The might of five circle beast

The wolf stopped in front of the cell with the rotting meat of the once-glorious white furry beast that forced Aiden into illusion.

For a moment, Aiden thought the will of that snowman-like beast also affected the wolf, but soon he understood that it wasn't the case. The mana circle appeared under its legs again.

The cell bars wiggled and blasted into dust in a matter of seconds. Aiden followed the wolf to see it digging in the rotting meat. Before he could conclude that it was starving, it pulled a mana crystal out of a rotting mess.

It stared at Aiden for a moment with its vivid blue eyes before swallowing the crystal as a whole. It came out of the cell, ignored Aiden again and moved to another one.

Looking at the retreating figure, Aiden couldn't help but chuckle, 'Why does it feel like it has become too arrogant after it freed itself?'

"It's not arrogant." Aiden felt that Mraz was trying to suppress his laughter as he replied. "Just so you know, giving the totem would give the totem bearer a glimpse of the magnitude of the power of the one who had bestowed the totem. So do you expect a five circle mana beast to pay respect to the first circle?"

Aiden did not understand how he should react. He could only sigh as he followed the wolf. Another prison bar shattered under the effect of the mana circle.

"That is the last living thing on the floor." Mraz's words made him curious, and Aiden followed the wolf inside the cell.

The first thing that attracted his attention was a human-like back with charred black skin. It was sitting with its back facing towards the entrance.

The hair on its head had already lost its root, exposing burnt skin or even part of the skull in some places. That was the first time Aiden had seen a creature with a pair of pointy ears.

"Elf?!" Aiden mumbled in a curious voice. It was only when he walked around that he found that it was protecting something, a child. The skin on its face was burnt, yet looking at the burned face of its kin the child was giggling.

To Aiden, it made little sense. He was having a hard time believing that while the fire mana burned the skin of the elf to the extent where it exposed the bones, yet the child was safe and sound.

"Stop." Aiden cried in horror. Even before he could understand the enigmatic survival theory, he found that the wolf was aiming for the child.

However, the voice was nowhere powerful enough to deter the already arrogant wolf. Its blue eyes stared at Aiden for a moment before it bit down on the child.

In the next moment, a mana circle erupted from its leg, and the temperature plummeted within the cell. A layer of frost appeared on the floor while the fire mana lost its effect.

Aiden had no idea what it was aiming to do when the wolf pulled out the child by its neck and put it in in front of him.

"Does it want me to kill the child?" Aiden wasn't sure of its intention. But the wolf didn't stop there. It bit down on the dead elf's chest and pulled out the essence crystal.

When it put the essence crystal on the chest of the baby elf, Mraz said, "The big elf used its essence crystal to regulate the temperature. Even at death, it continued to do so. It should be the mother of the child."

Hearing his words, Aiden took another look at the dead one. 'What was it expecting? Was it expecting someone to come to save the child?'

However, when he looked at the blue elf child in front of him, he frowned. To be born in a prison is not the most pleasant way to come to the world. 'It looks like even the mighty plane-invading elves have their share of in-fighting. But what does this wolf want from me?'

"Bestow totem upon the child." Rather than request, it sounded more like an order.

"Huh!" Aiden couldn't help but snap upon the wolf, "Do I look like a totem printing machine?"

Mraz, however, supported the idea, "That might not be such a bad idea. To have an elf to carry you totem might be helpful in the long run."

Aiden stared at the wolf, yet the wolf ignored his glare and licked the child, making it giggle. Then it said, "I am a totem bearer, I can't give a totem to others. And without its kin, it won't survive without a steady source of mana."

"More than mana, wouldn't it need milk or food?" Aiden took another look at the child to understand what kind of child it is that it needed mana more than anything.

"A mana beast's offspring can survive on kin's mana alone."

"So more than the one who gives the totem, I am more like parents, right?" Aiden frowned.

"You're not wrong." Aiden wasn't sure whether it was his mistake, but he felt that Mraz was trying to suppress his laughter, "I think it was born in this cell. And I don't see a male's body in here, so other than its mother's mana, it might be your mana it is going to taste first. You will be its father."

Aiden didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but he didn't dare to wait any longer. He bent down and touched the child. The elf child looked at Aiden with its large eyes and grabbed his finger.

Aiden poured out his mana, and his mind immersed in the infinite darkness. As he looked around, he found nothing to look at. But, It soon changed.

It looked like a giant, but with a sharp nose, pointed ears, the blue-skinned silver-haired woman was one of the most beautiful women he'd ever seen.

She was crying. When she looked down at Aiden, tears streamed down from her eyes. She tried to hold back, took a deep breath, but it didn't help. Yet she smiled and said, "Thank you. Thank you for saving my child."

Aiden stood there, not understanding what he had just experienced, while the elf child bit down on his finger. Its sharp canine drew blood out of his finger, but he couldn't pull his finger out. He just smiled and patted the head of the child. It giggled and let go of his hand.

A smile appeared on his face and Aiden couldn't help it. He bent down and was about to pick up the child, but a snout came it bit down on its neck and flung it back on its back.

The action of the wolf caught Aiden off-guard. He was about to yell, but before he could do it, he realized that the child was wrapped in the fur on the back of the wolf.

Before Aiden could say anything, the wolf jumped down with the child bound to its back. So all he could do was follow.

[The host has activated innate skill [Blink]

He appeared beside the wolf with a single blink. The wolf paid no heed to any other beast present in the cavern and walked straight towards the path Aiden had come in.

Aiden had no intention to follow the dwarves who had vanished in the tunnel on the other side of the cavern and followed the wolf.

*Bang*

The loud gunshot reminded Aiden of the man he had left behind in the tunnel. "Don't attack, the wolf is with me," he relayed through the helmet, as he shouted almost instantaneously, "Don't attack, the human is my slave." And he raced into the tunnel, but it was too late.

By the time he peeked inside the tunnel, Robin was frozen in a block of ice up to his neck, and the wolf's jaw was an inch away from his head.

"Why do you try to eat everything you see?" Hearing those words, the wolf clasped down its jaw, just a centimetre away from Robin's nose. It left after taking another look at Aiden.

Aiden was quick to touch the thick block of ice. It melted and got absorbed by Aiden in a blink. Robin plopped on the floor like a broken puppet.

It took a few moments before he could move again. Still, his teeth were clattering nonstop.

"What the fuck are you?" Even if he was shivering, that was Robin's first word. Aiden, however, totally ignored Robin and pursued the wolf.

*Boom* *Boom*

It was only when he heard those thunderous sounds, and the floor under his feet shook, he remembered that the two-legged shell monster that was frozen solid under the effect of the mana crystal. He ran to help the wolf, yet…

All his worries were unfounded. He was having a hard time believing what he was seeing, but he felt that he could expect at least this much from a five-circle beast.

The movement of the wolf was so fast that Aiden couldn't follow it with naked eyes. It was only when he activated [Zone] he could follow its movement.

But it wasn't just the wolf who was fast. Even if the shell-monster was slower than the wolf, it was keeping up with constant use of spells.

Every time the claw of the wolf was about to touch it, an ice wall sprang up between them. Even if it crumbled from the attack by the wolf's paw, the small window was enough for multiple ice spikes to spring out of the ground. The moment the wolf jumped back, the sledgehammer came down on its head.

The wolf was on the offence and the shell monster was on defence, but the situation was in a stalemate. No matter how fast the wolf moved, it couldn't penetrate its defence. After another failed attempt, the wolf jumped back and turned to look at Aiden.

"Does it want me to help it?" As Aiden was trying to find the meaning of its gaze, a wave of weakness struck Aiden.

*HOWL*

With a heart-piercing howl, the air in the cavern halted for a moment before it picked up again. Tiny water particles were accumulating mana and becoming larger. The ping pong sized water balls soon transformed into long and sharp icicles. In a single moment, hundreds of icicles appeared in the air, aiming at the shell monster from the top.

Aiden was on his knees while he was gasping for breaths. With the howl, he felt somebody sucked out a sizeable chunk of mana. The unsatisfactory feeling made it hard for him to breathe.

However, in the next moment, the temperature plummeted so low that other than white air mixed with specks of ice, nothing was coming out his nose. Robin was already on his knees and was at the mercy of his protective gears.

But the wolf hadn't finished casting its spells. The white fog rolled across the floor and condensed in the shape of wolves.

One, two,... five, six,... thirteen… when Aiden ended counting, he found that almost thirty wolves were howling and he couldn't find the real one anywhere.

It wasn't like the shell monster would sit and receive the attack. It swung its giant swords at the wolf. But those ice wolves recovered as soon as they shattered.

Yet the shell monster's futile struggle didn't end there. It raised its sledgehammer high above to strike the icicles, but it hit nothing but air.

*HOWL*

It was the same heart-piercing howl, and all the wolves attacked at the same time as the curtain of piercing shards of ice came down on it.

*Growl*

With the desperate growl, the wind peaked, covering the whole cavern in blinding snow and screeching winds. The wind blew through the tunnel too. Even if it didn't have much effect on Aiden, he could see anything happening inside.

It took a while before the wind calmed down. The view wasn't clear, but Aiden could still see the giant body was still standing in the middle of the room, without any arm attached to its body.

When the ice and snow settled down, Aiden promised himself in his heart he would not go against the wolf again.