Night fell.
“Awooo!”
A howl echoed from deep within the dense forest.
Rosie sat crouched on a branch of a large tree, her back pressed against the rough bark as she chewed on a piece of jerky tough enough to break her teeth.
She had been hunkered down here since the afternoon.
That bastard Hawk and his men had blocked the edge of the forest tight, neither entering nor leaving.
At first, she had hoped they would come in to search the forest so she could show them what it meant when the trees started speaking.
But Hawk and his men didn't fall for the trap at all.
Rosie had no choice but to hole up in the forest and wait for an opportunity.
This wait lasted the entire day.
Swallowing the softened meat, she pulled her waterskin out of her backpack and took a sip.
Just then, a few faint shouts drifted from the distance, followed by the rustling sound of horse hooves treading on fallen leaves.
The sound grew more and more distant, fading away until it vanished entirely into the night wind.
Then, several lines of translucent text lit up before her.
【Quest Completed: Why Are You Always Chasing Me?】
【Please choose your reward: Trait - Firm Grip (Your weapon will not easily slip from your grasp)】
【Please choose your reward: Trait - Tireless Marcher (Reduces stamina consumption during long journeys, making you less prone to fatigue)】
Rosie stared at the two lines of translucent text, dazed for several seconds before letting out a long breath.
“Looks like those bastards are finally gone?”
She had originally thought this so-called Jackal was just a somewhat influential local thug from the outer city. But after this encounter, she realized she had underestimated the guy.
Whether it was blocking the road in the morning or sealing off the forest later, Hawk probably wouldn't have retreated if the risks of operating in the wilderness at night didn't double.
“Damn it, this is a blood feud now.”
Rosie cursed under her breath.
She looked at the pending reward prompts in front of her.
The Firm Grip Trait provided a very direct boost to combat, giving her an extra layer of safety.
The Tireless Marcher Trait couldn't directly improve her combat power, but it solved a different problem.
She was an adventurer now, which meant a lot of long-distance traveling. During these journeys, variables could arise at any moment. Being less prone to fatigue would allow her to better handle emergencies.
She only hesitated for two seconds.
【Trait: Tireless Marcher is now active.】
A warm sensation rose from deep within her body.
It felt as if an invisible weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
“So comfortable...”
Rosie couldn't help but sigh softly in relief.
She leaped down from the tree, her knees bending slightly to absorb the impact as she landed firmly on her feet.
Her movements felt significantly lighter than before.
Since Hawk had retreated, there was no need for her to keep hiding in this damn forest.
Who knew what kind of nocturnal predators might be roaming around.
Rosie tightened her backpack straps and headed toward the edge of the forest.
Dry leaves rustled softly beneath her feet.
With her pursuers gone, her steps no longer had to be so hurried.
The night wind blew through the tree trunks, making her shrug her shoulders against the cold.
“Fortunately, it's winter now...”
She muttered to herself to build up her courage as she walked.
“If I got trapped in a forest like this during the transition between spring and summer, the snakes and poisonous insects alone would have given me a nightmare.”
After walking for a few minutes, a faint light appeared ahead.
The clear moonlight filtered through the branches, coating the ground in a layer of pale silver.
She had reached the edge of the forest.
Rosie slowed her pace and stopped behind the shadow of a large tree. She listened intently for a long moment, confirming there were no signs of an ambush.
Only then did she carefully crouch down, using the shadows of the trees and bushes to move toward the main road.
As she moved, she muttered under her breath.
“What goes around comes around. Just you fucking wait, Hawk. Once I get stronger, the first thing I'll do is come back, tear down your casino, and shove that crappy axe of yours up your ass.”
A gust of night wind blew from the side.
Rosie abruptly froze in her tracks.
Her nose twitched slightly, and her expression instantly changed.
“The smell of blood?”
It was very faint, but fresh. It wasn't a distant scent carried by the wind; it was right nearby.
Instantly on high alert, her right hand silently drew the short sword from her waist, while her left raised the round wooden shield to her chest.
Lowering her center of gravity, she used the low bushes for cover and slowly crept toward the source of the smell.
Not far from the dirt road lay a dead sheep.
Its throat had been slit by a sharp weapon, and blood was pooling from the wound, soaking into the soil to form a large, dark brown stain that shimmered faintly under the moonlight.
There were also several gashes of varying depths on its body. They weren't deep, but they allowed the blood to flow faster and the scent to carry further.
Any predator in the forest with even a slightly keen sense of smell would easily catch this scent and follow it here.
A realization struck Rosie's mind like a bolt of lightning.
The dead sheep, the blood, the location, and the timing of Hawk's departure.
“Holy shit! That's so underhanded! He didn't forget to screw me over even on his way out!”
She bolted.
This dead sheep was clearly left behind on purpose by Hawk when he retreated.
He had anticipated that Rosie would slip out of the forest after they left, so he prepared this “extra meal” in advance.
The scent of blood would draw the forest predators. Whether it attracted wolves, bears, or something else entirely, it would be more than enough to give Rosie a run for her life.
Even if it failed to attract any predators, he had nothing to lose.
As for where the sheep came from, that was simple. With over a dozen men under him, Hawk could have easily ordered one to wait by the roadside, intercept a passing merchant, and “borrow” a sheep.
For instance, Quick, whose backside had been slashed by Rosie, was perfect for this job.
Rosie had barely run twenty paces.
“Awooo—!”
A long howl of a wolf echoed from the direction of the dense forest.
Immediately after came a second, then a third, rising and falling in succession as if signaling to one another.
In the shadows at the edge of the forest, pairs of eyes glowing with an eerie greenish light lit up.
Rosie glanced back, her heart sinking.
A pack of wolves was emerging from the forest.
These wolves were as white as snow, their bodies even larger than North American gray wolves, with long, thick legs.
“Damn it, snow wolves!”
Having inherited the memories of her original body, Rosie knew exactly how deadly these creatures were.
Snow wolves were one of the common magical beasts of the North, and they were incredibly troublesome pack predators.
Although they usually didn't venture near human settlements, they didn't mind changing up their diet if they came across a lone “snack.”
The alpha wolf was the largest of them all, stepping out from the forest edge with a composure that made it look like the lord of these lands.
It glanced at Rosie's fleeing figure, then spotted the dead sheep.
It seemed to weigh its priorities, then threw its head back and howled, issuing a command.
The dozen or so snow wolves split into two groups.
One group followed the alpha toward the sheep's carcass.
The other group of about seven or eight bolted forward, giving chase to Rosie.
“Damn it!”
Rosie cursed, a hint of panic creeping into her voice.
What kind of cursed day was this? Just escaped the Jackal's den and straight into the snow wolves' jaws!
She just wanted to be a quiet adventurer, why was it so hard?
The snow wolves moved their legs with incredible speed, the withered yellow grass bending and snapping back beneath their paws.
Rosie ran with all her might, but the distance between them was still shrinking at a visible rate.
She scanned the road ahead. It was completely bare, devoid of any terrain she could use to block the pack, save for the short, withered grass and a few useless bushes along the roadside.
But there was a slope by the side of the road.
The incline was about forty-five degrees, its surface covered in dry grass and loose rocks.
At the bottom of the slope lay a relatively flat hollow where the terrain narrowed, making it difficult for the wolves to surround her.
There was no time to hesitate.
Rosie veered sharply, rushing straight down the slope.
The snow wolves immediately followed.
Reaching the bottom of the hollow, Rosie spun around and pressed her back against the slope.
Her heart hammered against her ribs, and her lungs burned.
But she had no retreat. Behind her was an unclimbable slope, and in front of her were the closing snow wolves.
She held her shield across her chest, rested her short sword on its rim, and lowered her center of gravity, making herself as small a target as possible.
“Come on, you beasts! It won't be that easy to eat me!”
She roared.
Her voice echoed across the open wilderness.
The snow wolves stopped about ten meters away, forming a loose semi-circle to slowly surround her.
Rosie's gaze quickly swept over the position of each wolf.
One was directly in front of her, two on her left, three on her right, and two lingering on the outer edge, ready to fill any gaps.
The snow wolves bared their jaws, exposing glistening white fangs.
Low, continuous growls rumbled in their throats, sounding as if they were communicating with one another or testing her reaction.
Then, the snow wolf directly in front of her lowered its head, opening its massive jaws as a ball of pale blue light lit up deep within its throat.
The next instant, an ice arrow shot out from the blue light, its icy crystals glinting sharply under the moonlight.
Rosie instinctively raised her shield to block.
Crack!
The ice arrow slammed into the wooden shield, shattering with a crisp crack.
The ice exploded, and countless tiny shards splattered in all directions like buckshot.
The shards pattered against her leather cuirass and bounced off the edge of her helmet. A few sharp splinters grazed her unprotected cheeks, leaving thin trails of blood.
“Fuck...”
Rosie spat the word through her teeth.
Before she could recover from the impact of the block, three more ice arrows shot toward her in quick succession.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Rosie raised her shield once more.
She blocked the first, then the second, but the third came from an incredibly tricky angle.
It grazed the edge of her shield and exploded just above her right shoulder. Several sharp shards of ice slashed across the back of her sword-hand, leaving shallow cuts.
Beads of blood seeped from the wounds, glinting dark red in the moonlight.
The snow wolves began to shift their formation.
Under the cover of the ice arrows, the wolves on both flanks began to creep forward.
They wanted to compress her defensive space and force her to expose more openings.
If she only focused on blocking the ice arrows from the front, the wolves on the sides would lunge to bite her legs and arms.
If she got distracted trying to defend her flanks, the ice arrows from the front would seize the opportunity to strike her torso.
Rosie rapidly calculated their every movement.
She tightened her grip on her short sword, planting her feet firmly on the ground.
Now, she could only gamble—gamble that at the moment they lunged, she could be one step faster than them, or half a step.
The snow wolves halted.
The wolf directly in front of her lowered its head again, the blue light in its throat rekindling.
The wolves on both sides lowered their forebodies, the muscles in their hind legs tensing like fully drawn bowstrings.
The air froze for an instant.
Then, the pack attacked in unison.
Rate on N.U.
