Wolves

Sion descended the enormous mountain with Jonas, arriving at an extremely beautiful and vibrant forest, where ice crystals grew naturally, trees with blue and white leaves were everywhere, and there seemed to be fruit everywhere. Sion picked some and ate them while observing everything.

"It's like an ice paradise. Jonas, I believe that no beasts have approached because of your strength, but now hide, I want to see the beings that live in the forest. Only release your strength when something aggressive approaches."

'Hiki-hiki.'

Sion heard Jonas and interpreted it as an understanding.

Half an hour later, Sion saw that it had worked. Above a tall tree, he saw a small white monkey with its back turned. As he approached, the monkey seemed to hear him and looked down.

As soon as it saw Sion and Jonas, it jumped away.

"That monkey… it had six eyes."

"This place really is strange and interesting."

"Come on, Jonas, we're going to the buildings I saw, we'll probably get there in a day or two."

After saying that, Sion quickened his pace.

…

..

.

A day and a half had passed, Sion and Jonas continued without stopping.

Then, just as they left the forest, Sion suddenly came to a place where there was something that looked like a plantation, but it was all the same thing, like mini blue trees. On each one, there were also fruits hanging, which looked perfect.

The plantation was huge, and if he wanted to go forward, he would have to go around it or through it. But Sion wondered if he should invade someone's property.

Sion first decided to check something. The plantation seemed unprotected near the forest. Something was wrong. Otherwise, some beasts would surely steal the plantation.

Suddenly, Sion's eyes focused on the plantation. Sion felt white particles accumulate in his eyes when, little by little, something appeared in front of the plantation.

"There really is something, a barrier, but it's very thin… but I don't think I can break it with my strength."

Sion said as his hand touched the almost invisible green barrier.

'Tsk, I want to get through quickly, going around will be tedious and laborious.'

As soon as he thought that, suddenly.

'Ding!'

[Warning! A Qi barrier is trying to block the host's path. Universal Will has been activated automatically.]

When that happened, Sion saw his hand pass through the barrier smoothly. Sion took his hand out of the barrier before putting it back in.

"This… Universal Will is more useful than it seems."

After thinking about it, Sion entered the plantation, passing through the barrier without any hindrance.

Then he looked at Jonas.

"Can you pass through without breaking the barrier?"

Sion then saw Jonas jump towards him, the barrier seemed to waver, but it couldn't stop Jonas from passing and soon returned to normal.

"Well, let's continue." Sion then headed toward the end of the plantation, thinking that he would soon find someone, since this plantation had to have an owner.

And he was right, the plantation did have an owner. The moment Jonas crossed the barrier, he was instantly alerted.

Unbeknownst to Sion, a great distance away, a humanoid being who had been sitting in his room cultivating suddenly opened his eyes in anger.

"GATHER THE WARRIORS OF THE CLAW TRIBE! AN INTRUDER HAS INVADED THE SOUTHERN PLANTATION OF THE TRIBE!" The man shouted from his house, his cry echoing everywhere, alerting all the residents.

In just three minutes, ten men appeared in front of the house of the man who had shouted. They were all wearing light leather armor but were unarmed.

"Follow me to the southern plantation. We don't know who the intruder is, but there's a good chance it's someone from another tribe trying to disrupt us in the next distribution of resources." The leader left his house while speaking loudly so that the ten could hear him.

Everyone who was already angry at the intruder became instantly even more furious. If they were left behind in the next distribution of resources, it would be a great loss for the tribe.

"Let's go!"

The leader led the group, while the ten followed behind in an organized manner.

The difference was that while their leader ran upright, the ten behind him ran like animals.

Everyone's speed was many times faster than Sion's. In just twenty minutes, they reached the entrance to the plantation, and the barrier opened automatically for the leader, while everyone else followed without stopping.

At that moment, Sion was still in the middle of the plantation, now able to see that the plantation was coming to an end and that he would soon arrive somewhere.

"Jonas, we're coming to the end of the plantation. I hope the owners here are friendly. Well, Arvenya said they would treat me well." Sion said, trusting Arvenya's words.

At that moment.

Jonas stopped suddenly while making noise.

'Hiki-Hikiii-Hik!!'

Sion understood that Jonas seemed to be warning him about something when he looked toward the end of the plantation.

From there, he saw several shadows running quickly toward him like animals.

"Where did they come from? I could have sworn there was no one there a moment ago." Sion said, but he continued to follow them.

As Sion got closer, he began to feel that those shadows didn't seem so friendly.

"Jonas, if those things attack, you have permission to defend us, but don't kill them." Sion said to Jonas, who jumped and made noise, seeming to understand.

Then, in a few seconds, the running shadows came to a distance where Sion could see their appearances.

In front of the shadows was a man, he looked human, but his large wolf ears above his head said he was not.

And the people behind them were like wolves, all running on all fours looking like one, and their appearances were like humanoid wolves.

They quickly reached Sion, stopping a little behind their leader and standing still.

Sion saw that all ten men were completely covered in gray fur had large claws on their feet and hands, and fangs protruding from their mouths. They looked fierce.

Sion saw them stop, and when he went to say something to them, he suddenly saw them all bow down.

The leader looked almost human, but his eyes had narrow amber pupils, two large ears above his head, and a hairy gray tail, and gray fur still covered part of his neck. He also bowed as he spoke.

"I, Jabur, leader of the small tribe of snow wolves, pay respect to the Snow Spirit. To whom do I owe the honor of your presence in my tribe?"

As soon as the man saw the blue veins inside Sion's torn clothes, his anger towards the intruder disappeared completely.

Sion listened to the werewolf's words without understanding them. They sounded angry, and the man gave off a strong murderous intent, but as soon as they arrived, his attitude changed completely.

"You don't need to bow, I just need help. I'm kind of lost and ended up in this plantation. I was wondering if I could stay with your tribe for a while."

Sion said as he saw the expression on the tribe leader's face turn into a big smile.

"Of course, sir, it would be an honor for our tribe to have you here. Please, I will guide you to the Claw tribe." Jabur said, bowing even lower.

Sion then saw that the large wolf ears of the ten men behind the man suddenly moved as if they heard something. Then, they all backed away and went to Sion and Jonas' side as guards.

Sion then followed Jabur to the exit of the plantation.

"What are these small trees?" Sion asked.

"Mr. Snow Spirit, these are Crystal Trees. When they mature, their fruits, which contain dense cold Qi, are delivered to the great Snow Village and exchanged for resources."

Jabur was puzzled as to why Sion would ask about something that everyone knew, especially being a Snow Spirit, who had ruled the Snow Village since ancient times.

But he knew he shouldn't ask questions.

In a few hours, Sion and the men arrived at the small tribe of claws.

'They're really treating me like, I don't know, a nobleman. Could it be because I'm a Royal Snow Spirit?

Sion saw that the buildings were simple, there were about thirty houses, all suspended in the air by columns made of ice. As the men approached, Sion saw several beings coming out of the houses. They all looked like the ten men who acted as guards.

The men, women, and children had bodies completely covered in gray fur.

As soon as they saw the leader, they bowed slightly and went to greet him, but after seeing Sion, they all bowed deeply again.

And then.

"Hail the Snow Spirit." They all said together, startling Sion a little.

Sion quickly composed himself as he spoke.

"You don't need to bow, I'll just stay here for one night before leaving. Feel free. Pretend I'm not here." Sion said, but he saw that everyone still stood still, showing respect.

Then Jabur's voice came.

"Everyone, you heard him, the mr. Snow Spirit is just passing through, you can go back to your business."

So everyone reluctantly returned to their homes, but Sion saw several wolf children still looking at him with curious eyes.

"Follow me, sir, there is a spare room in my house. It's not much, but I hope it will be acceptable to you." Jabur said as he showed Sion the way.

On the way, Sion still saw some wolf children watching him through the windows.

As soon as he arrived at the leader's house, Sion saw that it was different. The style was the same, but the materials used seemed better.

Entering the house, it looked very simple, with two rooms, and Jabur showed Sion the place with a nervous look on his face.

"Hmm, it's great. I'll stay here until tomorrow, so I'd like someone to show me the way to Snow Village." Sion said as he sat down on one of the chairs around a table.

"I'm glad you like it, sir. I'll guide you to the village myself tomorrow. I was planning to leave there with the others in three days to arrive in time for the resource distribution ceremony." Jabur said happily as his nervousness calmed down when he saw that Sion was comfortable with his house.

Jabur stood near the table, waiting for Sion to say something.

"Why are you standing there? Sit down, I want to ask you some questions." 

"Yes, sir, you can ask me anything." Jabur said, bowing slightly before sitting down on another chair.

"First, I am indeed a Snow Spirit, but why are you treating me like this? Is it because of that?" Sion asked, pointing to his eyes.

"Hmm, I don't know what you mean by that, sir, but Snow Spirits are the first race to be born in the Snow Domain. In addition to being the sacred protectors of the entire domain, they are the leaders of all the races that live in the inner area. They all live in Snowstorm Village, considered the sacred city of the inner area."

"In the inner area? Not in the central area?" Sion asked.

"Sir, no being can withstand the cold in the central area. Well, I've heard that only the Royal Snow Spirits can, but I don't know for sure, no one has ever seen one, and no one knows what they look like. They've been said to be extinct for several centuries." Jabur said, and Sion was confused. Did he really not know about the Snow Eyes?