The creature tried to bite Lith only to have his mouth forced shut by a headbutt before the Ranger released his grip and performed a front kick which hit its solar plexus like a truck.

The alpha grinned as it jumped back to dissipate part of the impact, gaining more distance and time to heal its wounds.

'What part of trap did you not understand?' Tezka sighed in resignation. The kick coupled with the alpha's own strength, allowed Solus to pierce the creature's heart from behind.

The darkness infused Gatekeeper went straight through its chest, until the hilt of the blade struck the fur on its back.

"And that makes twelve." Lith said after ripping the hybrid's head from its shoulders. He stored all the carcasses inside their pocket dimension as Solus returned to his hand.

'Good job. I wasn't sure if it would work, but it was worth a shot.'

'Thanks.' She replied. 'I noticed that the angrier it got, the stupider it became. Also, the moment we separated the warrior from its pack, both its physical and magical strength plummeted.

'Even if it has been artificially boosted, their sharing ability still has a limited range.'

'I was counting on that. Why do you think I was so focused on getting rid of those who stayed behind? The bestiary is right about one thing: a pack is dangerous, a warg is just annoying. At least to me.' Lith inwardly smirked.

'By the way, what does the second gemstone on the gauntlet do? I always thought the first one represented your mana core, so a second one should mean you got another core.'

'Beats me.' She replied honestly.

Whenever Solus gained a new ability, she would also acquire the knowledge to use it as if it was something she was born with. This time, however, aside from her temporary energy form she had gained no ability that would justify the change her gauntlet form had undergone.

After she gave him her consent, Lith performed Invigoration on Solus, discovering that she still only had a single green core.

'We'll solve this mystery another time. We should get back to Maekosh, I need some rest.' Lith sighed.

There was a mana geyser just a few kilometers from the city, but he had no way to justify to his superiors why he loved "camping" so much to leave the city unprotected in the middle of a crisis.

While he flew toward Baroness Enja's mansion, Lith called his handler and gave her a full report on the situation.

"Oh gods!" Was Kamila only reaction. She forwarded the report as urgent to her supervisor who joined their open channel right after she heard about Lith's hypothesis.

"Do you really think this is Balkor's doing?" Captain Legato asked. She was a woman in her mid thirties with blonde hair, blue eyes, and such a serious face that you would expect it to crack at the slightest smile.

"It would explain the Abomination, the hive mind, and the sudden monster outbreaks. Maybe during his absence, he was experimenting on something different from undead, or maybe these monsters will be the base for his next batch of creatures." Lith replied.

"I will inform the Crown immediately and send someone to retrieve the fallen wargs. The Balkor department has a long history in dealing with his creations and they could extract useful information from them.

"Sadly, our resources are stretched thin. I can't offer you reinforcements unless it's strictly necessary. In some regions, the monsters' population has grown big enough to require joint operations between the army and the Association to eradicate them."

Lith understood the implied apology and gave Legato a salute before she left. He was actually happy to work alone. Aside from Jirni and a few others, companions were usually dead weight to him.

"One more thing. I need a background check on Baroness Enja."

"Just one second." Kamila knew what he meant and didn't know whether to be jealous or giggle at his stinginess. Lith would never ask a noble for hospitality unless he was forced to.

Being a guest in their homes usually meant giving them the opportunity to require his services as a Healer or, even worse, to set him up with their daughters. Lith much preferred investing a few coins for a hotel room.

Commoners were too scared by mages to delude themselves enough to try and seduce him. Maekosh was a special case. No one would bother him, yet Lith wouldn't trust eating anything he hadn't prepared himself.

Especially after locking up the tavern owner.

"She only has sons, no daughters nor nieces." Kamila replied.

"Thank heaven. I was starting to fear I would have to spend the night in jail with the merchants."

"Is Maekosh that bad?" She giggled.

"It's even worse. I can't wait to come back to Belius and eat the delicacies my girlfriend promised me she would learn to cook." He teased her.

"These are terrible times. You'd be lucky if she practiced just one of them, with all the mandatory overtime she's sure to be experiencing. Give her a kiss for me the next time you see her." She managed not to laugh while talking about herself in the third person.

"Will do. Over and out." On his way, Lith opened a small Gate and gave Xelos, the Prancing Griffon's owner, enough bread and water to last for a couple of days. If properly rationed, of course.

The Baroness was very happy to have him as her guest. The whole Enja family sighed in relief knowing that the only Ranger and Healer for hundreds of kilometers was just a few doors away.

After a delicious meal he could enjoy without worrying if it had been "spiced" with spit, snot, or maybe walked over by a couple of roaches, Lith disappeared in his bedroom with the excuse that he needed to rest in case something happened during the night.

Maybe it was his keen instinct talking, or maybe the heavens didn't want him to pass for an ungrateful freeloader. Whatever the answer was, something did happen. A family of five was butchered overnight and their house set ablaze.

This time the culprit didn't bother to cover their tracks. The bite marks on the victims' bodies left no room for doubts. Something big and hairy had barged through the front door for a late-night snack.

No one had noticed anything until the fire broke out because the house was surrounded by vacant homes. At first, everyone blamed the merchants, but when Lith showed the Baroness and the Captain of the city guard that they were still locked up and their clothes were pristine, the crowd had to put down their pitchforks.

Maekosh's only protective formation was a detection array that would've been triggered if someone had entered the city's premises without passing from its gates, so the wargs couldn't have come from outside.

Old grievances resurfaced and soon people started pointing fingers. Only the rising sun and their need to get ready for work prevented the body count from increasing.

'This is really bad.' Lith thought.

'Either some wargs are capable of shapeshifting, or I'm about to play a goddamn round of Town of Salem.'