Garrick was struggling to fight three Wolves at once and Dustin could barely dodge and block the one Wolf he was facing.
'Crap. How are we going to survive this? No matter how strong Garrick is, there's no way he can win against three of them at once.'
All Garrick managed currently, was blocking and counterattacking while giving his opponents small cut wounds. The Wolves kept covering for each other and not leaving any space for Garrick to make any big moves.
'Fuck. I forgot how annoying Wolves are in numbers compared to Feral Dogs. They aren't just twice as big and strong, but can also coordinate their attacks better.'
He dodged a Wolf's claws to his left and blocked another's bite attempt. He was about to counterattack when the third one appeared from behind him to bite his leg.
"Argh!"
"Fuck!"
Garrick swung his spear wide to keep them at a distance and give him some time to recover.
'I can't win this. The only option left is to try to run, but I need to choose whether I do so by myself and leave Dustin behind, or to act as bait myself to give him an opportunity to run.'
He didn't think twice.
"Dustin! When I say go, you run for your life!"
"What?" Dustin wasn't sure he heard him right.
Garrick's leg was bleeding, but he still had enough strength for one last push.
He accelerated towards Dustin and the Wolf he was facing. The other three Wolves followed closely behind him.
Garrick's spear shot forward and he yelled. "GO! Run now!"
Dustin's instincts kicked in before he could think. He turned and put all his strength into his short and thin legs.
Meanwhile Garrick's spear met the alone standing Wolf's side of the neck.
"Gshkt!"
It let out a loud yelp.
Garrick pulled out his spear as fast as he could and turned around just in time to block the first Wolf that came after him.
While his spear had just held off its jaw, the second one was already upon him and sliced his chest with its sharp claws.
"Ugh!"
This attack pushed him off balance and made him fall on his behind.
"I'm fucked."
The third Wolf came quickly right behind the others. Determined to rip Garrick to shreds.
Only a meter away—
"Whoosh!"
"Thk!"
Blood sprayed from the side of the Wolf's skull.
"Wha-"
Garrick didn't see this coming.
The remaining two Wolves quickly turned their heads to where the arrow came from.
Another arrow was already flying at one of them. The Wolf tried to dodge and managed to keep it from piercing through its skull, but it still hit the shoulder.
"Yelp!"
The Wolf stumbled sideways in pain.
As the other Wolf tried to run towards the archer it had now spotted next to a tree—
William came running from its side, with his axe raised.
'Take this!'
The axe came down in a quick and short arc, but the Wolf managed to dodge by a hair's length.
Another arrow however, caught it by surprise and pierced the side of its body.
It howled in pain and while Garrick was already finishing off the one with the pierced shoulder—
William killed this last one with a clean strike to the head that cracked its skull open.
Blood sprayed everywhere.
'William?' Garrick thought.
"Agh damn! My clothes and armament are covered in blood again."
Richard sighed as he slowly approached. "I told you to aim better or this will keep happening."
"Ugh. Since when have become so talkative? I think I prefer your one word sentences."
Garrick just watched them in confusion.
"How did you find us at such a perfect time?"
"Haha. You were making such a huge ruckus that it caught our attention. Isn't it great to have joined Osric's party and have such a reliable comrade nearby like me?!" He said while glancing at Richard with his intentions written over his face very obviously.
All he got from Richard however, was a sigh and avoiding eye contact.
'Ugh! That frustrating guy.'
"Hah. Right you are! Thanks for the help. I would've been dead without you."
"Sure! We're comrades after all. Make sure to tell Osric how heroic I was!"
"Haha, will do! Oh, and that thanks goes to you too of course." Garrick said to Richard.
"Sure."
'So this is the potential recruit that William told Osric about. I can see the appeal. His shots very incredible just now. Capable archers are rare.'
"I heard you don't intend to join any party, but I'll still put in a good word to Osric for you." He said while smirking.
Richard ignored him.
'Ha! What a rude punk.' Garrick thought.
"Oh right. Where's Dustin?" He said while looking around.
He then spotted a small figure trembling behind some bushes.
'Seriously?'
"Hey Dustin! You can come out."
"A-ah. Right!"
Dustin stood up slowly before jogging towards them.
He looked at all the dead bodies and sighed in relief.
"I'm sorry for running Garrick. Are you okay?" He said nervously while looking at Garrick bloody leg.
"What are you sorry for? I told you to run and you did. That was the right choice."
"Still-"
"Enough." Garrick interrupted.
"Let's get out of here and avoid making the same mistake before other monsters show up."
William and Richard also agreed.
"Hm? Aren't you that kid from the training ground I once met with Osric?" William asked.
"Oh, yes. It's good to see you again."
'Can't believe he remembered me from that one short encounter.'
"Why are you with Garrick though?"
"Also Garrick, didn't you say you wanted to stay by Osric's side at all times?"
Garrick chuckled.
"Yeah well, he got annoyed by my presence while trying to study and told me to piss off and train. I somehow ended up meeting this kid and decided to drag him along to help him train too."
"Pfft! I see. It's definitely like Osric to want to be left alone. But I seriously didn't expect you to end up helping someone else."
"Hah! That's because you barely know me. I am quite the generous man! I saw some potential in this talentless brat and decided it wouldn't hurt to help while getting used to adventurer work myself."
William just chuckled while Richard's cold expression was focused somewhere else.
"Rustle."