Mage And Wolf
Chapter 159

Chapter 159: Chapter 159

The Virtuous Cultivators move to surround us while we pick targets.

"I’ll take baldy, and the guy with bad teeth, and those ones off to the right, but you’re taking greasy and the fat guy with the boner. Non negotiable." I inform Karl.

No matter what, I am not touching that pervert, and the greasy guy isn’t much better. Why couldn’t we be attacked by cultured sorts with decent personal hygiene?

"Fine, but you owe me for this if I get grease stains on my sleeves." Karl laughs as the irate and overweight cultivators charge him.

I call out the black and white energy Dragons, my attacks pushing me smoothly into the mass of cultivators off to my right. A low kick knocks one to the ground while the Dragons force the others back away from me.

My second kick, fortified with the energy techniques of the Divine Dragon style, hits solidly into a chest with a sickening crunch. He shouldn’t be that soft, he’s clearly in the low Core Formation Realm the same as me, but he’s collapsed into himself like his bones were removed.

I send both Dragons out entwined into the legs of another, shattering them, and use the tails of the Dragons to throw myself in the air, avoiding the incoming wave of energy attacks that converge at my former location with a deafening bang.

From up here I can see that Karl has simply pelted his targets with Arcane Missiles over and over and has yet to throw a kick or punch.

"Hey, stop slacking, they’ve got energy reserves too." I laugh and the cultivators below me go a little pale. I’d forgotten the effect these robes have on laughter, I’ve been told it’s ’the haunting sound of impending doom, mixed with a happy giggle’. Whatever that means.

I drive a punch down into the cultivators below me, splitting a head open by accident and following with a graceful spinning kick that has the twin Dragons following it to knock the rest of my opponents to the ground.

"That’s cheating. No punching holes in your opponents!" Karl calls back as he subdues the last of his half and Elder Song fades back into visibility.

"It’s not my fault that they’re so fragile. Their cultivation feels like Core Formation, but they break like children’s toys." I shrug.

Elder Song has his trusty notebook out and is starting to make sketches and a narrative of the fight.

"How much stronger than you do you think Alpha Petros was on the day you met Karl?" Elder Song asks out of the blue.

"I’m not sure. Deadlift, maybe 5 times as much? But for combat prowess it’s hard to say I had never met anyone who could equal him at the time." I respond absentmindedly, wondering what to do with these idiots now that I’ve accidentally killed a couple of them.

"Should we just send them back and pretend that nothing happened?" I ask.

"Yeah, what’s the protocol on this? I haven’t met anyone dumb enough to seriously attack us since I got to this world." Karl adds.

"They can take care of their fallen, it’s normal. Fights against cultivators don’t always end in hugs and handshakes after all." Elder Song assures us.

"You’re monsters!" One of Karl’s targets says, regaining his wits. "No Early Core Formation fighter can do that."

"I would like to point out, I’m still in the Condensation Realm." Karl says. "Not for much longer, I’m ready to break through, but still, technically not even at Core Formation yet."

They look even more shocked at this news, unsure what to make of what their senses are telling them is true, but their combat experience is telling them is a lie.

"Don’t think on it too hard chaps." Elder Song consoles them "It’s a Reinforcing technique unique to bonded pairs that makes them so strong, nothing a Virtuous Cultivator needs to know about."

Way to rub salt in the wounds there Elder.

He might be on to something though. Human Mates get stronger to better match their Lycan partner. Their senses enhance a bit and their life span extends. It’s possible Karl is well beyond what would be normal for a human cultivator.

"We should go though. Things to do, people to see." Elder Song says gently, gesturing into the woods.

I can see an Elder of the Virtuous Sects standing in the distance, looking our way, likely the reason Elder Song wants to move along and not be accused of intervening.

Once we’re a good distance away, Song is back to his questions.

"So, your Alpha, how strong would you rank him among Lycans?" Elder Song asks, looking at his notes.

"Top fifty? I mean, he’s technically a Royal, and they’re the strongest of us, being descended from the Original Lycans." I give Elder Song a long winded explanation of Lycan history, from their Creation by the Moon Goddess, through the creation of the Werewolves, who had a second spirit, that of a wolf.

He was particularity interested in their inner monologue, but I can’t really help with that. Lycans are Lycans, there’s nobody else here in my head. Then we were into the formation of the council as the packs expanded, and the chaos of the portals, bringing us to more or less current.

"So, my theory is that since the Lycan Royals were created by a Divine Being, and pass down a bit of their Divine heritage, that the Divine Energy absorbed from the Tribulation Lightning might have put you on their level." Alright, that makes sense to me.

"Now, with that strong of a baseline, all your cultivation adjusted to your new body, and from this point on, you should gain power as if you were one of the Royal Alphas instead of a twenty generation removed Omega, with only one Lycan parent."

"How did you know that? I distinctly remember NOT telling you that part." I accuse him and Karl looks sheepish.

"Sorry, it slipped out while we were discussing the situation on Earth a few weeks ago." I flick his forehead in punishment and he gives me his very best apologetic look.

"It’s fine, not a big deal here anyways, as it’s not like we’re going to run into other Lycans." I sigh. With the mating bond in effect it’s hard to stay mad at Karl, and it wasn’t a big thing anyways, but a personal insecurity.

"Since we’re on about Lycans. Why don’t you tell me a bit more about whatever you and Karl have going on?" Elder Song says with a grin.

"Are you familiar with the mating bond?" I ask and he bursts into laughter.

"Oh, the stories I could tell you about bonded mates." Elder Song laughs. "A lot of species pair bond, you’ll find them more in some of the mixed species Immortal Realms. So you two were fated?"

"It feels like it, but no. Lycans pick their mates and then the bond forms." Karl explains.

"Whereas for Werewolves they are born with a fated mate and have to wait to meet them." I add and Elder Song nods his head.

"The Foxes do it same way as the Lycans. They get attached to somebody and the two become bound together. Does the other half of the bond get anything with Lycans?"

"Better eyesight and reflexes for sure, though not a huge increase." Karl says.

"If we weren’t cultivators he’d live longer too. Mates live as long as their partner."

Elder Song smiles at me "Speaking of which, I heard a rumor about this lovely baby face of yours."

"That it’s likely to last another thousand years if I don’t reach Immortality first? You heard right. I’ll have to use one of the Polymorphism Pills eventually just to maintain my dignity." I grump.

"No picking on my Little Lycan. I like her just the way she is." Karl pulls me into a hug from behind and Elder Song laughs.

"Are we headed towards the missing relic?"I ask to change the topic.

"Vaguely. It’s hard to pinpoint, but we’re headed towards the center of the likely areas it could be in, given where the energy can be sensed." Song shrugs, walking us further into the woods.

Just before nightfall we come across more cultivators. Divine Fist Sect, a long way from home. We all Shadow Meld and sneak up to see what brings them here. If they’re also after the Sacred Thunder Relic, it’s best we persuade them to head home. Besides, there’s just something irresistible about picking on the Divine Fist.

"I tell you, the Phoenix feather should be in a nest just at the top of that mountain." One insists, looking at their map, while another stares at him skeptically.

"That’s what you said of the last mountain you made us climb too." The skeptic counters.

"It’s not my fault the map is hundreds of years old. Landmarks change, but we should have heard if someone found a full, abandoned Phoenix nest."

We retreat back out of earshot and share a conspiratorial grin. We are so going to steal those Phoenix feathers.