Unknown to the three of them, however, they were being stalked. Ellie's eyes sharpened as she noticed a presence that was aiming at her sister. Without any hesitation, Ellie tackled Nirra, who was almost bitten by a dire wolf. The two fell and rolled over on the ground.
"Dire Wolves!" Their father shouted as two more showed up and started attacking. One of them was larger than the other two.
"Nirra, Ellie, get inside the city walls! Now!" Marcus shouted, pulling out a dagger from his hilt. He jumped forward and tackled one of the dire wolves. Unfortunately for him, he was kicked off by said wolf and proceeded to launch an attack of his own.
The wolf pounced on the man and was about to bite his neck. Ellie came by with a dagger she'd kept for emergencies like this and stabbed the wolf in the belly. It got away from Marcus due to the danger of being stabbed again.
Nirra was surprised that both her father and sister had any combat experience; she almost didn't see the huge dire wolf heading her direction. At the last minute, she jumped to the side and rolled, barely getting missed by the wolf's fangs.
"Nirra! Here out of here! Dad and I will cover your escape!" Ellie said as she parried another attack that was aimed at her throat.
Nirra couldn't let her sister and father die here, so during the heat of the battle, she tried to reload her flintlock as fast as she could. Key word is tried; she was too busy trying to reload that the bigger of the three wolves launched another attack at her. Again, she dove and rolled to safety, almost getting bit in the process. After she rolled away, Ellie countered with a stab to the creature's stomach, which forced it to pull out of the attack.
"If you two are willing to fight here, take out that big one. It'll send a message to the two that we're not worth the effort." Marcus shouted as he pounced on one of the wolves and sent a stab at its stomach and chest. He was tackled again before he was about to die. Ellie came and slashed at the creature's chest, making it jump off of Marcus.
"Buy me some time, I think I can kill the big one!" Nirra said, then composed herself and grabbed the bottle that contained the gunpowder.
The large wolf was again about to strike her before it was parried by Ellie. Marcus was also helping by parrying the other two's attacks that were aimed at her daughters.
Nirra skillfully managed to get the gunpowder inside the barrel as well as the steel ball. She also managed to ram it with the ramrod and cock the hammer. Once she was ready, she warned her sister to step aside.
"Ellie! Get out of the way!" Nirra shouted, which Ellie heard and immediately dived and rolled to the left. The wolf was left confused by the action, not knowing the consequence of letting Nirra reload.
Nirra had to make this shot count because this was her last lead ball she managed to carry. She pressed the trigger, and smoke bellowed out of the sides as the ball was propelled into the air and ended up hitting the wolf dead in the center, between the eyes. The giant wolf dropped dead on the ground, which the other two wolves noticed. Filled with injuries, stabs, and cuts, the two smaller dire wolves retreated and ran away.
Ellie and Marcus immediately made a beeline for Nirra, who was left kneeling on the ground due to the adrenaline in her blood slowly going away. The two checked for any injuries, which Nirra sustained none of, and they soon left the area, with Marcus eventually carrying Nirra.
When they were back at their house or forge, Mirabel was sickly worried about her husband and two daughters. They left without any warning, which prompted her to berate her husband for leaving without any notice. After the three recovered from their encounter, they reported the encounter to the guild and left out the part where Nirra used her new weapon to one-shot kill the large dire wolf. The guild was puzzled; they shouldn't be straying so close to a city like this, so they launched an expedition to the forest that was composed of C and D-rank adventurers.
Later that night, Nirr checked on the condition of her weapon. Good thing she did too, because she noticed that the barrel was cracking, possibly due to the explosive power that the gunpowder she made produced. which explained why the rock she tested it on was reduced to dust.
Nitra took the liberty to forge a stronger barrel with a thicker base to withstand the explosion caused by the new improvised gunpowder she made. She managed to heat-treat it again and insert the barrel back into the pistol.
Nirra noted the big problem with flintlock-style pistols and muskets: they reload too slowly. So, she devised a plan and started drawing the blueprints in her mind to make a single action revolver.
While Nirra was busy forging a new barrel for her weapon. Ellie was hard at training once again, determined to learn more about sword fighting so that she could better protect her twin sister from the dangers that monsters can give them.
She slashed the dummy using her custom-made sword, which her father made. It looked like a fusion between the Japanese katana and the famous long sword from Britain. With one slash, she managed to cut the dummy in two as she saw the silhouette of her sister working at the forge.
She could see Nirra hammering away at a piece of steel so she could make her firearm better.
Unknown to the three of them, however, they were being stalked. Ellie's eyes sharpened as she noticed a presence that was aiming at her sister. Without any hesitation, Ellie tackled Nirra, who was almost bitten by a dire wolf. The two fell and rolled over on the ground.
"Dire Wolves!" Their father shouted as two more showed up and started attacking. One of them was larger than the other two.
"Nirra, Ellie, get inside the city walls! Now!" Marcus shouted, pulling out a dagger from his hilt. He jumped forward and tackled one of the dire wolves. Unfortunately for him, he was kicked off by said wolf and proceeded to launch an attack of his own.
The wolf pounced on the man and was about to bite his neck. Ellie came by with a dagger she'd kept for emergencies like this and stabbed the wolf in the belly. It got away from Marcus due to the danger of being stabbed again.
Nirra was surprised that both her father and sister had any combat experience; she almost didn't see the huge dire wolf heading her direction. At the last minute, she jumped to the side and rolled, barely getting missed by the wolf's fangs.
"Nirra! Here out of here! Dad and I will cover your escape!" Ellie said as she parried another attack that was aimed at her throat.
Nirra couldn't let her sister and father die here, so during the heat of the battle, she tried to reload her flintlock as fast as she could. Key word is tried; she was too busy trying to reload that the bigger of the three wolves launched another attack at her. Again, she dove and rolled to safety, almost getting bit in the process. After she rolled away, Ellie countered with a stab to the creature's stomach, which forced it to pull out of the attack.
"If you two are willing to fight here, take out that big one. It'll send a message to the two that we're not worth the effort." Marcus shouted as he pounced on one of the wolves and sent a stab at its stomach and chest. He was tackled again before he was about to die. Ellie came and slashed at the creature's chest, making it jump off of Marcus.
"Buy me some time, I think I can kill the big one!" Nirra said, then composed herself and grabbed the bottle that contained the gunpowder.
The large wolf was again about to strike her before it was parried by Ellie. Marcus was also helping by parrying the other two's attacks that were aimed at her daughters.
Nirra skillfully managed to get the gunpowder inside the barrel as well as the steel ball. She also managed to ram it with the ramrod and cock the hammer. Once she was ready, she warned her sister to step aside.
"Ellie! Get out of the way!" Nirra shouted, which Ellie heard and immediately dived and rolled to the left. The wolf was left confused by the action, not knowing the consequence of letting Nirra reload.
Nirra had to make this shot count because this was her last lead ball she managed to carry. She pressed the trigger, and smoke bellowed out of the sides as the ball was propelled into the air and ended up hitting the wolf dead in the center, between the eyes. The giant wolf dropped dead on the ground, which the other two wolves noticed. Filled with injuries, stabs, and cuts, the two smaller dire wolves retreated and ran away.
Ellie and Marcus immediately made a beeline for Nirra, who was left kneeling on the ground due to the adrenaline in her blood slowly going away. The two checked for any injuries, which Nirra sustained none of, and they soon left the area, with Marcus eventually carrying Nirra.
When they were back at their house or forge, Mirabel was sickly worried about her husband and two daughters. They left without any warning, which prompted her to berate her husband for leaving without any notice. After the three recovered from their encounter, they reported the encounter to the guild and left out the part where Nirra used her new weapon to one-shot kill the large dire wolf. The guild was puzzled; they shouldn't be straying so close to a city like this, so they launched an expedition to the forest that was composed of C and D-rank adventurers.
Later that night, Nirr checked on the condition of her weapon. Good thing she did too, because she noticed that the barrel was cracking, possibly due to the explosive power that the gunpowder she made produced. which explained why the rock she tested it on was reduced to dust.
Nitra took the liberty to forge a stronger barrel with a thicker base to withstand the explosion caused by the new improvised gunpowder she made. She managed to heat-treat it again and insert the barrel back into the pistol.
Nirra noted the big problem with flintlock-style pistols and muskets: they reload too slowly. So, she devised a plan and started drawing the blueprints in her mind to make a single action revolver.
While Nirra was busy forging a new barrel for her weapon. Ellie was hard at training once again, determined to learn more about sword fighting so that she could better protect her twin sister from the dangers that monsters can give them.
She slashed the dummy using her custom-made sword, which her father made. It looked like a fusion between the Japanese katana and the famous long sword from Britain. With one slash, she managed to cut the dummy in two as she saw the silhouette of her sister working at the forge.
She could see Nirra hammering away at a piece of steel so she could make her firearm better.
