-Wolf Territory - Marshlands. 2Q Afternoon-
In the middle of the afternoon on the Southern part of the Marshlands, the weather continued with a few darkened clouds carried Northwest by the cooled winds and the weakened Sun rays warming the landscape.
Around a dozen meters from the Marsh shore, a 2.5-meter tall purple-blue Dragon was stuck in an ice platform, guarded by multicolored Wolf his size on the left. Nearly another dozen meters to the North, a 4-meter tall injured Blue Wolf confronted a white-haired little girl halfway to the shore. Three large green wolves approached them at high speed from the East but had slowed down around a hundred meters away to save magic for combat.
Low on Mana, and with a shortened Spirit as a result of his ongoing Soul advancement, Nefiru could not break out easily and the situation was becoming dire. He needed to gather Magic resources fast and wait for the right moment or convince his stubborn guard.
The Feral Wolf stood in a lowered posture with hackles on end, muzzle scrunched up and frontal fangs displayed. "GRRRRN...!" He snarled aggressively and glared with its only eye at the human Girl just a few meters in front. He wanted to lash out and end this threat, but he was conditioned to be cautious on top of instinctual urges to avoid damage to his body. But desiring to retaliate from a distance, memories guided the feral Beast to spread his Magic underwater to send a freezing wave just as he did instinctively on the Dragon.
The girl faced the large Wolf with only a crystal Dagger on the left hand and undergarment on her chest as only cover. Her body, with bruises and painful contusions, quivered nervously and shivered when the cooled wind from the Southeast blew, drying the wet hair sticking to her back and mud on her body. Her bare feet sunk into the muddy bottom as the muddled waters above her bruised ankles shook abnormally. She pushed back the Wolf's Magic a meter-and-half away from her body in a circle, but the water beyond that for several meters in a large circle had begun to cool down. She was aware of the incoming attack but could not run away safely nor interrupt it.
"GRRAWR!!" The Rank 5 Feral Beast roared and willed the water wash his enemy away, planning to charge behind the wave. *Shhuu~* The swamp water began to gather and rise between him and the girl as the Dragon watch nervously.
The girl was out of Time and without good options. She tried projecting her image away. But the Wolf locked on her scent. She thought about using Crystallized Light to avoid or defend, but it would deplete her Mana. Killing the Wolf would be easier, but it could enrage other Wolves. She needed to keep the Beast suppressed with the minimum damage and hope to reason with them.
While the Wolf was executing his attacks, the girl gathered most Magic in both hands. *Zuu~* She compacted Magic on her right hand into three invisible cylinders in a fixed triangle position on her palm and raised the arm, pointing them at the Blue Wolf. With a multitasking ability beyond normal human capabilities, the girl released yellow Light from series of Elemental layers in a precise sequence, increasing the intensity of the wavelengths more efficiently than before. *Pziummm!* A transparent half-inch-wide yellow Laser instantly connected to the upper part of the Wolf's left foreleg. *KssSHH!* The beam vaporized the hair instantly and seared into the Hide, carving a dark red line from the front and around the leg near the middle join for up to half an inch deep.
"!!...?" The Blue Wolf stopped immediately, feeling the sharp pain increase. "HEEEP!" He yelped and bent his body, trying to look at his leg, but his left eye was missing which confused him for a moment.
"Father!" The small wolf barked a little worried but reluctant to interfere in the magic fight.
"Nice!" Nefiru rejoiced.
But the girl didn't run away.
As the Mana in a Magic rod was consumed, Shaila pulled the Spirit back into her body and moved her awareness to the next one. She used a red laser to aim at the same wound before releasing another powerful yellow laser.
The Blue Wolf turned to the front again and saw yet another faint yellow ray coming from the small attacker. *Pziummm!* Again, the thin Ray carved the Fur, crossing and entering the previous wound, widening the cut and carving deeper, reaching an inch deep in some parts. "HEEAAK!" The Wolf yelped and twisted his body again as if trying to avoid the attack. The Water under his control spiked for an instant and returned to behaving abnormally.
The Laser faded away instantly, leaving a smell of burning flesh in the air. However, a tiny cut meant nothing to the big Beast. He only felt oddly concerned about getting hurt. But a second later, the pain eased and turned his right eye to glare at the girl. An idea to block the attack formed in his hazy mind and stared controlling the water again. *Shruuush~!* A wall of water rose at several inches per second.
"Tch!" Shaila clicked her tongue and moved her hand, aiming at the same spot once more. *Pziummm!* She fired her last prepared Laser along a red marker, hoping to be the last.
*Whoosh!* The Wolf leaned his body to the right, trying to dodge as the water surface reached the girl's height but with a slight movement of her hand, the intense beam reached his wound again. *Krrrsshh!* The yellow ray carved the dark lines even deeper and wider, reaching the tricep muscles, and severing tendons connecting to the forearm superficially.
This time, the onrush of pain was enough to overwhelm the Wolf's brain momentarily. "HYAAAAK!" He wailed into the sky and jerked his frame on the spot, causing big splashes as the wall of water crumbled back down. *ShruuASHH!* He hopped on the spot briefly and stopped with his left foreleg raised, feeling the throbbing pain and blood gushing out, wetting his fur and reddening the waters below.
""..."" The two Beast spectators watched nervously, hoping the best for their side.
Shaila noticed that the Water around her had stopped moving abnormally. it looked like the attack was enough to distract the Beast in his inhibited mental state. She turned around and positioned her feet to run away. But when her right foot entered the water outside her domain, she felt the rigid water sucking up her warmth rapidly. "Hyaa-!!" She shrieked and pulled her leg back immediately. Noticing ice bits in the water, became obvious that she didn't interrupt the wolf completely.
The Wolf slowly recovered and lowered the leg. He could not see, but he could smell the burnt flesh as well as many long burnt cuts and punctures trickling blood. He felt enraged. "GRRAWRR!!" The Feral Beast roared at the girl's direction, his anger transmitting the Spiritual commands instinctually again.
"Ugh!" Shaila groaned with a darkened face and pulled her arms back and lowered her body nearly crouching, bracing for an attack.
*Shruash!!!* The water shoots up in long peaks while rapidly freezing. *Sshhhriieeekk!!! Krrakkk!* A thick sheet of ice formed in a 5-meter radius around the girl like a doughnut with hundreds of glassy spikes reaching up to half a meter tall and as thick as human arms. *Hoohwoo~* A thick misty cloud formed around the dirty chunk of extremely cold ice and rose up to a meter high before the gust of winds started blowing it away.
The girl disappeared from sight within the mist with only scent to indicate her general location.
The Blue Wolf feeling confident that his attack worked, relaxed. But then winced from the pain and whined. "Hyuuu..."
Within the cold mist, the girl squinted her eyes and leaned forward to see the path. But she only saw a field of icy spikes. "Wha--!!?" She gasped with a shocked expression. She glanced around, and it was more of the same. Her face scrunched.
As the mist dispersed, the figure of the girl started to become visible. The Blue Wolf noticed and walked forward slowly. He reached the ice and put a paw over. *Krak! Krrrkkk!!* The ice spikes pinched the pads, causing him discomfort, and finally broke under the weight of the large paw. "Wuoh!?" The Beast was startled and retracted his paw before looking down.
The Dragon narrowed his eyes, his vision piercing through the cloud in purple shades. He noticed the large Beast looming over the little girl and shouted. "Get out of there!"
"...!!" Shaila jolted and almost by instinct, created a camouflage image of the white mist to hide and crouched.
The Blue Wolf was also alerted by the noise, perked his, ears and looked up. But the white Mist had strangely grown enough to obstruct his vision. He looked around with his only eye, disoriented, and tried sniffing for the prey. But he only felt her general location so he resumed his advance over the ice, cautiously.
The girl had gained herself some time, but the temperature of the water where the crouched was dropping rapidly from the sub-zero ice. Cold cold cold! She protested, feeling like jumping. But she needed to endure. She gripped the dagger strongly until her arm shook with anger. She was trapped. But the Wolf had wasted most of his Elementals already. Yes, he had, and he also didn't pull his exposed Spirit back into his domain. Aaah!! Shaila realized and immediately used her Spirit to wrap the foreign threads lingering around her up.
"Wuoh!?" The Beast felt a growing headache that made him blink and shook his head uncomfortably. His instincts were telling him to pull back his Spiritual sense. But it was too late.
HAAAAA...! The Mid-Rank 6 Magician yelled in her mind, transmitting anger over the exposed Spiritual threads.
The Wolf felt yet another onrush of powerful signals that overwhelmed its brain before he could react. "HEEARRGH!??" He whimpered and shaking his head sideways. He staggered on the spot, getting off the ice platform. A moment later, he stopped moving and hung his head, darkness threatening to claim his mind.
The Spirit clash affected the girl as well, but being the higher Rank and doing it close to her body, she only felt mild symptoms. She quickly recovered and pulled back her Spirit. Without hesitating any longer, She flipped the crystal dagger in her left hand and swung at the spikes horizontally. *Swiss~Kriash!!! Kliak! Tluk!* With the obstacles cleared, she climbed onto the ice, stepping on the spots between the spikes carefully and advance stealthily Ah! Ah! Ah! Coooooold! She complained while navigating through the dangerous field, getting cuts and bruises, terrified of falling over. But her feet started getting numb and she had to use Light to warm them which made the ice incredibly slippery, slowing her down.
The small canine watched curiously. Tha--!! That little thing can manipulate such large images so perfectly continuously?! And those strange attacks... It must be a High Talent! Or maybe it's knowledge... I wish to learn their secrets, but-... The genderless Beast conjectured and looked at the Alpha to the left, recalling being bitten by him. Father doesn't look like he can be reason with. He's ... behaving like a common animal. Just react to things... Maybe the Wyvern was telling the truth. Maybe the insects really did something to his head. But ... it looks like Father can recover with time...
"..." The Dragon, feeling relieved that the girl was escaping, noticed that his guard was distracted, and kept quiet, calming himself down. Alright, I'm tired of looking like a Trophy on a pedestal. And it's too cold! But ... my Magic can't reach my hind paws and tail... He asserted, considering the length of his neck, and lowered his head towards the right Paw silently. Do I even have enough Molded Mana for both paws? I need Mana... He wondered for solutions before his Lightning rampage in the sky poped in his mind. Oh, yeah! Elementals can use Raw Mana! Erm, how did that happen again? Hmm... It had to be similar Density from the Mana Crystal touching my Spirit when Elementals were feeding. Too bad the Low-Quality Crystals depleted and Collar is too far away... Ugh! I had to fix it to the base of my neck... Wait, what if I compress Ambient Mana? Nefiru conjectured, then glanced at the Beasts.
Just a few seconds had passed and not much changed in the ongoing battle. So the scaly Beast proceeded to take his short Magic threads out of his head and created a Foot-wide Spherical Net with several Layers enveloping Ambient Mana. He slowly shrunk the Sphere while distributing his awareness evenly to maintain the structure and keep the elusive threads from slipping through. After struggling for a moment, Nefiru managed to shrink it down to the size of a marble, but he could not lose his concentration even for an instant as the Highly Vibrating Mana Threads rejected occupying the same space for too long or tighten their strings, and pushed back relentlessly.
Finally ready, the trapped Beast slipped the Magic Ball into the Ice and commanded the Elementals to liquify it. *Shiuuu~* The ice around the Sphere of Magic clad in Elementals melted rapidly as the Elementals consumed a portion of the compacted Ambient Mana inside. Oh, it worked! He rejoiced gleefully and continued moving the ball increasingly faster. After a few seconds, he had repeated the Raw Mana compacting process a few times but managed to turn the ice around his scaly paw into warm water while a layer of ice remained on the surface. Phew~! That was harder than I thought... He asserted, feeling relieved that the concentration paid off, then moved onto the other paw.
By the time Nefiru was done, he had drained most of his molded Mana and had trouble compressing Ambient Mana. But he noticed something peculiar. The ice had melted in places he did not intend to melt and more than it should have given the expirations of his Elementals. Interesting... Magic Arts lose Accuracy with Raw Mana? No...it also used Ambient Elementals!!?? Shit... This method is rather dangerous and doesn't even do much... He concluded worriedly and lifted his head while turning to look left. He wanted to help but did not struggle to get out just yet. He continued molding Mana and Lightning Elementals, waiting for another opportunity.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
The girl had trudged almost all the way through the rigid icicle field when the Dragon finish and the Wolf recovered. But the Mist had mostly dispersed which made it harder to hide.
The Blue wolf shook his head becoming clearer as he retracted most of his Spirit. "GRRUFF!" He snorted and looked around with his single eye. He ignored the unmoving Beasts to the South and turned to the front before sniffing. He glared sharply at the blurry spot. His ears lowered and began to approach quietly, cautiously. He placed the right paw over the icicles. *Krrarakkk!!* The ice spikes were crushed under the weight again. He looked down, and remembering what happened before, he stopped. But he had also remembered the usage of his own Magic. Yes, Magic attacks had been more effective on this prey than fighting with his body. He wished he could use the pointy icicles to attack.
Immediately, the half meter icy spikes around the Wolf's Paw vibrated and broke almost simultaneously. *Prrakkk!!! Tling~!!!* Dozens of icicles toppled into the holes of the white platform and started shaking along with the ones that broke before. The loose ice pieces started levitating up to a meter high and occupied three meters wide. They rotate and pointed at the blurry spot, their tips glinted in the sunlight.
The Dragon, who was watching with his head over the colorful canine, realized what was going to happen and warned. "Get down!"
""!!?"" The girl and the little wolf flinched.
The little wolf glared back at the Dragon, realizing what he was doing. He's the reason Father can't win already! It surmised and turned to the front. Hurgh... Maybe we shouldn't be fighting. Those scents on the Wyvern-... But I rather have Father win...
The girl didn't hesitate to confirm what kind of attack it was nor how much time she had. She immediately stopped on her tracks and bent forward in a hurry before stabbing the crystal dagger into the ice platform for support.
*Shuu~!!!* The icicles accelerated towards the girl's back, picking up momentum. On a Wolf, this kind of attack wouldn't do much harm at this Rank, but for a human girl with her thin skin exposed, it was a different story.
The girl managed to place the right palm on the space between the cones, and brought her body closer to the icy tips, almost touching her skin before the attack arrived. *Shuuu~* The ice shard passed above her and dropped on the water. Shaila relaxed. But unfortunately for her, the aim of the Wolf wasn't great and some shards flew at a low angle. *Kliash!!!* They crashed onto the vertical icy cones and two reached her body and sliced the delicate white skin on her back and right shoulder. *Schiak! Chiak!* "Argh!" Shaila groaned, shutting her eyes and grinding her teeth, enduring the shallow cuts. But the last flying spike had an even lower angle and punctured her right butt cheek nearly half an inch deep. *Chik!* "KyAA!" The girl shrieked in agony and contorted on the spot for a moment. The camouflage flickered and then failed on some spot, revealing her figure. Blood rolled down her butt and dripped onto the ice.
"..." The Dragon watched quietly how the situation develops. He wanted to break out already. He probably could now. But he kept his cool and trusted the girl to handle a Beast with a messed up mind. He had the future in mind as well. I need contingencies for this kind of situation...
*Thamp!* The Blue Wolf placed his left paw over the ice, advancing menacingly
The girl turned her head and looked over her left shoulder. Dangerous maws approached and she was cornered. She only had Magic for two strong Lasers and the Wolf was far from going down. But the Wolf was also close enough to be an easy target.
Uncomfortable as she was, Shaila felt the Wolf's hot breath upon her. But she did not panic. Moving would prompt the weary Beast to lash out. Instead, she moved the mass of Magic from her hand to her shoulder, and formed the cylindrical constructs on her skin, pointing at the Wolf's left foreleg.
Measuring up the prey, the Wolf closed his eye, turned his head and opened his maw, lashing out. "GWUAR!"
But in this instant, the girl was also releasing another one of her yellow Lasers. *Pziumm!* The beam slashed through the muscle fiber on the wolf's upper leg and sent another wave of pain to his brain. "HYAK!!?" He yelped with a twist of his body and closing his maw over the girl. *WHAP!*
Shaila watched the fangs, as large as her head, interlock inches away from her gleaming face as a wave of air blew her hair. Her eyes rounded with fear were unblinking. Her heart beat fast in her chest and sweated profusely.
But in the next instant, the Wolf retracted his muzzle and twisted his body by reflex. "HYAARGH!" He snapped his jaws on the left in retaliation. With his eye closed, he stumped in place, shaking the ice platform and sending broken icicles flying. Blood spurted from the deep wound, wetting the fur and spraying the ice below in red.
"Hnng!" The girl groaned in her twisted posture, receiving scratches and bumps on the ice. She judged it was safer to stay still, and struggled to keep an eye on the Beast, hoping the attack was enough to make him back off. But it didn't. She realized that his mind wasn't working right and might lash out again. But she could trick him.
The Light user created a concave Magic veil around her body that reflected the nearby ice from her spot and effectively disappeared. She pondered what to do next. The wound didn't impair the Wolf as much as she hoped. But he was losing a lot of blood. She needed to subdue the Wolf, not kill him! But she didn't have many options, and her aim was thrown off by the Beast trashing dangerously close to her. She feared getting trampled by the heavy paws.
Meanwhile, the colorful Wolf was growing more concerned. How many of those attacks does that little creature have?! It should have run out by now...
After a short moment that felt like minutes for the girl, the Wolf stopped moving and looked around searching for her just as she predicted. Huu... She did a mental sigh, relaxing, and stood up carefully while maintaining the cloaking field and bending the image to see behind. She took a step forward, maintaining her balance and warming her feet that were becoming numb again.
"Hyuu..." The blue Wolf whined agonizingly and feeling frustrated by receiving injuries without warning from an enemy that kept slipping away at the last moment. He blinked a few times, clearing his sight. But the prey was nowhere to be found. However, her scent was coming from the front.
The Wolf took a step forward, ready to lash out at the spot.
Shaila could only think of using a weaker laser to burn the Wolf's wound shut and cause him more pain. She had prepared the Magical structure for that and waited no longer to fire her laser. *Fwoosh!* A 2-inch wide red beam flickered from midair to the Wolf's left foreleg, intensifying and blowing the air away as it defused. The Wolf tilted his head while opening his jaws to bite down at the ice when the burning sensation stopped him once again. *Ksshhh~!* The blue fur burned with a foul-smelling smoke, the hide heated up, the exposed flesh darkened with blisters appearing as if being cooked rapidly and the flowing blood soaking his fur, boiled.
"!!? HYAAP!??" The Wolf yelped before quickly retracting his left foreleg. But the pain continued as the red beam did not stop. *Thrump!!* He stepped back, taking the left paw off the ice platform and moving his rear to the right, turning on the right foreleg.
But without his Magic defending, the girl simply continued burning the Wolf. And while concentrating on multiple things, she walked forward slowly.
"HYAAARGH!" The Blue beast whined as he writhed and turned on the spot, not knowing how to make it stop. His flesh was swollen and his blue coat on the upper foreleg charred black. But the bleeding had decreased with the wounds cauterized or inflamed.
However, feeling vulnerable, the Water user felt like hiding in what he remembered that worked before and willed it so. *Wooshh~!* A thick misty cloud rose from the water and the ice, covering the Wolf's front in under two seconds. *Ksshh!* The red beam became more visible within the mist cloud while defusing until it lost most of its intensity near its target.
The invisible girl, who was bending the light from behind, was taken aback. "Wha--!!?" She uttered and turned around in a hurry. She stopped wasting mana on the laser and put up her guard instead with arms crossed and the dagger held in reverse.
The ray faded away, leaving sizzling sounds on the Beast's hide. *KssSHH!* Relief washed over the blue Wolf as the pain began to fade away and stopped moving. *Swoosh~!* A gust of afternoon breeze blew away the edges of the white cloud slightly before calm befalls the area.
The blue Wolf learned that the Mist could ward against the strange attack and turned to the girl.
The small Wolf rejoiced, but the smells in the air made it worried. It took half a step forward, wondering how to interview. "Father! Just rush ahead!" It barked, urging him to end the fight.
But the Feral Beast did not react to the noise. He proceeded slowly as if hunting prey that was easily spooked. Jaws slightly open to lash out at the right the moment.
"Grrr..." The Dragon snarled at the stubborn canine and rebuked in growls. "Fool! He can't understand. Bugs ate his head already. You almost suffered the same Fate if not for us."
The growls made the canine flinch and perk his ears.
The scaly Beast continued insulting the wolf while looking at the girl. "We saved you twice already. But you are the most ungrateful Wolf in the Tribe! I can't wait for every Wolfen to find out..."
Before long, the small canine lowered its ears flat and tail dropped, feeling shame and regret.
The Dragon became nervous watching the large purple shade already opening its large maw to lash out at the unmoving girl. But he quickly realized the cause of her hesitation and lectured. "It's just refraction! Blow it!"
"!!..." The girl flinched, then widened her magic structure and fired a weaker red laser. *Fwuasshh!* A half-meter wide beam bore into the white cloud, increasing the temperature of the water vapor and blowing it away while intensifying.
The Wolf saw the brightening spot within the cloud and stopped. "Wuoh!?" He uttered surprised, opening his eye wide and staring into the light trying to discern what it was. But it quickly overwhelmed his sight more painfully than staring at the Sun. *Whoosh!* He shut his eye as the heatwave reached him. But it was too late. "HEEAK!!?" He yelped and jerked his head to the left. He blinked a few times but the bright spot drowning his vision was barely going away.
The girl saw what happened through the tunnel and stopped the beam. "...Ah!" She uttered, taken aback. She did not mean to ruin the Beast's only eye. Even now, she did not feel hatred for him. But this was a good opportunity to break free.
As the wolf lost control of his magic, the misty cloud dissipated with the wind gradually.
The girl also canceled all her magic arts, turned to the front, and took another step before lowering her body slightly. She accommodated her foot at the base of two icicles and leaped over the last meter-and-half ice field. "Hup!" *Swoosh~!* Her thin body flew over the icicles that were now melting in the sun. "Eeek!" She let out a shriek watching the icy tips approach her bottom. *Twuash!!* She landed on her right foot that sank in the mud, throwing her body out of balance. She felt a shiver down her spine seeing her body towering back at the spikes.
However, in the next instant, she moved her left foot and supported her body in time. "Uwaaa..." Shaila sounded before trudging through the muddy waters. She started picking up speed and soon, broke into a noisy sprint while repeating in her mind. I want Armors! I want Armors! ...
The feral Beast accepted his blinded state and stopped the futile actions. He heard the water splashings going away while the smell of injured prey faded in the same direction. He stepped off the ice platform and tumbled around counterclockwise before limping after her.
The girl reached the ground, climbed up the sandy bank, and continued running on the grass. She stopped a dozen meters from the shore and turned around. "Haa... Haa..." She panted, lowering her posture while looking at the feral Beast. "Urgh!" She groaned, feeling the throbbing of her forgotten pain. She bent forward and rested her palms on her knees while looking ahead. Out of Mana, she fanned her Magic behind to collect Elementals and her bare Spirit upwards to Mold Mana. !!... She then felt a High-Rank Probe and glanced back. The three wolves were already tens of seconds away and it seems they had intentions to attack from afar. "Ugh!"
Meanwhile, the small Wolf finally had a good look at the terrible injuries on the Alpha and panicked. N-no... Father! The low-rank Beast also realized that his Mana had to be nearly depleted. It couldn't endure seeing how defenseless the Alpha looked and took a step forward. "S-stop--Stop hurting Father!" The colorful beast barked angrily and rushed at the girl.
Nefiru, expecting the outburst, pulled out his front Paws and lashed at the colorful Beast's tail while it took a step. *Bwroosh! Prakk!!! Keee--!* The ice creaked and broke around the Dragon's hind paws and tail as his frame inclined forward to the left while extending his neck. He opened his maw and snapped it close at the furry tail. *Whap! Srrshh--!* The hairy mass slipped between the large fangs as they interlocked.
The furry tail lodged and yanked at both Beasts with the momentum, pulling the Dragon further out of his entrapment and forcing the canine to a stop, painfully.
"HEEAKK!!?" The genderless Beast yelped and bent its body to look back. "Let me go!" He barked before sending out a mass of magic from its mouth.
The Dragon pulled back his head, dragging the Wolf as it carved ditches on the mud below when a ball of fire ignited around his head. *Bwuosh!* "Grugh!" Nefiru endured the heat and just protected his eyes with water magic.
The small canine slammed its paws and pulled away. But it was an action too late. The Dragon reached out with his left foreleg and grabbed the Wolf's left hind leg before pulling up, and dragging its body back. The Dragon moved his head closer to the Wolf's, stared into its eyes, and growled slowly with a sharp, intimidating glare. "I should Eat you Alive!"
"EEP!" The canine shrieked and struggled harder. It used electricity to shock the paw gripping its leg. But the scaly beast did not budge. It used wind to blast his eyes. But the Dragon simply closed his scaly eyelids.
Noticing the futility of its feeble attacks, the canid stopped but continued struggling.
The scaly Beast opened his eyes and spoke with a sincere beastly expression. "...But I don't want to hurt you. I Need you."
"...!!?" The wolf was taken aback and stopped struggling, then looked back.
Nefiru insisted in a dominant tone. "Become mine!"
Hearing such words for the first time in life, the genderless beast was shaken. Its yellow eyes widened, and the mouth hanged. "Wueeehhh??! Y-you crazed Wyvern! We are Not the same Species!" It blurted and then with a whip raised its tail, throbbing in pain, to show its privates. "I'm not even a Female! What do you even want from me!?"
"Your Loyalty."
"..."
"Follow me, Wolfen!"
"..." The colorful Beast contemplated briefly, then looked at the blue Wolf limping his way out of the Marsh. "Can you help Father?"
The Dragon, looked the same way and answered. "I can Heal his flesh but not his Mind."
"You are a Healer?!!"
"Yes. But the chance of his memories recovering is low..."
The small canine lowered his ears saddened and turned back wondering what to say. "...Then, under that condition, this me known as Sexeless, all-Affinity Rank 3 Wolfen acknowledge you as my Alpha."
Nice! Nefiru rejoiced, judging the pledge to be truthful, and then released the canine slowly.
The colorful Wolf also moved slowly and turned around before staring into the glowing purple eyes up close as if expecting something.
Oh, right... "I, Nefilu Tenlyu, Low-Rank 6 Light-Lightning-Water Dragon accept you as my Follower." Was that proper? I just started a Pack, huh?
No licking or sniffing? Ah! Time is short... The beastie wondered and asked hurriedly. "What should I do?"
"Not waste time." The Dragon bruskly answered, and pointed with his snout at the water to the left. "Go get those Metal Vines I dropped there and bring them near your Father to, uh, tangle him up."
"Yes, Alpha."
"Oh! And-..." He called out and pointed his snout to the right. "Do something about those wolves."
The canine glanced back and spoke. "I'll do what I can." I hope they listen...
The girl on the grass felt relieved watching their interactions but was restless with large Beasts closing in from the front and back. She stared at the Dragon with expectancy.
Nefiru felt her gaze, glanced around, and assured. "It's okay now! Just avoid him a little longer, then come behind me before they arrive."
"...Hurry!" She urged, expecting to be healed soon.
The Dragon nodded, and then leaned forward, pulling his tail from the ice. Once free, he used the numbed limb to strike at the ice binding his hind legs.
However, soon after Nefiru refilled his Mana reserves, his Mana started getting swallowed again. !!? Nooo! Not now! Uuugh... This sucks...