Wolves.

Whether it was something about the many large, stretched out and open plains of green grass, the narrow creeks and the scattered trees that at times made up large forests, or if it was the fact that most of the people in the forsaken realm lived so far apart, something about it was seemingly perfect for various packs of wolves to thrive there. Not really having any natural enemies in these parts, there were always some distinct locations where they were better off not going. Such places were the territories of the Goblins, as they would just see them as food and raw materials for new weapons and armor. After all, what Goblin shaman or warlord did not want to be dressed in the hide of a wolf to show off their status and might. Another place would be the foothills were the trolls usually had their lairs, a being to which a wolf was merely a snack and perhaps a lovely little loincloth after all the flesh had been stripped off of its bones.

Usually sticking to the forests, at least according to his knowledge, Griswold was very well aware of how a large section of forest was no longer habitable, which had explained why he had been so busy scaring away those packs that once lived there. Some time ago, roughly a week or two by his count, he had seen how one Hag had managed to corrupt and twist an entire section of the nearby woods, turning it into a place where hideous little plant monsters called mandrakes were the apex predators. Using their high pitched screeches to inflict harm upon any that got close, it distracted from their roots moving underneath the targets before ensnaring and pulling them into the ground. Having seen those things in an up close and personal setting, the ones he had managed to kill by setting a good part of the corrupted forest on fire would hopefully be the last of their kind to ever plague the forsaken realm.

However, due to the fact that those wolf packs that dwelled in that forest had been forced to seek food and shelter elsewhere due to them being hunted and killed by mandrakes if they got close, they now resorted to killing the livestock from local farmers that had their lands in the surrounding area, as well as attacking those that worked on nearby orchards and vegetable fields. Even though Griswold had burned down much of the corrupted forest, it made a lot of sense that the wolves that had been scared out of it had no intention of going back, something they imprinted upon their young so no new generation would ever dare venture back there. Maybe that was for the best, though it clearly posed a lot of new threats to them, as well as the people in the forsaken realm that were already suffering in plenty of other ways.

As much as Griswold respected the natural world in all of its forms, he could not allow anyone or anything to bring harm to the commoners of the forsaken realm. They were the people responsible for saving his life when he had been on the brink of death, his body picked clean of any clothing and belongings while heavily malnourished and dehydrated. Thanks to the Cromwells, the person known as Solarian Shadesinger died, allowing for Griswold Cromwell to be reborn from the ashes. Though they were only peasants living on their farm and off of what they could grow on said farm, they faced plenty of difficulties in life without wolves threatening to kill them or the few cows, sheep and chickens they still had left after being forced to sell many of them to prepare for the next year. It was because of them that he had enrolled into the magic knights and became a Crimson Lion.

And now, as a magic knight, he did whatever he could to help them out as a means of repaying all that they had given him. Most of the money he earned, he sent back to the farm so they could fix the damage they had suffered over the years, get new livestock and maybe even expand at some point in the future. If they could reach that point, they could even employ others from the nearby town and fix some of their financial issues. But all of that was just a distant dream at this point, as he was merely a low ranking member in a magic squad where he himself was the only commoner. That said, he doubted most of them even know him on account of how he was literally never in the royal capital at all. He simply did not have the time or the patience to sit around doing nothing in a squad base, waiting for some noble family to need someone to babysit their spoiled brat of a child for some manner of payment afterward.

If he was to behave like a bodyguard, Griswold chose to act as one for those who did not have the money to actually pay for bodyguards and instead used the system to get trained magic knights to drop their duties and see to their problems. All under the guise of “aiding the country”. Spitting on the ground in front of him, the magic knight in question was looking out across a field where wolves had been sighted by locals, again. Even though he had already sent this particular pack… packing, they had returned for some reason or another, which could only mean a few things. Either they did not find Griswold and his use of fire magic scary enough to actually stay away. Or there was something out there in their new territory that was more scary than he was, forcing them to choose between the two and picking what they considered to be the lesser of two evils.

Maybe they had chosen the right way, as the elven mage really did not want to kill creatures that were struggling to survive, though he knew that he would have to do it if he could not fix this problem. Having personally sent word out to the royal capital and requesting aid from someone who might have a more extensive amount of knowledge regarding wolves and potential threats that were out there and responsible for the situation, Griswold was waiting by the local orchard. Leaning on the outer fence on the northern side of the building, the magic knight was not exactly wearing any clothing that might give him away as a member of.. well, any magic knight squad for that matter. People were less on edge around him that way. Regardless, he imagined that whoever might get sent his way to help him deal with this problem would be able to tell that he himself was a mage, or maybe his pointy ears might act as a giveaway.

After all, most of the people here barely possessed any mana, whereas an elf was naturally blessed by it.

1177

“Yes I am. And I guess that means you’re the person they sent from the capital who knows a thing or two about wolves and wargs. Even if you’re not, I have a bit of experience in dealing with both, so hopefully that’ll be of at least some use here.”

Bringing up the subject of wolves and wargs as opposed to just one of the two, he made note of the latter on account of him having been here before not too long ago. At the time, he had been accompanied by a senior magic knight who had made quick work of most of the wandering wolves, as well as the wargs that had driven the wolves out of their ancestral home. Between the wargs claiming territory that was not their own on account of being larger and stronger, as well as not being able to return to a certain stretch of woodland that had been destroyed by a Hag and turned into a greenhouse of horror for man-eating plants, the wolves had just about nowhere left to go. But since the Hag had been taken care of, along with her mandrakes, the wargs were really their main cause for concern.

As one might put it, they were the ones that forced the malnourished and hungry wolves out of their comfort zone, out of their territory and forced them to hunt in the more human infested regions. It was really sad that they would have to put these creatures out of their misery, especially since they likely had cubs stowed away somewhere that were still awaiting their guardians to return with food. When he had last been here, well over a dozen wolves had been killed by the guy accompanying him before getting to the wargs that had pushed them out of their land. This time, Gris wanted for things to be different on every imaginable level. Even though the man had just done what the mission had asked them to do to some degree, the amount of overkill that took place at the cost of all those animals had been a relatively hard pill for him to swallow.

“The last time I was here, it came to my attention that there is something else active within the woodlands. Wargs. They’ve been responsible for pushing wolves out of their habitat, forcing them to forage and hunt near farmlands and orchards while hunger makes them far more feral and erratic. If we can figure out the reason behind the wargs coming closer to the human domain, we might be able to get these wolves their land back.”

Being the kind of person that he was, he had gone about the details of the job a bunch of times. And while they had been requested to see to the safety of the peasants living in the area, there was nothing stating they had to actually kill the roaming animals. In that sense, coming up with another solution seemed like a rather plausible way of going about it all, especially if it could save a bunch of lives. While the lives of the peasants were more important than anything else he could think of, that did not mean that all other forms of life were expendable, and he was tired of people pretending like that was not the case. Hopefully, he would be able to make that much clear to the new arrival, who seemed like a capable mage, probably more capable than he was. Hopefully, that skill and power could be tempered with intelligence and understanding, as Gris was rather tired of always being put up with brutes that just smashed their way out of everything.

“And even if that ends up not working, I feel we owe it to the animals to at least try. If we remove the wargs that have taken their land, maybe they will abandon this place for their more favorable hunting grounds. And if not, we can always turn around and get rid of them after the fact.”

There was a lot of doubt behind his words, and for good reason. There was no telling whether or not going about it in the way he had just described would remotely work out the way he wanted it to. Still, he knew that wolves feared fire, as most wild animals did, so he could use his magic to scare them away long enough for the two mages to breach into the forest in an attempt at finding and removing the wargs. That said, if there was to be something other than wargs making the whole situation as troublesome as it was, maybe the two of their minds combined could figure out a fix for that too. And even if they couldn’t, as long as they tried, at least Griswold would be able to walk away with a clear conscience.

“Ah right, I figured I had forgotten something. My name is Griswold, and trust me when I say it won’t be an issue of “maybe” or “possibly”. There are Wargs here, I’ve seen them before. The last time I was here, another senior knight called Kreig took them out while I chased away the wolves. They were too strong for me, and more than likely still are, so I’m going to need you to get rid of those guys while I draw away the actual wolves. Without the wargs around to claim their terrain, there is a chance we can make them back off entire, as they seem to dread being around fire.”

Last time he had been in this particular kind of situation with Kreig, he had used his lightning magic to dash back and forth between the wolves so as to kill several of them with his large sword. It was not exactly a sight he enjoyed seeing, though that initial attack, mixed with Griswold’s own flames had managed to send them scurrying back into the forest. Only once they had been sent running did the wargs come out last time, though believing that same tactic would work out twice seemed unlikely. Besides, since those particular animals had been killed, it was also unlikely to believe that these ones would be acting in the same manner as those that came before them had. But even if that was the case, Griswold wanted to at least try to bring them out, which might just work if he dangled a piece of meat shaped like a crimson lion in front of them. That said, there was still one thing he wanted to point out before they could properly continue with their mission.

“Not every creature attacks out of malice. In fact, animals don’t act out of malice, they act out of need or out of fear. In this case, it’s a mixture of both because they no longer have access to their hunting grounds, so they need to get near the things they normally fear; Humans. It’s why I requested a powerful and capable magic knight, one who could go straight for the Wargs. I’d do it myself, but my magic is not strong nor refined enough to be capable of such a thing, so I’d just end up getting myself in trouble.”

Even though it was never the most fun thing in the world to have to admit to one’s own weakness and shortcomings, there was no benefit to either one of them if he somehow left the impression that he would be able to handle various wargs on his own. While handling several wolves at the same time would not be all that hard for him, especially since his magic was exactly the thing they feared being even remotely close to, the wargs were best left to the other mage who introduced himself as Chisana. He was by far the strongest one there, so with that in mind, it was time to start causing a ruckus that would certainly draw the attention of the larger forest creatures that had been previously mentioned. For some reason, the wargs were partially responsible for pushing the wolves out of their lands and into the sorry state they were now, though there was much more to it as was shown previously.

Just like Chisana said, the wargs were clever creatures, capable of barking orders to the lesser grey wolves as a means of coordinating and planning their attacks. While their intelligence was clearly linked to their tactical prowess and nothing beyond that, they were also larger, faster and physically superior to ordinary wolves. It went without saying that they could easily rip Griswold to shreds if they were to come bearing down on him by attacking in tandem, likely finding it relatively easy to tear out his throat during the commotion. But as that was clearly not something he had signed up for, he chose to rely on Chisana not to be some deadbeat lunatic as some people claimed all of the black bulls to be. Since this was the first member of the black bulls he had ever met in his life or during his short career as a magic knight, all he could hope for was that she was capable and worthy of his trust.

Decreasing the distance between himself and the pack of wolves, it was clear that they had already noticed his approach the moment he had started wandering towards them, as was to be expected of something with such immense hearing capabilities as a wolf. If he was to ever get his own sensory capabilities to be on par with those of a wolf, he would be more than content with it as that was quite a feat. But for now, he was not going to be focused on the things that made being a wolf great. No, it was time to focus on all of the things that would make it suck for them to be born as wolf, and make them curse their wolf mothers in passing. Shifting his pace from a stride into a sprint, he quickly neared the lupines as he held up both of his hands in front of him in the shape of finger guns. Once he made it to a distance of roughly ten meters, he held them both out as he came to a grinding halt, his fingers aimed at his targets.

While his magical power was currently not that impressive, and might never really grow to levels that would be anything to write home about, the one thing he could do in this situation was exactly what he had told Chisana he would do. Before any of the wolves could leap at him, he fired a salvo of fire bolts from his index finger, showering the wolves on his right with cinders that would certainly put both dry grass and tufts of wolf hair on fire as soon as contact was established. Managing to hit three of them with the same attack, some manner of discord was caused between the wolves, though that would only be the start of it. For as soon as the three of them broke rank, a secondary salvo was released from his other hand, catching two wolves on his left as the third bolt made for the ground and started slowly setting fire to the grass. Making a mental note out how having to put that out before it would scorch away too much of the grass, a single wolf did not leap back like the others did.

Instead, it leaped forward, biting into Griswold’s right arm as he used it to keep it from going for his throat and killing him on the spot. Knowing that this was what wolves did when fighting prey taller than themselves, he used what physical strength he had with his left hand to strike the beast right in the head. Because of his physical training regiment, his physique was nothing to scoff at, so as soon as his fist landed against the skull of the wolf, it let go of his arm as it got slammed into the ground like a sack of potatoes. Not giving it the chance to get back up and try again, the crimson lion came at it with a soccer kick, aiming to score the winning goal as he punted the beast a good three meters ahead of him. Though he made sure to hold back enough to not kill it, as most of the wolves had taken notice of what had happened with the physical beating and the creation of fire, Griswold pointed his index fingers out at them again.

Showing that wolves did indeed possess the intellectual level similar to that of a young child, simply seeing the fingers alerted them to the coming of the thing they dreaded more than the wargs; Fire. And even though Griswold knew that this was a major bluff at this point, as he had to actually take a moment to replenish his mana and take a breather after using two spells in tandem, the wolves did not know this as they backed up quite a bit to lick their wounds and watch from a distance. Clearly not knowing whether they should attack, stick around or retreat, a deep and drawn out howl could be heard from up ahead. Almost instantly after the fact, four large wolves stepped out of the treeline, being much more burly and ferocious in appearance when compared to the grey wolves. So even to someone who had never seen one of these magnificent and dangerous animals before, it should be clear to one and all present at this moment that the guests of honor had arrived. The wargs were here.

“I told you they were around, they just had to be drawn in properly.”

Taking a few steps back to increase the distance between himself and the new arrivals to a distance of roughly twenty meters, he could tell that the large wolven creatures were scouting both him and Chisana for all they were worth. While they probably did not like fire either, they did not seem to be bothered so much by the presence of an active fire that was slowly crawling along the ground, scorching the grass as it passed and leaving a small black patch of roughly a meter wide at this point. Because it was a grass fire and not a forest fire, he could just kick it out with relative easy if he wanted to, though the fact of the matter was that he didn’t. As long as the fire was lit, the chance of any of the actual grey wolves interfering or in any way or shape coming up to attack seemed to be around zero, which were exactly the kind of odds Griswold liked. It meant that they would only need to really be worried about the wargs right now.

“If this were any other kind of setting, I’d have said something along the lines of “Time to shine”, though I don’t think there is really anything remotely festive about this situation. So lets just do our best to get this whole thing over with… Also by we I mean you, because those things’ll kill me.”

Making it rather clear that from now on, things were on Chisana, all Griswold would be able to do was fill in a supportive role by maybe firing some projectiles as a means of distraction or causing some minor burns. But that was just about all he could contribute to the next stage of the fight. Besides, he had already done a lot of groundwork in very little time just getting them to show up and set everything up in a way that made it easier for Chisana to go about his business. Additionally, there was still the bite wound he would need to tend to soon so he would not go about losing too much blood. Luckily for him, his mana skin had dampened the blow to the point where the teeth had only left small incisions in his, which had torn open and began bleeding when he forcibly removed the wolf’s fangs by punching it in the side of the head with about all the force he could pack. So in a way, he had injured himself more by removing the wolf than the beast had actually done on it’s own.

For the time being, he would conserve his mana to see how the other mage would handle the situation. Because if he did a poor job at it or allowed any of the wargs to get past him and towards Griswold, he would need all of his mana just to defend himself from such a monstrous beast. Only once he was certain that he was not going to be put in harms way, once he was sure that Chisana would take care of business from here on out, only at that point would he use his mana in order to heal up his wound. So no matter how one went about it, it was all resting on the shoulders of the black bull now.

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