Wolves of Hader

Chapter 59

I walked along the mountain ridge.

We had been heading north for two straight days, but no matter how far we went, all we saw were mountains.

Since we had come without a clear plan, I felt a bit overwhelmed about how to actually find what we were seeking.

My intention was to go all the way to the northern end of the mountain range, and if I couldn't find it there, I'd give up.

When we said we were going north, Urendo came along as well.

I couldn't tell if he knew what we were looking for and followed because of that, or if he was just following us.

Either way, he played the role of guide perfectly.

"I've been curious for a few days—what are you planning to make with the Racrom?"

"Weapons and armor."

"That's an excellent idea. Even without using the Weight Reduction enchantment, you'd be able to swing those huge swords with ease."

I looked back at the Berserkers who were following us.

The Berserkers' faces are always expressionless.

If I look at them, they only nod slightly in greeting.

But now, even these people were showing signs of happiness.

The Berserkers' greatswords were made by wrapping strong steel around a very hard wood core.

It was to reduce the weight.

But if the greatswords were made with Racrom, they would become much lighter.

The actual weight of the sword would become heavier than the current wooden ones, but with the Weight Reduction enchantment, that wouldn't matter.

Armor, too, would become much lighter if made from Racrom alloy, and both defense and mobility would improve.

In fact, I'd always planned to improve our swords and armor if I ever found Racrom, and this westward expedition allowed me to acquire it sooner than expected.

During the game, too, racrom was the ultimate material. Here, only the Dran tribe called it Racrom.

It was titanium.

Now that we could get titanium from the Dran, we had secured a trading partner.

In fact, we virtually monopolized an unknown, new substance.

I asked Urendo,

"How long will it take to reach the northern end?"

"Well, maybe another four days or so."

Even if we found [them], there wasn't anything in particular we could do.

Still, I had always wanted to see them at least once. It wasn't as if I could visit the western mountains often.

But I had always been curious about something.

"What is at the northern end?"

"The northern end? There's the sea."

"And nothing else?"

"There is, but..."

Urendo trailed off.

Just hearing 'the north' made him look as if an ominous feeling swept over him.

"Why? What's in the north?"

"The northern end is a forbidden zone. I thought humans knew even better?"

"We've also heard that ships can't go there."

"And why do you think that is?"

No one knows what's at the northern end.

There are things one can guess.

The demon legion once dwelled in the polar cave, and if you cross the polar sea, you can reach the continent of Aindel, where the Elin live.

So, just as there are forbidden waters in the distant sea, it is assumed there's something similar in the polar sea—to keep humans from coming and going.

Urendo spoke.

"To the north lies the Cursed Sea."

"The Cursed Sea?"

"Yes. We believe it was created by the ancient Elin. They say that across the far northern sea lies a world where demons dwell."

Demons across the northern sea?

"If it's the Cursed Sea, is it like the one in the west? I heard there are storms there."

"Probably similar. I've heard that if you go far out into the northern sea, tremendous blizzards and storms arise."

When I went to Ta-iki, I once encountered a supernatural storm. Such a thing could only happen with elemental power.

Urendo continued.

"But it's different from the sea in the west. In the west, it's just wild storms, but in the northern sea, it's teaming with evil spirits."

"Evil spirits?"

"Ghosts of demons and corrupted humans. They're evil spirits that crossed over from the world on the far side of the northern sea."

Those evil spirits were probably—

They seemed to be the souls of the demon legion I had seen in the arctic cave, rather than evil spirits that crossed from the far side of the northern sea.

In other words, the demons who tried to invade Aindel from the north were wiped out and remained as evil spirits.

There are countless monsters in the north. It's extremely cold, too. People must have attributed this to the demons.

Since no one has gone north for countless years, they simply believed the demons' world lay there.

At any rate, neither the people of this world nor the Dran tribe know the actual shape of the continent.

Because of Elin's barriers and the monsters, no one has ever reached the end in any direction.

Hence, a new idea for exploration popped into my head.

If that ever became possible, and we alone knew about it—

An optimal path would open.

Could such a thing really happen, though?

/ / /

We walked and walked yet again.

It was our third day heading north.

The temperature dropped sharply, and now even a biting blizzard was blowing.

Honestly, I was going to give up and turn back yesterday, but because there was a chance we could find what we were looking for, I couldn't let it go.

It had all started the night before.

At the foot of the mountain, we lit a small fire and barely got any sleep.

Then we heard a sound.

It was [them], whom we had been searching for.

At dawn, we started heading north again, and they were following us. I just knew it by instinct.

You could say I was spiritually resonating with them.

"They're nearby."

"Can you see them?"

"No, not yet. But they're definitely closer than yesterday."

Everyone pulled their cloaks tight and looked around. Nowhere in the snow-lashed mountains were they to be seen.

Donnie looked west and spoke.

"I see a high plateau over there! Since they've come this far, I don't think we need to descend all the way to that plateau!"

"There's no way to get to that plateau anyway!"

I looked west.

We were in a rough, wild mountain range, but down below, to the west, was a relatively flat plateau.

But there was no way to reach that plateau.

Between the mountain range and the plateau was a precipice a thousand fathoms deep, with a gorge in between.

Plus, a howling blizzard.

I had to decide.

"We'll stop here! We'll wait until tonight, and if we can't meet, we'll give up!"

"Understood! I'll find us a place with less wind!"

The Berserkers went down the mountain. The wind was so fierce I worried the men might lose their footing.

Donnie, Urendo, and I stayed at the summit and scanned the surroundings again.

The blizzard was so thick we could no longer see even the neighboring mountains.

And then—

"There! Over there—they've come!"

I looked where Urendo pointed.

Beyond the hazy ridge, something pitch-black sat. It must have gotten this close only because of the blizzard.

Urendo swallowed hard, and Donnie and I stared with wide eyes at the snow-lashed ridge.

A shadowy figure within the blizzard.

That figure was watching us, perfectly motionless. Though the wind was wild, it did not waver at all.

They were the ones we were looking for.

Just one, but it didn't move, so we couldn't either. It felt as if it would vanish if we approached.

So we just watched each other.

How much time passed?

One of them and our group just stood, staring at each other in the blizzard.

I felt a surge of happiness and relief from finally meeting them, but an even bigger anxiety that this might end with just distant looks. Yet we couldn't approach.

Maybe twenty minutes had gone by.

As dusk gradually fell, the unmoving figure slowly began to approach us.

As the world darkened, things not visible a moment ago came into view.

A pair of flashing, blue eyes.

Unlike moments before, now that one among them was approaching us steadily.

It did not show wariness toward us. Nor did it seem hostile. But neither did it draw near out of curiosity.

The closer that one came, the wider our eyes and mouths grew. Its presence was overwhelming—almost enough to drive back the roaring blizzard.

"Incredible..."

Urendo murmured.

Neither Donnie nor I could utter a word. I had only ever heard stories, but never imagined it would be like this.

That one among them stopped about ten paces from us. Then it simply stared at me.

With those dazzling, blue eyes.

A gigantic Black Wolf.

They were the ones we sought. But it was huge—much bigger than a horse, and it exuded magical power.

My father had told me once.

The wolves of the western plateau are not mere wolves, but divine beasts, he said.

Only our house could ride those wolves.

Yes.

That gigantic wolf was the very symbol of our house, the one said to recognize the bloodline of our family—the [Hader] Wolf.

The Hader Wolf, brimming with magic power, had sought us out.

No, it had recognized us and followed us the entire time.

As if to show it was no ordinary wolf, the elemental accompanying me began to dance.

As if the Hader Wolf and the elemental were holding a silent conversation.

That wasn't all.

The ring on my left hand shone.

It was the family ring my father had left me, passed down to the head of house—Ross had worn it, but on this westward expedition, I had brought it with me.

The wolf just stared at me.

Eyes like blue fire that seemed to draw in my very soul.

Jet-black fur and overwhelming muscles.

And an enormous magical presence radiating from its entire body.

They said it was a divine beast, not just an ordinary wolf.

It was beyond that, like beholding a mountain god of the western ridges.

The elemental with me turned into a droplet of light and circled around me.

I couldn't be certain, but it seemed as if the elemental and the Hader Wolf were communicating.

Since Donnie's elemental did nothing, it wasn't that the Hader Wolf interacted with all elementals—just mine.

For the Hader Wolf had looked at only me the whole time.

I took a careful step forward.

The Hader Wolf merely looked at me.

One step. Two steps. Three steps.

Even as I drew closer, the Hader Wolf didn't move. It didn't bare its teeth; it made no sound, didn't even blink.

I pushed myself further forward.

At that, the Hader Wolf bared its great fangs. But it didn't feel threatening or like a warning.

Was it testing me?

The wolf, which had been rumbling slightly, stopped making sounds and hid its fangs as soon as I came nose to nose with it.

It simply looked down at me standing right before it. I looked back into those eyes.

Then, the elemental that had been with me moved to the wolf, circling around it as if greeting a friend after a long time.

As we looked quietly for a moment, another change occurred.

The fierce energy gradually faded, replaced by a gentle warmth.

The wolf's gaze remained sharp, but all sense of caution disappeared.

I slowly raised my left hand and showed it the ring.

The Hader Wolf quietly looked at my hand. As if it already knew, it looked at me again.

I wondered, had Father come all this way and met the Hader Wolf, too?

Is this all there is to the bond between our house and the Hader Wolf?

Or could it grow deeper?

As if to confirm something,

The Hader Wolf stared deep into my eyes, then began to back away, little by little.

Slowly, it withdrew, vanishing into the storm.

It was a slightly empty, disappointing encounter.

I had wanted a deeper connection, but it didn't particularly seem pleased by our bloodline.

As soon as the Hader Wolf disappeared, the blizzard howled all the more ferociously, as if the guardian of the mountains had briefly restrained the wind for our meeting.

I turned and walked back to the others.

They all sighed in relief. If that wolf had simply struck with its front paw, I'd have been sent flying into the gorge.

Urendo got excited.

"Oh! I'd only heard the stories, but it really recognized you. When they came to our village, I'd wondered if it could be true."

"Your village?"

Donnie asked, and Urendo replied with another question.

"You didn't know? When you fell into the forest, they were watching us from the mountains. When they suddenly appeared, we thought something terrible was about to happen."

"So that's why the elders welcomed us?"

"Exactly. They realized the Hader bloodline had arrived."

I had wondered, and now I was sure. The elders had confirmed the appearance of the Hader Wolf after we arrived.

That's why they hadn't asked us much about our identity and were willing to trade so easily.

It had been the same back when my father visited.

"Donnie, let's spend the night here, and descend early tomorrow morning."

"That seems best."

AwooOOOOO—

Suddenly, a wolf's howl echoed.

The mountain range rang with the sound.

WoooooooOOOOO—

The same cry answered from every direction. Were they telling the other wolves they met me?

That night,

the Hader Wolf circled us all night.

Was it watching over us?

Or perhaps it regretted that we were leaving.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

The Wolves of Hader has made a cameo!

I'm hyped...

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】