The little dire wolf seemed to have found the feeling of being in its mother's arms while nestled against Abel's chest. It kept rubbing its little head against him, making Abel feel ticklish. Unable to resist, he gently stroked the little dire wolf's head. Under his touch, it kept lifting its head, as if hoping Abel would never stop.
Abel stood up with the little dire wolf in his arms and walked toward the pack horse. Now that he had the little dire wolf, he was even less willing to spend the night in the forest. There was no food here to fill its stomach. They had to return to the castle.
When Abel approached the pack horses, the little dire wolf's scent made them uneasy. Their forehooves kept pawing at the ground, and they looked extremely agitated.
Only then did Abel remember that to ordinary pack horses, dire wolves were natural enemies. Fear of them was ingrained in their instincts. Fortunately, the little dire wolf had just been born, and under Abel's soothing, the two pack horses gradually calmed down despite their faint fear.
Leading the two pack horses and carrying the little dire wolf, Abel did not ride. Riding through the forest was not very safe to begin with, and it was gradually growing dark. Even with the pack horses, they could only walk back. Fortunately, the little dire wolf was so light that Abel barely had to exert any strength for it to lie comfortably in his arms.
As they walked, Abel felt the little dire wolf's mouth draw close to his face. It licked his cheek with its tiny tongue, and he could not help lowering his head to look at it.
A pair of clear, flawless eyes gazed at Abel. The little dire wolf had opened its eyes. Looking into them, Abel felt its attachment to him. He felt as if he had already become its entire world. Such loyal creatures chose the master to whom they would devote their whole lives from the very moment they were born.
Abel placed his other hand on the little dire wolf's head and recalled the Mount Strengthening Technique. Although he currently had no fighting spirit with which to strengthen the little dire wolf, he could use the Mount Strengthening Technique to form a soul-level connection with it.
Abel spoke strange orcish incantations. If other people had been present, the many phrases praising the Beast God alone would have been enough to get Abel hanged by the human temple. Of course, that depended on someone being able to understand them in the first place. Here, in this uninhabited forest, Abel did not care.
Most orcish techniques were filled with reverence and awe for the gods. This was because orcish techniques were taught by priests who worshiped the Beast God, and the priests' missionary spirit was directly reflected in those techniques.
As Abel chanted, he felt a strange force pass through space from the void. Accompanying the hand he had placed on the little dire wolf's head, a burst of green light appeared. The green light slowly grew stronger, surrounding Abel and the little dire wolf. Within it, Abel sensed the call of a frail mind. That feeling gradually grew stronger, and the fragile mind conveyed its love to Abel through simple happiness—a love so pure that it contained not the slightest trace of impurity.
Feeling this love, Abel was flooded with emotion rising from the depths of his soul. He answered that fragile mind with his own love. The moment it received his response, its joy instantly flowed into Abel's soul.
The green light grew fainter and gradually vanished into the air, but their mental exchange did not disappear. Whenever Abel thought of the little dire wolf beside him, he could immediately sense its thoughts.
Looking at the little dire wolf whose soul was connected to his, Abel suddenly remembered that he had not given it a name. What should he call it? Gazing at its black fur, as if by some fated coincidence, the first name that came to Abel was Black Wind. He imagined the little dire wolf running like the wind after it grew up.
"From now on, your name is Black Wind." Abel transmitted the thought to the little dire wolf, but it seemed not to understand. His thoughts were simply too complicated for a newborn.
"Since you didn't object, I'll call you Black Wind from now on." Not sensing any rejection from the little dire wolf, Abel directly made the decision.
After walking back for a while, Abel arrived at the battlefield from earlier. Seeing the werewolf on the ground, Abel remembered that this was military merit. If he left it here, how would his military merit be counted? What if no one believed him?
He tossed the werewolf's corpse onto one of the pack horses, then led the horses and carried little Black Wind as he slowly advanced through the increasingly dark forest.
After walking for some distance, Abel had no choice but to stop and make a torch from branches. His luck was fairly good. There were not many large beasts along this stretch of road. Aside from encountering a few snakes that caused him some trouble, he finally walked out of the forest after several hours.
When he reached the castle gates, the castle was no longer as it usually was. Torches burned along the walls, and guards patrolled them without pause.
"Who goes there?" The guards on the walls spotted the figure before the castle and shouted.
The guards patrolling nearby heard the call and ran over as well. Several bows were drawn to their full extent, all aimed at Abel.
"I'm Abel. Open the gates and let me in." Abel brought the torch close to his face so the guards on the walls could see him more clearly.
"It's the young master!"
"Master Abel!"
A chorus of different cries came from the walls, and the castle's heavy gates opened with a deep rumble.
Abel led the two pack horses into the castle. As soon as he entered, he saw that the open ground inside was filled with densely packed tents. His arrival made people poke their heads out of the tents, followed by countless greetings.
"Greetings, young master!"
"Young Master Abel!"
"Master Abel!"
Looking more closely, Abel saw that they were all farmers from the territory who had entered the castle to escape the orc squad. The order had already been issued while Abel was away during the day.
Knight Marshall, clad in armor, had not yet gone to sleep. Abel's failure to return to the castle that evening had worried him greatly. After careful questioning, he learned that Abel had left the castle to test a newly crafted weapon. But Abel still had not returned by nightfall, so the knight had sent out several groups of scouts to search for him. None had brought back any news.
He had originally adopted Abel partly so that someone could inherit his castle, and partly to help his good friend Bennett resolve the problem of his second son. But honestly, in the short few months since Abel's arrival, both the castle and Knight Marshall himself had benefited tremendously from him.
During the attack outside Harvest City, Knight Marshall had acquired a weapons shop in Harvest City. The weapon he now carried was also a magical weapon forged by Abel. Furthermore, because Abel had become a master blacksmith, Knight Marshall's status in Harvest City had risen as well. Every change had been brought about by Abel's arrival at Hari Castle.
As Knight Marshall recalled everything Abel had done, his worry over Abel's disappearance grew even more painful. Just then, waves of commotion came from inside the castle. He was about to go out and investigate when Steward Linsey hurried in.
"Master, Young Master Abel has returned," Steward Linsey said somewhat breathlessly. This usually proper steward was rarely so lacking in decorum.
"He's back!" Knight Marshall hurried out of the room. In the castle square, he saw Abel unloading a corpse from one of the pack horses.
Knight Marshall approached and asked in shock, "Why is there a werewolf corpse?"
When he looked up, Knight Marshall saw the little dire wolf in Abel's arms and was even more astonished. Pointing at it, he said in a trembling voice, "Is that a dire wolf pup? Good heavens, it really is a dire wolf pup! Has it already acknowledged you as its master?"
As a knight who had once returned from the Orc Battlefield, Knight Marshall knew very well how rare dire wolf pups were. He was utterly astonished that Abel had returned so late carrying a dire wolf pup and a werewolf corpse.
Knight Marshall understood the value of a dire wolf pup better than anyone. The werewolf corpse appearing alongside it meant that the werewolf had been at least a level-six Wolf Rider powerhouse. Never mind how difficult Wolf Riders were to kill—even a level-six powerhouse was someone Abel could not withstand. So how had it been killed?
Abel had not expected Knight Marshall's reaction to be so intense. Faced with his string of questions, he did not know how to answer. He could only first speak to Steward Linsey, who had followed the knight out, and ask him to prepare some sheep's milk for Black Wind.
Before you continue