Jonn immediately froze at the sight of four white wolves, the smallest of which stood 3’3’’ tall and weighed at least 200 pounds.

All four had traces of blood on parts of their bodies. Jonn assumed this wasn’t their blood. By the blood around the man, the leader of the Eternal Village surmised that the bloodied front legs and mouths of the creatures were linked to the human in an uncertain state.

Asher and Eliot tightened their grips on their weapons upon encountering the scene, drawing the attention of the creatures standing around one of the village hunters, Tedric.

“Shit! That’s Tedric! Is he dead?” Asher asked, his tone agitated as he gripped his short sword with both hands.

Eliot readied his bow and arrow, remaining calm despite the unexpected encounter.

“I don’t know. But get ready to fight. Those wolves don’t seem to be afraid of us,” Jonn instructed, positioning his spear offensively while keeping a close watch on the creatures.

He didn’t know exactly what was happening, but his instincts suggested these were not beasts.

For Jonn’s people, the distinction between beasts and animals hinged on a single essence: mana.

Without inherent mana, they considered a creature an animal. With mana, they could classify even a simple hamster as a beast. While animals were typically irrational and driven by instinct, beasts could possess some intelligence, and with it, malice.

Determining that these wolves were not beasts provided some relief for Jonn, as animals were generally easier to handle. However, the situation was still far from ideal. Tedric was injured, and four wolves posed a significant threat to the three humans.

The standoff between Jonn’s group and the wolves was short-lived. The carnivorous creatures wasted no time in advancing after spotting additional prey!

The lead wolf charged at Jonn, the tallest and seemingly most threatening of the humans. The other three followed suit, with one more targeting Jonn, while the remaining two split their focus between Asher and Eliot.

Eliot fired an arrow, narrowly missing one creature, but it was enough to provoke the white-furred wolf, causing its eyes to widen and turn an intense red.

The creature lunged at Eliot with a bark, and the boy reached for another arrow to deal against the oncoming threat.

Jonn noticed this from the corner of his eye, but had no opportunity to assist his friend. With two wolves attacking him, he needed to prioritize his own survival before he could help his companions.

Jonn advanced against the nearest wolf, feeling an unexpected ease as he maneuvered his weapon toward the creature’s head. His swift movement startled the wolf, causing it to dodge the worst of the attack.

However, just as the wolf thought Jonn had erred, and it was its turn to sink its large canines into its prey’s throat, mana surged through the white-haired boy’s silver weapon. A chill ran through the wolf, making its fur stand on end, and it felt an instinctive urge to flee.

But it was too late.

The strike that seemed destined for failure turned deadly as Jonn angled the spear’s blade toward the wolf’s back, twisting the weapon as if tilling the earth.

Jonn’s silver weapon pierced the creature’s tough hide while infused with mana, slicing through it for 22 centimeters until the wolf halted its advance and howled in pain.

Blood splattered across the massive creature’s back, huge for the typical animals that Jonn and his fellow villagers were used to.

The wolf’s howl of agony drew the attention of the other three wolves. They momentarily felt both sympathy for their fallen companion and an overwhelming urge to flee.

“Die, you damned beast!” Asher seized the opportunity, launching a vertical strike at his opponent’s neck, envisioning the same motion he used when chopping logs with his axe.

Eliot saw the wolf closing in on him and remained calm. With a backward leap, he allowed himself to fall to the ground while releasing the arrow he had sketched from his quiver.

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Neither Jonn nor Asher noticed the subtle smile on Eliot’s lips as he watched the white creature get pierced through the chest by the wooden arrow shot from such close range.

Rolling to the side as his back hit the ground, Eliot avoided being pinned by the creature, which could still harm him despite the chest wound.

Jonn noticed the second wolf attacking him hesitate and retreat, leaving him no choice but to let it escape while he focused on the wounded animal within his reach.

With a swift twirl of his bloodstained spear in the air, Jonn sidestepped and thrust the weapon into the animal’s neck, striking with precision at a vital spot.

His grandfather had taught him to always aim for vital areas, whether dealing with animals or humans.

The creature collapsed, its pain ending as its blood stained the white sandy soil of the lake shore.

The moonlight cast a special glow over the scene of the wolves’ demise, illuminating the dark night and giving Jonn enough visibility to see Asher’s sword embedded halfway through the neck of the wolf he had attempted to decapitate. To his left, Eliot fired an arrow into the head of the heart-wounded wolf.

Jonn narrowed his eyes, noticing how Eliot had escaped the most dangerous situation among them.

Unlike Jonn, Eliot had no mana in his body, and yet, one creature had leaped at the black-haired boy, getting much closer to Eliot than to Jonn.

This guy… Does he have a natural talent?

Eliot looked remarkably composed despite the near-death encounter. Even Asher regarded the seemingly low-intelligence boy with newfound respect.

But there was something else to worry about, and Asher soon broke the silence following the clash between animals and humans. “Village Elder, one of them has escaped. What do we do?”

“I’m afraid there’s no way we can pursue it. Wolves are too fast. If it wants to escape, we won’t catch it today,” Jonn reasoned, glancing in the direction the creature had fled.

He could see the animal’s tracks, but wasn’t interested in chasing it. “Let’s ignore it for now. The priority is to take the bodies of these three wolves back to the village and focus on our main reason for being here.”

He approached Tedric’s body while Asher frowned. “The bodies of the wolves? Don’t tell me that…”

“Yes, we’ll eat them. They have meat, and we’re hungry,” Jonn answered Asher before the man could even finish his question.

“Is wolf meat good?” Eliot asked as he approached Tedric, too.

Asher shook his head in denial. “Every carnivorous animal tastes awful… But I’m afraid the Elder is right. We’re too hungry to care.”

As Asher sighed, Jonn closed his eyes and mourned. “Tedric is dead. His jugular was cut by the teeth of one of the wolves. He probably died before we got here.”

Eliot and Asher stood silently for a moment, looking at the fallen village hunter with regret.

“It looks like he suffered while he was still riding his horse,” Eliot noted, pointing to the claw marks on Tedric’s feet. “Those cuts remind me of the ones on that horse.”

Jonn agreed. Wolves typically attacked from the knees up when using their claws, aiming for vital parts of their targets’ upper bodies unless they used their fangs.

“Eliot, you’re going back to the village with Asher. Take the bodies of the animals and Tedric. I’ll search for Alise’s father and the other hunters.”

It would be beneficial to have Eliot on his side now that he had witnessed his friend’s warrior instinct. But Asher couldn’t carry nearly 800 pounds of bodies back to the village alone.

Even with Eliot’s help, it wouldn’t be easy!

“Are you sure about this?” Asher asked as Eliot began tying the creatures’ legs together to make them easier to transport.

“We don’t have a choice. Our companions may be in danger and need our help. But we can’t risk losing the bodies of these wolves. If we leave them, other wolves will probably come and take the bodies, and we’ll lose all that meat.

The same goes for Tedric. If we don’t take him, we won’t be able to give him a proper farewell, and he’ll end up as animal food,” Jonn said, fully aware of their predicament.

Jonn assisted Asher and Eliot in wrapping the three dead wolves and Tedric, using Alise’s father’s fishing net, which was near his boat. The two set off, dragging the bodies back to the village.

Jonn set off to the south after watching his companions move on. He was armed with his spear in one hand and the Celestial Magnifying Glass in the other, having already learned from Asher the direction of Petyr’s hideout.

It seemed Tedric had been forced away from the other hunters and accidentally ended up near the lake, where Alise and Beri were finishing before heading home.

Jonn examined the signs near the lake, piecing together what had transpired, and realizing another use for the Celestial Magnifying Glass.

One wolf had blood on its paws that wasn’t Tedric’s.

He scrutinized the claws and fur he had torn from the dead wolves, trying to discern more information.

One of them, or perhaps more wolves, might have attacked Beri. Tedric was a hunter, skilled in combat, much more so than old Beri. He likely tried to divert the wolves away from Alise’s father and ended up in that dire situation. Now, I just have to follow Beri’s tracks. He seems to have fled in the same direction as Petyr’s hideout.

Walking alone for another 25 minutes through the darkness of night, Jonn relied on the bright moonlight and his keen eyesight. Having grown accustomed to the region’s nighttime darkness, he was well-adapted to navigating these surroundings. He reached a rockier area and spotted a small mountain range with caves and depressions near a spring.

By this point, his mana had recovered after the fight and his investigation, though his [Stamina] was low from the physical exertion of getting there quickly.

Unconcerned with the wolf's blood on his spear’s tip, he followed the trail of Beri’s blood, setting aside the directions Asher had given him.

With quickened steps and increasingly quiet breaths, Jonn hoped he wouldn’t encounter anything as grim as what he had witnessed with Eliot and Asher.

Another loss would be devastating for the Eternal Village!