The spirit and the Inferno Wolves weren’t that far from me, just a mile or so out. Compared to how far my divine sense stretched, back when I was an Immortal, that was a pitifully small range. A part of me sighed, lamenting the loss of my strength and power.
Oh well. That just meant I needed to work hard and achieve it all again. And this time, I would do a better job.
Drawing upon my mana, I used Air internal magic. It boosted my speed, and pushed it beyond human limits, thanks to my body cultivation. The three days I spent hunting Inferno Wolves hadn’t been a total loss. It gave me time to test out my limits with magic, and how it could synergize with cultivation.
To my disappointment, internal magic had diminishing returns when used with my body cultivation. At least it did with Air and Water. While I could push it beyond what most other wizards could do, due to my enhanced physique, it became less and less efficient the further I pushed my body. After a certain point, the boost I got wasn’t worth the amount of mana I used to achieve it.
It was like using a lesser version of a movement technique.
When it came to speed, after some experimentation, I found that the perfect balance put me at about twenty five percent faster than what most other wizards of the same level could achieve. While this didn’t seem like much, it still put me ahead of people who only had the bodies of regular humans.
I would have to do more experiments after I formed my dantian and could use actual movement techniques.
With my speed, a mile was nothing. It helped that the spirit headed right for me, which meant that the Inferno Wolves were also heading my way. I could have gone faster, but the ground of Gloom Mist Forest was treacherous. Tree roots, jutting rocks, and hidden holes all threatened to trip me up. I had to take care to avoid them.
As I ran, I drew my sword. During my hunts, I dressed in the same outfit I wore when I went down to the Adventurers Guild: leather armor, linen clothing, a sword, and a ridiculous number of daggers hidden all over my body.
Soon, I saw the spirit, even through the mist. It didn’t look like much, just a floating blue orb made entirely of mana. And it wasn’t much, at least to anyone else but me. Thanks to my knowledge and experience as Immortal Celestial Thunder, I knew that this innocuous looking spirit had great potential.
At the moment, however, the spirit wasn’t in great shape. It “bled” mana, for lack of a better word, from wounds the Inferno Wolves had inflicted on it. Since spirits were made of pure mana, both magic beasts and wizards consumed them to increase their power. However, since they were beings of pure mana, most spirits were capable of defending themselves. This one, however, was not.
Not far behind the spirit, coming in fast, were the three Inferno Wolves. They were bigger than ordinary wolves, with black fur and a layer of flames coating their bodies. Thankfully, these flames were illusory, otherwise they would set everything around them on fire. Their eyes burned red hot with hunger and rage. When they saw me, all three let out victorious howls.
They thought I was prey. Cute.
When it saw me, the spirit sent me another message through its spirit sense. Communicating through spirit sense and divine sense was similar to telepathy, except one could also convey thoughts, emotions, impressions, and sensory input, not just words.
Save me, Great One!
Fear, panic, and burgeoning hope accompanied the spirit’s message.
Great One? I would have to ask about that later. For now, I had three inferno wolves to worry about.
‘Hide inside my body,’ I sent to the spirit using my divine sense.
Pain stabbed me in the mind, giving me a mild headache. Tch. It looked like I wasn’t powerful enough to communicate through divine sense, at least not without suffering some damage. Still, it was a small price to pay in this instance.
Yes, Great One.
The spirit flew right into my chest and merged with my body, in a lesser form of possession. The moment it did, I wrapped it in a cocoon of my divine energy to stop it from “bleeding out”, which was the main reason why I had it enter my body. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to help it.
Later on, I would use my divine energy to heal the spirit, but for now I would settle for stabilizing it.
The Inferno Wolves let out howls of rage as I took their intended prey away from them, and they redoubled their efforts. I let out a savage grin and unleashed my magic.
[Wind Blade]
I waved my free hand and a flat crescent blade made of compressed air shot out, heading for the lead Inferno Wolf. Unlike when I fought Loudmouth, these Wind Blades weren’t blunted. These were meant to kill.
To my disappointment, the lead Inferno Wolf moved out of the way, dodging most of the Wind Blade. Most, but not all. The Wind Blade grazed the Inferno Wolf, drawing a thin line across its body. The Inferno Wolf let out a pained yelp, before glaring at me with hate filled eyes.
My attack had the additional effect of killing the Inferno Wolves’ momentum. This gave me the chance to take the initiative. Rather than wait for them to come to me, I rushed forward and swung my sword at the lead Inferno Wolf.
The Inferno Wolves must not have expected me to attack them head on by myself like this, because they were slow to react. The lead wolf attempted to dodge again, but my sword bit into its flesh.
Unfortunately, my blade met a lot of resistance, even with my enhanced physique. It didn’t bite as deep as I wanted. It seemed that Inferno Wolves had tough hides, something that the book I read failed to mention. Great.
If I could use sword mana, or even sword intent, that wouldn’t be a problem. However, using either required a spiritual cultivation base. Maybe I should have waited until I had formed my dantian.
A part of me wondered how tough armor made from Inferno Wolf leather would be. Perhaps I could commission some.
Before I could attack the lead Inferno Wolf again, its companions charged me. I moved back, avoiding their attacks. The two continued to harry and harass me, while the lead Inferno Wolf moved around to flank me. This was why they were dangerous to face alone. Pack tactics.
Unfortunately for them, I wasn’t going to let them surround me.
Giving myself a push with some Air magic, I jumped straight up into the air. The Inferno Wolves that were harassing me tried to bite me as I jumped, but were too slow. At the apex of my jump, I turned in the air to look down on the Inferno Wolves and cast a spell.
[Spark Bolt]
A bolt of lightning shot out of my free hand, and hit the Inferno Wolf that had been trying to flank me, the one I injured. It wasn’t able to dodge this spell. The bolt of lightning hit the Inferno Wolf, causing it to spasm and shake. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air. The Inferno Wolf fell to the ground, dead, its body twitching.
The death of their companion infuriated the Inferno Wolves, and they snarled in anger.
Unfortunately, I had to put a lot of my remaining mana into that spell in order to make it a killing blow. I had maybe less than half left. I didn’t know if that would be enough to kill the two remaining Inferno Wolves. While I was drawing in mana from the environment, I was using expending my personal mana faster than I could replenish it. I could not wait until I had formed my dantian, so this would become less of a problem.
Hmm, perhaps I overestimated my abilities.
As I fell back to the ground, I sent out Wind Blades at the two Inferno Wolves just before I landed. The wolves dodged them, just as I wanted, and I started running the moment my feet hit the ground. The wolves let out howls and gave chase.
While I was much faster than the Inferno Wolves, I didn’t run away. Instead, I maintained a steady distance between myself and them. I wanted to give myself time to think and come up with a plan, not flee. I could drink the mana potions I received from the Adventurers Guild. That would be enough to restore my mana.
In the end, I decided not to. Instead, another idea popped into my head, though it carried some risk. Eh, no risk, no reward.
First, I reduced the distance between myself and the Inferno Wolves, letting them think they were getting closer to me. When they were close enough, I “tripped” and fell to the ground. My momentum continued to carry me forward, and I rolled over the uneven forest floor. It hurt, even with my enhanced physique, but I didn’t break any bones thanks to the way I rolled. I would have several bruises, however.
The wolves let out triumphant howls, and rushed in for the kill.
Just before the first one reached me, I rolled onto my back and waved my free hand. A Wind Blade shot out, catching the Inferno Wolf off guard. It was too close to dodge. The blade bisected the wolf, killing it instantly. The two halves of the dead wolf hit the ground hard, though one of them landed on me. Hot blood oozed onto me.
Ouch. Fuck, these things were heavy.
Before I could hit the other Inferno Wolf with a Wind Blade, it was on me. Sharp teeth filled my vision as it opened its maw to tear out my throat. I let go of my sword and grabbed it by the throat with both hands, stopping its jaws inches from my face. It took a lot of effort, despite my body cultivation. To my annoyance, the flames surrounding its body weren't as illusory as I thought. While they weren’t as hot as actual flames, they were still hot. My hand burned with pain.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
[Spark Touch]
Lightning arced out of my hand and into the Inferno Wolf. It let out a pained howl as my magic tore into its body, cooking it from the inside. Like its companion earlier, it spasmed and shook, before it fell limp. Unfortunately, it fell right on top of me, knocking the wind out of me.
I took a moment to recover, before I started to push the one and a half Inferno Wolves off of me. However, as I did so, I felt another presence brush against my divine sense. It felt like another Inferno Wolf, except this one was much larger than the others.
Oh fuck.
The Alpha Inferno Wolf let out a howl that sent shivers down my spine, before it ran right towards me.
It took me a couple of seconds to shove the Inferno Wolf corpses off of me, and in those seconds, the Alpha Inferno Wolf rapidly closed the distance between us. Once I got to my feet again, I ran. Without hesitation, I drank a mana potion. Pure power flooded me as the potion restored my personal mana reserves.
Why the hell was there an Alpha Inferno Wolf? They led packs with dozens of Inferno Wolves, not packs of four. Either the book I read got that part wrong as well, or something happened to this pack. Regardless, it didn’t matter. Complaining about it didn’t help at all. Instead, I needed to focus on escaping.
There was no way I would be able to face an Alpha Inferno Wolf, not with my current level of power. Three regular Inferno Wolves gave me trouble. An Alpha Inferno Wolf would kill me. Even with my mana restored, I was no match for it.
However, to my dismay, even though I was running as fast as I could, pushing my body to its limits, I sensed the Alpha Inferno Wolf catching up to me. I had maybe a minute before it caught up to me. At the end of that minute, unless I came up with a plan, I would die.
However, it turned out that the Alpha Inferno Wolf didn’t plan on giving me that minute. It spat out a bolt of Fire in my direction. The Fire bolt flew towards me, moving as fast as a speeding bullet. I had just enough time to dodge to the side. Without my divine sense, I wouldn’t have seen it in time to dodge at all. The Fire bolt hit a nearby tree, taking out a big chunk of it and setting it on fire.
Unfortunately, dodging the Fire bolt killed some of my speed. The Alpha Inferno Wolf took this opportunity to close the distance between us even more, reducing the time it would take to reach me. The wolf continued to spit out Fire bolts, forcing me to move from side to side in order to dodge them. It wasn’t easy with how treacherous the forest floor was. Tripping was a death sentence.
Each bolt hit a tree, which then burst into flames.
Of course, all this dodging slowed me down further, and it wouldn’t be long before the Alpha Inferno Wolf reached me. The situation couldn’t continue as it was. I needed to do something big to change the situation. I had another idea, one that was stupid and crazy, but might just work.
Without hesitation, I drank my other mana potion even though my mana reserves weren’t that low. Power flooded my mana veins again. Pressure welled up inside me, so much so that I felt like I would burst. My First Circle felt like it would shatter again due to the strain of the excess mana. To avoid this, I wrapped my divine energy around my First Circle. Even if it shattered again, I would force it to stay together.
After I absorbed the mana from the potion, I turned around to face the Alpha Inferno Wolf. It was a big one, about the size of a horse, albeit a small horse, which was still big for a wolf. The flames coating its body were bigger and wilder as well. It exhaled fire with every breath. Rage twisted its lupines features, and I saw hate in its eyes.
A thrill of fear ran down my spine as I faced down the Alpha Inferno Wolf; fear and exhilaration. It had been a long time since I faced a life and death situation, and I realized just how much I missed it. They were rare for both Brandon Norwood and Lord Gabriel Sturm, but Immortal Celestial Thunder faced them all the time.
Time seemed to slow down as the wolf ran towards me. I would need to time this right, otherwise I was a dead man. Assuming what I was about to do even worked.
As it drew near me, the Alpha Inferno Wolf breathed in. I saw it grow bigger as it drew in a breath. For a fraction of a second, this confused me, before I remembered one particular fact about Alpha Inferno Wolves.
The wolf exhaled and breathed out fire, lighting up the Gloom Mist Forest. A gout of flames rushed towards me. I barely managed to dodge to the side. Even then the stream of fire grazed me. My side burst with pain as the flames singed me. The smell of burning hair filled my nostrils.
The Alpha Inferno Wolf took this opportunity to close the distance between us and launch itself towards me with its jaws wide open. I waited until it was too close to dodge, and cast one of the signature spells of House Sturm.
All the mana in my body went towards casting this spell. Unlike the spells I cast before, this one not only used my personal mana but also the ambient mana in the environment. It was too powerful for me to cast with the limited amount of mana I had alone, and too powerful for my level of strength. It was meant to be cast by a First Circle wizard with at least six threads.
For most wizards, casting something like this would have been impossible. However, I was a reincarnated Immortal. I didn’t give a shit about limitations like that.
My First Circle cracked and almost shattered as I tried to cast a spell beyond my capabilities, but my divine energy kept it together. Pain exploded from deep within my being, and I felt like I would cough up a mouthful of blood.
Even so, I didn’t have enough mana to cast the spell. It would fail. Before that happened, however, I used a trick from Spirit Earth and burned some of my lifespan to give me the boost I needed. Not much, just a year’s worth, but my body withered a little as I lost a year of my life.
[Claw of the Storm Dragon]
A claw made of storm clouds and lightning formed in the air in front of me. Thunder cracked and the smell of ozone filled the air.
With a roar, I swiped the Alpha Inferno Wolf with the claw. I hit the wolf just before it reached me, and the claw tore through its flesh like it was nothing. The force of my blow was so strong, I even took off the Alpha Inferno Wolf’s head. Its body landed at my feet, steaming blood gushing out of its neck. I stood there for several moments, my body trembling, before I fell to my knees.
The Alpha Inferno Wolf’s scalding hot blood soaked into my trousers. I was battered and bruised. My side burned with pain, and I felt more than a little singed. Even worse, my First Circle was on the brink of collapse. If I hadn’t held it together with my divine energy, it would have already shattered. The core of my being felt like it was being stabbed from the inside.
I didn’t care about any of that. I was alive. I had faced death, and I had survived. Oh, I had forgotten this rush.
With trembling fingers, I pulled out the health potion I received from the Adventurers Guild and downed it. Right away, the physical pain eased as the potion healed my body.
The damage to my First Circle was another matter. It would take longer for that to heal. No more than a day or two, by my reckoning. After all, while my First Circle was cracked, it was still in one piece. I wouldn’t have to put it together again.
Once my body healed to the point where I could move again, I stood up and looked down at the Alpha Inferno Wolf’s body. After a few moments I looked in the direction where the other bodies lay, and then let out a sigh.
It was going to take a while to put out the fires and drag all those bodies back to Sturm Hill Hall.
----------------------------------------
“How long are you going to keep glaring at me in silence like that?” I asked Leroy.
In response to my question, Leroy’s glare deepened.
The two of us were riding in a cart, heading towards the Adventurers Guild in Icefall City. Two days had passed since my encounter with the Inferno Wolf pack. That left me with one day to complete a job for the Adventurers Guild before the monthly deadline passed.
At this point, I wondered if I should just bite the bullet and pay the fine.
When I returned to Sturm Hill Hall carrying the body and head of the Alpha Inferno Wolf, the servants freaked the fuck out, especially when they saw the state I was in. My clothes and hair were burnt, I was covered in cuts and bruises, and I just looked like shit overall.
There was a frenzy of activity as they checked me over, and they even talked about sending for a local healer. I managed to convince them not to bother, since the healing potion I drank took care of my injuries.
My hair suffered the greatest loss. Since the Alpha Inferno Wolf’s fire breath burned my hair, I had to cut it short to even it out.
Leroy, however, was not happy with me. He took what happened to me as a personal failure. As my bodyguard and watchdog, it was his duty to watch over me and protect me from harm, yet he let me convince him to stay at Sturm Hill Hall while I went hunting magic beasts.
Ever since then, Leroy never let me out of his sight. Wherever I went, he shadowed me. Dinner, training, reading. It didn’t matter. He was always there, lurking. This annoyed the fuck out of me, but since I didn’t want him to send a message to my parents because of what happened, I put up with it.
I did draw the line at the bathroom and my personal quarters. Some boundaries should never be crossed.
What made it worse was that Leroy managed to give me the cold shoulder at the same time. Leroy never said a word while he watched over me. Instead, he glared at me in silence, even when I spoke to him. Or maybe especially when I spoke to him.
Still, I was grateful for his presence when we went to retrieve the bodies of the other Inferno Wolves. Since I had gone through all that effort and trouble, I wasn’t going to let their bodies go to waste. With his strength, getting the other bodies had been a simple task.
Transporting them was another matter altogether. Since the House Sturm carriage was meant for passengers and luggage, not for magic beast bodies, I bought a cart from a local farmer. I bought the cart rather than rented it since I knew these were only the first magic beast bodies I would be transporting to the Adventurers Guild.
Leroy and I sat in the back of the cart now, while another one of the House Sturm servants drove it. He was a young man, a little older than me, who was Mr. and Mrs. Morrish’s grandson.
It turned out that several servants at Sturm Hill Hall were descended from my groundskeeper and housekeeper, either as their children or grandchildren. They had a large family. Those that didn’t work at Sturm Hill Hall lived in Icefall City.
Leroy and I must have made quite a sight as we rode through Icefall City in the back of a farmer’s cart. Me, dressed as a scion of House Sturm, while Leroy looked every inch the House retainer that he was. It must have been comical. Quite a few people gave us odd looks as we drove through town.
I took this opportunity to check in on the spirit I rescued from the Inferno Wolves using my divine sense. It fell into a slumber after I killed the Alpha Inferno Wolf, remaining inside the cocoon of divine energy I created for it in order to heal. I boosted its healing a little with my divine energy, but I otherwise left it alone. Forcing these sorts of things often led to unintended consequences.
Even so, it would only take three weeks or so before it woke up again and I could go ahead with my plans to make a familiar contract with it. I supposed I could have forced the contract on the spirit while it slumbered, but I didn’t want to do that. I wanted a partner, not a slave.
We rolled up in front of the Adventurers Guild at midmorning. I hopped out first and reached up while Leroy handed me the Alpha Inferno Wolf’s head and body. We managed to work well together, despite Leroy not talking to me. He took the other three bodies. An impressive feat, considering how big they were. I knew the guy was strong, thanks to his Earth internal magic, but the Inferno Wolf bodies must have been cumbersome.
The driver offered to help, but we waved him off. There were some burdens that regular mortals couldn’t handle. Since I didn’t know how long we would be, I told him to find a place to park nearby and relax in the meantime.
Once we had the bodies, Leroy and I marched up to the entrance of the Adventurer’s Guild. Just before we reached the door, however, it opened revealing two people.
One of them was Guildmaster Sinclair. She was holding the door open for the second person.
“As always, it is a pleasure doing business with you, Lord Icefall,” she said.
She spoke to a thin and pale skinned man in his early to mid thirties, with short black hair and a trimmed beard. He had sharp features, and looked out at the world with ice blue eyes.
He wore an expensive looking outfit, though it couldn’t quite compare to mine. A gold medallion depicting a mountainous cliff and a waterfall hung around his neck. It was the emblem of Icefall City, and the House that ruled it.
The man had the aura of a Third Circle Water wizard, though it had a slight chill to it, suggesting the man also had an affinity for Ice magic.
Putting all these clues together, it didn’t take a genius to figure out who this guy was. Lord Theobald Icefall, the Lord-Mayor of Icefall City.
Damn it. He was the last person I wanted to meet. I came up to the Icefall Region to avoid socializing with the other Houses.
Just before I could consider leaving before either Guildmaster Sinclair or Lord Icefall saw me, both turned in my direction at the same time.
Fuck.