The Innkeeper
chapter-60

As Lex made his way through the forest, he could feel the condition of his cycle deteriorating. The tyres' frame was losing shape and was becoming bumpy. After a few more minutes he eventually gave up on the cycle and started running. Now he was really in the thick of things. He was not afraid of fighting a few wolves, but there really were too many after him for him to make a stand. He had to fight them off while he kept running. He held his short sword in his right hand and the Heavy Harley in his left hand.

When he was cycling on the road he had managed to pull quite a distance, but in the forest and on foot it wouldn't be long now till they caught up to him. His aim wasn't that good yet, not to mention with his left hand, but since he would be fighting in close range he would manage.

As Lex jumped over a fallen tree he entered a clearing. Just as he was planning how to engage he felt goosebumps on his back and leaped to his side without any delay. A wolf had pounced on him, but barely missed him. He aimed the Harley at the wolf and without hesitation shot at its body. The wolf was hit, but was only wounded. Lex got up, ready to stab the downed wolf but three more wolves jumped at him from the trees. He dodged to the side but swung his short sword at the nearest wolf while shooting at the one immediately behind it. The sword slashed at the wolf's face but because he had swung without any form or force it only cut the wolf and didn't kill it, while his shot missed entirely but at least deterred the chasing wolf. The wolves stopped attacking, and started arranging themselves in a formation to surround him but Lex had no intention of waiting. Lex lunged towards the wolf he had shot earlier and stabbed his short sword towards its face. The wolf tried to dodge but its injury prevented it from moving quickly and Lex's sword found its way into its neck. The first wolf collapsed but before he could do anything else the other three wolves attacked from behind. Lex, who had spent some time preparing for fights using some of the most knowledge rich video games ever, knew exactly what to do - The Dark Souls Roll!

Coming out of the roll Lex quickly took aim behind him and shot a few rounds at the wolves before they could reach him. He was embarrassed to discover that even at such a close range he missed some of his shots - the recoil was nothing to scoff at. Fortunately he hit enough shots, and he wounded the wolves enough that he was easily able to stab them to death.

The small engagement left Lex out of breath, but in actuality it had not even been an entire minute long.

"You should have given up on the quest," said Mary who had appeared in the air in front of him. She wore a worried look as she looked deep into the forest. "There's no way you can handle so many wolves."

"As long as I keep moving and pick them off a few at a time, I'll be fine." Lex didn't wait for the rest of the wolves, he turned and started running deeper into the forest. Truth be told, logically it seemed impossible for Lex to survive this but he had a gut feeling that he could. It was as if his instincts were driving his actions, leading him onto the path that would help him survive.

"Mary, if I make any mistakes then let me know. The gun has 93 bullets left, when they run out remind me to refill the magazine. I have a few spirit tokens in my bag. If you see any wolves sneaking up from behind when I'm in a fight, warn me."

"You should also keep an eye out for other Beasts," Mary warned, sitting on his head as he ran. "Such a commotion is bound to attract attention."

Lex took her advice in his stride as he ran. His biggest concern was the darkness. He could only see because of his night vision glasses but he had confirmed using the fancy monocle that the wolves could see just fine, or at least better than he naturally could in the dark. He could not afford to damage his glasses.

He heard the sounds of his pursuers and he glanced back to see two more wolves closing in on him. He turned towards the wolves and put his back against a tree so nothing would sneak up on him from behind. He aimed the Heavy Harley, making sure his stance was correct, before shooting at the nearest wolf. He didn't know if he was lucky or his aim was good when he actually took his time, but he shot the wolf in the head, instantly killing it. Aware that he didn't have the time to aim properly again, he launched himself towards the second wolf and stabbed at it, making sure to not get hit in return. He managed to stab it above its right leg, crippling its movement.

'I do more damage with stabs than slashes,' he had a passing thought. But he had no time to waste on contemplation. With the wolf injured and unable to give chase, Lex left, not bothering to finish the kill. Every second was important to him right now, he had to make the correct decision at every turn. He had to stay ahead of the pack.

The young man ran aimlessly through the woods, completely lost, but behind him he left a trail of dead or wounded wolves. With each encounter he became more familiar with how the wolves attacked, with each encounter he learned the limits of his ability, with each encounter he became more deadly. Given his untrained and amatear state, were anyone to see him they would be taken aback by the fact that he had yet to be hit even a single time by the wolves so far!

His aim with the gun improved, and after a while he began adjusting for the recoil instinctively. Eventually he reached the point where he became better with the gun in his left hand than he was in the right. Like on Vegus Minima, his actions became seamless and his body knew exactly how to move. At a certain point he ran into wolves, but this time they were coming at him from the front as well as from behind him. They must have surrounded him, but he was completely unaware. Without a moment's hesitation, as if that had been his plan all along, he holstered his weapons and climbed up a tree with the speed and efficiency of a monkey. But that was not an escape, the wolves would find a way to reach him, so he leaped from the branch of one tree to the next. But how could running in a forest be so easy? He leaped onto the latest tree branch, ready to keep moving, but instead of the firm bark of a tree his foot handed on something squishy, causing him to lose his footing and fall out of the tree.

Panicking a little, he raced to get up, the wolves were right behind him, but his thoughts were interrupted by a loud and angry screech! He looked up to see a barrel of angry monkeys, jumping up and down ready to attack.

Before a complete idea could even form in his mind, Lex was racing away from the tree and towards the wolves. He shot the Harley a few times at the wolves, injuring them and causing them to stumble, before he ran right through the small pack. From the howling and screeching behind him Lex was sure the two groups of animals had started fighting. He smirked, and looked back once to ensure that they were indeed fighting and not chasing him together, before continuing his escape.

It was at this moment, when a small amount of pride and confidence were beginning to fill Lex's heart, when he saw the largest wolf - the Alpha - standing right in his path with a dozen or so wolves behind it.

"Bloody hell!" he exclaimed as he started shooting the Harley as quickly as he could manage!