Mage And Wolf
Chapter 258

Chapter 258: Chapter 258

Karl and Lelou took care of the few monsters they found still lingering in the area, but the tracks they found indicated that the majority of the Horde that attacked the pack and escaped is still heading East. Towards what, nobody knows, but they’ve been traveling that was a while and this attack was only incidental. A spot they happened to find along their way.

With that information in hand, we return to the compound, jumping over the new wall, which makes the guards frown at the lack of security, but most if not all monsters that don’t fly are incapable of such a jump. They’ll still need to make a set of gates to truly secure the pack, but that can happen tomorrow, along with the inscriptions. The pack survived with just a chain link fence until today after all.

"The herd has moved on. You should be back to regular levels of unsafe. As far a I can tell, the Strongest of them are gathering somewhere in the East, so if there’s anyone alive out that way, you should warn them. The monsters won’t be any more gentle to them than they were here." Karl quietly informs Alpha Conway.

"I’ll get on the radio once we get the antenna tower fixed. It’s all we have to keep in touch these days, but it works well." The Alpha agrees with Karl’s assessment.

"So, are you planning to rebuild like things were, or make something more solid? Both me and the Dragonewt Hui’Jin can also use basic Earth Magic if you want more sturdy homes. A couple of apartment building shells would be nice and quick, and then you could move everyone out of the bunker and into the sunlight. Though there’s something to be said for bunkers, we live in the one in Arcana, even with the huge city above us." Lelou questions the werewolf Alpha.

"I think a few aboveground buildings and then we will do what we can to enhance the bunker. We don’t have any surviving heavy equipment though, so expanding it might not happen."

"If you’re willing to harbor some black witches while we cultivate, our magic can help you build a better bunker. Witches are more nature based, but we can form and shape a dwelling in the Earth well enough. Given time, we can make a fully functioning underground city. There are a few in the west that harbor entire large covens." The eldest of the black witches suggests.

"Their safe house was destroyed by the Beasts. They were headed this way on foot when we met them, and I had a high quality cultivation technique for them. They’ll also be able to keep inscriptions on the walls active, and an area hex to keep most of the monsters away." I explain to the confused werewolves.

"That sounds good to us. It’s time we got past the old animosity anyhow, so long as they’re not planning to sacrifice any of our pack to their rituals."

"With a million magical Beasts wandering around, there’s zero need to bother the werewolves. Just what we gathered from the battle here is enough to last the few of us who survived most of a decade." One of the witches, the one with black scales on her face, explains. I’d ask for names, but they don’t like giving them, believing names hold power over a witch. So instead, names are skipped, or a nickname is picked.

"How bad were your losses?" The Alpha’s oldest son, Dave, asks.

"We’re down to five out of our original forty. Six if the white witch is sane when she wakes up." Their toothless leader informs the young Alpha heir, who nods solemnly.

"Should we do something about the house? We closed the doors, but there’s still an active portal there." Karl says.

"It will sink back into the ground an hour after everyone left. It’s a security feature to keep the portal from being located. It won’t raise again unless I return or someone enters the portal room from the other side." The old witch smiles at him. Which means it was likely buried when we arrived, we just made it resurface. We should have cleaned up a bit, enclosed underground those monster corpses aren’t going to smell great at all.

"The inscriptions to strengthen the walls are pretty simple, both me and Hui’Jin should be able to help. Can any of the witches use the technique?" I ask.

"All of us. It’s one of our spell casting techniques, though we don’t know many other than the Dark Arts." The talkative, scale faced younger witch informs me.

"Good, we’ll need them every ten meters or so, which means a lot of them. Let’s start that first, and Karl can make some town gates then move on to apartment block construction with Lelou."

That seems to work for everyone, and the pack finds us a good solid spot in what used to be an open field to build the new abodes. Eventually they’ll rebuild some of the houses, but getting construction materials might be hard, unless Karl is willing to make them a creation spell. He likely will, it’s basically a token of alliance with the Dragon Gods at this point. Plus, they’re so rural, it’s the only way they’ll get supplies anymore, and their crops are gone.

Karl goes for a massive set of counter balanced bronze doors, with the strengthening Inscription carved right into them. A set of huge iron bars swing into place when the gates are closed, locking them, but from the inside they can be opened by two werewolves.

While he does that, we’ve brought out engraving tools, or for me and Hui’Jin, claws. We’re engraving the inscriptions into the wall, so anyone with enough energy can reactivate them. The inscriptions are nothing fancy, on par with the Grade 2 Steel Skin talismans, but combined they will keep almost anything from breaking the walls without spending a lot of time trying.

That’s why when cultivation sects attack each other they jump over the walls instead of breaking holes in them. Nobody cares about property damage, it’s just that the property is hard to damage.