-Rainy Morning. Nefiru's POV-

Running faster than a horse on occasions while leaving footprints in the black ground softened by the falling rain for the past couple days, I advance on the flattened tall grass path used periodically to reach the woods. I'm currently able to run at these speed for long periods of time without tripping due to training since the human motor skills from my past life sometimes resurface to confuse me enough to trip, but at the speed that I'm capable of sprinting, it's similar to a car crash.

I have too many human memories and not enough dragon memories, so had to practice running in the open space between the Ragefire state and the forest, but a mistake usually led to rolling on the grass for tens of meters. I compare the phantom limb effect that occurs when my brain tries to anticipate signals from a human body that no longer exists.

After some exercises with the fifteen-meter span wings, I'm able to sustain my big body longer than before and used gliding when jumping over the seven-meter tall walls of the estate since they can't build a gate in the backyard yet.

I can lift my body a couple meters from the ground, but for a short time since I'm having trouble moving my wings fast enough to stop falling, and it seems I'm lacking the muscle strength or not flapping them right. I confirm the muscles on my back itching to have them stretch.

Reaching the forest after a few minutes running, I slowed down my speed while advancing deeper into the trees barely taller than my raised head then focus my senses to detect any creature.

I must calm myself down and blend with the smell of the forest before reaching the oldest trees area, or my scent will give me away to any creature that could be my snack or munch on me. I affirm strolling towards the taller trees ahead while sniffing the air.

Ahh~ nothing like the smell of cold rain and wet vegetation in the morning. There's mist on this side of the mountain since the humidity is very high, so conditions are perfect for this lightning-water dragon to use water magic to his heart's content. I admire the current weather while avoiding the tree branches from getting into my eyes.

It's possible to tell a human is there without knowing their particular odor, and simply by sniffing out the smell of metal or clothes which is why a strong enough scent must be used to mask a source of multiple, just like how animals on Earth rub their bodies on rotten corpses. However, in this world, not even bones or bloody earth remain soon after a creature perish since the animals work faster than Earth's to make use of available food.

Well, beasts of certain intelligence becomes alerted when a new odor approaches, and this includes me not to let anything sneak up, so it's difficult to deceive them all with the same concealment method. The most effective source found everywhere in the forest are the tiny aromatic black bushes since their smell is intense, but rubbing my body with them is proving troublesome and I have to pluck them then plant it back in the ground after usage... I count on the tree secretions and rain to provide enough cover when going into wolf territory after my siblings.

Well, even sniffing someone's butt tells you about who they are, like a scent-based personality detector, and it's easier to track someone once you know every smell on them, but I can't remember my sibling's scents at all. I realize the problem of tracking the two lizards in this weather.

...

After searching off-path for the small aromatic Bush and rubbing my whole body with it, I continued towards wolf territory while going through the hunting ground of my younger self.

How nostalgic...it feels like yesterday when as a little dragon, hunted critters to extinction around here and my old Lair in the cliff where I ate insects to survive barely fits my paws now... I reminisce about my childhood in this place while hearing the forest bustling with activity because of the rain. I've come a long way, but there's no time to visit the canal to indulge in sentimentality. I concluded from my mental map of the forest while looking to my right where the mountain hidden by the mist should be.

...

Around two hours since my departure from the Ragefires state, I reach the scent pillars marking the borders of wolf territory closer to the volcano.

Sighs...running through the forest is a pain with the maneuverability of my current size...in short, many trees are missing some bark, but at least my scales are fine. I stopped right before the markings of wolf territory to inspect my body for damages that could give away the scent of blood, but only tree resins and green bark paint some scales because of my clumsiness.

I imagine that my siblings will have it tougher than me since they don't have much magic and their bodies should be bigger than mine. I confirmed then turned my head around to look in front.

This invisible wall is quite imposing and didn't know before when little, but from what I learned, wolves higher than Rank 7 should be doing these markings with their piss... which means if I wait until the scent decreases, they will come to do it again. According to Alphonse, the wolves protecting this territory are taller than me and very old, but they are mostly up north where more territorial disputes take place.

Well, there are no wolves as tall as dragons of the same age since contrary to our fast growth, their digestive systems allow them to be without food for much longer instead...truly creatures that specialize in endurance. I admire the furry creatures that can survive with less food than dragons and don't have their own bodies eat them to heal injuries regardless of the resulting condition.

However, down here is the tip of the triangle that expands northwest with the mountain range on the right side, so they hardly come down here, but still...they must be working hard to keep the territory without their Divine now. I sympathize with the descendants of the Divine Dark Wolf who lost their backer in a fight with the FireFox Divine. Though, since Darkness at that rank can probably just make microwaves or infrared lasers for attacking, then is not the right affinity to fight Fire, but if a two-tailed Darkness wolf couldn't even run away, then that other guy was overpowering. I imagine the Rank 2 Divine Darkness Wolf being overwhelmed by someone capable of making explosions from a distance.

Apparently, Divine beasts proudly keep a number of tails or heads to display their Rank even in humanoid forms, so...a nine tails would be Rank 9 Divine, and a ten tail could probably be a Demigod, but have to ask high ranking beasts to be sure. I recognize the limitations of human knowledge when it comes to Magical Beasts. Also, do beasts have humanoid offsprings because of their increased intelligence compared to regular beasts? I theorize another reason why beasts would abandon their natural bodies.

Okay, that's enough waiting around. I resolve myself and get closer to a clearance of wolf territory confirming the sound of big fights in three different locations. The smell won't help much to locate them since I can't identify anything too far and everything here smells of wet dog...at least I will be able to establish visual contact with anything in the clearings.

The forest changes up north and there are spots as big as football fields without trees and just grass or with smaller trees between ancient ones thick enough that two humans can't hug while holding hands. I'm intrigued as to what caused these patches of missing trees...a fight between high-ranking beasts? I ponder about the mystery while visualizing the geographic learned in previous visits. To the north of the volcano is a rocky mountain with a stream coming out of it towards the ocean in the west and possibly have Caves to shelter the wolves.

Now then...time to play the floor is lava. I sprinted into wolf territory while gripping deep in the mud with my claws, and kept my ears perked at the sound of battles. Though it is rather demeaning, I wonder if rolling in wolf piss would prolong my trespassing activities longer than the bushes... I thought with curiosity heading the area up north closer to the volcano while avoiding fresh wolf tracks that could lead to confrontations as the priority is finding the two lizards.

...

I followed the sounds of a fight to the stream closer to the rocky mountain and popped my head through the trees to find two wolves having some dispute over what seems to be leaders while other seven watch from all around, forming a circle of spectators on the river banks. The two biggest wolves circle each other for a few seconds before rushing while their paws make splashing sounds in the mud trying to land a bite and gain the upper hand in the fight, but they might have run out of magic or decided to settle the dispute without it.

Let's see...too far to probe, but judging from their size between human-waist and horse size, and from my experience... I would say between Rank 1 and 4. I determined from visually inspecting the residents near the two-hum wide but shallow stream at fifteen hum-away. The eight black in color, including the leaders, are Darkness users, then the blue one is water affinity...looks pretty and delicious, but I'm in a hurry. I cease the thoughts of sinking my fangs into the shiny blue coat and look around for the carcass of my siblings.

Nothing here...whoops, they found the peeping Dragon! I stare back at the black pairs of eyes who detected my presence and one by one perk their ears then get up alarmed. Sorry for intruding...I'll be taking my leave now. I slowly pulled my head inside the branches while the horns did it again and tangled me a little then retreated towards the second fight to the northwest from here.

Uh huh...they are not chasing... I hear the sounds of dog fights resuming and no movement in the bushes bordering the rock bed extending on each side of the stream.

One major fight avoided, but they probably exhausted their magic in the hierarchy fights already or maybe, a dragon head peeking out of tree leaves looked weird. I recall the confused looks of the wolves that probably couldn't match the scent with the head coming out of the foliage.

I traverse through the tall trees with mostly brown foliage still thick enough to keep the soil dry in some places and border the clearances to avoid exposure out in the open. I'm not a fan of sneaking around and even in games hated being a thief, but it would be quite convenient to have stealth when venturing into the territory of stronger beasts or pack animals. I envy darkness affinity for these kinds of situations while approaching a place that screams 'danger' in my head.

I'm less than a block away, and they are still this loud... I strain my ears to identify the creatures producing the diverse sounds reaching me and shaking the trees in the distance with snapping sounds. I guess I was right about these clearances being made by high ranking beasts fighting since those up ahead are breaking the smaller trees and moving the big ones which even I find hard to do.

"SHAAAHhh..." A dying wail fades out within the falling rain, and other noises in the background as the creature surrender its life to become a meal for the winners.

...That's a party I rather am late to since that was a high ranking snake that died, but I'm not getting any closer to confirm because those four smell pillars indicate the surviving wolves are not that hurt and they surely are high ranks. I cringe at the notion of being surrounded by four giant wolves.

Their smell is a few times greater than those wolves by the stream which means they are much bigger... I dare say around my back-height and possibly over Rank 6, but seems like they will be busy for a while eating a giant snake... I'm so envious! I compared the smell wolves give off to guess their Rank while feeling my stomach making a low rumbling sound and gulped the drool increasing in my mouth. How ironic...they feed on each other...at least down here since there should be other creatures up north for the wolves feed. I analyze the food chain in these parts.

Well, if my siblings were there, I doubt even the scales would remain, but there is only the smell of a snake, wolves and their blood coming that way... I concluded turning left and pacing towards the third fight on the southwest closer to the borders with snake territory. The third battle should be the lizards, at the left corner of the triangle formed with the loudest fights in the audible range.

...

I walk in high alert through the woods following the wolf howls moving west then close to midday, finally caught up to the group, now fighting in a clearing with some isolated patches of grass that are growing in the black ground littered with gravel, and rocks ranging up to the size of human heads.

Aha! Found you guys...man you have grown big... Brother is almost three meters tall or ten feet while Sister is smaller than that but bigger than me... perhaps two and a half meters or eight feet. Green sure was quite the dutiful parent to feed you to this size, but she didn't teach anything about hunting, and now you have wolf troubles. I observe from a dozen-hum away a group of twelve wolves surrounding two lizards bigger than me from behind the tree line on the north side of the semi-circular clearing.

I'm so not doing that to my children in the future...I will take them to hunt prey their size, so they don't get scared into using their energies to run from an enemy instead of making a stance like these two siblings of mine... I scowl at the clumsy beasts swinging the tails around and snapping their jaws to keep the Magical Beasts away.

By the looks of the trail left behind through the forest, the two dragons got spooked into running from the pack, but after tiring themselves, realized they have to take a stance without the obstruction of the trees. I concur with the smart decision of freely move our big bodies around. They look like typical dragons without hairs like me, but that gray color on them shows their lack of magic, so they have to defend the old fashion way...with their bodies while enduring the magic and physical attacks from the beasts.

So...that's what it looks like from an outside perspective to have a whole bunch of dogs almost as big as horses running around you huh? I gaze at each of the eight black, and the three green wolves running in circles around the Dragons almost two-hum tall while a Golden Wolf taller than a person is staying still by the tree line further west from my position. I'll observe for a bit before intervening, in case their howls call any high-ranked or the siblings run then leave me alone with all the wolves and for Goldilocks to exhaust his magic reserves binding my brother's legs. I stare at the wolf with shiny golden coat outside of my magic range hiding in the trees while commanding the other wolves with low growls.

What a beautiful animal... almost as tall as me, with a glossy golden coat wet from the rain that indicates high talent on Earth, and those challenging the lizards close to him on the southeast appears to be his pack. I estimate the Golden Alpha to be Rank 5 due to his size and magical ability but decided not to get close and probe him to remain undetected. He should be sensitive enough to detect my probe but his Rank which appears to be higher than mine, and I'm too far to probe the others running around because my maximum distance is 8-hum right now.

However, three of the smaller ones who don't reach a human waist should be unawakened wolves since they aren't using magic and the wind wolves should be around rank 2 or 3 while darkness ones range from one to four, but the most active are the bigger ones running in front. I estimate their Ranks, judging by the size of the wolves I've hunted in the past twenty days.

I see...they are just big dogs without magic, so everything feeds on them, but how old they need to be before learning magic? I recall the problem with dragon brain size which can take decades to learn magic in some cases. Well, they have a different system from dragons and even those regular wolves seem quite smart if they can anticipate a tail swing like that, but as expected of the black wolf tribe, most are black wolves. I realize there might be different color snakes deep in their territory if wolves are not all black.

With the gray dragons bound in solid ground, compressed around their paws by yellow doggie, the rest of the wolves rush in and loudly rip off the scales from the same places to reveal the flesh beneath while causing bleeding that paints the muddy black ground with crimson color. The Rank 3 wind wolves nimbly open wounds on the dragon bellies, hind legs, and forelegs by pulling out the scales then latch on the flesh while the Rank 4 darkness wolves use radio waves on the dragon heads to disorient them and stealth to confuse them further.

Though Darkness users don't have a good offensive ability at low Ranks, they can inflict abnormal status on the brains of living creatures and stealth capability makes them like some thief-warlock build. I recall the magic applications that beasts eventually learn on their own. Well, the stealth works best at night or cloudy days like these since it looks like a black silhouette once they absorb all the light around their bodies and those dragons lose sight of the wolves when they stealth with a dark background.

Switching targets in group fights is a noob gaming mistake, but the wolves are making the same blunder...not focusing on Sister who is just a little taller than me then moving onto brother...This isn't an anime where each one takes a target, and if you are in a hurry it's best to gang up on a single enemy at a time which is also safer, then wind wolves use air bullets on the dragon eyes to not waste magic on stealth. I recognize these beasts might be smart enough to be greedy or hate the dragons for preying on their young.

"GHRAA!" Brother bellowed in anger at the nimble creatures pulling out his scales and madly swings his tail which manages to catch a wolf off guard, sending it through the air yowling.