After a brief rest at the edge of the meadow we made our way into the long grass and headed towards the edge of the river. The grass was only a little above waist height, but that was more than high enough for it to make it difficult to spot any wolves that might be in the area. After a short walk we were at the riverbank.
"We're in luck, we're down wind here. It will blow our scent over to the other bank. That should make things a little easier." Lillia said as we reached the bank.
"Right. What do we do now?"
"We follow the river along for a while. If my memory serves, there is low banked section a short way up ahead. That's where they'll come down to drink. We'll wait for them there."
We did as Lillia suggested and followed the river for a short while. Just as she had thought there was a section of low bank about a hundred yards down river.
"This is it. Now we wait." Lillia said while crouching down under the high grass.
I followed her example and crouched on my knees and waited. Then we waited some more. An hour passed and there wasn't the slightest sign of any creature coming to drink at the water's edge. I was starting to ache from holding a crouched position for so long. I was starting to wonder if anything would ever turn up.
"Are you sure they will come here?" I quietly asked.
"Yes, just be patient." Lillia whispered.
Almost as soon as Lillia had spoken I could hear a faint rustling sound coming from some way up ahead in the long grass. I trained my sight on the area the noise had come from and I could make out the grass being parted by something that was approaching the river. A moment later a large black wolf crept out from the grass, still unaware of our presence. There was a fire like glow emanating from its eyes.
"This is it." Lillia whispered. "I'll hit it with daze, and you move, quickly it won't work for long... Go!"
I moved just as she asked and the moment that I had taken one step, the monster became aware of my presence. The creature let out a growl and its fiery glow spread out from it eyes covering its entire body. My sword that had seemed plenty long enough when I had fought the bunny monsters was now seeming pretty short. I was going to have to get close to hurt that thing and somehow avoid being burnt.
Luckily daze was in effect and its movement was slow. I took my chance and ran at it while it was still in effect, my blade raised for a heavy blow. I brought it down as soon as I was in range, but the creature took me by surprise turning its head and lunging as I struck. I had to take evasive action to avoid its teeth. My strike still hit but was it only a glancing blow.
"These are hardy monsters. You'll have to make a critical hit to take it down." Lillia shouted from behind me.
I could already tell as much, but it would have been nice to have known in advance. The creature circled back, and I kept my distance following its movements. It was stepping heavily on its left side when it shifted it weight. It was only a glancing blow, but it had still taken damage. Seeing this I waited for the next moment it shifted its weight and lunged forward as quickly as I could manage. I brought my blade down from further out this time and caught it across the face as it lunged at me. This time I had hit with the full force of the attack and my blade ate into the top quarter of its head. It cut deeply, the top of its head flopping over, only held on by a single flap of skin, its brains spilling out on the floor as it crashed down heavily.
I took a step back. It was clearly dead, and I lowered my blade feeling happy about my kill as I heard the tada sound denoting the gaining of experience. I was celebrating too soon as I heard Lillia yell from behind me back at the bank.
"Theo, watch..."
I could already feel the heat of the monster's flames as I threw myself to my right, wildly swinging my sword towards the new arrival. It hit something, but I knew without looking it was only a glancing blow. Luckily for me, it was enough to halt its attack momentarily. I jumped back, trying to create some space, but this wolf hadn't been hit by daze and moved swiftly. It followed me as I leapt backwards and pounced. I managed to intercept its attack, but it had caught my sword in its teeth. It swung its head side to side with terrifying strength, lifting me off my feet and throwing me on the floor a few feet from where I had been stood.
I had landed heavily, but I didn't have time to worry about that. I had dropped my sword when I landed and didn't have chance to grab it before it jumped at me again. All I could do was throw both my feet in the air as it came down on me. I could feel the heat of its flames as my boots pressed into its gut. It was just enough to briefly wind it and as it fell to the side. I rolled to my weapon and picked it up. I spun back just as it was getting up and brought down the blade into the back of its neck with all of my might. It sunk in deeply and blood gushed out. I quickly pulled out the blade and drove it into one of its eye sockets as far as I could. The monster spasmed before falling limp.
This time I glanced at my surroundings before, turning my back to the grass and walking back to Lillia.
"I'm so sorry." Lilla called over as she ran over to check on me. "You were so close, If I'd used daze it would have affected both of you."
"It's okay, I'm not hurt." I reassured her.
There was another tada noise and a message appeared to inform me that I had gained yet another level. The message only seemed to appear when I was out of combat. I was surprised, that only two of them was required to go up a level even after Lillia had explained their worth.
"You did well to come out of that unscathed. I'm impressed." Lillia told me, glad to see I wasn't injured.
"Thanks."
"I think we should quit while we're ahead and we've already achieved what I wanted for the day. Let's head back to the edge of the meadow and I'll check you over properly."
"I won't argue with that."
We made it back out of the long grass without incident and stopped for a bit. Lillia checked me over and insisted on using her heal on me before we walked home, even if I was only a little sore from hitting the floor. Once she was satisfied that I was fine we started the walk back to town.