Wolf Rider

Half an hour outside Harvest City, Abel and Master Bentham were discussing forging experience. Essentially, Master Bentham was guiding Abel, as Abel had only been learning forging for a short time. Although he learned quickly and had already become a master, his experience still paled in comparison to Master Bentham's.

As they were talking, Abel suddenly felt the carriage stop and couldn't help but lift the curtain to ask, "What's wrong?"

The coachman replied with a hint of astonishment, "Something's not right with the village ahead. It looks like something happened."

Abel said to Master Bentham, "Master, you stay in the carriage. I'll go take a look."

Master Bentham chuckled, "I'm a Level 5 warrior too. Don't worry about me."

Abel had serious doubts about Master Bentham's combat effectiveness, even though he was a Level 5 warrior. He knew that even Knight Marshall had to train daily to maintain and improve his combat strength, but Abel had never seen Master Bentham practice any martial arts since he'd known him.

However, Abel didn't insist. He and Master Bentham got out of the carriage together and saw plumes of black smoke rising from the village in the distance.

"I'll go ahead and check," Abel said, turning back to retrieve the Ice Magic Greatsword he had forged at the Blacksmith Guild from the carriage. The sword hadn't been decorated yet and looked quite plain, but its defensive capabilities were unaffected.

"Be very careful," Master Bentham cautioned.

Abel waved his hand, signaling that he understood, and then walked towards the village.

The closer Abel got to the village, the more he felt that something was seriously wrong. It wasn't just a small fire; the entire village was ablaze.

When he finally reached the village, the scene before him stunned Abel. The ground was littered with the bodies of villagers, some of which appeared to have been torn apart by animals, leaving them mangled.

What was even more outrageous was that Abel saw many children's bodies. The bodies of adults and children were scattered throughout the village. It was clear that this was an unequal massacre, a well-organized slaughter carried out by an overwhelmingly superior force. In the history of this world that Abel knew, even foreign invasions rarely involved such massacres of civilians.

Abel searched the village, but there were no survivors. It seemed the killers were very experienced or had some special method. Every place where someone might hide showed signs of being broken into, and the people inside were killed on the spot.

Abel had never felt such a sense of oppression. Although this wasn't his family's knightly domain, as a fellow human, he felt a profound sadness.

Since arriving in this world, he had only seen images of peace. Even when he was attacked, he thought it was just like his old world, where some people committed crimes. The scene he witnessed today was the first to truly shake his soul. This world wasn't as peaceful as he had imagined. Near his own home, a village had been massacred. What if it were his own family? What if it were the Bennett Family?

"Gods, what is this?" Master Bentham, seeing Abel hadn't returned for a long time, grew concerned and also came over. When he saw the scene before him, he too was shocked.

Master Bentham approached the bodies and carefully examined the torn ones. With a grim expression, he said to Abel, who was walking towards him, "It's orcs. Orcs did this."

As he spoke, Master Bentham pointed to the wounds on the bodies. "These are direwolf bite marks. Wolf Riders were here."

Wolf Riders were the main force of the Orc Empire, composed of werewolves and direwolves. Wolf Riders possessed incredible mobility, with speed and agile turning capabilities making them one of the best cavalry on the continent. The direwolves of the Wolf Riders could adapt to harsh environments, and during continuous combat, they could sustain themselves by consuming their slain enemies.

"Quick, go back and notify Knight Marshall!" Master Bentham realized that with the presence of Wolf Riders, all the nearby villages and castles were in danger due to their speed.

Abel and Master Bentham quickly returned to the carriage. The coachman drove as fast as he could, and the carriage sped towards Hari Castle.

Simon was a werewolf, or more precisely, a Wolf Rider. His companion was a female direwolf named Black Wind.

Simon's home was on a barren plain. They had two hundred mu of land. His nine siblings and he couldn't produce enough food from two hundred mu to satisfy their family's needs. Simon had the potential to become a Wolf Rider, so his parents invested heavily in him, finally enabling him to become one. However, his other siblings still went hungry.

To secure enough land for his family, Simon made a decision: to participate in the Death Trial. Warriors who returned from the Death Trial in previous years were rewarded with land and returned laden with riches. The gold and gems alone were enough to purchase a lot of farmland.

Simon tried his best not to think about how few people survived the Death Trial each year. He just hoped that he would be among the survivors.

Simon felt unlucky. The night before they were to pass through the Budapest Mountains, he had settled Black Wind in the stable at the military camp. There were many direwolves in the stable that night, and one of them must have been in heat.

After crossing the Budapest Mountains via flying beasts, his small team of ten Wolf Riders set out together. Everything went smoothly afterward. They avoided towns and only attacked small villages. Although their spoils were not great, their successive victories filled Simon with confidence for his trial.

Then, one day, Simon discovered that his direwolf was pregnant. Direwolves were creatures of extreme loyalty, their devotion to their masters unmatched among all mounts. Only the first creature a direwolf saw after its birth could become its master.

Normally, a direwolf's pregnancy would be a cause for great joy. Whether it was for his siblings to bond with the offspring or to trade the right for substantial resources, it would have been a wonderful prospect.

However, this was the human world, and Simon was constantly in combat here. A pregnant direwolf would severely hinder Simon's combat effectiveness. In a previous village raid, although there was no resistance, the overly strenuous activity had caused Black Wind to experience morning sickness, and she could no longer keep up with the team. The other Wolf Riders in the squad were unwilling to put themselves in danger for Simon. After all, the primary reason these squads could raid human settlements was their speed. The speed of Wolf Riders was crucial to their survival.

Simon stayed behind, alone with his direwolf, Black Wind. He dared not enter open terrain and could only hide in the jungle, waiting for Black Wind to give birth.

Every day, Simon hunted in the jungle. Each hunt provided enough food for both him and Black Wind to eat their fill. He often wondered when he would be able to own land like this, with food so abundant that it could never be eaten. The prosperity of the human world attracted countless orcs like Simon, who longed to plunder and conquer it.

Simon carved a line on a tree every day to keep track of time. For now, all he wanted was to safely spend two months in the jungle, then meet up at the rendezvous point and return to the Orc Empire.