Chapter 9: Pack's Alpha

The unison of each step of the wolves was triumphant as each seemed to almost unite under the same banner. Florence was unsure just what to do as he reached for his bow and assessed the situation, eight wolves in total including the one that had called the rest to his location. He saw that they had encircled him and each had bore their fangs at him as he notched an arrow and pulled back an arrow, with a simple release of the bowstring an arrow sailed through. With a loud whistle and a dull thud, on the impact, the arrow planed itself into the chest of a wolf as it yelped out and whined, staggering in pain as it slowed and fell to its side. The animal shouldn't be dead however each of the wolves keep enclosing, ten-foot was their range from Florence as his heart began to quickly race. As his eyes danced around when they fell on the one who called Appraise threw up a window,

"Alpha Wolf, ????, Be warned as though it looks to be a normal wolf it is able to command the wolves as if a captain of a regiment. Stay on guard"

This spelled trouble for him as he notched another arrow and let it loose at a different wolf. This arrow was true on its mark as it pierced the right leg and pinned it to the back leg as it fell over with another loud yelp. Two down and six to go however the problem seemed to come not from the sheer numbers of wolves but instead the alpha who most likely boasted higher stats than any of the other wolves. The circle continued to enclose with no escape in sight, snarls, growls, and the sound their sharp claws dragging against the forest floor, crunching the fallen leaves under their mighty paws. Florence couldn't think straight as he notched another arrow and took aim, his sights set on the leader with hopes that he could possibly scatter the wolves and find a path to escape. With the precision and focus that he had been working in the past encounter, whizzing past with power as it sailed rocketed towards the wolf with an unsung fury. The powerful shot was mere centimeters away from the face of the wolf when the suddenly vanished ten-foot to the left as a snarl left its throat. Florence saw an opening and nearly leapt into action, taking this chance to escape when in the back of his mind he heard a whisper.

"Wolves are endurance hunters. A normal grey wolf is able to run between thirty-one to thirty-seven miles per hour, running won't work here unless you can top their speed for days on end, steel yourself as a fight or a place they cant reach is more obtainable than dying" whispered the soft and docile voice as it almost dripped with honey from such sweet words and a kind voice.

His heart was racing before but now he was unsure just what to do but the voice is right, normal wolves were able to run that fast but no longer was he in his normal life because as of now he was playing a game. Another arrow was drawn and released, his target no longer the pack leader but the other wolves. The arrow slammed into the shoulder of the beast yet had failed to put it down like the other two though his slight victory could not cloud his path yet. Quickly he slipped the bow over his shoulder and grabbing the hilt of his sword and preparing for an unfavorable close quarter combat situation. He felt a bit more natural as he pulled the dagger from its sheath and held it in his left hand as he surveyed his options. Five wolves were left or to be more exact there were four wolves and the alpha, the best bet was to take out the small fries then concentrate on his own personal hurdle, after all, there was no point in taking useless damage with such a low CON. The wolves growl out in retaliation as one lunge, teeth glistening as Florence dodges to the left, slashing at the beast's hide as a puff of fur falls to the forest floor. A splash of blood spraying his face, the warm sticky crimson countering his cold skin, another growl caught his attention as he felt a searing pain in his shoulder. An added heavyweight pulled him down a bit, making him teeter back as he tried to not fall. A glimpse over his shoulder showed the Alpha was locked on and crushing his shoulder, his mighty jaw clamped down as he growled when a sudden jerk from the beast threw him to the side and off-balance. This is it Florence thought, a day in-game and he was already going to be forced into his log out rather quickly. Suddenly his body sprang into action, twisting and moving so he wasn't on his ass to take a malicious onslaught of bites, his feet suddenly under him as the body had lost the extra weight of the alpha. His HP had taken a toll as a single attack of the alpha drained him of a third of his health, this was a battle he was outmatched in and outnumbered as his mind scrambled for an answer to is a problem when a single thought of skills rested on his mind.

"Strengthen legs! Increase power!"

A surge of mana courses through his legs as he feels the magical energy push his legs past their natural limit as he takes leap straight up, into the canopy as he jumps a solid twenty-five feet into the air. Florence's eyes race to find a limb that is suitable to hold his weights as limbs race past him, a rather stout and thick limb catches his eyes, his arm reaching out and barely grabbing hold of the branch as his heart raced. As if it was a scene from a movie the wolves growled, barked, and looked at Florence with daggers who struggled to pull himself up on the branch after a few minutes but now was where the fun began. Florence stood on the branch with a pant, taking his bow off his back as he took aim and began to rain down hell from above, arrows hardly missing the wolves except for the alpha who seemed to persistently dodge each shot with only a five-second delay between each dodge. If this was a skill then it had to have a cooldown or maybe even it used mana. The only problem was that Florence was beginning to run out of arrows, in fact, he notched his second to the last arrow onto the string as he took aim for the wolf's head. The arrow was silent as it sailed through when once again he disappeared and reappeared a bit away from where he started though this time was different. The wolf was panting as if all endurance had been wasted on keeping up with the arrows, Florence just caught the wolf slipping as a ding went off in his head. Without reaching back for his arrow it suddenly appeared on the string ready to be used as he wasted no time. He pulled back the arrow and let it loose, the iron head shining a lavender color as it pinned the beast in the back to the ground. Like hell was this dog going to get away any more. He slid his bow back onto his back as he brandished his sword, looking down at the wolf with serious and cold eyes. He lept from the branch and dived down, ready to end this damn encounter before it got any worse as he plunged the sword into the beast like a collector pins a butterfly behind glass.

"Who's the Alpha now bitch"