While the other wolves continue feeding on the bear, I appraise the other wolves.

{Grey Wolf: Common grey forest wolf}

{Grey Wolf: Common grey forest wolf}

The Wolf King sits there on his haunches, watching them eat. He'd already taken and eaten his fill of the bear before his pack had arrived.

The information Appraisal was telling me was less than the information I could tell with my own eyes, looking at these wolves.

They were grey, and they were wolves, but looking at their- Ahem!

Equipment....

I knew which ones were female and which ones were male. The ones with saggy pelts and greyish-white fur were obviously old, while the smaller ones were probably still young.

When I try to appraise the bear that's practically buried under the number of wolves eating it, something strange happens to the box displaying the wolves' information.

The scripted language flickers, and rearranges itself to include new words in the appraisal boxes.

{Old Grey Wolf: An elderly grey male wolf.}

{Female Grey Wolf: A female grey wolf.}

{Grey Wolf Pup}

Now, the information was updated with what I had seen from my observations.

Hot air wafts up on my perch underneath me. The Wolf King had his forelegs up on the tree whose branch I was sitting on. It was the heat from the fire dancing on his back that I'd felt. With his body extended upwards, this guy was huge. His muzzle was less than 3 meters from my perch on the tree's branch.

If, at this moment I were to fall..I would become a rotisserie raven. The blood on his muzzle and the warmth that felt like it was growing hotter would make any lesser bird (like a crow) freak out.

But I wasn't scared at all. After all, I had something that this big, strong, Wolf King didn't have.

Take that, you overgrown fiery mutt!

Shaking my butt at him, I take a few hops forward, and fly up, up, away to the other side of the clearing.

No matter how big or magical he was, he couldn't beat the mobility I had with my wings.

"Kraaawk!"

I croak my triumph at him.

The Wolf King's one eye narrows, and he takes his forepaws off the tree, staring up at me where I wave my wings at him.

This was exhilarating. It felt like the Wolf King was my old boss, and I was mooning him. Nothing bound me now as a raven, I was free!

'You wanna piece of me!' I yell at him in my head, but it only comes out as a "Krak! Kaaaawr! Kroaaa!"

He seems to get it, howling in what I understood was outrage, he gives a low growl. The other wolves look up, but then seeing that it's only me their King was growling at, go back to enjoying their meal. With one light leap he bounds over until he's beneath the tree I'm in.

I flap my wings and dive off, giving him a wide berth as I circle around him, croaking the entire time. When I move onto the next tree, he follows, and to the next, he's still there.

From the way he was doggedly following me around, it seems that I was hitting a nerve with him. I'd been pretty good at knowing just the right buttons to push to start a fight, especially since I'd grown up with a sister. It came with the territory.

[Skill proficiency reached. Acquired skill 『Taunt LV1』]

Well whoop-dee-doo! I got a skill!

Let's test it out on the Wolf King.

『Taunt』

AROOOOOO!!

The trees shiver with the force of his howl, and every wolf stops what they're doing, turning to look at me in sync like a horror movie.

Well, 『Taunt』was working far better than I'd expected.

WHOOSH! The bush the Wolf King was standing next to bursts into flames, as if it'd been doused in gasoline. The fire was sparked from the intense flames that leap off of the wolf's back.

With another howl, every wolf, young and old, runs at the tree I'm in, clawing and biting at the tree bark that starts to splinter with cracking sounds.

The Wolf King, seemingly commanding them from behind, arches his back in what I could only describe as the yoga pose, downward dog. His jaws were wide open, his muzzle scrunched back and showing his sharp canines that glinted with dripping blood.

Although the pose itself didn't seem very menacing, seeing the way the inner parts of the flames were turning bright white, overwhelming the warm yellow and orange tones of the I knew something was about to happen.

Hopping around on the branch while it shivers and shakes with the wolves below throwing themselves at the tree, I get in a ready position, ready to move after I see what would happen.

Now it might seem stupid that I wasn't running away the moment those wolves started attacking the tree.

And I would say that's correct......

.....but I couldn't help it! It was too good an opportunity to miss, seeing what an Elemental Fire Wolf King could do. This would be good information I could use in the future.

Appraisal was going to be no good, if I had to gather the info myself.

Each single red tooth, with bits of bear meat still stuck in between are as clear as day, as a white orb starts rising from the back of the Wolf King.

If it did what I think it was going to do... I started flapping hard, driving myself straight out towards the right. The trees all looked the same, but I was hoping it was the same direction Greenie had gone.

Not a moment too soon, and..

BOOOOM!!!!

A white hot-orb of fire hits the tree behind me, shattering it into pieces. The force of the hot air exploding out on impact interrupts my flight, sending me whirling out into the darkness beyond the trees.

I needed to get outta here.

There was no time to be disoriented. Catching myself mid-flight, I fly as high up and out, away from the wolves as I possibly can. It was vital that I found a good spot while the light lasted. Once that fire dies out, my only source of light would be gone.

AWOOOOOOOOOO!

The Wolf King runs under me, leading his pack, all the wolves with their snouts high up in the air, barking and howling. Were they trying to catch my scent? I look back at the tree that was my source of light. Half of it was gone, the trunk split in two by the fire orb the Wolf King had released. Only the trunk, still standing upright, burning like a giant torch in the dark night.

Ears go straight up, and their snouts turn in the direction I was in. Oh no.

I force my wings to keep flying, away from them. It was hard with my baby raven wings. They weren't used to this much exercise yet, when most of the time was spent riding on a goblin's shoulder.

This was the beginning of a long night of hide-and-seek between a pack of wolves and a single raven, around the light of a burning, half-destroyed tree. As the gleams of morning sunlight begins to rise over the horizon, the tree trunk burns itself into ashes and a dead stump.

Never mess with a wolf. Their determination was limitless. This was what people called a dogged determination. Ha! Get it?