Chapter 67
That night, I dreamed about the wolf’s life in this forest before the Tempest Wolf destroyed the Frost Wolf and his pack. It was a very long and detailed dream. There, I watched all those memories play out as if I was watching a movie. The only difference was that all of the wolf’s emotions and sensations were being transferred directly unto me.
When I woke up, I felt a little light headed and a bit lethargic probably because of that dream. But knowing that I had to help with the hunt of the wolves for today, I forced myself up in order to shake all those feelings away.
Goodness, I really need to resolve this before I move on. I couldn’t help but sigh. That said, the way of life of the monsters inside these caverns is actually pretty impressive. I thought while walking towards the leftover meat from yesterday. I mean, I’m quite certain that a normal human being will not be able to live here without acquiring some serious psychological problems.
Given that there was no way to differentiate between the night and day inside these caverns, any normal human would undoubtedly find it hard to sleep and rest in this place. After all, it was just wired within a human’s instinct to find a natural comfort in sleeping in the darkness of the night. The same could be said for the light of the day. Because for some unknown reason, there was just something with the sunlight that gave the humans some energy to persevere until dusk. In essence, you could even argue that humans were a natural creature of the dawn.
Well, it is possible to change and adjust given enough time. However, even those kinds of people will encounter some problems if they continue with that lifestyle. After swallowing the last piece of meat, I prepared to head out. And for someone like me that has the memories of a human, that scenario should also be the same. But besides the slight discomfort that I felt in the very beginning, I have yet to encounter some problems regarding that. In that case, does that mean that it was the effect of my memories as a wolf? Or maybe it is due to the physiological difference between a monster and a human? If so, then what does that even make me?
In the midst of contemplating all of that, I once again checked my surroundings using my skill. Hmm. They are all still here. Ignoring all those presences that were observing my movements, I poked my head outside and walked out of the room.
First, I need to learn about the current situation of this forest. And since the Lightning Wolf presented me with the opportunity to do so, I will gladly use it for my own benefit. When I looked around, I saw a bunch of Great Wolves following me with their eyes. But since there is a high chance that this might be a part of that monster’s plan, I need to be extremely cautious in order to not raise any suspicion.
And so, under the watchful gaze of Lightning Wolf’s minions, I strolled towards the center of the wolves’ lair.
***
At the very center of the lair, I found Lightning Wolf waiting for me outside the entrance of his shelter. “You’ve come…” He greeted as a start.
Hearing that, I nodded and replied. As we’ve agreed.
“Good…” Upon saying that, the Lighting Wolf stood up and shook some dust off his body. “Follow me… they’re waiting…”
If I remembered it right, the Lighting Wolf would be leading me towards the entrance of the lair. Most likely, his wolves were already outside, waiting for their alpha to show up. Though, of course, what we were doing right now was probably a lot more different compared to how they usually do things. Because if I was not mistaken, the permission of the alpha wasn't needed in order to start the hunt. In my memory, once a wolf was delegated with a task, they would be put under the supervision of a leader, which would then be the one responsible for the actions of those that were under him. The only time, when an alpha would intervene, was either during an exchange of personnel, or if there was an urgent matter involving the entirety of the pack. In other words, it was basically a crude version of the humans’ organizational structure.
While I was using my memories as a reference point, the Lightning Wolf walked away so I decided to follow from behind. “I’ll explain… what you’ll… do…” The monster started as I caught up.
Unlike before, the Lighting Wolf didn’t have an entourage of wolves guarding him from all sides. But besides the occasional guard wolves that were patrolling the lair, I could still feel the presences of some exceptional Great Wolves watching us from afar. And if my guess was right, they might be the very same wolves that were stationed near my room. Only this time, the wolves were trying their best to hide their presences as if they were gauging the limits of my ability.
With that, I tried to test if I could trick the Lightning Wolf by pretending like I haven’t sensed anything wrong. But despite my best efforts, I noticed from the monster’s behavior that he could see through my clueless act. And as if my attempt was only something trivial, the Lightning Wolf just continued to explain without even looking back.
Seeing that, I felt a little dejected and frustrated in my heart. But knowing that I was still connected with the monster through some sort of mysterious telepathy, I also acted as if nothing had happened whilst preventing those thoughts from surfacing up. Because of this, I managed to confirm that this telepathic communication could only transfer the outer thoughts, but not the inner thoughts of those who were involved.
Of course, even while I was thinking about all of that, it wasn’t as if I didn’t listen to the Lightning Wolf’s explanation. In fact, though my mind seemed distracted by a lot of different things, I could still gather and absorb a lot of information depending on the level of my concentration. In short, I could multitask using my body and mind. That was why after I was done figuring all of those out, I began to think about what the Lightning Wolf had said.
According to him, I didn’t have to follow nor obey the orders of any leaders from a hunting squad. The only thing that I had to do was to either save or assist them if they happened to encounter some danger in the middle of the hunt. And if by chance they were all attacked at once, it was up to me to decide who to save and prioritize during that time. More than that, the monster also said that I should move by myself while hiding my presence and location. This way, if some potential threat appeared, it would be easy for me to launch an ambush or respond to an emergency in time.
After the Lightning Wolf was done with his explanation, I began to ask. If I encounter a monster on the way, is it agreeable to take it for myself?
For a couple of seconds, the Lightning Wolf remained silent as if trying to come up with an answer. “You can… But half… will be… taken” And then, he continued with a frown. “Though… I advise… not to…”
Tilting my head to that, I asked. Hmm? Why?
“Because it… will be… a burden…” He replied while glancing back.
A burden, huh? I started with a pause. Fair enough.
At that moment, we finally arrived at the entrance of the lair. A couple of steps later, we were already outside. And there, I saw the bunch of wolves that I would have to babysit later.
Looking around, I counted and concluded that there was a total of sixteen wolves waiting for us. Four of them were a Great Wolf, while the remaining ones were all just a Dire Wolf. Despite that, I could still tell that all of these wolves were quite experienced based on their exceptional aura and presence. If my guess was right, these guys might just be an elite platoon of hunters that was handpicked by none other than the Lightning Wolf himself.
Upon seeing their alpha, the wolves lined up in attention with a snap. At the very front of their formation, the four Great Wolves stood separated from each other whilst the remaining Dire Wolves positioned themselves on the back. From that, they accentuated the four-hunting squad, each of which has three subordinates and one leader as guide.
The Lighting Wolf made a signal of acknowledgement when he saw the formation of his wolves. Following that, he stood in front of his hunters and made a gesture of introduction for me. According to his body language, the Lightning Wolf was informing his subordinates that I would be the one helping them in the hunt for now. And after his wolves nodded in understanding, the Lightning Wolf turned his and looked me in the eye.
Raising his leg as the signal, the Lightning Wolf declared. “It’s time…” At that moment, the wolves ran towards the forest, and I followed behind.
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Damn this is juicy. You know, in reality, humans are unique creatures, but when you take aspects that make them unique and give them to other creatures, can you really say they are human attributes? Since there is no need for such a thing, we have no word that refers specifically to these qualities while meaning all creatures that have them, so the closest thing we have is things like “individual” or “person” as words to use.