The shiny black fur, yellow pupils, and razor-like teeth, that was the first impression of the Dire Wolf. When they came out of the bushes and surrounded the group, Tang Shaoyang got a clear look on them.
One and half a meter tall almost reached two meters long. The wolf was massive compared to the normal wolf.
[Basic Detection]
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[Dire Wolf]
Affiliate: Orin Forest
Evolution: Stage 2
Level: 31
Skill: [Howling Rage] [True Strike]
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"This is the same wolf in the second portal!" Captain Cao remembered that he had encountered the same wolf in the second portal. But most of the Dire Wolf in the second portal was stage-1.
Fan Rui and Gu Yingjie also nodded in agreement. Their hands were a little bit shaky as they recalled the bad time against the wolf. Especially Fan Rui who almost lost his life under Lin Duan's leadership.
"Second portal?" The hunter did not understand what they were talking about and asked.
"That is a place where we come from," Cao Yuntai smiled and nodded, "then this should be easy for us. Please stay close to me, sir."
"Yonki, just call me Yonki," the hunter told his name while eyeing the wolves.
"Stage-2, this should be easy for us!" Tang Shaoyang struck his battle-ax down, crackling his hand while scanning the wolves, "Around twenty wolves, is this all the wolves?" He looked toward Yonki.
"No," the hunter shook his head, "From our estimation, there will be at least eighty Dire Wolves." If it was only twenty, they would not need the help from the Adventurer Guild.
"Don't ruin the fur, use your fist instead of the spear!" When they heard the instruction, everyone looked at their leader in horror. However, they saw Tang Shaoyang left the battle-ax behind, he was serious with his words.
"You can't–" Yonki was about to warn Tang Shaoyang to pick the weapon, but the wolves did not have the patience to wait for the humans to finish their discussion.
The first wolf dashed forward and jumped toward Tang Shaoyang who was approaching them. Swift and deadly, the wolf opened the jaw, showing the sharp fang. The wolf was about to swallow Tang Shaoyang's unprotected head.
However, the man reacted faster as he punched the lower jaw. The wide-open mouth closed again, at this time, the man held the wolf's neck. He spun around and slammed the wolf down, an exaggerated movement that was not needed.
The wolf whimpered and died right after he slammed the wolf down.
"That was an RKO!" Gu Yingjie blurted out as he witnessed the whole scene. He then put away his sword as well, ready to fight empty-handed. However, of course, he still had his shield.
'S-should I escape and leave them?' These thoughts crossed Yonki's mind. Wood Rank Adventurers tried to fight close combat. That was utterly dumb, even after he witnessed how Tang Shaoyang easily killed the first wolf, such a fighting style would bring them to their doom.
After the first wolf, the second, the third, and the fourth wolf pounced toward Tang Shaoyang.
'Ah, shit! They come to help us, I can't leave them just like this!' Yonki pulled an arrow from his quiver. He nocked the arrow and aimed at one of the wolves.
But soon, he realized that his worries and action were not needed. He saw Tang Shaoyang grab two wolves by their neck. He slammed the two Dire Wolves down, with a greater force, he heard cracking noises.
The two wolves let out a pained whimper as blood flowed from their snout. The man crushed the wolves' neck. As for the last wolf, the man moved to the side, avoiding the pounce, grabbing the wolf from the back, Tang Shaoyang once again crushed the wolf's neck from behind.
As the fight unfolded, Yonki witnessed how the party of five crushed the twenty Dire Wolves with ease. While the man that seemed to be strongest among the five fought empty-handed while the remaining four used their shield only.
Three minutes barely passed and the twenty wolves were killed. The party killed the wolves without ruining the fur.
"Are they Wood Rank Adventurers?" Yonki blurted in shock.
"Yes, we are," Cao Yuntai nodded and smiled, "Can you help us?" Yonki turned toward the older man, "What can I help you with?" His response was quick as if he wanted to do anything that could help the party.
"Can you help us skin the wolf? None of us could skin the fur, bringing the whole thing would be a hassle since they are too many," Cao Yuntai smiled wryly.
They could not use inventory openly, hence, asking the hunter to skin wolves was the best option they could have for now. It would be easier to bring the fur, and Cao Yuntai was hoping they would lend them a wagon to help them to bring their loots. They did not have money, let alone renting a carriage. So their hope was the villager willing to lend them one.
"Ah, yes! We can help you with that!" Yonki nodded his head, it was not something new that the adventurer could not skin the beast, "For now, store the corpses in a Storage Bag. We will skin the wolves later."
Soon, the hunter noticed that the adventurer was wryly smiling at him. He was struck with a sudden realization, "You don't have a storage bag?" Cao Yuntai nodded his head while assuming the storage bag was the magical bag Gu Yingjie was talking about.
"Ah, I thought all adventurers would have one," Yonki blurted as he forked his storage bag. The storage bag was made of the unknown black leather beast with a fastener at the end of it.
"Let's save the corpses in my storage bag for now. I will help you skinning the wolves later," Yonki collected the corpses. The process of storing the corpses was quite a sight to behold, at least for the five as it was something new to them.
Yonki just opened the bag and directed the bag to the corpse. Then the corpse was sucked into the bag on its own. Of course, the Inventory Bag was more convenient since it did not need a physical form so it could not be stolen from them.
The deflated leather bag started to bulge after Yonki stored all the corpses.
"Where's their den? Let's not waste time anymore and get it done," Tang Shaoyang asked the hunter. They had confirmed the Dire Wolves were just low-ranked beasts, it's time to finish the job and earn the money.
"We don't know, the farthest we have explored is not that far. The hunters who went into the hill deeper never came back. The den may be on the hill but we don't know the exact location," Yonki shook his head. No one dared to go deeper after three hunters were killed, and five hunters never came back after they went up to the hill.
Tang Shaoyang nodded as he walked to retrieve the battle-ax, "Then let's go to the hill. You are familiar with the surroundings, I hope you can guide us up the hill!"
Yonki was hesitating, he was thinking to stay down here, and baited the Dire Wolves to go down instead of going up to the hill.
"Don't worry, just stay close to us, we will protect you from the wolves. Moreover, we still need you to lend us the Storage Bag," Cao Yuntai smiled at the hunter.
Yonki was hesitating a while as he recalled the fight earlier, "Alright," he nodded his head. This was after all for his village if the adventurer could clear the den, his village would be the one who benefited the most.
*** ***
Meanwhile, back to the village
Chief Lod was gazing to the hill. Concerned expression was plastered on his face. Next to the old man was a middle-aged man with thick eyebrows and a beard. His eyes were sharp with a big sword on his back.
The middle-aged man was the most experienced hunter in the village, "It's been one and half an hour, do you think they would be okay?" With his rough voice, the middle-aged man asked Chief Lod.
"I don't know, but I hope they could kill those vile wolves!" Even though Chief Lod said so, his tone was not that confident.
"Hah, they are just Wood Rank Adventurers who are trying their luck. Don't put too much hope, Chief!" The middle-aged man shook his head.
Just as the experienced hunter finished his words, he spotted a group coming out of the forest. He recognized Yonki who was leading the group with the five adventurers following him.
"See! It's just two hours they have already given up!" The middle-aged remarked.