Alaric wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do now. The wolves were getting ready to rip him apart and for the first time in his life, he wasn’t supposed to whip out his sword and start fighting.

He could feel Scarlett’s eyes burning holes in the back of his head, lingering with that intense curiosity that perhaps drove her to tolerate him.

‘Breathe, Alaric,’ he thought to himself, ‘What do we call Mudhounds in the Old Tongue?’

The question, along with the intention it came with was enough to send a spike of calm through his mind. Suddenly, fighting wasn’t his only option. The Old Tongue was a powerful form of speech.

It was heavy, too. For example, it was impossible to tell a lie in the Old Tongue. Lying in the Old Tongue was like cursing the names of the Constellations and that’s something even they wouldn’t take lightly.

So when Alaric opened his mouth to speak the name of the mudhounds, his voice got caught in his throat for just a moment before his mind expanded.

‘Hounds of the Earth… Earth Wolves… No… That’s not accurate. Hunters… Hunters of the Earth… Wolves were hunters and these particular ones have a high affinity to the element of Earth...’ his thoughts raged.

Wolves hunted in packs and protected their own. That was summarized in the word for Wolf though. Their very nature was described in the Old Tongue’s translation of wolf. So while humans had decided to call them mudhounds, that name was not accurate.

His voice came out deep, guttural and powerful, “Hear me, Sentinels of the Earth! I come in peace.”

The mudhounds growling at him grew still at once, then stared at him with more than just hostility. One of them rushed back into the den while the other two stayed behind, keeping their eyes on Alaric and Scarlett.

Scarlett’s eyes gleamed, unsure of what she had just witnessed. She remained silent, watching Alaric with palpable curiosity.

A few minutes later, the ground started to thump with the sound of heavy footfalls. Two sets of bright eyes stared from the darkness of the cave before a Mudhound as tall as the roof of the cave emerged, towering at least a metre over Alaric.

The aether spikes on the creature’s forehead and shoulders were a lot thicker and more pronounced and when it growled, it felt like the ground would split open and crumble at any moment.

Alaric felt like grabbing his sword… but held back. This was the alpha of the pack so completing negotiations with this mudhound would mean the end of everything while failing would spell the start of a vicious battle.

“You speak the Old Tongue well for a human,” the mighty voice of the leader of the mudhounds boomed in the Old Tongue.

Alaric sighed in relief, “I had a good teacher.”

“Speak!” the beast growled.

“You’ve entered the protected vicinity of the city of ***,” the name Melbourne got stuck on Alaric’s tongue, so he shifted his perspective, “A human city. It’s a human city and you’ve stepped onto its protected lands.”

The alpha Mudhound chuckled, “You will lose your voice speaking lies in the Old Tongue. This land belongs to the Earth. I sense no domain covering it, so the humans have no claim over it.”

Alaric was unsure what was happening right now. Humans could lay claim to the land? That didn’t make sense at all. How did that even work?

“So you wouldn’t be here if this was part of a human’s domain?” Alaric wondered.

“Neither Beast nor Demon in their right mind would attempt such a thing,” the mudhound replied, “Now if you wouldn’t mind, human, I would like to return to my slumber.”

“No, you don’t understand. You’re not safe here. The humans that live in that town nearby consider this part of their land and kill every aether beast within these woods,” Alaric yelled at the turning leader of the mudhounds.

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“So you would have me cower in front of those weaklings? My kind might not be the strongest of us Aether Beasts but we’re not about to be threatened by mere humans,” the alpha replied. The ground trembled, “When I heard there was a human that could speak the Old Tongue, I thought you might be a Beast Tamer… but it seems I was mistaken. Kill them.”

[ That good enough for you? ] Alaric’s voice went to his guardian in the form of an impulse than it was actual words.

[ Yes ] Alia responded, [ You’ll do this every time you approach Aether Beasts. ]

The mudhounds howled as more filed out of the small cave, growling dangerously as the ground began to shift.

Alaric reached for the bracelet on his wrist and pulled a sword out of it, “Scarlett, I’m done.”

“Oh? We can kill them now?”

“Yes, we can kill them,” Alaric was done negotiating with the mudhounds. Three of the wolfish beasts were already dashing for him, fangs bared and ground shifting.

‘What’s with this shifting ground?’ he mentally argued. More than once now, he’d staggered in an attempt to find footing on what should have been flat ground.

Aether shot through the boy’s body as he took in a deep breath. Time slowed and Alaric allowed his many years of training to take over his form.

Dance of the Serpent…

His sword moved like a slithering serpent but before he could take the first step, he slipped. His eyes went wide with shock, “What the…!”

He placed his palm on the ground and steadied himself. Even then, he could feel the soil shift under his touch like soft dough.

A female form appeared above him, flashing past the hound attacking. The hound fell behind Alaric, dead.

Scarlett landed ahead of him, “I told you to watch your step.”

“Right… Mudhounds,” he replied as he got up.

Aether was still flowing through his body so his perception hadn’t slowed down. Not even the two mudhounds that had gone around Scarlett to attack him escaped his notice.

Scarlett was already facing off against another mudhound. Knowing her speed and brutality, that hound would be dead within the next three seconds.

Sadly, three seconds weren’t enough for her to save him again and he wasn’t about to become baggage during this battle.

They were severely outnumbered which meant he was supposed to back her up or at least pull his weight. The problem was that he could barely keep his footing.

‘How is she even fighting?’ he mused.

While Alaric hadn’t figured out a way to fight on this soggy ground, a part of him was focusing on executing the solution to the insidious control over the earth.

Vines flowed through the ground, holding the soil and making it harder for the wolves to manipulate it. The downside of this was that it would take a while so Alaric would have to find a way to survive during the time it took for his solution to kick in. Hopefully, it would be done by the time the alpha decided to join the battle.

He darted forward and this time, he tried to pay attention to the shifting ground. It’s like it deliberately moved in the opposite direction of where he intended to go, leaving him in the same place…

Knowing that though… The wolves attacking jumped at the same time, brandishing deadly fangs. Alaric bent back and allowed them to fly past him. He barely managed to remain standing though.

‘I invoke the name of the Constellation of Flames, Incendio, King of Fire,’ he mentally chanted in the Old Tongue, pouring his will into every word.

Flames erupted from his hands and wrapped around his blade, bending to his will. One of the advantages of the Old Tongue, from what he’d observed and what his guardian had told him, was that basic spells only required his will once he’d invoked the name of the Constellation they belonged to.

More advanced spells required a more complex way with words in the Old Tongue but he didn’t have the time or experience to achieve that in this battle.

He swung his blade forward and let loose an arc of flames. The flames struck three wolves and singed their fur, burning them more than ordinary fire would.

[ The Constellation of Fire… You rely on that one too much ] Alia commented [ Watch the wolves at your back. ]

Alaric bunched his legs and shot into the air in a cartwheel that placed him at the same height as the tops of the trees. This was the only direction that didn’t require him to wrestle with the shifting ground. It also allowed him to see the wolves targeting him.

He grunted as he angled his sword downward and unleashed a flurry of fiery swings at the wolves, [ I know that. ]

“You’re so full of surprises, Alistair. Since when can you use magic?” the savage girl on the ground called out. Alaric spared her a glance and paled.

Scarlett wasn’t just killing the wolves. She was carrying out a one-sided massacre. How was it that she wasn’t being affected by the slippery ground? Alaric wasn’t done disabling the sorcery of the Earth Wolves and yet she was making quick work of the beasts.

When the boy landed, the ground was firmer than before… It wasn’t as firm as he would have liked… but it was good enough for him to move to some extent.

[ Tch! You need more training on the Dance of the Snake ] Alia groaned.

[ I know… ] Alaric responded.

He’d messed up. He knew that. He chose the Dance of the Snake because it shouldn’t have been affected by muddy ground… and yet, it had been neutralized.

When you think about it though, how was Alaric supposed to mimic the form of a Serpent if he had legs and not a slithering body? It was all too confusing, so Alaric put the argument to rest. He would ask his guardian later.

For now, he would fight.