The Wolf came closer and bumped his head into Donny’s chest, even though he looked like a ghost, he was fully corporeal. The little bump caused him to stagger a little. Then the wolf turned his head towards Mark, and though his eyes looked wary and his body tensed a little, he slowly bowed his head just a little.

It would seem that his Bond with Donny translated at least a little bit toward this creature. He wondered if it would also work like that for other animals Donny tames.

Through all this Donny was looking transfixed at the animal, he looked like he was trying to remember a memory of a distant past, and finally, his eyes lit up.

“You are a Gart, not a Wolf, so that’s why… That’s why you came back! It makes so much more sense now!”

“Hmm, what is a Gart exactly?”

“Garts are the Guardians of Megalo, they are said to be the Descendants of the Royal Guardians of the Beast King Megalo. The Royal Guardians were the most powerful and loyal subordinates of Megalo and swore to protect him through life and death. To forever continue the tradition, they bred and raised further generations of warriors who were then tasked with the protection of the Sacred Grove for eternity to come.

Unfortunately, after Megalo’s death, Eric, the Guard Commander, drowned in sorrow and also vanished and the new generations weakened and slowly dispersed through the forest, as there was no longer anything to protect. But it is ingrained in their very nature to protect, and so, if they find a person they deem worthy, they would dedicate their lives to protecting this person. Though I never heard of any Garts that could come back from the dead, that should be impossible, god Kariam, would normally never allow this.”

“Who exactly was this Megalo then?”

“Master? Megalo? The Beast King Megalo? Surely you heard the tales of the Beast King Megalo.”

“As we can see, I did not. So? Will you tell me?”

“Of course Master. It is a legend told throughout the whole Continent. Megalo was just a normal wolf, living his life running through the nameless forests spanning the only pass through the Dvr’Λver Mountains.

One day Megalo was hunting a different prey than usual. There was a weird-smelling animal, going through their territory, it was walking on two legs like the humans, he saw a couple of times traveling through his forest, but its smell was too distinct, too mouth-watering. Humans seldom smelled appetizing, but now it was different. He couldn’t think about anything else but sinking his fangs in its flesh.

They were hidden perfectly. He and his brothers prepared an ambush as always, the Prey didn’t even notice a thing, walking carelessly in between them, they readied themselves. Their muscles tensed up for a pounce, their insides twisted with anticipation, they were ready, it stood no chance.

They leaped.

And then nothing, just pure darkness enveloped him and all of his brothers, suddenly, the air flashed with red, and Megalo heard a whine from Eric, his closest brother. He rushed in the direction of the sound, ready to do anything to save him.

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But there was nothing but Darkness around, he turned his body, trying to look for any indication of the humanoid monster they were hunting, but there was nothing.

Swish

Again, a flash of red sped through the darkness, and he heard a grunt of pain behind him, he turned… and nothing. He was frustrated, his brothers were being hurt one by one and he could do nothing against it, just stand there and listen like a newborn pup whose eyes have not opened yet.

Something boiled inside of him, he felt a rage like never before. From his body, a thin blue mist escaped, and he wished for nothing more but for the Darkness to disappear, for light to show him the monster.

And someone responded, suddenly a bright flash of Light burst out, dispelling the Shadows. And he SAW.

Before him, stood the person they were hunting, he was looking surprised at the very ordinary wolf before him. Or it was ordinary, now, it is no more. Its fur shone golden in the rays of light bathing him through the canopy above. It now stood three meters tall at the withers.

It was beautiful and majestic. The aura around it changed completely, it was now commanding respect and awe from anyone who saw it.

“I see you have been blessed, Child. That truly is a miraculous sight indeed. I assume congratulations are in order, and who would I be if I did not present a congratulatory gift? Very well then, you will need help on the road that now awaits before you, thus I will give you the Wisdom to rule and help your kind overcome the challenges waiting ahead, I will grant you the Strength to push through any obstacle barring your path, and give your subordinates, the Power to keep up with your footsteps.”

The man waved his hand and a chain that was wrapped around it clinked a little. With this a great force pushed itself into Megalo’s body, his head was suddenly filled with knowledge he never knew before, with strength greater than he could imagine, and all the wolves around him became bigger, stronger, and most of all gained Sapience.

The wolves injured moments before recovered instantly, Eric stood up and looked deeply at the man standing between them, then he turned towards Megalo and bowed down, and all his brothers followed suit, that was how Megalo the Beast King was born.

It is said that after this encounter Megalo made this very place his kingdom’s Capital, and it was also where he later created the Sacred Grove. That was also when he created the Royal Guardian Corps with his closest brother Eric as the Commander. His kingdom became more and more powerful, it existed for hundreds of years, until one day, Megalo disappeared. His home became a crater in the ground, the earth turned into crystals.

Some say he defied the God of Light, who is also believed to be the one who blessed him on this fateful day, and so Thoures took back what he once gave, but no one was ever able to ascertain the truth of the situation.”

Mark was very entertained by the story, while at the same time, he was a little shocked. It would seem even normal animals could become powerful beings with full sentience and sapience, with enough will, in this world.

The Gart, which, or rather who, during the recount of the story of Megalo, sat down on his hind legs, hearing the end of the story howled to the sky with great sorrow, then in a response similar howls came from deep within the forest. The children of the Guards long lost to time, mourning the loss of their King.

Not long after, the Gart nudged Donny with his snout and started turning wholly transparent, till he disappeared. It would seem he was able to stay for a limited time, feeding on the mana offered during the summoning. Mark estimated that all of Donny’s mana was able to let it stay for maybe eight to nine minutes, after which it would be sent back to wherever it was staying as a ghost.

After that Mark led Donny deeper into the Forest, he wanted to know the extent of his new abilities, and that would require a plethora of different tests.

How strong an animal could he currently tame, what would be too much? Could he use his Animal Handling and Tame in tandem to make otherwise impossible-to-tame animals give in to his control? There were many possibilities he wanted to check currently, one of them included trying to tame a Goblin. After all, humans were considered as animals, where he came from, and the ability didn’t specify what exactly applied.

Was a Goblin an animal at all? Or did this world have its own classifications, after all, there were beastmen here. Were they considered as worse than humans, because of their closer “affinity” to animals? He had very little information on that as he has only seen a single beastman since he arrived. Though admittedly, this one was very high on the social ladder, which could signify a bigger tolerance to diversity in this place compared to Earth.

And who could be surprised, when a common wolf could one day become the King of a kingdom? Really, it would be wiser to be more understanding and accepting of differences in looks and views. Who knew when, helping a random squirrel could save your life in the future? Or killing a bear, just to leave the cub alone, bring endless sorrow?

What more, doing that to people who were much more similar to humans.

That also meant the Rangers are the truly wise people here, for wanting to live in peace with nature, who knew how much good karma they sowed. What Mark could tell for sure it was much better to leave behind people who were indebted to you than enemies.

And if you were to make enemies, just get rid of the whole problem, why suffer the consequences because you couldn't finish your job properly? The Stranglers could testify to that, and they didn’t even have to wait that long to find out about this law of the world.

Like that, they spent the rest of the day finding the limits to Donny’s abilities, completed their daily workouts, and returned to town. Tomorrow would be a big day, they had to prepare.