Chapter 6 – Lone Wolf

Aenon lowered his daggers and stood in a relaxed stance. Now that his pack was here, he didn’t have anything to worry about. The worst outcome was that they would have to retreat. He looked over the 10 people in front of him. He could sense various levels of fear from nine of them. He still couldn’t read the green haired woman, but her body language said it all. They were all terrified. His soul presence was crushing the will of 8 of them, and the last two were cautiously looking at each other.

“You think that will be enough to scare…,” the tank began to speak. But Aenon unleased Kingdom of Darkness before he could finish speaking. The wolves spread out and surrounded them all. Nine pairs of eyeballs floating in the darkness around them.

“I’d choose my next words wisely, guild leader. I do not appreciate being threatened. I have done nothing to incur this hostility, but if you are so hell bent on pushing me, I will respond in kind,” he said in the same cold and detached voice. “And you will not like what happens when I retaliate.”

The normal party members were completely paralyzed with fear. There’s a reason people fear the dark. The terror of the unknown was the most primal form of fear, since no one knew what horrors its murky depths concealed. It was the sum of every single thing that was dreaded in existence. No matter what a person was terrified of, it could exist in the dark. Battle hardened veterans, like the guild leader, could suppress the fear to some extent. But not completely eradicate it. It would always lurk at the edges, like a ghostly shadow.

Aenon’s eyes bored into the trembling party members. They were all higher leveled than him, but he could see all their levels, except the two. They all ranged from levels 40 to 45. Meaning they were probably here to clear the dungeon, but they had been a bit late. The more concerning matter for Aenon was the woman that Jenny had spoken so highly of. He wasn’t sure how long she had been following him, and how much she knew. His gaze locked in with the woman, who flinched back in recoil.

“OK, this is getting out hand. Lower your weapon this instant, Eryndor,” she said in a commanding voice. Aenon detected a familiar soul presence in her last sentence. The man calmed down instantly, before lowering his weapon. She had used soul manipulation to pacify the aggravated man. She turned to him next, “You too…”

“You try that soul manipulation on me, and I will end you,” Aenon cut her off. He had fallen prey to soul manipulation once and had vowed to himself to never be effected by it again. All seven wolves growled at her simultaneously, adding weight to his threat.

She took a step back in shock before calming down and saying in a normal voice, “My apologies. It’s a force of habit. I have spent too long dealing with childish tantrums. I was merely trying to calm the situation. Nothing more.”

“This is me being calm, lady,” Aenon said.

Aenon could see the disarming smile on her face clearly. But he didn’t let his guard down. She was still a blank canvas in his soul sense, and words held no value to him. Action spoke louder, and she was yet to do anything to earn his trust. He turned silent, but pulled back his soul presence, and dispelled the darkness surrounding them. All eight adventurers collapsed to the ground, some weeping, others shivering uncontrollably.

He gave a sharp whistle, following which all wolves except Bane leaped into his shadow. The tank’s eyes went wide as he stared at Aenon’s shadow suspiciously. But Aenon ignored the man and continued staring at the female mage.

“I think we got off on the wrong foot. Let us start again, shall we? I am Agatha Sylvathorn, assistant guild leader of the adventurer’s guild,” she said with a polite courtesy. She then turned towards the tank, giving him a serious stare, conveying a message to behave.

“Ahem, I have already introduced myself. But to further elaborate, I am the leader of the adventurer’s guild in Pinespire. We came here based on reports that a mid-level dungeon was on the verge of breaking. And that too a Fire Ant dungeon. Nasty little bugs. Better to cull them early before they take root,” the man said in a semiprofessional manner. He was still stealing glances of Aenon’s shadow.

“The men and women following us are the elite members of the guild…,” Agatha said while turning to the other members. She froze mid-sentence when she realized the state the adventurers were in. They were all sitting on the ground, in various stages of shock. One of them, a man with an impressive beard and bulging muscles, had even soiled himself.

She turned away in embarrassment and excused herself. She barked an order to her subordinates, telling them to go back and set up camp near the water’s edge. She followed them to coordinate the efforts, while also instructing some of them to keep an eye on the now demolished anthill.

This left Aenon alone with Eryndor, who looked around in discomfort. He kept a close watch on Bane from the corner of his eye but stayed quiet otherwise. Aenon stayed silent for the full hour it took for the group to set up their tents. When Agatha came back, she stared suspiciously at Eryndor, who simply shrugged and walked off towards his tent. The woman then turned to Aenon.

“Would you be willing to join us?” she asked cautiously. When Aenon didn’t respond, she sighed and did something. He was finally able to sense her soul then. And it was strong, putting him more on guard. But he didn’t sense any deception or traces of soul fragments on her. So, he complied with a nod, and followed behind her to the largest tent the guild master had gone in.

When they entered the tent, Aenon found that it was larger on the inside and had an elaborate set of furnishings inside. A grand table with enough seating for 20 people lay right at the center, with additional seating and even a bed at the very back. The entire ensemble wasn’t built for comfort, but efficiency and utility. Aenon walked up to a chair on the side and took a seat, with Bane sitting on the ground behind him. The guild leader was already seated at the head of the table. Agatha took her place opposite where Aenon was. She cleared her throat and started the meeting.

“You already know what we are here for. So, how about you enlighten us too. I saw you leaving the nest, which meant you were probably raiding them for resources. The dam break must have been your doing then, as a distraction.”

“Partially correct. Yes, I rigged the dam to draw the ants out. And yes, I meant to raid the anthill. But not for resources. I was targeting the queen,” Aenon replied. He needed to develop good relations with these people, not only for future settlers for his town, but also to get some allies in times of need.

“Oh, I guess you have more summons,” Agatha said while looking at Bane with a tight smile. His presence was making the two humans uncomfortable.

“Hmm? He is not a summon and neither am I a summoner. I went in alone,” Aenon replied casually.

“You went into a Fire Ant colony alone?” Eryndor asked in disbelief. When Aenon nodded, he responded in a sarcastic tone, “Yeah right. And you managed to kill the queen too, did you?”

He started chuckling while shaking his head. In response, Aenon gave him a flat look, which dampened the man’s laughter.

“Oh, you got to be kidding me. You expect us to believe, that you solo killed the colony queen? There is a reason I brought two full parties to take on this nest.”

Aenon didn’t reply. It wasn’t his problem whether they believed him or not. But then he remembered something. He pulled up his notification while the man ranted to his colleague about throwing Aenon out for making up lies and such. Aenon ignored it all and focused on his screen instead.

Title achieved: Royal Assassin

Title upgraded: Untouchable (2)

Title evolved: (Really) Late Bloomer to Lone Wolf

Royal Assassin: Sneak past all defenses and guards, to only kill a monarch and no one else. Assassination is an art, and you seem to want to master it. Well, this was a step in the right direction.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

+30 all stats

Untouchable (2): Assassinate a highly guarded target and slip out without engaging in combat. Seriously, are you allergic to damage?

+50 all stats

Lone Wolf: Ah, a title that truly suits you. You have a full pack of murder wolves at your beck and call. And what do you do with them. Nothing. Instead, choosing to take on an army by yourself. This Title CANNOT be hidden from anyone, no matter the method. Its visibility though, will be decided by a concerned third party, who is getting worried about your sanity. The Title will show no description to others.

2% stats from Titles

Aenon’s eye twitched at the snarky descriptions, especially the last one. He looked up at the two people in the tent, who were staring above his head. Aenon felt a headache coming on due to the antics of whoever was controlling the System notifications. He wanted to meet this person and give them a piece of his mind.

“Lone Wolf? Never seen that title before,” Agatha commented. “Are you bypassing your stealth artifact to show us the title as proof that you successfully killed the ant queen? Oh its gone now.”

Aenon didn’t respond, neither confirming nor denying it. The less he had to explain the better. And if they jump to conclusions, well it’s up to them. He had also gained 5 levels in his void stalker class. He pulled up his stat screen to quickly review it.

Name

Aenon Fenrast/Ashryn (13 yrs)

Race

Ascended Human (F)

Level

28

Class

Void Stalker

Level

25

Subclass

Abyssal Warden

Level

30

HP

18927

MP

22407

HP/min

378

MP/min

492

Stats

Strength

1893

Intelligence

2241

Constitution

1892

Willpower

2459

Dexterity

1897

Perception

1999

Titles (515 x 6 = 3088)

Rebirth

+1344 all stats

Skills/Effects:

(1) Detect and resist the effects of soul attacks and spells.

(2) Double the available Skill slots per evolution level

(3) Ability to fake Titles, stats, and levels. This effect cannot be bypassed even by Overseers.

(4) Can bypass certain System restrictions.

(5) Unfettered:

Skill 1: Attack the true soul of a target, bypassing all System safeguards and measures, including resurrection tokens. Can be cast via any form of link to the target

Skill 2: Assist others who are on the verge in finding their path. Caution: Be careful who you use this on, my little predator.

(6) Stat Point multiplier: 2

Alpha

+50 all stats, +30% physical stats in presence of your pack

Soul Warden (3)

+120 all stats

Bulwark

+5 all stats

Speed Runner

+10 all stats

Hoarder

+5 all stats

Landlord

+20 all stats

Planetary Forerunner

+30 all stats

Ancient Killer

+20 all stats

Untouchable (2)

+50 all stats

Spirit Walker

+20 all stats

Archivist

+50 all stats

Wraithblade

+50 all stats

Royal Assassin

+30 all stats

Prodigious Mage

10% more stats from titles

Lone Wolf

2% more stats from titles

Nature’s Attendant

+200 all stats when within 50 meters of the sapling

Skills (Free SP: 120)

Weapons (Dagger, Unarmed, Traps)

Savant

Stealth (Woods, Urban)

Savant

Tracking (Woods)

Expert

Mana Manipulation

Master

Spells

Earth Manipulation (Intermediate) - 200

Water Manipulation (Minor) – 200

Air Manipulation (Minor) – 200

Fire Manipulation (Basic) – 200

Illusion (Intermediate) - 120

Feather Foot (Intermediate) – 400

Gravity Well (Basic) – 400

Barrier – Physical (Minor) - 200

Barrier – Magical (Basic) - 200

Overcharge (Minor) - 1000

Blooming Earth – 1200

Ice Lance

Gravity Bomb

He was surprised to see that his status screen had included his fake name as well. He was happy that he was back to getting an A grade evolution, for a regular human at least. He needed to figure out the evolution cutoffs soon. He turned back to the pair, who were staring at him with weird gazes.

“Didn’t anyone teach you that it is rude to review your status when you have company?” Eryndor asked crossly with his arms folded.

“Ignore him, Ashryn. Societal conventions can be excused in this scenario. Please, go on. Could you elaborate on how you took down the ant queen?” Agatha asked politely while glaring at her partner to shut him up.

And so Aenon gave them the watered-down version of his mission. How he had first arrived here to challenge the dungeon and had modified his plan to take out the queen instead. He didn’t explain his abilities, making it sound like he had used a generic explosion type spell to take her out. The two put their heads down, deep in thought before the man spoke up.

“This seems feasible. But it still doesn’t explain who you are? And what are you doing here all by yourself?” Eryndor asked.

“I am the new owner of the village formerly known as Jadefall,” Aenon stated calmly.

“You what?” exclaimed the guild leader in a loud voice. Even Agatha seemed shocked and at a loss for words.

“What of the previous village head?” she finally managed to ask.

“He abandoned the village and left with Eskad’s party.”

“Preposterous. Why haven’t I heard of this before?” Eryndor asked his assistant guild leader.

“Because we left for this mission before they returned,” she replied tersely before turning to Aenon. “Since you know Eskad, I am inclined to believe you. Are they all ok?”

“All except their healer. They should have reached your settlement by now, except Jenny. She decided to stay back,” Aenon replied. He was thinking about how much to reveal, since he did have a good impression of the berserker’s party.

“What happened to the healer?” Agatha asked seriously.

“He was using the world tree seeds to heal. In other words, he was draining their soul to boost the party. When I detected that and told that to Eskad, he killed the elf,” Aenon decided to stick to the facts. It would eventually come to light anyway. He of course said nothing about the world tree now growing in Reality’s Edge.

“Impossible. I would have sensed it,” Agatha was aghast at the revelation. She was still reeling from the shock, when she suddenly stood up. “Eryndor, we need to head back. Right now.”

“What? We need to first verify…”

“Soul magic is very hard to detect. Even if there was a remote possibility that he spoke the truth, then Eskad’s party is in danger. We need to head back. NOW.”

She ran out of the tent and started handing out orders to the adventurers. Eryndor looked completely flabbergasted at her reaction, while Aenon just sat there observing them all in his soul sense. There was a deep sense of dread in Agatha’s soul. After five minutes, she burst into the tent.

“Eryndor, lead the party back to the city. I will go on ahead. Ashryn, I know I haven’t done anything to earn your favor, but would you please…”

“Sure. I like Eskad and the twins. Wouldn’t want anything happening to them. Let’s go,” Aenon stood up and turned to Bane. “Stay with them while I go on ahead.”

“As you command.”

Eryndor’s eyes widened when he heard Bane’s voice for the first time. But Agatha was too worried to register it. She put on a cloak and rushed out. Aenon followed her soon after, and the duo made a mad dash towards the city of Pinespire.

He didn’t know what he would find there, but he knew he was running towards a quagmire of political schemes. But unfortunately, he had to. He couldn’t have soul sucking powers gaining a foothold in his own backyard.