Having finished all the preparations Ery planned, the Royal Hunt finally began with the arrival of the next day. The group gathered in the backyard at the first morning light, but when they were about to head to where the event was being held, they found that Tatyana was waiting for them at the gate of the residence.
"Brother, please let join the hunt," she said when she t Ery's eyes.
As it turned out, the upgrade that occurred last night seed to have affected the brown-haired girl as well, giving her the extra strength she needed to resist the grand magus' influence.
Unfortunately, none of them could be completely sure about it, so it could still endanger her and the whole pack. Ery shook his head in response. He gestured for the others to follow as he was about to walk past her. But unexpectedly, it seed Tatyana was unwilling to back down so easily.
"Please brother, I have to do this." Looking him in the eye as she stepped in his path, Tatyana said, "I need to join this, to prove it to you and myself."
Actually, the more she insisted, the more Ery worried it was not her who was speaking. Nevertheless, he was about to refuse her again when Beowulf suddenly interjected, making him reconsider.
"Let her participate. I will stay close and watch over her."
It was actually an accepted idea. If the old chief were to be by her side, Ery could keep tabs on her actions and also solve the [One Mind] communication problem with the old chief. After spending so ti weighing the pros and cons, Ery decided to let her in.
With that, the group set off for the Royal Hunt.
But then, another figure stopped them. Annara ca from outside the residence, her breath a bit ragged as she ca in running.
"Great, I didn't miss you."
Under Ery's confused gaze, the red-haired girl took out a box and handed it out to all of them.
Apparently, the red-haired girl had co from picking up a set of uniforms, which were predominantly black clothes with silvery lines as accents and one that was specifically tailored for Twilight fangs pack.
Not only that, she had prepared them for the whole pack, including Tatyana, which was bizarre of her. It was as if she had predicted that the brown-haired girl would join the Royal Hunt with Ery and the others.
"I didn't expect you to be so considerate and generous," Ery said with a suspicious look on his face. After all, the uniforms Annara gave them were high quality suits comparable to Tier 4 armors – the finest materials that could be found on this planet.
Facing Ery's suspicious gaze, Annara quickly said, "Just think of this as sponsorship from . When you all win, be sure to not forget about my support in this," a cheeky smile on her face.
Ery sported a frown in response to her words. Both of them knew the so-called sponsorship ca from the pockets of Ouroboros, yet the way she phrased her words made it seem as though she was the benefactor. What a cunning person indeed.
However, after seeing everyone wearing the new uniform, there appeared to be a morale boost among the group. The uniform brought an inexplicable sense of cohesion, sothing Ery very much appreciated.
The whole wearing uniform heading for a tournant gave Ery a glimpse of other similar things happening in the past. A group of friends together trying to win a competition.
However, before he was about to get a glimpse of their faces, he was interrupted by Annara saying, "Go win that Hunt!"
"All right, Twilight Fang. Let's go!"
Ery and his pack of 6 jumped into the streets, making their way through the sea of people as they headed towards the Silvermane Arena.
The venue was a huge magnificent construct, no less than the Magus Academy's Grand Assembly Hall. At a glance, it seed able to accommodate several hundred thousand spectators at the sa ti.
The bustling crowd was filled with mostly wolf half-bloods; the unfamiliar spectacle did not fail to amaze him. To think he would be able to see so many of his kins gathered in the sa place. It was truly a festive event.
Cutting through the congregation of people, Ery and his group made their way to a different entrance to the venue. Stepping into the passage that led to the registration area for the Royal Hunt, the pack followed right behind him.
With two magus in their team, Ery's Twilight Fang should be enough to be considered the top pack among all the participants. Of course, they still weren't enough to earn the respect of those wolf packs made up entirely of magus.
Especially when they were aware of what kind of people were on Ery's team. In no ti, jeers and ridicule were heaped on their way.
"Hahaha, look at that group. They brought two girls and an old man. What a bunch of wannabe."
"Hey don't say it like that. They are probably one big family" He said with a laugh "Gramps and his grandkids"
The two were deliberately talking as they passed each other so Ery and the others could overhear their conversation. Annoyed, Ery stopped in his tracks and retorted.
"Apparently, a magus can be childish as well."
Needless to say, his words angered the pair of magus. Just when it looked like they were going to escalate the situation, they quickly stopped. The reason was because a famous group was approaching.
Jason Corvin and his full elite magus team, so mbers had been replaced after they fell for trying to capture Tidus the Chain breaker.
When their eyes t, Ery could see the young master of the Corvin family shoot him a challenging look.
"Don't even think about winning this ti"
Feeling confident, Ery stood tall saying, "We shall see."
After the Corvin pack left, they were approached by another famous group, to be precise, infamous. At the sa ti, the arrival of this particular group prompted the two magus to turn pale, forget their intentions and leave Ery's group alone.
It was a group of magus with white tattoos and bones ornanted on their bodies: the Bone Coyotes.
"Yo, Evan," greeted the leader of the group, Freaki, who Ery had t at the festival. "Good to see you on board. I'm really looking forward to seeing our two packs battle it out." He then added, "There are so many joining this ti though. Hope you can pass the first round," before chuckling and leaving with his pack.
Arriving at the registration area, Ery finally saw what Freaki ant. There were indeed a lot of half-blood packs gathered, with just a glance he could count at least 5,000 people, aning around 800 wolf packs had decided to participate in this year's Royal Hunt, nearly triple compared to the last event five years ago.
Among the sea of people, Ery spotted familiar groups. There were at least three packs coming from the three major factions, Corvin, Karts and Locarios. They clearly stood out from the crowd with their faction sigils attached on their uniform.
There was also another large group of more than 50, at least a dozen packs wearing blue military-like uniforms. They were the Talbots' packs, veterans of the battlefield.
Other than that, Ery recognized another group made up entirely of fox half-blood won from the Sacred Rose. He also saw three groups bearing the Ironcrest emblem.
Finally, he noticed a few fierce-looking groups looking at him angrily, which he quickly recognized as part of the rebels. Seeing their attitude towards him, Ery couldn't help but think they had blad him for Frostmind's capture.
Many groups with various factions and organizations behind them were present at this place. Then there was Ery, who had co without anyone's support.
Just when Ery thought there would be no friendly faces among these people, a group of large figures in tal armor approached him. Among them was one that Ery recognized, Doopa of the Titanium Wolf.
The huge man was the slave wolf half-bloods he had set free from the Desert Watch City.
"Senior Evan, I am glad to find you here."
Doopa brought with him 8 other saint realm tal wolves, all appearing similar to him.
"I brought my brothers here to participate"
Apparently, Doppa and his brothers were part of the groups of sympathizers of Tidus the Chain breakers, there were dozens of them who ca to show their support for the cause.
[You have successfully registered to the Royal Hunt]
[Twilight Fangs]
[Leader: Evan Valerious]
[mbers: Morgana, Beowulf, Andrei, Yoro, Tatyana]
Less than an hour later, all 5,000 participants were summoned to the arena, where the audience was ready to welco them all.
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