronghold.”

"We also set up several fires that could be lit remotely in the snow around the sentry tower, and poured lamp oil and grease on them. At night, we waited until the Northland wolves came roaring near the sentry tower, Then everyone fired rockets on the third floor of the sentry tower. First, they lit the fires prepared during the day and illuminated the snow around the sentry tower. Then everyone fired arrows at the bewildered Northern Wolf."

The young hunter waved his arm and said, "I let the wolf cubs run away with their tails between their legs on the spot. When I counted them the next morning, I found that a total of two adult Northern wolves and seven and a half adult Northern wolves had been shot to death. None. Thinking that they even brought out the wolf cubs, this suddenly stopped them from harassing the sentry tower."

"Hmph, they must have felt that the people in the sentry tower were incapable of attacking, so they brought out the young wolves from the den." Kil thought so.

After that, everyone did not encounter any setbacks on the way to the Rock Mountain stronghold. Although they found some snowy footprints and traces of strange animals, Knight Lanisa did not want to cause more trouble, so everyone returned to the new stronghold all the way.

Everyone repaired a little, and then organized the supplies they carried. Another old hunter who was not feeling well recently was still left in a safe stronghold. The others followed Knight Lanisa's horse on foot and stopped walking south. Then turn east and instead walk in a straight line southeast.

After walking in the flat snow-covered forest for more than two days, the sharp-eyed old hunters discovered the signs that Knight Lanisha had asked the young hunters to leave on the tree trunks.

It's not like the animal monsters in the forest don't leave some marking marks on the tree trunks. For example, the big black bears will scratch the tree trunks with their claws to mark their territory. Some mountain leopards that rest in trees will also scratch the bark off the lower parts of the tree trunks where they live, marking their living areas with dead trees to remind surrounding animals not to disturb them. Various.

But no matter how exaggerated it is, the animals will not directly cut out the words of the common language on the tree trunks with sharp blades, and mark the arrows to indicate the direction.

It would be great to find these traces. Everyone followed the traces along the way and soon found the place where the northern wolf footprints were discovered on a large scale.

"So many footprints can be found here, which means that either their nest is very close to here and they don't need to be careful to cover up their position. Or this is the main gathering point for them to go north and south." An old hunter checked. Comment after traces on the ground.

Another old hunter also followed the inspection and pointed to a few places and said: "These places were left recently. I estimate that they should be the traces left today. They are very fresh and there is no damage on the footprints."

Knight Lanisa finally gave the order: "Whether it is close to their nest or not, we must judge it as if their nest is nearby! Everyone take out their weapons and prepare for battle."

"Yes, Lord Knight." Everyone responded in a low voice.

The hunters once again checked the condition of their bows and the firmness of the bowstrings. At the same time, they transferred the quivers on their backs to their right waists, and opened an opening in the quiver to let the quivers in the bow string go. The arrows are ready for grabs. Not only that, experienced hunters also hold the bow in their left hand and the shaft of an arrow in their right hand, ready for battle at any time.

On Kiel's side, the ax behind his back is in a state that he can hold it at any time. At the same time, the shield behind his left shoulder is also held in his left hand and equipped. With his right hand free, he can draw his long sword and fight at any time.

Knight Lanisa lowered her body and leaned against the horse's head, close to the horse's ear, and whispered something to the horse.

Of course, I don’t know what the female knight said, but after that, her horse stopped neighing, its hooves stopped moving restlessly, and the whole thing became quiet.

As Knight Lanissa picked up her steel spear from the side of the saddle and waved it forward in the air, the team quietly dispersed slightly and moved forward.

Knight Lanisa was walking in front on horseback, with young hunters on both sides separated by a few meters. Behind the young hunters were three old hunters, and at the end was Kil, who was holding down the formation to prevent the Northern Wolf from sneaking up from behind. .

The old hunters checked the ground for traces of northern wolves at any time, and whispered the direction of travel. In this way, everyone walked quietly for about two hours without saying much, until there was a noise behind a tree.

Riding on a horse, Knight Lanissa has the best view, and her eyesight is far superior to that of ordinary people.

"There." She said just one word, then pointed the gun in the direction of the noise.

Then, a young hunter nocked an arrow, drew his bow, took aim, and shot an arrow in the direction indicated by the knight.

With a whoosh, the arrow pierced the air.

Suddenly it shot into the trunk of the big tree. The animal hiding behind the tree trunk was startled, and immediately knew that it had been discovered, so it sprang out from the snow on the ground and ran away in one direction, making short "wow" sounds in its mouth as it ran. Howling.

"Don't shoot it to death! Try to keep up!" As soon as Knight Lanisa finished speaking, the three old hunters who received the order slightly adjusted the angle of their bows and arrows in an instant, and then released the arrows.

The arrows of the two grazed the back and tail of the fleeing northern wolf. One took away a small piece of hair on the back, and the other directly hit the tail bone in the fluffy tail. But the third old hunter released his arrow last.

The northern wolf that was shot in the tail rolled on the ground. After getting up in a panic, it instinctively wanted to bite off the human metal teeth that had shot its tail, but it immediately realized that it should not stop.

Yes, as soon as it paused, there was an arrow that shot quickly, directly drilling into its hind legs.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu" The northern wolf was even rolled around on the ground by the force of the arrow.

"Don't shoot him to death." Knight Lanisa glanced at the old hunter behind her.

The old hunter who fired the arrow at the end shrugged: "Don't worry, just hurt one of its legs so that we with old arms and legs can keep up."

"Don't be poor, follow up quickly. Remember to maintain formation."

While he was talking, the northern wolf, which had been hit by an arrow in its hind leg, had endured the pain and continued to run on three legs.

It was difficult for the team to keep up. The northern wolf was really familiar with its surroundings and always tried to hide behind a certain tree so that the chasing hunters could not find it.

But Lanissa Knight has been staring at that guy right away. She is actually very experienced in dealing with these northern wolves. She often injures a northern wolf herself, and then specifically lets the other one howl, gathering other northern wolves to come over, and then she kills them all.

In the past few years, when she couldn't organize the hunters, she did it like this. Although it seemed to be faster and more efficient than leading the hunters, in fact, in those years, every winter, she had to be in the forest. After wandering alone for many days, I could meet a northern wolf.

The inexperienced Lanissa knights were more likely to break into some crypts or small caves out of curiosity. They often had to fight with many monsters and ferocious beasts entrenched in the caves before they could retreat in embarrassment.

The taste can be imagined.

Although the stupid method is useful, it is too inefficient and embarrassing. After consulting Knight Crowe and Baron Kendall, she realized that she should find someone familiar with the forest to guide her.

-

Everyone quietly chased behind the escaping northern wolf not far away. After passing through a forest belt with dense trees, many northern wolf footprints appeared on the surrounding ground.

An old hunter checked the footprints on the ground: "Sir, these are the footprints of the wolf cubs. Yes, this should be the place where they place the immature wolf cubs."

Kiel looked around and found that this was a gentle shallow valley with high sides and low middle. The entire shallow valley was surrounded by a circle of relatively dense trees. This place was okay, and as far as he could infer, those young wolves probably lived in the middle of here.

Knight Lanisa pulled the reins of the war horse, causing the horse's front hooves to raise, and neighed loudly: "Make a noise, tell those animals that we are coming!" After saying that, she clenched her fist hard and hit the armor on her chest, shouting Thump, thump, thump.

With a clanging sound, Kirchun drew out the hunter and knocked the long sword wrapped in white light against the shield in his left hand, making a loud banging sound. What's interesting is that both his shield and sword are very strong. When the two collide, there is no visible tremor on either side.

The hunters, led by the old hunter, shouted in unison: "Hoo! Drink! Hoo! Drink!"

The uniform shouts were quite impressive.

"You advance slowly and move forward! I'll go in first." As soon as she finished speaking, Knight Lanisa clamped her horse's belly, and her metal boots collided loudly with the vest on the horse's belly. After receiving the order, the war horse's hooves rose and fell rapidly, and it accelerated to the front in an instant.

-

On the hunter's side, the old hunter called for everyone to gather together. There were three of them in the center, then four young hunters, and on the outermost edge was Kil, who could move around and defend like a satellite.

Although everyone shouted loudly, they were still very cautious on the whole. He did not directly follow Knight Lanisa quickly, but relied on the few trees in this shallow valley to rely on and walked slowly over.

The place here is quite big, but there isn't much cover. So after everyone walked a few steps, they saw the place in the middle of the shallow valley.

Surprisingly, there was a small frozen puddle there, and the surrounding ground was cleared of snow. It was not that there was nothing on the ground, but some were picked up by northern wolves in some gentle places. hay.

At this time, the entire shallow valley was full of wolf cubs running around. They were like headless flies, running around in a disorderly manner, wanting to hide behind tree trunks, and then running to the outside of the shallow valley, wanting to follow. The adult wolf was supporting from behind, and he wanted to directly use his power to knock down the metal guy on the metal monster.

The adult wolves, led by a northern wolf with a slightly different coat color, tried to resist Lanissa Knight. They all recognized the hateful human being, Lanisa Knight, and instinctively wanted to run away because they knew they were no match. But the surroundings were full of panicked young wolves, and the Wolf King had assigned them the task of caring for and raising these future companions. Even if they risked their lives, they had to obey the Wolf King's instructions.

Therefore, these adult northern wolves had to fight to the death even though they knew that they were no match for humans like Knight Lanisa. They separated a northern wolf to move the young wolves that were running around without thinking. They planned to let those young wolves go to the wolf king for protection while they were holding back the humans.

Although they are desperately trying to delay, the Northern Wolves do not think that their side will not be able to fight. Their little leader got a magical ability from the wolf king this year, maybe he can defeat this female human wrapped in metal.

"Heh." Knight Lanisa was riding on her horse, looking over the entire scene. Naturally, she could see the Northland wolves' plans from their actions. These cunning and smart animals actually tried to resist her?

Naturally, she also saw the strange little northern wolf leader whose body was larger than the surrounding northern wolf. At the same time, the whole hair was red and the ends were blue.

"Let me see what you are capable of!" She grunted, pulled the reins to turn the horse, and after turning away from the wolf den, she knocked the horse's belly again and accelerated towards the strange northern wolf on the opposite side.

She lowered her body and leaned out of the right side of the saddle. She grasped the end of the steel spear with both hands, and aimed the long and sharp spear tip at the strange northern wolf that was approaching quickly.

On the opposite side, the strange northern wolf with red fur also knew how powerful his opponent was. He didn't dare to raise his head and simply shook his head to activate the hidden abilities in his body.

This was during the summer, after he competed with other northern wolf brothers and sisters and completed three challenges set by the Wolf King, he drank the blood given by the Wolf King and gained abilities.

At that time, in the hot summer, it participated in the selection called by the Wolf King together with more than a dozen equally brave northern wolves. The great wolf king needs a few of the best men to serve as the main force to resist the ferocious female human in winter.

The first step is to participate in a melee in an open space. Only after defeating all other northern wolves in the melee can you be qualified to accept the test of the Wolf King.

Relying on its tall stature, weight, and cunning wisdom, it did not rush straight into the center of the melee at the beginning. Instead, it waited until everyone was tired from fighting, then rushed in, knocking over the guys blocking the road left and right, and pounced on them. He bit the guy upside down, turned around and slapped away the insidious guy who tried to attack with his wolf claws, and finally defeated the other northern wolf that could fight it head-on.

Became the winner of this melee.

Afterwards, the Wolf King summoned it, and it cautiously and humbly came to the frozen cave where the Wolf King lived. In the deepest part of the cave, I saw a white wolf king that was more than five meters long and had a three-meter-long tail.

The wolf king rode an unpregnant female wolf. After quickly finishing, he drove the female wolf out of the cave, and then stared closely at the winner of the melee.

It was trembling with fear, stretching its limbs and lying on the cold ground, showing its surrender and pride. It is a warrior, and lying down like this is the most acceptable etiquette allowed by its dignity. It is impossible to expose the soft belly to express submission like those ordinary northern wolves who do not have the same pride and dignity.

It seemed that its actions were recognized by the great wolf king. The wolf king roared happily in a low and meaningless manner, and then stretched out a front paw with white wolf fur as huge as itself.

As it stared with its eyes wide open, the wolf king's claws naturally split, and a drop of boiling blood flowed out along the open, closed and healed wound, then flowed along the dozens of centimeters long claws, and finally at the tip of the claws gather.

It began to breathe heavily, opened its mouth happily, and raised its head.

The wolf king grinned, revealing a mouth full of fangs, and the drop of boiling blood fell into its mouth.

Soon, a magical effect appeared.

The minor injuries it suffered in the melee healed quickly, and its physical condition was even better than before it participated in the melee.

The Wolf King then spoke slowly, and in a voice that sounded like a whimper, but was actually loud, he told the winner the three tests. After accepting and completing the test, it will gain greater power and become one of the northern wolf leaders under the Wolf King.

The three tests are:

Provoking a poisonous wasp's nest in the forest and surviving the attack by the poisonous bees is a test of endurance.

Defeating a big black bear alone in the forest, and after winning, tearing off the bear's head and showing it to everyone is a test of fighting courage.

Going south to the territory of humans, ambush and sneak attack and bring a human alive to the wolf king is a test of cunning wisdom.

It didn't understand what it meant, but after a brave whimper, it retreated confidently.