They moved under the cover of night and wood, with surprising swiftness. Yan at the front of the group together with Duke, as Yan knew the path to the Lang Clan territory while Duke could question him on any relevant topics. They had traded both questions and answers between each other, but still had a lot to discuss.

“I find it hard to believe that Balto is considered young, is it connected to the spiritual tree growing out of his back?” Yan asked while toying with the talisman that allowed them to understand each other. Duke nodded in understanding.

“Hmm, I too found it hard to understand when we discovered Balto. We knew of his father, Tyr, a large dire wolf himself. But he had died fighting something closer to the human territories.” Duke stepped over a large root before continuing.

“By all accounts, Balto should be closer in size to the other adults due to his father's blood. We still don't understand why he got a growth spurt from. It could be related to a rather difficult fight against a mutated ogre, but we cannot say for sure.” Yan hummed in thought.

“It could be a boon or blessing of some kind, which could explain why he is the way he is.” Duke glanced at Yan as he said this. It was easy enough to guess what he meant by those words, but that wasn't it either. He had spoken to both Ulva and Fridolf about what the situation with the spiritual tree was, and both said it had arrived to fill a hole in Baltos soul. A hole that something strange had left behind. And whatever that was, it had left him.

Now that he was thinking about it, there was some sort of web that came out of Balto to kill the ogre. But it didn't matter now, as it was gone for good.

“You mention these boons, do you have any in your family?” Duke asked. Yan continued to move forward in silence for a moment, his eyes to the treetops.

“None in my family has a boon of any kind, but I do know that the head of the clan has one. Not too much is known of it, but it gives him an innate control over the winds.” Yan blinked.

“Ah, I do not mean to be rude with this question, but do you and your clan know of any techniques?” Now it was Duke's turn to ponder. While they did not have anything called techniques, they did have their connection to the spirits and the different ways individual direwolves fight.

“No, nothing that we have can really be called techniques.” Truly, it was clear to both Yan and Duke that the cultural difference was great. But it was not nearly great enough for them to not attempt to bond over things they had in common. They spoke of simple things afterward, of the young acting foolish over truly foolish things. And how the eldest would always have something sage to tell others, even if it doesn't truly have any meaning behind it. Continuing this conversation, the old direwolves would occasionally butt in on their conversation. Especially Beowul, who was showing a lot of interest in the more combat oriented sides of this new culture.

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Unlike the direwolfs, the many species that live in the multiple empires to the east of the World's Tongue come in many shapes and sizes. As it was suggested by both Yans own abilities and the current head of the Lang clan, the members of their clan focused mostly on wind-based techniques and to a lesser degree martial and spiritual techniques. This has made their clan and many of their households able to live comfortable lives with various combat focused jobs. It also gave them a certain degree of freedom from the many laws that kept lesser clans in check.

This did not mean they were without equal. If anything, there were eleven other clans that shared they shared the metaphorical mountain with.

The Zhu clan, known for their great constitution that allows them to survive the harshest of conditions. The Shu clan, known for their great minds and pacifistic ways. Niu clan, powerful warriors and guardians more than capable of standing their ground against any foe. There were more, of course, but Yan did not wish to speak of the others, as they weren't on friendly terms with them. And if they were unfriendly with the Lang clan, then they would be even more hostile to a dire wolf.

Yet above even the twelve great clans, there was also the one clan that stood even above them all. This clan was made up of many species who did either do not wish to associate with their original clan, or those who were invited into this superior clan. And this clan was made by, and lead by, beings so powerful that even if all twelve clans rebelled. They would be slaughtered.

The Ancients clan or as some call them, the Original clan.

Legends has it that they were among the very first forms of complicated life that were born while the world was created. To the point that they were here long before the World's Tongue was grown or the World's Teeth grew out of the ground. And it wasn't something they said out of ignorance or pride, this was simply the truth. More than once has an ancient artifact or mountain-splitting technique been found, only for it to be traced back to one of the Ancients clan's founding members. There was even an incident where what was believed to have been a powerful technique that allowed one mastery over life and death was merely a failed alchemy experiment made by one of these founding members.

Duke swallowed thickly upon learning this. It was frightening, quite frankly it made him feel tinier than the ants he would observe back in the west. He took a moment to gather himself before asking the simple question of whom these founding members were. And while Yan had no idea of what they looked like as it was a tightly kept secret, everyone knew what they were called. But he dared not say their name more than once a day, for anymore would bring bad luck to everyone who heard it.

“Wendigo.”