NOVEL NEXT Chapter 15: Wolves
Watching Jonn examine a footprint on the ground with a small magnifying glass, Wy didn’t understand the need for the item. However, he observed the Village Elder without voicing his opinion.
It was definitely a wolf’s footprint, a recent one, given the depth and line marks on the ground.
Jonn saw the footprint of his village’s enemy in even more detail than Wy could, with almost no dust obscuring the distinct markings.
This footprint is only three hours old since this wolf passed this way.
Jonn considered silently, discerning more detail than Wy could in the wolf’s footprint.
It’s hunting. It’s weak, and it won’t leave the Barren Hills of Deepshadow hungry.
Jonn said to Wy while standing up, “The wolf is nearby, as are our horses. I believe the animal is hunting the horses, at least one of them.”
“Hunting the horses? Why do you say that?”
Wy was not as skilled a hunter as Petyr, but he had more experience than Jonn. He didn’t understand the Village Elder’s conclusion with just that footprint.
“The wolves we faced weighed around 220 pounds each. The footprint of their left front paw, if uninjured, would sink about 2 centimeters deeper than these footprints,” Jonn explained, pointing to the tracks on the ground. “Such a fact suggests it’s weak, probably hungry.
The enemy I killed intended to use us as food for his wolves. His pack hadn’t eaten for at least a few days. Now, the wolf behind these tracks is desperate.
Even though it’s afraid of us, its hunger is greater than its fear. It’s hunting what’s alive nearby—our horses.”
The explanation made perfect sense from Jonn’s perspective. Wy narrowed his eyes as he considered it, and when he saw Jonn move, he followed with his hands firmly gripping his sword.
“Let’s go ahead. Our horses are nearby,” Jonn warned, adding in a darker tone, “Be prepared to fight.”
The search for them didn’t take long. They had left the village that morning, and before noon, they had already had a good idea of where to find their horses.
The Celestial Magnifying Glass proved invaluable in speeding up the search, leading them to the vicinity of where the two wounded animals were now.
Not only were the two horses lying down with cut marks on parts of their bodies, but nearby, in the area where Jonn and Wy arrived, two wolves were watching the village’s animals.
The wolves’ eyes were red, and their open mouths dripped with viscous saliva.
Jonn and Wy arrived just as the wolves were about to launch their attack on the horses!
Wy dashed ahead of Jonn, momentarily leaving the Village Elder behind, as his primary concern was his horse, which he definitely didn’t want to risk.
Jonn had planned to fight the wolves if he encountered them. But standing just over 300 meters away from the creatures, he felt something different.
Is it the bracelet’s special power?
He wondered as he felt a sudden connection with the eyes of one wolf.
Is the [Wildheart Talisman] influencing me? Or am I more likely to connect with an animal?
Intrigued by the sensation, he pursued it. Running his mana through his body—something he had grown accustomed to doing—he sprinted, catching up with Wy before the man even reached the horses.
The wolves moved as well, but more slowly than the two humans, with one of them looking particularly different at Jonn.
“Stay with the horses. I want to try something,” Jonn instructed his companion, signaling him not to move abruptly.
Wy didn’t understand what Jonn intended, but after witnessing the Village Elder’s successful guesses, he had more confidence in the white-haired boy than ever. Standing beside the two tired-looking horses, gradually becoming stressed by the wolves, he tried to calm them down while monitoring Jonn.
Jonn flicked. Without realizing it, Wy found himself dozens of meters from the Village Elder when the white-haired boy stopped a few meters from the white wolves, hunger clear in the animals’ eyes.
Jonn strolled toward the wolves while channeling his mana through the bracelet, causing them to feel something different from what they had previously felt when facing him.
Instead of fear, the two felt their minds drift away. Jonn no longer appeared as the enemy who had almost killed them before. He seemed much more agreeable in the creatures’ eyes.
“Listen to me,” Jonn began, “We got off to a bad start. But if you obey me, we can change that.” He was honest, unsure of how to proceed. “Sit down, if you can understand me. You can come with me if you obey me.”
As he spoke and approached the animals, Jonn kept his right arm positioned in front of his body, while his left hand was ready to throw a mana-laden dagger at the creatures. However, he trusted the information the system provided about the bracelet and decided to rely on the artifact’s properties.
His mana usage had evolved since he started using the [Wildheart Talisman]. Now he could do much more and recover slightly faster when he spent mana. This gave him the confidence to believe that his [Charisma] could influence humans and even animals to listen to him and accept his proposals.
This also included [Luck], which was now 20% stronger than before the tragic night a few days ago.
Wy’s eyes widened in amazement when he saw one of the wolves, the larger of the two nearby, sit in front of Jonn as if it were a dog obeying its master’s command.
“That’s it. Good boy,” Jonn said, his smile widening. “Now you can lie down.”
The sitting animal complied, lowering its head until it touched the ground and closing its eyes subserviently.
The other wolf mimicked the gesture, not understanding Jonn’s words but following the lead of the stronger one.
Jonn was only a few centimeters away from the first wolf when he bent down in front of it and touched the top of its head. As he did so, he felt a chill from his head to his toes, followed by a message from the system.
{Ding!}
{You have connected to a wild wolf. From now on, you can understand each other’s feelings.}
{You’ve earned 2,000 respect points with the wild wolf, changing your affinity from Hate to Respect!}
{Congratulations, the wild wolf respects you deeply and recognizes you as its master. You can now view the wild wolf’s status.}
[Wild Wolf]
[Level: 0 (0%)]
[Health: 93] [Mana: 0] [Stamina: 89]
[Strenght: 8] [Agility: 9.2] [Dexterity: 2]
[Constitution: 9.3] [Endurance: 8.9] [Intelligence: 0]
[Wisdom: 0] [Charisma: 2] [Luck: 6]
[Affinity: +1000 (Respect
)]Jonn looked at the status of the wolf in front of him, only feeling connected to the strongest wild wolf. He looked at the confused animal further behind and pondered what to do.
When Jonn’s animal turned its eyes back and saw its pack mate, it opened its mouth and howled, making the wolf behind it and Jon understand it.
Do you want me to accept it too? Will it obey you?
Jonn narrowed his eyes as he looked at his wolf, seeing the creature look at him with big black eyes, hopefully.
“It can come with us as long as it follows my rules. Otherwise, it’ll be barbecued.”
The animal connected to Jonn understood, revealing its master’s decision to its mate.
Jonn saw the two animals coming towards him and was a little surprised. But soon they both started licking his feet, making him laugh at the situation.
Wy didn’t know what to say as he saw the two enemies he thought he would face today, licking Jonn’s boots.
‘Are those the scary animals that almost killed us the night before?’ he wondered, unsure whether to laugh or cry.
Somehow, Jonn had won over the two creatures.
Returning to the horses, he said to Wy, “The two wolves will return with us. If they prove dangerous, we’ll turn them into food for the village. But if they are helpful and docile, we will have them as guards from today.”
“Guards? Will that work?” Wy asked, taking a few steps back when he saw the creatures walking behind Jonn.
“I have a feeling it will,” Jonn smiled, aware that this was a hard change to process.
The village members will certainly have problems with them in the coming days. But if this goes well, we can have the support of two animal hunters to help defend the village and assist with any animal hunts. The biggest problem in the short term is feeding them.
As he sighed at the challenging situation he was still in, he said to Wy, “Let’s return to the village. I’ll talk to the villagers and show them that the wolves won’t cause trouble.”
“All right.” Wy mounted his horse as he watched Jonn do the same on Petyr’s.
Soon they were off towards the village, with the two wolves following close behind.
The white-furred creatures were fast. Even though they were hungry, they kept up with the horses. Strangely enough, the two horses took well to traveling so close to the wolves after what Jonn had done.
He had his theories about what was behind it. By analyzing the situation with the Celestial Magnifying Glass, he understood the bracelet could influence the minds of animals nearby, helping them understand who was friend and who was foe.
Despite the limitation of the [Wildheart Talisman] of only connecting to one animal at a time, Jonn possessed a greater advantage over the red-haired man who had it early because of his mana.
Jonn imagined testing his theories with the other animals in the village and eventually conducting the experiment with the Aether Tears, the next important step for him.
Wy suggested he give the two wolves names while they returned to the Eternal Village. Jonn had thought a little about names. Calling them wolf one and wolf two wouldn’t be a problem for him. But he followed Wy’s recommendation and named his wild wolf Ice and the other animal Phantom.
Wy thought the names were horrible, but Jonn was the Village Elder, so he didn’t complain. The wolves belonged to the white-haired boy, so it was decided.
Ice and Phantom drew the attention of the entire village when they arrived, with some villagers thinking that more trouble was on their doorstep.
Jonn would make signs of calm to those already drawing weapons, especially to Eliot, the archer already prepared to deal with the invaders.
He would try to convince his companions over the next few hours to accept having the two animals in the village, taking responsibility for them and ensuring that they would sleep in his house. More than half the village would be uncomfortable with the two animals. Wolves were not like chickens and cows. They could easily kill. In fact, Ice and Phantom’s fellow mates had already done so against members of the village.
But Jonn would eventually convince the village to give the animals a chance. If in 10 days they didn’t prove useful or even proved incapable of living in harmony with the village, Jonn himself would kill them and end the situation.
In the middle of the afternoon, Jonn would feed the two animals with some leftover food from his fellow villagers, vegetables and some fish. That night, the village would sleep strangely, with many worried about the two animals. It would certainly take a while for them to get used to the idea of having carnivorous animals living among them!
But Jonn would sleep peacefully, even with the two animals sleeping in his house. He hoped that the next few days would be more peaceful and promising!