She looked at me with a mix of surprise and fear on her face. I just looked her straight in the eyes while saying. “I not going to lie to you. You’re too good at knowing when I lie. We’re currently standing on the Drakensberg Mountain range.” We both just stared at the scene before us that sent a shiver up my back. I had come here earlier specifically to have this scenery when I told her.

I would keep mum about the whole Isekai thing, but I could tell her about magic. After staring at the mesmerizing scene, she turned to me and asked, “How?” I just shrugged and said, “Magic.” We ended up talking for hours before I jumped her back to her apartment and agreed to actually come and see her since I had no excuse if being on the other side of the world.

I then jumped on a plane to Mongolia since I needed a spot with no people to practice my wind magic and it is getting out of hand. After a good few hours of practice, I headed to Sloeham and realised it was early morning there. The time zones seem entirely fucked up from earths perspective since days here are about 28 hours long.

On the quest board was a request to head to one of the villages on the border and slay a pack of grey wolves which are terrorizing the trade routes. It is a bit of a trek since it would take two of walking to get there and the pay wasn’t enough to entice a steel rank as required. I just took it, and the receptionist had a look of confusion on his face when he saw me taking it. I had mostly become known for just dumping a bag full of ears on the desk every now and then.

I went to a bookstore and paid a few silvers to browse through a book on wolf type monsters. I found them and they were basically just wolves on steroids who seemed to develop a taste for human blood along with other races.

I left the city and warped back to earth and waited for my energy to refill before jumping back and bringing a dirt bike with me. I used my wind magic to muffle the sound somewhat, but it was still audible. It would have to do for now though. I drove at top speed through the forest and warped whenever I got to a bit which I could not cross.

I could just chain warp at about twenty-five metres a second but that would be boring, and I would only be able to travel about a kilometre before being completely dry which would leave me vulnerable. It only took abut four hours to reach to zone where the wolves had been spotted. I sent the bike back to earth and jumped back as soon as I could.

I warped up into a tree and sat there as I closed my eyes and focused on the noise of the forest. I could hear and thereby locate, dozens of animals and monsters all moving. The breaking of branches, the sound of flowing water, the wind rustling the leaves. I then heard a panting noise. It was a wolf. I dared not go near them since they would be able to spot me through instinct.

I continued to concentrate while focusing on figuring out how many there were. I slowly made my way closer and closer while staying down wind and making as little noise as possible until I had a clear line of sight view of the burrow, they had dug to live in. There were a bunch of pups and about a dozen adults. The hairs on the back of my neck rose as I realised, they weren’t grey wolves but dire wolves.

They usually kept to themselves and were pretty much agreed to be sentient. This was completely different now. I was already on the fence about normal wolves, but these were Sentient Beings. I decided to try and speak with them. Apparently, some tribes had communicated with the Valeria Kingdom before and even had trade pelts for things like preserved meats.

I continued to walk towards the burrow, but I deliberately acted as loud as possible. They almost immediately went on high alert and began to run to the sides to flank me while the pups entered the burrow.

They began to circle me without any visual indication of their presence. If it was the old me, I would have never known what killed me. I heard one say to the other in a whispered tone which was a mix of barks, grunts, and huffs. “Is this human trying to get killed! I thought we scared off the last of them?”

I smiled since I could now understand them. One from the other side of the path I was walking lunged, and I jumped three metres forward causing it to land in a roll and most likely injure itself since it made an audible yelp of pain. I then said in their language, “I come in peace. I wish to inquire as to why you attack us.”

“You speak our language?” came the voice of a female wolf which sounded more mature. “Yes.” I said while sitting down cross legged in front of the wolf I guessed was the leader. Many people have been attacked and harassed by you. I was told you were a group of grey wolves which have developed a taste for our blood and was meant to wipe you out.

I however do not wish to kill your kind since you are as smart as us. I do however wish to know why. If it is justified, I will leave.” The Leader of the Pack sat its butt down and stared my right in the eyes before saying, “JUSTIFIED!!! You humans take our pups and dare to say we have to justify ourselves when we try to drive you out of our territory. We didn’t care before when you passed through as long as you left us alone. But three moons ago, they snuck in a too… AND TOOK THREE PUPS WHO WHERE PLAYING!!!” The entire pack seemed to be seething with anger as she enflamed her voice after it caught.

I understood completely. If a bear came and took a few children. What would village do. Most likely kill the bear and chase any others far away from the village if not kill all of them. I lowered my head and said in the saddest tone I could, “Did you manage to recover your children?”

The entire pack lowered their heads as the wolf said. “No, before we could reach them, they had crossed the boundary. We adults are too high of a rank to cross it while the pups were just fine. If you truly come in peace and wish for us to leave you alone again, bring back my children.”

I just lowered my head completely to the ground and said, “I will return with your children whether they be dead or alive. There bodies will return to this forest and become part of Goma’s Cycle once again.”

I left the forest after they told me about the direction with which the party left. It was towards the Moira Empire. Apparently, the pack was about three times bigger than those I saw but the rest were scouring the barrier looking for any humans who entered, hoping they would be stupid enough to have the pups with them.

This was not the first time I heard about the Moira and I decided to head there and see if they need some discipline or not.