The Abysmal Territory

[23]

The rays of the sun wake Teiko up. He looks at the surroundings to check the current situation. The wolves are still near the yggdrasil and guarding it. Some wolves are already fast asleep.

“You’re very early. You know, if you also learn magic like ice and fire, you could just cast a skill to them then run,” Saki said.

“That could be very effective but kind of cowardly, I don’t want to be like that,” Teiko replied.

“I’m sure you will eat your own words in the future,” Saki replied.

“I thought you’re helping me as little as possible, you can suggest something after I defeated every wolf here,” Teiko said.

“Well, if I were to really help you here then I might do all the works. So I’ll not argue with you this time. I’ll just watch you from the distance and hope that your head is still intact,” Saki replied.

“Just wait patiently, I got this,” Teiko proclaimed.

Wolves are intelligent creatures and it will be hard to lure them one by one. But that doesn’t mean they will not come into pairs. Teiko thought.

Teiko opens his baggage and takes out different kinds of weapons.

“What’s that? Bow and arrow, knives, and grappling hook? Why do you have such a thing? I thought you got the pride of a swordsman? Why just not learn magic?! Hmp!” Saki exclaimed.

“Don’t worry, I will not use them as a main weapon. Basically I’m just toying with these weapons. I just got an idea,” Teiko replied.

Teiko went to a tree near the wolves and aimed his bow at a branch on the adjacent part of him with respect to the wolves.

THUCKK!

“Wow, I’m pretty sure that’s not what you wanted to hit, but okay,” Saki said.

The arrow hit a big rock and just bounced off it.

“That’s alright, I’m not aiming for any of the wolves. My goal is just to make some noise and let them check it out. Look, it’s effective,” Teiko said.

Two wolves walked towards where the arrow hit the stone.

“I thought they become intelligent after they spent time here but look, they’re stupid to fall to your tricks,” Saki said.

“That’s incorrect. Whether they are knowledgeable or not, some of the wolves will go there no matter what. Given that only a pair checks the noise out means that they are highly intelligent. Wolves are territorial even without the yggdrasil leaf. They make sure that there are no enemies within their territory,” Teiko explained.

“This means that if we move closer and closer they might hear us or smell us?” Saki asked.

“Yes, that’s the best thing to assume but on hearing us, we just need to be very careful with making noises and with smelling us, it will never be a problem after we put this,” Teiko said.

Teiko put out dirt and spread it throughout his body.

“Dirt? Why?” Saki asked.

“Dirt hides human smell from animals. I don’t know if it will work on monsters but right now, I know it will be very useful. I couldn’t find any oak tree nearby since acorn will be a better choice but this will do,” Teiko replied.

“So you’re incorporating fighting and hunting, huh? When did you even learn this?” Saki asked.

“I overheard it from the hunters in the village, Dalton-sensei will teach it to his students anyways but some details are good to know as early as possible,” Teiko replied.

“Eavesdropping is bad, you know,” Saki said.

“Well, it turns out good this time so you can’t blame me,” Teiko said.

Teiko picks up his knife and aims for the alpha male. The knife hits the alpha male’s feet and they see Teiko.

“What’s your next plant?” Saki asked.

“To run,” Teiko said.

Teiko immediately runs before the wolves take their move.

“I thought you don’t want cowardly tactics? This is the same as what I told you,” Saki said.

“Don’t worry, I'll still fight them and just not do the hit and run. I have limited knives anyway,” Teiko replied.

The wolves chase Teiko. Teiko runs towards a big rock and light cuts through his arms using a knife and throws it to the chasing wolves. One of the wolves was hit in the ear. He used the grappling hook in a branch of a tree.

“OOOOOWHOOOOOOO!” Teiko howled.

“What the hell was that?” Saki said.

As the wolves came rushing towards Teiko and at that instant, Teiko used his grappling hook to climb the tree.

“It’s to distract them from their awaiting death.

Five wolves fall down to a heightening cliff. The other wolves saw through it and stopped before falling down.

“Didn’t see that coming, huh? I just need to take down seven of them,” Teiko said.

“Teiko-nii, that’s very genius,” Saki said.

“I got no time for praises,” Teiko replied.

The other wolves chase Teiko. Teiko runs through a narrow path in a rocky land.

“Okay, this is the place. Since I killed some of you, I mean, fall to their death, you’re very furious and want to kill me, so here you are,” Teiko said.

“Ohh, you chose this as your battlefield so you could fight them one by one. And since the size of the wolf is not normal, it’s hard for them to see what’s beyond the wolf in front of them, smart move I say,” Saki said.

“For a swordsman with a long or medium length sword, this is basically a disadvantage but since this lets me fight them one by one, this is a better choice. I can win,” Teiko proclaimed.

The wolf in the front takes a stance and engages Teiko. 

Teiko just backed off to dodge the jump. He strikes back at the wolf making it howl in pain. The wolf looked up as if taking a deep breath.

“Wait, will that wolf breathe out fire? Didn’t expect that!” Teiko exclaimed.

“I told you, the leaf of yggdrasil is capable of doing something like that,” Saki said.

“Fine! But this doesn’t change the fact that I can defeat them one by one!” Teiko said.