“What do you mean it wasn’t bad? She almost got them killed,” Tommy shouted. How was he supposed to entrust his invaluable life to a dysfunctional team like this?

“Even if I hadn’t intervened, Wayde would’ve gotten off with a light injury before Anna and Matilda shot the Dire-Wolf dead.” Wolf started doing the breakdown of the battle for the rest of the party out of habit.

Then he realized something wasn’t right. An outsider was the one asking questions.

”But that’s besides the point. Why are you yelling at Anna, when this was my mistake? And who the hells do you think you are to shout at her, even if it was her mistake? If you moved your fat Fifth Order Mage ass and did something nobody could get hurt in the first place!”

“What! What did you say, you nameless peasant? I’m a Sixth Order Mage, and in every way your superior! Not even Archmages dare raise their voice in front of me!” As Tommy shouted, Wolf's gaze turned cold and a javelin appeared in his hand.

“No, wait,” Alfred shouted trying to prevent a tragedy.

He clearly saw the javelin appear, but by the time he shouted it was already too late. The javelin had already left Wolf’s hand. It flew straight at Tommy. At least it looked that way from Alfred’s point of view.

Then, the javelin whizzed past his friend’s arm, disappearing into the bushes.

An animal’s squeal was heard the next instant. Wolf dashed towards the sound to finish off the beast, but stumbled across a dying Dire Wolf cub, the size of a regular dog.

“Damn,” he cursed loudly as he got a Least grade Healing potion out from his Ring of Holding. “Your brain farting made me hit a pup. I thought that grown monster was still stalking us. I hope you’re happy now.”

With a squelch, Wolf ripped out the javelin from the pup’s flank, then poured the potion into the heavily bleeding wound. The wolf pup whined, then ran away as soon as it felt able enough.

Wolf didn’t know why, but he felt a certain sense of sympathy and familiarity towards wolf-type Monster Beasts. Maybe it was because of the debt he owed the gargantuan white wolf, maybe it was because this was the totem animal of his mother’s clan. Whatever the reason, Wolf never initiated a battle with his namesakes, unless he had to.

As he thought about it, Wolf realized he’d killed countless manlings, while only a handful of Monster Beasts.

He glanced at the rustle of bushes in the forest and saw the surviving adult Dire Wolf looking at him. Those eyes showed conflicted feelings for a moment, but no murderous intent. An instant later, the wolf turned around and disappeared into the shrubbery.

When Wolf rejoined the party, Tommy’s face was like a red balloon, threatening to pop at any moment. Having a whelp curse him was an insult to his illustrious status.

“Come on everybody, let's go! We haven’t got all day!” Wolf clapped his hands, urging the Alchemists. The rest of his team was already prepared to move on.

Tommy was about to start cursing, when Alfred stopped him.

“Tommy, calm down,” he said. “We came here for benefits, not to argue with children.”

Alfred whispered, believing nobody else could hear him. “That boy somehow enchanted the strength of the projectiles he threw or something. Even though the spell doesn’t seem to be a high Order one, it’s still deadly. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. He could be dangerous.”

Tommy wasn’t an idiot. He bit his lip, but didn’t say a word.

I’ll pay you back when we return to civilization, the man thought. Here, he still needed Wolf to act like a bodyguard and meat-shield. Mirkwood was too dangerous and unforgiving. And this was just the outer region.

While the Alchemist was bottling up his rage, Anna approached Wolf.

“You didn’t have to cover for me. It was my mistake,” she whispered, but still couldn’t look him in the eye.

“I wasn’t covering for you. What happened was entirely my fault,” Wolf replied with a disarming smile which worked to an extent.

Anna looked down at the ground. “How was me falling out of sync with the team your fault?”

“It’s very simple. Tell me, if I hadn’t thrown that javelin, would you have lost focus and stopped firing?” Wolf asked with an intentionally smug air, acting as if the world revolved around him.

“You cheeky shrimp! Then why did you argue with that old man? Don’t tell me that was for your benefit as well.” Anna raised her head and even smiled at Wolf’s cheeky, arrogant act. It was just like when she first met him years ago.

“I told you not to call me that!” Wolf said, acting angry, but deep down he felt happy.

Apparently, standing up for Anna was enough for her to start forgiving the Silver City incident.

“Sorry,” she squeaked out as she went back to examining the forest floor.

“It’s fine. As for that old fart, why wouldn’t I fight him if he tries to mess with you? What kind of a man would I be if I didn’t stand up for you when someone bullies you?” Wolf said righteously.

“Says the one bullying me the most.” Anna sadly sighed and went over to Matilda.

Wolf then noticed Matilda’s barely visible nod of approval.

This was Wolf’s and Anna’s longest conversation during this trip, save for when he’d first caught up with the rest of the party. Even without Matilda’s “subtle hints” Wolf could tell things were getting better. He hoped Mandy wouldn’t do anything stupid, like spread the word. Then, things would be perfect.

***

That day, the party experienced a dozen attacks by groups, or individual Monster Beasts of Third and Fourth Order.

With impeccable teamwork, five Mage Academy students eliminated or forced the Monster Beasts into retreat without suffering a single injury. Coincidence or not, there were no Dire Wolf attacks.

The sun was close to setting and the party was about to make camp in the treetops, when Wolf heard a distant cracking and rustling of branches.

He was about to warn everyone, but before his lips parted, everyone clearly heard crashing and thudding noises. Whatever the Monster Beast was, it was madly dashing straight at them.

“Enemy,” Tommy shouted in panic.

“Will you calm down? Even the dead can hear it,” Wolf muttered, then continued loudly. “Everyone, you know the drill. Climb onto the trees. Whatever it is, it sounds huge and it may be a Fifth Order Monster Beast!”

Wolf mostly said this for the Alchemists’ sake. His friends were heading towards the trees they’d picked for their sniping.

By the time he finished speaking, the only ones on the ground were the two confused Alchemists, staring this way and that in confusion. Climbing a tree was a nigh impossible feat for the two of them. It wasn’t easy for the trees either.

“Levitate, Fly, Walk Unseen, Ghost Body,” Wolf shouted to jolt those two into action, or at least to give them an idea on what they could do “Use whatever, just don’t stay here! Otherwise, things might turn nasty for you!”

If a Ninth Order Monster Beast suddenly appeared, he had no way to guarantee the safety of Tommy’s fat ass.

Alchemists began chanting, but Wolf didn’t have the time to care what they came up with. The monster was about to arrive.

With the snapping of branches and twigs a two meter tall giant boar appeared.

“Ironback Razortusk! A Sixth Order Monster Beast! Barbara?” Wolf shouted, identifying the monster that appeared a dozen meters away. While he shouted, the boar had already seen its enemy and charged straight towards Wolf.

“Tough! Dangerous gore attacks with its tusks when charging. It shakes—” Barbara started listing the traits of Ironback Razortusks, but faltered as she watched Wolf tumble away from the dangerous gore attack.

“Um, don’t attack it from behind, it’s kick is dangerous! Best to attack it from the sides! Eyes, ears and its soft belly are its weak points!”

Meanwhile, Wolf had already dodged to the side. He rolled on the ground, avoiding the headshaking, which Barbara just tried to mention. While dodging, Wolf even managed to slash his sword at the giant hog. He only inflicted a light wound, but enough to further fuel its rage.

“You should avoid its charges and never hit it on the head or back because its skull and the hide on its back are practically impregnable. It can even take Arcane Bomb head on.”

Naturally, Barbara wasn’t just shouting. She took out a crossbow, just like the rest of the gang, and was loading a bolt in it with a pained expression. The bolt had a blue shine and the air around the tip formed into mist which drifted away on the lightest of breezes.

“Barbara, don't hesitate! Foreleg! Ready!” Matilda ordered.

“Hind leg! Ready!” Anna and Wayde shouted almost simultaneously.

Barbara loaded her crossbow, clenching her teeth.

“Ready,” she shouted, still thinking about how expensive the bolt was.

Matilda carefully observed the Ironback Razortusk. When the monster stopped to turn around and charge at Wolf once more, she shot the bolt with a shout: “Loose!”

Four twangs were followed by four dull thuds as bolts struck the turning Razortusk. Two struck the left foreleg, almost instantly freezing it, while each of its hind legs was struck with one. The layer of ice was barely visible around the wound, but inside the frost wreaked havoc with the monster’s blood and flesh.

The boar screamed in pain and fury, but that was all it could do. Its legs were useless, and it took all its focus to remain upright. As the beast turned its head this way and that, Wolf charged straight towards it. The sword in his hand was gone, replaced by a long, slender spear.

The panicking boar turned to face Wolf. However, by the time it reacted, a spear’s tip covered its entire field of vision as it rushed to claim its life. With a wet squelch, the spear pierced the eye and scraped against the bone of the other side of the monster’s skull. With its last twitches the Ironback Razortusk toppled over to the side.

“They killed it just like that?” Alfred asked with undisguised admiration.

“Those four enchanted bolts cost a thousand gold coins in total. Even an idiot could kill a Sixth Order Monster Beast by throwing money at it,” Tommy said with a harrumph.

A Sixth Order Monster Beast’s Monster Core was worth a hundred gold coins. Even a Monster Core from an extremely rare species couldn’t fetch more than two hundred and fifty. To spend a thousand gold coins just to kill it wasn’t economical at all.

“Great job everyone.” Wolf said encouragingly while jerking out the damaged spear from the dead boar’s skull. “We shouldn’t linger here. I have to bleed the boar, then I’ll store it in my Ring of Holding. I’ll butcher it and take out the valuables later.”