Quest complete

If Bythos is perfectly honest, he has no idea where to even begin. All he has to work with is the advice that the sentry gave him.

"Don't venture too far into the forest. There's monsters in the deep parts of the forest. If you're looking for animals, the outskirts will do. Most of the normal animals got driven to the outskirts by the monsters further in."

The advice is pretty vague, given that he did not specify how far in is too much, but it is better than nothing. Bythos wondered about the forest, in the search of wolves. To his dismay however, he can't seem to find any.

All Bythos managed to find as he trekked along the forest was a bunch of rabbits, which will not suffice for a wolf.

This is harder than I thought.

After another hour or so of looking without results, Bythos remembered reading somewhere that wolves are nocturnal hunters. So it seems that he has a higher chance of encountering them at night. Furthermore, he needs a way to attract them.

Bythos looked at the sky above him which is partially covered by the canopy. Judging by the light that passed through, Bythos determined that it is still too early. It looks like it is just about to reach dusk.

However, there is really nothing better for him to do now, so he found a comfortable spot under the shade and sat down.

Now what would be something that can attract the attention of wolves who are out hunting?

This thought was in Bythos' mind as he was sitting down. With nothing on him, he can't really think of anythng he could use to draw the attention of the wolves, unless...

Bythos drew his sword with his right hand and pressed his thumb lightly against the edge of the blade. It's not much, but it will have to do. Bythos used the sword to create a deep gash on his left arm, causing large quantities of blood to gush out.

It is kind of surreal to see yourself losing so much blood. As Bythos was staring at the blood pouring from his arm, he slowly drifted into a deep sleep. When he awoke, it was due to the strong pain he felt in his left arm.

Opening his eyes, Bythos was greeted by the sight of a wolf gnawing at his left arm. Surprised but not stunned, he took his sword in his right hand and plunged it through the face of the wolf, killing it instantly. One down.

After prying the jaws of the dead wolf loose from his arm, Bythos stood up at looked around him, clutching his sword in hand. Two more wolves stood in front of him, looking for an opportunity to strike.

Bythos can't help but smile at his luck. He did not expect that the wolves to show up on the first try. It was almost enough to make him forget about the pain in his left arm.

Brandishing his sword, he charged at the nearest wolf in front of him in an attempt to take down one more. However, the wolf is in reality much faster than he is, and before he managed to strike the wolf, it has already dodged out of the way and counter attack at the same time, taking a piece of Bythos' side in its jaw, causing Bythos to fall forward from the pain.

At the same time, the other wolf leaped towards Bythos, sinking its teeth into his right shoulder. Bythos gritted his teeth and jumped backwards, landing on his back with all his weight against the wolf, causing it to be temporarily stunned. Bythos took this opportunity to stab with his sword through the underbelly of the wolf, slaying it.

At this point, Bythos' adrenaline went up, and he can't feel the pain anymore. But he knows that this is only temporary, so he hastened to take advantage of his current state. Keeping in mind his previous failure and how he succeeded in dealing with the two wolves, he determined that he can't actually meet up toe to toe in combat with a wolf, so he needs to immobilize it followed by immediately dealing a killing blow to prevent any counter attack.

But the last wolf which became cautious after witnessing the two of its packmates fall, refused to approach Bythos. It wanted to keep its distance and slowly let Bythos bleed out from his various wounds, than approach him and risk getting caught up.

Bythos noticed this too, and decided to wing it. He walked slowly towards the wolf, slow enough to not cause any alarm. Even so, the wolf continued to maintain its distance, albeit less so than before. Next, Bythos gritted his teeth and opened the wound on his side even bigger, splashing the blood on the wolf's face.

This was too much for the wolf to bear, for it is after all still an animal. It lost its self control and hurled itself towards Bythos, and he slew it easily due to the predictive path it took.

With this, the third and last wolf is down. Bythos picked up the three wolf corpses and headed back to Aidas to turn in the quest. Looking at the sheet of paper with the quest details in his hands, it says to turn in the quest directly to the quest giver and collect the rewards from him. The quest giver is Marcus Venand, the ownder of the hunting shop in Aidas.

On the way back, Bythos felt the pain return to his body. It seems the adrenaline has worn off. With three wolf corpses slung over his shoulders coupled with his injuries, he felt like collapsing. He's more badly hurt than he had thought, but he can't stop here. If he stops here who knows when he'll make it back. So he continued onwards with heavy steps back to Aidas.

When he arrived, the sentry was shocked at his appearance.

"Are you alright? You look like you got mauled by a bear or something." the sentry asked with a concerned look on his face.

"Yeah, I'm alright." replied Bythos, waving off his injuries, although he is almost on the brink of collapsing.

"Still, you should get your injuries fixed. The church offers healing services." he said, while pointing at the general direction of the church.

After thanking the sentry, Bythos went over first to the Hunter's shop to turn in his quest. Upon reaching the shop, it is closed as expected as it's not even dawn yet. Still, Bythos knocked on the door in an attempt to hand in the quest to the owner.

After knocking, the creaking sound of footsteps could be heard coming closer and closer to the door. Finally, the owner opened the door and looked out with a yawn.

"What do you need at this hour? Isn't it a bit too early?" he asked while rubbing his eyes.

"Are you Marcus Venand? I'm here to turn in your quest." Bythos replied.

Marcus squinted his eyes to focus his blurred vision and replied, "Yes that's me, although it would've been better if you had come when I open shop. No matter, wait a while for me."

He grabbed the three wolves from Bythos and headed back into the shop. After a while, he came back down with a pouch and passed it to Bythos saying, "Here's your reward. Come back in the afternoon, I have a follow up for you if you're interested."

"All right, thanks. I'll drop by afterwards then." Bythos replied, before heading away to the church to get his wounds fixed up, leaving the hunter's shop which is now bustling with activitiy.