My Werewolf System

It had been a while since the three travelers had journeyed together in the wilderness. Since they had arrived at Steve's camp, they had spent around two weeks there, a longer stay than they had intended. They never wanted to spend a long time in one place, but it was a necessity; that was simply how things went when it took time to build up trust and gather crucial intelligence in a hostile, unfamiliar world.

The anxiety was a constant, low-level thrumming beneath their consciousness. They desperately hoped the time they spent in this past era wouldn't equate to the same amount of time passing back in their own world. But it was a worry they had to continually put at the back of their minds, prioritizing the immediate threat of Unzoku over the consequences of temporal displacement.

Kai was expertly navigating the dense, untamed terrain using a makeshift map that had been crudely drawn up by Steve himself. It was a strange document, lacking modern precision, but having already explored the large local area quite a bit, they were learning how to navigate through the wilderness.

For instance, one of the most reliable ways to know whether they were in the correct area, according to Steve's map, wasn't to use geological landmarks that would constantly change and shift, but to use the beasts they would run into. These beasts were fiercely territorial and, almost by primal instinct, never left a specific part of their territory. So, if they saw a certain cluster of creatures, they knew precisely where they were heading.

Of course, the three of them would inevitably run into powerful beasts that they couldn't avoid and simply had to fight.

The trio, even though their immense strength was still suppressed by the strange physics of this ancient world, could now take out large and powerful beasts with a level of ease that would have been impossible when they first arrived. They had learned what made the creatures tick before they even attacked.

They knew to watch out for sudden spikes that could erupt from a beast's hide, or the shocking distance of a long, paralyzing tongue, and even strange, viscous slime that would make them incredibly sticky and slow. They were learning to rely purely on their honed instincts. All of them, even Lupus, were getting better at fighting using their Werewolf side as the core of their combat style, utilizing their heightened senses and regenerative capabilities.

This meant not just relying on their strong Werewolf bodies, but allowing themselves to fight more freely, more like a beast and less like a human.

After defeating the beasts, the group went on to expertly extract the crystals from the fallen creatures. They only bothered doing this with the higher-tier beasts, as Steve had explained that these were worth more coin, and they could certainly use some currency for their journey into the kingdom.

"Should we even bother with doing this tedious work?" Lupus asked, wiping his blade clean. "It's not like we can eat them and get any stronger with the curse suppressing our absorption."

"You're right, but we can sell it for some coin," Kai said, tying a small leather pouch full of the glistening crystals to his belt. "We can use it for two critical things. First, we can bribe a few people for information, especially at the guild halls that will be located in the kingdom, which will trade the crystals for coin. Secondly, we can use the quality of the crystals, and the bodies of the beasts we beat, to convince the army to recruit us, by showing what level of creatures we can defeat."

"And there's one more thing," Gary said, suddenly stopping and starting to dig carefully into the ground. He then placed a large, high-quality crystal inside the small hole. He quickly covered up the crystal with the dirt he had just taken out and continued to look around, memorizing the patch of ground.

"What if we bury these crystals and the fact that they're here really does affect the future?" Gary suggested excitedly. "We could come back right to this exact spot in our time, dig it up, and use all of them to help our bodies grow stronger then!"

Kai shook his head, instantly shooting down the optimistic plan with logic. "Have you really thought about this at all, Gary? There are numerous problems with your idea. For one, maybe someone else would have dug up the crystal between this time and our time. Secondly, we don't even know if the time periods are linked enough for this item to persist, as I've said before. And lastly, how do you even know where you've dug it? We have no idea what country we are technically in, or what this exact spot will look like in many, many years to come."

Hearing the harsh logic, Gary conceded it was a good point. He dug his arm into the ground and took the crystal out. Hearing about all of the powerful weapons the Red Wing Kingdom used, the same type of equipment that Gary and his group used in the future, he figured they had to at least be on the same land. The best thing to do, after all, was just try and get information in the kingdom to see where these items would be made and stored.

Although all three of them were stronger and more experienced, they were constantly cautious because Steve had warned them about a few things. Chiefly, that there was a level of beast known as a Demon Tier beast that would have been far too strong for them to handle, even with all three of them fighting together.

And, of course, they were always cautious of Unzoku, because, as the system had stated, if they died in this world, it would mean true death, no return to their own time.

After a long and tiresome journey that stretched over several days of traversing the wild lands, they had finally reached the landmark they had been looking for.

They broke out of the dense forest and could see the towering high wall surrounding the city as well as the massive front gates. The city was still thriving, bustling with people coming in and out of the gates, traders, citizens, and soldiers. They had arrived at the Red Wing Kingdom, and the true mission was about to begin.

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