My Roleplay System
Chapter 141: Green Wolves

Chapter 141: Chapter 141: Green Wolves

With the little confrontation out of the way, the group continued their journey.

Iris seemed to have calmed down, much to the relief of Sylph, who was staying close to her just in case.

Lake, on the other hand, led the group while also taking the initiative to scout ahead, with the others following closely.

As the group followed, Kate seized the opportunity to dash ahead, reaching Lake in an instant, then matching his pace.

She gave him a meaningful glance, to which he understood and cast a sound barrier spell.

"That was quite something, wasn’t it?"

Lake didn’t glance her way as he continued running. "I don’t understand," he replied.

Kate didn’t say anything immediately as a thoughtful look dawned on her face.

"... Listen, Lake, do you have something against the fairies or..."

"I’m not racist, if that is what you’re inferring." Lake’s face turned slightly dark. That was the second time someone had asked him that.

"I didn’t say that," Kate immediately defended herself with a casual look on her face but didn’t dare to look Lake in the eye.

"... But if you really don’t have anything against them, then I don’t understand why you’re so hard on them."

Lake started to speak but fell silent. He wanted to defend himself but found he couldn’t.

It wasn’t like he could just tell Kate that he couldn’t read their fates, and it left him feeling uneasy whenever he was around them.

However, that thought caused him to think of something.

’...Is that what this is? Do I really act that badly towards them just because I can’t see their fates? Since when did that matter? Most people can’t even read other people’s fate, yet they still interact with them. Then what does that make me? Is this another side effect of the Master of Fate role? Am I a control freak now?’

At that moment, Lake realized another small change brought about by the system within him.

"They’re our teammates, at least for this exam, so shouldn’t you be a little more considerate?"

Lake remained silent for a moment, then let out a sigh.

"I understand what you’re trying to say. It is true that I acted out against Iris and the rest for no reason. If I’m being honest, I did all that so I could better control Iris and the rest later on so no accidents would happen during the hunt, but it is true that I could’ve gone about it in a better way."

Hearing what sounded like an apology, Kate was a little shocked as she looked at the tranquil expression on Lake’s face

’Tsk, he really is too handsome for his own good...’ Kate sighed at Lake’s dazzling appearance.

"Anyway, it’s good that you understand. You’re the team leader, so start acting like it." As Kate said this, she suddenly thought of something that caused her face to brighten up.

"Hey, you know what? I think I just discovered another weakness of yours."

"?" Lake looked over slightly confused.

"You may be a more capable fighter than me, but I’m definitely the better leader."

As Lake heard her words, he was slightly stunned as they echoed in his head, making him realize one of his fatal flaws.

Despite being the strongest student in his year, he lacked experience when it came to leading a team.

He had worked with the third years in a team before, but he wasn’t the one leading it and had mostly acted alone throughout the entire hunt. Aside from scouting and coordinating the initial strike, he hadn’t actively attempted to work with or assist his teammates beyond merely eliminating the enemy.

Mostly, he was led by the third years, and it was only in a brief moment within the cave system that he assumed the role of leader.

Back then, the situation was dire, and everyone had to trust and follow his orders to escape the cave. Paired with his King’s Aura and everyone’s desperation to survive, Lake was able to naturally take command without any resistance.

However, the current exam wasn’t the same. He didn’t know his teammates’ abilities like the back of his hand. He didn’t know how to make people he knew nothing about follow his lead. He didn’t even know the basics of building trust outside of just manipulating them into getting what he wants.

Thinking about it again, there was a reason why he was a loner before getting the System and the Master of Fate role.

With the ability to read fate, he was able to gather enough information to structure his approach and completely control them to get what he wanted. That was why everything always looked like it was under his control.

However, he didn’t know the first thing about the fairies when it came to who they were and how to approach them.

He had long abandoned his playboy persona and now didn’t know how to interact with people without the support of the information he gathered from their fate.

Realizing that there was a flaw in his current self made him reflect deeply.

’Changes would have to be made in the future. I can’t continue to rely on the system and its roles like this...’

As Lake sighed, he made a promise to himself before setting his sights back on the hills in the distance.

....

After running through the grasslands for a little over an hour, the group eventually reached the base of the hills.

Lake was slightly surprised to see Sylph keeping up with the rest of them despite her low fitness index, but now he understood it was thanks to her unique skill.

Along the way, Sylph had made sure to discuss how she could support the rest of the team outside of combat, and to his surprise, she actually had a few unique abilities up her sleeves.

One of the skills Sylph mentioned was "Attribute Enhancement," which she could use, and it was likely what she was using to keep up with the rest of them.

As the name implies, this skill allows the caster to enhance a target’s attribute for a limited time.

Lake had asked Sylph and learned that she could currently only enhance the strength and speed attributes. Lake was already pleased with this, as an increase in his stats would give him an edge against most opponents since his combat skills scaled with his stats.

However, there was more to Sylph’s abilities.

Lake also discovered that Sylph possessed a rare ability to heal wounds and restore stamina. This left everyone, except the fairies, astonished.

Even Romero was slightly shocked when he heard about it, as the ability to heal others was essentially unheard of on the Grey Dragon Continent.

Kate handled the news a little better since Lake had repeatedly showcased his abilities to do something similar, but it was still surprising.

With her ability to fly and stay out of danger, Sylph was the most perfect support any of them had ever seen.

....

Standing beside a river that flowed into the hills, Lake could see numerous claw marks and paw prints covering the ground. A well-travelled path seemed to extend further in.

"We’re close to the wolf territory now. Everyone should stay on high alert from this point on," Lake said as he gazed at the running water of the river.

Everyone behind him nodded, now paying closer attention to their surroundings. Iris, too, appeared to grow more serious as she surveyed the wooded area. Lake was glad to see that she seemed intent on keeping her promise.

Romero had fallen back as well, concealing himself behind shrubs and trees. With the group officially commencing their hunt, he needed to maintain a distance in case an emergency arose, while also not obstructing the teams operation.

As Lake moved forward, he employed his sixth sense and used his enhanced senses to survey the surroundings.

While he walked, he didn’t forget to pursue his secondary goal for this exam. "Kate, use your senses and report what you can find."

Upon hearing Lake’s command, Kate didn’t think much and channeled her mana to enhance her senses.

"...The grass along the path is trampled, and there are several broken branches scattered about. My guess is that the wolves use this path frequently, which means we must be close to the cave you mentioned," Kate reported after quickly inspecting the area for a moment.

Lake nodded and inquired, "What about scent?"

Kate frowned and focused on her sense of smell, however, after only a few seconds, she picked up on something that caused her expression subtly changed.

"...There’s a faint odor emanating from the river... Although I can’t say with certainty, I believe it’s... blood. Since we’re going upstream, I don’t think the source is too far from where we are."

This time, Lake smiled as he listened to Kate’s explanation. "Good. The beaten path and broken branches indicated we were on the right track, but they didn’t reveal how close we were to the wolves. Instead, all it did was make you overlook the water from the river which also held key information."

"From what I understand, the wolves probably use the river to cleanse themselves of dirt and blood from their hunts. It may not be easily visible in the river due to its small amount, but the smell of blood is highly distinctive, and easily detectable with mana-enhanced sense of smell." Lake explained as he suddenly turned to face the woods.

After hearing Lake, Kate fell into thought for a moment.

"Well, I suppose that’s enough for now," Lake remarked as he scanned the area.

Sylph’s ears also seemed to twitch as she swiftly spread her wings, prepared to take flight at a moment’s notice. Iris and Bramble quickly circled in on her as well, guarding her on each side, with the river behind their backs.

Kate also sensed that something was amiss as she picked up on the low growls echoing from all around her.

As everyone was slowly preparing themselves for the battle to come, Lake was standing completely still with a small smile on his face.

"Awoooo!"

An echoing howl was heard coming from multiple directions as Kate tried to estimate the number of enemies based off the sound.

"7...9...12, damn it! I can’t focus on the sound!"

"Don’t try to listen to their howls! The wolves have evolved vocal cords, you’ll only end up harming yourself if you continue to try and pinpoint their numbers!" Lake hurriedly explained after seeing Kate struggling to handle the noise.

"Why didn’t you say that earlier?!" Kate suddenly understood Iris’ problem with Lake but didn’t want to continue the conversation right now.

Instead, she jumped back and regrouped with everyone else near the river.

Lake and Kate stood in front while Bramble and Iris stood at the sides. Sylph was in the middle and had already started to hover mid air.

"Sylph, cast a speed enhancement on me." Lake suddenly said as he looked at the glowing eyes and sharp fangs that slowly came out of the woods.

Growl....

"Epp!" Sylph flew back a little when she saw the ferocious appearance of the wolves.

These wolves were a little different from normal, having dark green fur and glowing red eyes. Their size was also at least 1.5 times bigger than the typical wolf you could find out in the wild.

Looking around, there was easily at least 15 of them surrounding them.

Remembering the small bits of information Lake had given them before they came here, Kate and the rest could all recall that these wolves were all at least Rank One Beasts.

"Lake, if you have a plan, now would be a good time to reveal it." Kate said as she started to circulate the astral mana inside her.

"Relax, the big one hasn’t even shown himself yet and you’re already getting so worked up." Lake said with a light smile but suddenly seemed to pick up on something causing him to raise his eyebrow, "Speak of the devil..."

Whoosh!

Boom!

In the blink of an eye, a large yet slim green wolf "materialized" in front of them, its snarl echoing the sonic shockwave it had created from breaking the sound barrier.

"ROARRR!!!"

As the wolf released a deafening roar, Kate looked at the smiling Lake with an expression of disbelief.

"You... I thought you said it was a peak Rank One creature... What part of that is a damn peak Rank One Creature?!!" Kate’s fury was apparent.

Sylph who was prepared to fly off a moment ago was trembling on the ground in front of the terrifying creature while even Bramble had a stunned expression on his face.

As for Iris... she was silently giving him the death glare...

Lake however didn’t seem to mind as he slowly adjusted to the speed enhancement Sylph had just casted on him.

"Hmm, this is at least 10% faster... Nice work Sylph." Lake gave a rare compliment, something that caused the previously scared Sylph to be completely stunned.

"Kate, I’ll leave you in charge of leading everyone else to deal with the smaller wolves. Don’t kill them if possible, as we’ll need them to be alive for the next part of the plan. Leaving them fatally injured is fine however, as Sylph could heal them before they die." Lake explained as he cracked his neck.

"Huh?! What the hell is with this sudden order?! Why the hell am I in charge?! And where are you going?!" Kate was extremely flustered by the sudden order and was looking at Lake in anger.

At this point, the surrounding wolves had already crept up on them and had them mostly surrounded.

Lake took a side glance at Kate as his eyes started to glow a bright blue from the mana flowing through him. "What? Didn’t you say you were the better leader? Since you trusted in me despite me being the worst leader, I’ll trust in you to lead everyone better."

"Huh?" Kate was stunned at Lake’s sudden words, but before she could react, he had already turned to face the large green wolf.

"As for me... I’m going to tame an alpha."