Wolf’s target this time was a rogue mercenary band. He cleared their camp out much the same way he’d handled the fort held by those one hundred and odd bandits near Oakwood Freeland.
This company was much smaller. It consisted of thirty well trained, well armed men. However, due to their experience and track record, these professional warriors were considered a greater threat than a hundred-odd peasants with improvised weapons.
Wolf disagreed with the estimate. There were three times less people, meaning the job was that much easier. Whether you’re killing people who sleep professionally or amateurishly makes very little difference.
Silently weeding out the group took less than half an hour. After picking up the now ownerless spoils, Wolf headed back to meet up with the rest of the party, deciding to rest a bit along the way.
By the time the youth had reached Pashome it was already late in the afternoon.
He was surprised to hear from the innkeeper that his friends hadn’t moved from their rooms, asking to have breakfast and lunch in their rooms.
Worried Wolf dashed up the steps, causing the boards to whine under his heavy steps. A moment later he was in front of the girl’s room. He was about to rush in, but stopped himself at the last possible moment.
*Knock! Knock! Knock!*
The worried youth hammered the door three times with his knuckles, eliciting a startled yelp.
“Is everything all right?” Wolf shouted, ready to break in.
“Wolf is that you?” Anna asked after a moment. “You scared the living daylights out of us!”
Several seconds later a drowsy girl wearing pajamas and a bathrobe opened the door.
“The innkeeper told me you guys needed everything brought up to your room,” Wolf blurted out. “Are you feeling all right?”
“We took a day to rest from all the walking,” Anna said with a yawn. “Now, if you don’t mind, we were sleeping when a certain someone banged on our door very loudly. We’ll come down for dinner in a couple of hours. Is that fine with you?”
Wolf nodded hesitantly. He recalled that Anna had low stamina, but that was when she was a child.
Maybe I should have her exercise more? he wondered as the girl smiled at him and gently closed the door.
Hearing the soft click, Wolf twisted his lip a bit.
Dammit! I should’ve said something at the end, he grumbled inwardly before heading to his room.
Wolf barged inside, by knocking once he’d already hit his daily limit. Luckily, just like the girls, Wayde was stretching his back on the bed. He opened one eye and shot Wolf a strange look, giving off the air of a lazy old cat.
“So?” Wayde asked. “You’re already whipped?”
Wolf rolled his eyes and sat down on the floor to meditate, while his friend snickered.
The quiet laugh annoyed Wolf so much that he contemplated withdrawing the sliver of his awareness he always left to watch over his body. In the end he decided against it. His father told him never to let himself get too absorbed in meditation, since you never knew which of your buddies would stab you in the back given the opportunity.
***
“So, are you ready to go and pick flowers?” Wolf asked with enthusiasm as soon as the tired party wrapped up their communal dinner.
All four of his friends gave him hollow looks, and finally Matilda spoke.
“Wolf, all we’ve been doing is walk for weeks,” she said, knowing full well what her future had in store for her. Namely, two more days of forced march.
Everyone already had blisters and sore feet. The girls felt smelly and dirty, this was the longest they’d ever spent without taking a proper bath. They’d spent the entire day taking turns soaking in the tub and relaxing.
Other than his lessons, Wolf really was right about one thing. Protection from Elements came in handy when bathing in cold water.
Blissfully oblivious of all the problems the female portion of the party had with his leadership, Wolf started lecturing.
“You know, adventuring is just a whole lot of walking with brief bursts of violence from time to time,” he said something similar to what his father had told him years ago.
Wolf thought it was a very true and profound sounding statement.
Judging by the blank gazes, he was the only one who found those words profound.
“Well, anyway,” Wolf continued, facing this tough crowd. “We’re off tomorrow. After two days of hard marching we’ll reach Redwood. Once we start picking flowers remember that you have to have everyone from the party within your sight at all times. Don’t spread too far out and remember that safety comes first.”
“You’ve said that half a dozen times since we’ve left Silver City,” Anna grumbled, rolling her eyes.
Wolf was such a worrywart. What could possibly happen on a mission to gather herbs?
Two days later the party had their answer.
They’d entered a lightly forested area in which Snow Petunias bloomed. The forest had a light snow cover, which only made the mangled bodies in scarlet patches even more conspicuous.
Eye-catching red and white flowers bloomed, while fresh green shoots sprouted out of the corpses which were trampled beyond recognition.
“We’re in the danger zone now. Well, I don’t mean a real Danger Zone, but a zone that has danger. Just like—” Wolf paused for a moment so brief nobody really noticed it.
Initially he wanted to say Mandy, but then realized Anna would be pissed. Then he thought to make a joke and omit the name, and instead say the incredibly sexy clerk. However he immediately realized Anna might try to kill him then, or storm off on her own, neither of which was an outcome Wolf wanted.
“... that Mission Hall clerk warned us.” As Wolf finished the sentence he could’ve sworn he’d seen a satisfied glint in Anna’s eyes for a brief moment. However, he had to finish the warning while it still had the impact of the gory sight. Hopefully, at least one of them paid attention now.
“The pollen of Snow Petunia induces irritability and bloodlust in its immediate vicinity. Mages above the Fifth Order are immune to this effect, as are Monster Beasts above Seventh Order. However, Mages and Monster Beasts of lower Order are only affected to an extent…”
As Wolf droned on and on, using this perfect opportunity that graphically displayed the price of underestimating these humble flowers, Matilda and Barbara ignored him completely, feeling sick to their stomachs.
They’d never seen so much blood and dismembered meat before. Luckily, it was cold, otherwise the stench would’ve been unbearable.
Anna and Wayde had already seen some graphic displays of violence, so they fared somewhat better. The two of them simply gazed at the crimson compost with disgust.
“… You can see the fresh sprouts growing from the blood. Snow Petunia uses blood as fertilizer, the more potent the vitality the faster it grows. It’s kind of ironic that Mages are the most resistant to them, yet offer inferior nourishment when compared with Sword-Sages and Body Refiners.” Wolf gave a basic introduction to Snow Petunias as he entered the lecturer mode. The thought that this behavior was oddly familiar never crossed his mind.
“Aren’t we in danger of going berserk then?” Matilda asked the logical question.
“Not really. Your souls should already be powerful enough to resist the full effect,” Wolf answered seriously, unaware of his guff. “You’ll just be cranky and irritable when you’re within two meters of the flowers. You won’t lash out unless someone triggers you. So as long as nobody says anything and we take frequent breaks you’ll be fine. Remember to use gloves when handling the Snow Petunias and store them as soon as you pluck them.”
As they’d previously agreed, Wolf stood guard.
Winter in general is the season when predators are more desperate and daring. Season coupled with toxins released by Snow Petunias meant that wildlife around these parts was especially ferocious and dangerous when these flowers bloomed.
While Wolf watched over his friends, Wayde moved towards the flowers without hesitation and started picking them. As for the women, they had unwilling expressions.
The white flowers with scarlet veins on their petals were beautiful, but what surrounded them was nauseating. After a couple of moments Matilda steeled herself and moved forward, immediately followed by the tomboyish Barbara. Anna was the most unwilling. She didn’t know why, but the sight of mangled bodies disturbed her much more than she’d expected.
In the pools of blood the young woman saw the faces of the bodyguards who used to protect her, but were either dead or unaccounted for.
“Just make sure not to damage the roots—” Wolf said and Anna jumped, moving her hands to block invisible attackers heading towards her.
She was about to start cursing Wolf, when she saw the way he was looking at her.
“Are you all right?” he asked softly.
“I’m fine.” Anna nodded, wringing her hands together.
“I’ve seen blood before,” she continued, but then fell silent. So, why is it a problem for me to see such a large pool of it? Why do I keep seeing Jack and Kyle and Ricky staring at me with dead eyes? Is it a hallucination from Snow Petunias?
“Ahem, make sure not to damage the roots,” Wolf repeated after Anna got to work. “Otherwise when the next blooming season happens people won’t have any flowers to pick.”
As time passed the gang harvested flowers which were out in the open. Then Wolf started pointing out the more hidden ones.
However, he always used the term ‘pluck flower’ and after a while Barbara started snickering. The fact that Wolf was using such a playboyish phrase without being aware of it made the whole thing even funnier.
Anna pretended not to notice the mocking grins, and the fact that Barbara’s gaze often wandered towards her whenever Wolf mentioned flowers in need of plucking. However, drop by drop, the cup was slowly filling, until Anna’s temper flared.
“Shut up,” Anna shouted at Wolf before facing Barbara. “And you, bitch, what are you smiling at?”
Barbara’s grin twisted into a sneer.
“Are you talking to me? You’re half a cutthroat, half a whore and you dare say something to me?” Barbara growled. “How about you stuff some beggar dick into your mouth and shut up, you little tramp?”
“What did you just call me!” Anna screamed, already rushing towards Barbara.
Her blood boiled. The young woman was ready to pull some hair and slap the redheaded bitch. Suddenly an arm as strong as a steel band coiled itself around her waist and yanked Anna back, knocking the wind out of her.
Barbara on the other hand didn’t have Wolf to hold her back. She screamed and lunged towards Anna, who was held fast by her boyfriend.
Seeing Barbara running towards them, Wolf sighed. He made a simple side step, letting Barbara charge past, fall down and bury her head in the snow and mud. Meanwhile Anna kept trying to scream while catching her breath, resulting in odd choking noises. Finally, she shifted to muttering curses and obscenities at Barbara, who was getting her face out of the snow.
Listening to the string of foul words coming out of Anna’s mouth Wolf was stunned.
Who would’ve thought noble ladies knew such words?
Some of her curses were new even to Wolf, who’d spent a few years living among beggars. Meanwhile Matilda pressed her ears with her hands and looked away, while Wayde was doing a great job suppressing his anger. If anyone had attention to spare they would’ve noticed that he was quite used to it.
Wolf moved away from the flower patch, while carrying Anna with him. He used the young woman like a bullfighter’s cape to draw Barbara away from the toxic plants.
This is far enough, the youth thought. Barbara should calm down quickly with all the cardio she’s doing.
“You two should just calm down,” Wolf said, trying to defuse the situation.
“Shut up!” the two women shouted at the same time.
Fortunately, even with all the walking these past few weeks, Barbara’s stamina ran out quickly. She dropped down to her knees, panting from exhaustion.
Anna was about to shout yet another obscenity, but Wolf covered her mouth.
Barbara had calmed down and she was going to be fine, unless someone provoked her again. In that case the young woman just might end up hurting herself.
Wolf had just solved one problem, but he’d made a much bigger one.
As soon as he’d covered Anna’s mouth, the woman’s eyes turned red.
Wolf was shushing her!
She’d seen how her father had shushed her mother numerous times, saying she had no thoughts worth sharing with other humans. Anna felt humiliated just hearing those words directed at her mother.
As far as she knew, shushing was the worst Edwin ever did. Anna didn’t know much about the abuse Margaret suffered. She had only seen her mother’s bruised face once, and that was after she’d run away. Back then she blamed herself more than she’d blamed her father, because the whole affair was her fault for running away.
Anna’s outrage, coupled with the stimulant of Snow Petunia pollen made her go mad. She wriggled her head left and right until she’d freed her mouth enough to bite Wolf’s hand.
Son of a bitch! Your finger is as tough as wood! Anna thought as tears of helplessness started running down her cheeks. Then the poor woman finally started sobbing.
Wolf didn’t know what to do and let go of his crying girlfriend, who then pounced on him and started striking him with her fists.
“You blockhead! How could you do that to me?” she sobbed. “I felt like I had a piece of wood in my mouth!”
Anna kept punching until her fists started hurting. Then she kept crying into Wolf’s chest.
“Don’t ever do something like that again,” she mumbled, sounding like a wounded kitten.
Wolf had no idea what just happened, but he knew what he was supposed to say when a woman was crying.
“Sorry,” he whispered softly.
He wasn’t sure what he was sorry about. He simply did what needed to be done and in the end managed to handle things so that nobody got hurt.
Thankfully, violent rustling of distant bushes came to his aid.
“Everyone get ready,” Wolf exclaimed. “Wayde, Matilda, move away from the Petunias!”
He’d long since noticed that Wayde was putting in conscious effort to fight the effect of the toxin, while Matilda seemed to be completely unfazed by the poisonous herbs. Barbara was a muddy mess panting with her butt on the ground. If it weren’t for Protection from Elements she would’ve been a shoe-in for pneumonia, but luckily she fully ignored the cold air and freezing mud she was covered in.
Anna wasn’t as exhausted physically, but she was mentally sapped and in a battle she would be a greater liability than Barbara.
So, the two of them were out of the fight, but this was still an excellent chance for Wayde and Matilda to get some hands-on experience.
Finally, a slightly oversized wild boar jumped out of the evergreens. The Monster Beast’s fur was near-black green and it had a horn at the end of its snout.
The creature turned its head left and right, scanning the area with its bloodshot eyes. It was sniffing the air and taking deep breaths, obviously already under the heavy influence of the Snow Petunia’s toxin.
“A Trihorn! Tough skin! Charger! Best to avoid a head on clash. Just dodge the attacks!” Wolf shouted out the Monster Beast’s name and the most important attributes to Wayde so that the man would know how to act.
However the Trihorn was already irritated enough to have foam on its mouth. The loud shouting was immediately perceived as a challenge and the Monster Beast charged straight towards Wolf.
“No, not me. Wayde!” Wolf chided the boar, as if it was a misbehaving puppy.
The Monster Beast naturally ignored the suggestion and bounded straight towards the loudmouth manling.
The women screamed as the boar was about to impale their friend, but Wolf sidestepped with an annoyed look.
*Crack!*
With a powerful kick Wolf shattered the Monster Beast’s ribs and sent the one hundred and fifty kilo pig flying straight towards Wayde.
The poor boar’s eyes almost popped out of its sockets. It felt as if a mountain had crashed into him. Wolf’s leg was infused with Internal Energy of an Eighth Order Sword-Sage and had gone through three rounds of tempering in accordance with the Star Body Body Refining art.
In general, Wolf preferred to use finesse rather than brute strength. However, now wasn’t the time for his training. It was time for Wayde to practice.
*Thud!*
The pig crashed into the ground two steps away from Wayde and vomited blood. The Monster Beast was completely dazed, but then again so was the rest of Wolf’s party.
Wayde stared at the boar, his eyes as wide as saucers. His diminutive roommate had just kicked the beast at least five times bigger than him like a ball and sent it spinning through the air. There was even a dent in the shape of Wolf’s leg on its flank.
Wayde was certain he was dreaming.
“What are you waiting for?! Kill it!” Wolf shouted at his frozen roommate.
Despite the warning, Wayde hadn’t even unsheathed his sword. Not that you should use a sword when fighting boars, but such details could be overlooked.
Finally, Wayde drew his sword and hacked it amateurishly at the Monster Beast’s skull.
The boar was so hurt already that it didn’t even notice the light slap it just suffered.
Wolf stared with shock. Wayde was a grown man, how could he not know how to kill a Monster Beast?
“Stab it in the eye!” Wolf shouted and Wayde nodded, then did as he was told.
*Squelch*
Unfortunately, the future Duke’s strike was too weak and lacked decisiveness.
The blow dug out the monster’s eye, but the pain made the boar snap out of its daze.
The Monster Beast squealed, then knocked Wayde to the side, its tusk leaving a nasty gash on the young man’s arm. Then the boar ran around madly with a sword sticking out of its eye socket.
Finally, with a thud, the beast rammed itself into a tall pine, lodging the sword into its skull all the way to the hilt.
Wolf watched out for the girls, while observing how the boar suicided against the tree. Finally, he twisted his mouth awkwardly.
“That,” Wolf started, trying to find some encouraging words to cheer up his friend. However, he failed.
“That was really bad,” Wolf said. “But on the bright side, you have lots of room for improvement!”
Wolf’s target this time was a rogue mercenary band. He cleared their camp out much the same way he’d handled the fort held by those one hundred and odd bandits near Oakwood Freeland.
This company was much smaller. It consisted of thirty well trained, well armed men. However, due to their experience and track record, these professional warriors were considered a greater threat than a hundred-odd peasants with improvised weapons.
Wolf disagreed with the estimate. There were three times less people, meaning the job was that much easier. Whether you’re killing people who sleep professionally or amateurishly makes very little difference.
Silently weeding out the group took less than half an hour. After picking up the now ownerless spoils, Wolf headed back to meet up with the rest of the party, deciding to rest a bit along the way.
By the time the youth had reached Pashome it was already late in the afternoon.
He was surprised to hear from the innkeeper that his friends hadn’t moved from their rooms, asking to have breakfast and lunch in their rooms.
Worried Wolf dashed up the steps, causing the boards to whine under his heavy steps. A moment later he was in front of the girl’s room. He was about to rush in, but stopped himself at the last possible moment.
*Knock! Knock! Knock!*
The worried youth hammered the door three times with his knuckles, eliciting a startled yelp.
“Is everything all right?” Wolf shouted, ready to break in.
“Wolf is that you?” Anna asked after a moment. “You scared the living daylights out of us!”
Several seconds later a drowsy girl wearing pajamas and a bathrobe opened the door.
“The innkeeper told me you guys needed everything brought up to your room,” Wolf blurted out. “Are you feeling all right?”
“We took a day to rest from all the walking,” Anna said with a yawn. “Now, if you don’t mind, we were sleeping when a certain someone banged on our door very loudly. We’ll come down for dinner in a couple of hours. Is that fine with you?”
Wolf nodded hesitantly. He recalled that Anna had low stamina, but that was when she was a child.
Maybe I should have her exercise more? he wondered as the girl smiled at him and gently closed the door.
Hearing the soft click, Wolf twisted his lip a bit.
Dammit! I should’ve said something at the end, he grumbled inwardly before heading to his room.
Wolf barged inside, by knocking once he’d already hit his daily limit. Luckily, just like the girls, Wayde was stretching his back on the bed. He opened one eye and shot Wolf a strange look, giving off the air of a lazy old cat.
“So?” Wayde asked. “You’re already whipped?”
Wolf rolled his eyes and sat down on the floor to meditate, while his friend snickered.
The quiet laugh annoyed Wolf so much that he contemplated withdrawing the sliver of his awareness he always left to watch over his body. In the end he decided against it. His father told him never to let himself get too absorbed in meditation, since you never knew which of your buddies would stab you in the back given the opportunity.
***
“So, are you ready to go and pick flowers?” Wolf asked with enthusiasm as soon as the tired party wrapped up their communal dinner.
All four of his friends gave him hollow looks, and finally Matilda spoke.
“Wolf, all we’ve been doing is walk for weeks,” she said, knowing full well what her future had in store for her. Namely, two more days of forced march.
Everyone already had blisters and sore feet. The girls felt smelly and dirty, this was the longest they’d ever spent without taking a proper bath. They’d spent the entire day taking turns soaking in the tub and relaxing.
Other than his lessons, Wolf really was right about one thing. Protection from Elements came in handy when bathing in cold water.
Blissfully oblivious of all the problems the female portion of the party had with his leadership, Wolf started lecturing.
“You know, adventuring is just a whole lot of walking with brief bursts of violence from time to time,” he said something similar to what his father had told him years ago.
Wolf thought it was a very true and profound sounding statement.
Judging by the blank gazes, he was the only one who found those words profound.
“Well, anyway,” Wolf continued, facing this tough crowd. “We’re off tomorrow. After two days of hard marching we’ll reach Redwood. Once we start picking flowers remember that you have to have everyone from the party within your sight at all times. Don’t spread too far out and remember that safety comes first.”
“You’ve said that half a dozen times since we’ve left Silver City,” Anna grumbled, rolling her eyes.
Wolf was such a worrywart. What could possibly happen on a mission to gather herbs?
Two days later the party had their answer.
They’d entered a lightly forested area in which Snow Petunias bloomed. The forest had a light snow cover, which only made the mangled bodies in scarlet patches even more conspicuous.
Eye-catching red and white flowers bloomed, while fresh green shoots sprouted out of the corpses which were trampled beyond recognition.
“We’re in the danger zone now. Well, I don’t mean a real Danger Zone, but a zone that has danger. Just like—” Wolf paused for a moment so brief nobody really noticed it.
Initially he wanted to say Mandy, but then realized Anna would be pissed. Then he thought to make a joke and omit the name, and instead say the incredibly sexy clerk. However he immediately realized Anna might try to kill him then, or storm off on her own, neither of which was an outcome Wolf wanted.
“... that Mission Hall clerk warned us.” As Wolf finished the sentence he could’ve sworn he’d seen a satisfied glint in Anna’s eyes for a brief moment. However, he had to finish the warning while it still had the impact of the gory sight. Hopefully, at least one of them paid attention now.
“The pollen of Snow Petunia induces irritability and bloodlust in its immediate vicinity. Mages above the Fifth Order are immune to this effect, as are Monster Beasts above Seventh Order. However, Mages and Monster Beasts of lower Order are only affected to an extent…”
As Wolf droned on and on, using this perfect opportunity that graphically displayed the price of underestimating these humble flowers, Matilda and Barbara ignored him completely, feeling sick to their stomachs.
They’d never seen so much blood and dismembered meat before. Luckily, it was cold, otherwise the stench would’ve been unbearable.
Anna and Wayde had already seen some graphic displays of violence, so they fared somewhat better. The two of them simply gazed at the crimson compost with disgust.
“… You can see the fresh sprouts growing from the blood. Snow Petunia uses blood as fertilizer, the more potent the vitality the faster it grows. It’s kind of ironic that Mages are the most resistant to them, yet offer inferior nourishment when compared with Sword-Sages and Body Refiners.” Wolf gave a basic introduction to Snow Petunias as he entered the lecturer mode. The thought that this behavior was oddly familiar never crossed his mind.
“Aren’t we in danger of going berserk then?” Matilda asked the logical question.
“Not really. Your souls should already be powerful enough to resist the full effect,” Wolf answered seriously, unaware of his guff. “You’ll just be cranky and irritable when you’re within two meters of the flowers. You won’t lash out unless someone triggers you. So as long as nobody says anything and we take frequent breaks you’ll be fine. Remember to use gloves when handling the Snow Petunias and store them as soon as you pluck them.”
As they’d previously agreed, Wolf stood guard.
Winter in general is the season when predators are more desperate and daring. Season coupled with toxins released by Snow Petunias meant that wildlife around these parts was especially ferocious and dangerous when these flowers bloomed.
While Wolf watched over his friends, Wayde moved towards the flowers without hesitation and started picking them. As for the women, they had unwilling expressions.
The white flowers with scarlet veins on their petals were beautiful, but what surrounded them was nauseating. After a couple of moments Matilda steeled herself and moved forward, immediately followed by the tomboyish Barbara. Anna was the most unwilling. She didn’t know why, but the sight of mangled bodies disturbed her much more than she’d expected.
In the pools of blood the young woman saw the faces of the bodyguards who used to protect her, but were either dead or unaccounted for.
“Just make sure not to damage the roots—” Wolf said and Anna jumped, moving her hands to block invisible attackers heading towards her.
She was about to start cursing Wolf, when she saw the way he was looking at her.
“Are you all right?” he asked softly.
“I’m fine.” Anna nodded, wringing her hands together.
“I’ve seen blood before,” she continued, but then fell silent. So, why is it a problem for me to see such a large pool of it? Why do I keep seeing Jack and Kyle and Ricky staring at me with dead eyes? Is it a hallucination from Snow Petunias?
“Ahem, make sure not to damage the roots,” Wolf repeated after Anna got to work. “Otherwise when the next blooming season happens people won’t have any flowers to pick.”
As time passed the gang harvested flowers which were out in the open. Then Wolf started pointing out the more hidden ones.
However, he always used the term ‘pluck flower’ and after a while Barbara started snickering. The fact that Wolf was using such a playboyish phrase without being aware of it made the whole thing even funnier.
Anna pretended not to notice the mocking grins, and the fact that Barbara’s gaze often wandered towards her whenever Wolf mentioned flowers in need of plucking. However, drop by drop, the cup was slowly filling, until Anna’s temper flared.
“Shut up,” Anna shouted at Wolf before facing Barbara. “And you, bitch, what are you smiling at?”
Barbara’s grin twisted into a sneer.
“Are you talking to me? You’re half a cutthroat, half a whore and you dare say something to me?” Barbara growled. “How about you stuff some beggar dick into your mouth and shut up, you little tramp?”
“What did you just call me!” Anna screamed, already rushing towards Barbara.
Her blood boiled. The young woman was ready to pull some hair and slap the redheaded bitch. Suddenly an arm as strong as a steel band coiled itself around her waist and yanked Anna back, knocking the wind out of her.
Barbara on the other hand didn’t have Wolf to hold her back. She screamed and lunged towards Anna, who was held fast by her boyfriend.
Seeing Barbara running towards them, Wolf sighed. He made a simple side step, letting Barbara charge past, fall down and bury her head in the snow and mud. Meanwhile Anna kept trying to scream while catching her breath, resulting in odd choking noises. Finally, she shifted to muttering curses and obscenities at Barbara, who was getting her face out of the snow.
Listening to the string of foul words coming out of Anna’s mouth Wolf was stunned.
Who would’ve thought noble ladies knew such words?
Some of her curses were new even to Wolf, who’d spent a few years living among beggars. Meanwhile Matilda pressed her ears with her hands and looked away, while Wayde was doing a great job suppressing his anger. If anyone had attention to spare they would’ve noticed that he was quite used to it.
Wolf moved away from the flower patch, while carrying Anna with him. He used the young woman like a bullfighter’s cape to draw Barbara away from the toxic plants.
This is far enough, the youth thought. Barbara should calm down quickly with all the cardio she’s doing.
“You two should just calm down,” Wolf said, trying to defuse the situation.
“Shut up!” the two women shouted at the same time.
Fortunately, even with all the walking these past few weeks, Barbara’s stamina ran out quickly. She dropped down to her knees, panting from exhaustion.
Anna was about to shout yet another obscenity, but Wolf covered her mouth.
Barbara had calmed down and she was going to be fine, unless someone provoked her again. In that case the young woman just might end up hurting herself.
Wolf had just solved one problem, but he’d made a much bigger one.
As soon as he’d covered Anna’s mouth, the woman’s eyes turned red.
Wolf was shushing her!
She’d seen how her father had shushed her mother numerous times, saying she had no thoughts worth sharing with other humans. Anna felt humiliated just hearing those words directed at her mother.
As far as she knew, shushing was the worst Edwin ever did. Anna didn’t know much about the abuse Margaret suffered. She had only seen her mother’s bruised face once, and that was after she’d run away. Back then she blamed herself more than she’d blamed her father, because the whole affair was her fault for running away.
Anna’s outrage, coupled with the stimulant of Snow Petunia pollen made her go mad. She wriggled her head left and right until she’d freed her mouth enough to bite Wolf’s hand.
Son of a bitch! Your finger is as tough as wood! Anna thought as tears of helplessness started running down her cheeks. Then the poor woman finally started sobbing.
Wolf didn’t know what to do and let go of his crying girlfriend, who then pounced on him and started striking him with her fists.
“You blockhead! How could you do that to me?” she sobbed. “I felt like I had a piece of wood in my mouth!”
Anna kept punching until her fists started hurting. Then she kept crying into Wolf’s chest.
“Don’t ever do something like that again,” she mumbled, sounding like a wounded kitten.
Wolf had no idea what just happened, but he knew what he was supposed to say when a woman was crying.
“Sorry,” he whispered softly.
He wasn’t sure what he was sorry about. He simply did what needed to be done and in the end managed to handle things so that nobody got hurt.
Thankfully, violent rustling of distant bushes came to his aid.
“Everyone get ready,” Wolf exclaimed. “Wayde, Matilda, move away from the Petunias!”
He’d long since noticed that Wayde was putting in conscious effort to fight the effect of the toxin, while Matilda seemed to be completely unfazed by the poisonous herbs. Barbara was a muddy mess panting with her butt on the ground. If it weren’t for Protection from Elements she would’ve been a shoe-in for pneumonia, but luckily she fully ignored the cold air and freezing mud she was covered in.
Anna wasn’t as exhausted physically, but she was mentally sapped and in a battle she would be a greater liability than Barbara.
So, the two of them were out of the fight, but this was still an excellent chance for Wayde and Matilda to get some hands-on experience.
Finally, a slightly oversized wild boar jumped out of the evergreens. The Monster Beast’s fur was near-black green and it had a horn at the end of its snout.
The creature turned its head left and right, scanning the area with its bloodshot eyes. It was sniffing the air and taking deep breaths, obviously already under the heavy influence of the Snow Petunia’s toxin.
“A Trihorn! Tough skin! Charger! Best to avoid a head on clash. Just dodge the attacks!” Wolf shouted out the Monster Beast’s name and the most important attributes to Wayde so that the man would know how to act.
However the Trihorn was already irritated enough to have foam on its mouth. The loud shouting was immediately perceived as a challenge and the Monster Beast charged straight towards Wolf.
“No, not me. Wayde!” Wolf chided the boar, as if it was a misbehaving puppy.
The Monster Beast naturally ignored the suggestion and bounded straight towards the loudmouth manling.
The women screamed as the boar was about to impale their friend, but Wolf sidestepped with an annoyed look.
*Crack!*
With a powerful kick Wolf shattered the Monster Beast’s ribs and sent the one hundred and fifty kilo pig flying straight towards Wayde.
The poor boar’s eyes almost popped out of its sockets. It felt as if a mountain had crashed into him. Wolf’s leg was infused with Internal Energy of an Eighth Order Sword-Sage and had gone through three rounds of tempering in accordance with the Star Body Body Refining art.
In general, Wolf preferred to use finesse rather than brute strength. However, now wasn’t the time for his training. It was time for Wayde to practice.
*Thud!*
The pig crashed into the ground two steps away from Wayde and vomited blood. The Monster Beast was completely dazed, but then again so was the rest of Wolf’s party.
Wayde stared at the boar, his eyes as wide as saucers. His diminutive roommate had just kicked the beast at least five times bigger than him like a ball and sent it spinning through the air. There was even a dent in the shape of Wolf’s leg on its flank.
Wayde was certain he was dreaming.
“What are you waiting for?! Kill it!” Wolf shouted at his frozen roommate.
Despite the warning, Wayde hadn’t even unsheathed his sword. Not that you should use a sword when fighting boars, but such details could be overlooked.
Finally, Wayde drew his sword and hacked it amateurishly at the Monster Beast’s skull.
The boar was so hurt already that it didn’t even notice the light slap it just suffered.
Wolf stared with shock. Wayde was a grown man, how could he not know how to kill a Monster Beast?
“Stab it in the eye!” Wolf shouted and Wayde nodded, then did as he was told.
*Squelch*
Unfortunately, the future Duke’s strike was too weak and lacked decisiveness.
The blow dug out the monster’s eye, but the pain made the boar snap out of its daze.
The Monster Beast squealed, then knocked Wayde to the side, its tusk leaving a nasty gash on the young man’s arm. Then the boar ran around madly with a sword sticking out of its eye socket.
Finally, with a thud, the beast rammed itself into a tall pine, lodging the sword into its skull all the way to the hilt.
Wolf watched out for the girls, while observing how the boar suicided against the tree. Finally, he twisted his mouth awkwardly.
“That,” Wolf started, trying to find some encouraging words to cheer up his friend. However, he failed.
“That was really bad,” Wolf said. “But on the bright side, you have lots of room for improvement!”
