Chapter 82: Tucking Tails
The mont his form flickered into full visibility, every wolf’s ears snapped upright in attention. The betas tensed. The male alpha’s hackles rose—finally able to sense the presence that had been lurking within fifty ters of him.
The alpha’s stance shifted into a fierce one, his entire posture radiating hostility.
Because now he could feel it clearly: the being that had appeared before him... was comparable to him.
Still sliding back, Leo swept his hand out, summoning Shyra and Niri in a single motion. Both beasts materialized in front of him, landing lightly on the ground. Shyra imdiately arched her back and took a battle stance, violet pupils narrowing into sharp slits as she t the alpha’s gaze head-on.
Thump!
The mont their eyes locked, the alpha’s pupils constricted to needlepoints. His entire body went taut, fur bristling, muscles coiling with instinctive alarm.
The rest of the pack, still unaware of Leo’s true strength and judging him by his smaller build, didn’t react much—at first.
But the alpha’s reaction alone was enough to snap all of them into heightened alertness.
Then Shyra stepped forward.
The shift was instantaneous.
The female alpha stiffened.
Both betas recoiled slightly, standing rigid to protect the oga and the pups.
And the oga let out a sharp yelp, imdiately calling all the pups behind her as she backed away protectively.
To them, Shyra was an extrely dangerous entity—one whose presence alone clawed at their survival instincts. They could feel it deep in their bones.
Even with their alpha pair present...
Shyra was soone who could hurt them—severely.
Leo’s sleeves had been shredded by the shockwave, fabric fluttering loosely around his elbows. His forearms were bright red, swollen as if soone had slamd boulders into him. Heat throbbed beneath his skin—then, within a heartbeat, the swelling drained away and his arms returned to their normal colour. His regeneration kicked in cleanly.
As he finally skidded to a halt, he lifted his head—and found every wolf frozen in full alert. Bodies taut. Ears razor-sharp. Fangs bared in a show of unified fury and fear.
But then his gaze drifted to his own beasts, and his jaw parted slightly in stunned surprise.
Shyra now stood a full head taller than the alpha wolf himself. Even if her official rank was lower, her presence dwarfed the pack. And Niri... she no longer resembled a small five-year-old girl. Her fra, posture, and aura now resembled that of a teenager—her growth visible not only in appearance but also in the way she carried herself.
A faint ripple of awareness brushed over Leo’s senses.Other beasts, those within fifty ters of his detection range, had fled the very mont Shyra appeared.
Predator, Leo thought. She’s viewed as a predator among all of them.
The wolves, however, were not lacking in courage. Even standing before sothing that made their instincts scream, the alpha male planted himself firmly at the front, a deep growl rumbling from his chest. His stance scread one thing: if it ca down to it, he would die to protect the ones behind him.
The noble-blooded beta and the female alpha stepped up beside him, forming a tight, protective triangle.
Then the three exchanged a look.
A nod passed between them.
And—
Fhis! Fhis! Fis!
All three blurred, vanishing from sight.
In the next mont, Leo blinked—and realized the pups were gone. The oga wolf? Gone. The other beta? Gone. It took him a second to process the sudden shift before his senses caught up.
They were already a hundred ters away, sprinting at a frantic pace. Each leap covered nearly ten ters, their bodies stretching and contracting like arrows fired across the forest floor.
Focusing his vision, Leo spotted the pups clinging desperately to the backs of the alphas—so on the male, so on the female, so on the beta. The smaller oga and the remaining beta, unable to carry anyone due to their size, matched pace beside them with impressive speed.
Together, the pack ford a tight fleeing formation and disappeared into the forest—running in the opposite direction of the treasure.
They had tucked their tails and run.
Leo was left staring blankly.
"...Are all wolves like this?"
But before he could think deeper—
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Heavy footsteps shook the earth.
The sound echoed from the top of the mound. Leo turned sharply—and there it was.
The sa three-cored Rock Golem, a towering seven-ter hulk of stone and malice, stomped straight toward him.
But this ti, instead of panic, Leo felt a slow smile spread across his face.
Because he was no longer afraid.
A low 3-star or below?Those rankings didn’t intimidate him anymore.
And he needed to test his new strength.
The golem had co at the perfect ti.
Rock Golem (Pseudo 3-star) — Magical Construct
"Not Puppet?" Leo muttered. Then it clicked.
He rembered Dale ntioning that the golem only started acting sowhat intelligently after fighting for a while. Leo narrowed his eyes, observing the construct’s rigid stance and the faint glow pulsing within its three cores.
"Could it be... the cores give golems so kind of consciousness once they’ve battled long enough? Turning them into puppets afterwards?" he wondered aloud. "Or maybe that’s just how golems function—gain experience, adapt over ti—and ’puppet’ is simply the na used once they’ve awakened enough intelligence?"
He didn’t dwell too long on it. Instead, he let his senses sweep across the battlefield, searching for other three-cored variants.
He found two.
One was locked in combat with a Thunderhide Elk, a low 3-star beast. That fight looked evenly matched—weight for weight, power for power.
But the second...
A Shadowstripe Lynx, pseudo 3-star, was on its last legs. Its body trembled, fur matted with blood. Every breath seed laboured, as if the next mont it might collapse entirely. Yet it fought on, flickering in and out of shadow—its movents eerily similar to Shyra’s stealth-based abilities.
Leo’s eyes sharpened.
A lynx ...A variant species of Shyra’s.
He imdiately marked it in his mind.
Its core can help Shyra’s Bloodline advance, even if it’s a small amount.
And, sure enough, when he inspected the constructs they were fighting, he confird it:
Both of those golems had ’Puppet’ added to their nas now.
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A/N: Alright! I admit I was trying to bite more than I can chew(︶︹︺). There’s nothing wrong with trying out my luck, right?
But of course you, yes you(｀Д´)ﾉ—can at least comnt, give a review or send so small gifts(இ﹏இ).
I promise, if they feel sufficient, I will not kill the wolves!
Co on, even I will feel bad killing them off...
The wolf pack offer is valid until a future major event.
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