Chapter 16: Another Encounter
I woke, once again, to a beautiful morning. I poked my head out of my cave to watch the forest below. I had defeated the one monster that challenged me, but i must have taken over another monster's territory as well. They didn't challenge me, but I still want to know who (or what) lives around me. In my previous home, I only let weak monsters live. Most of the stronger monsters there I killed, which was probably why that small village survived for so long. I won't do that here because it would greatly disrupt the ecosystem, and if I let powerful monsters live, I won't get bothered as much.
Just as I took off, I realized I had no way to find the previous ruling monsters. Thinking hard, I might be able to find them if they are strong enough, as strong monsters give off an aura. If I tried to locate strong auras I should be able to locate the strongest monsters.
With a plan in mind, I stopped flying around my mountain and started searching for auras. As I did so, a phrase appeared in my head: 'Scan'. When I thought that, my vision changed into only shades of blue. The sky looked like it did at night, very dark. The sun glowed white through the clouds. I looked at myself to see a light blue fog around me. It was quite bright, but not as bright as the sun. Curious, I tried to hide my aura. Thus caused the fog around me to be absorbed back into my body. If I looked hard enough, I could still see my aura, but it was much harder to detect.
The forest was a gradient of colour, larger trees were slightly brighter, but all the plants' auras were very dark compared to animals and monsters. Even tiny insects were lighter than them. Luckily, I could somehow filter for what I wanted to see, or all i would get from Scan is a headache. Very soon I located a strong aura among some weaker auras. My first destination found, I started flying.
As I approached my quarry, the strongest one there seemed to notice me as well. The group stopped moving and waited in a small clearing. As I got closer I saw a group of 15 wolves of various colours and sizes. This surprised me because if there is a variant born into a group, it is normally exiled, or heavily discriminated against. Monsters don't usually group with other variants, especially if their elemental affinities clash, e.g. a water type monster is less likely to tolerate a fire monster than an earth monster. One wolf was larger than the others and had a brilliant silver coat, it was the one that had strongest aura in the group so I used Inspect.
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Name: Silverpelt
Race: Light wolf
HP: 6 703
MP: 7 428
Magic: Light magic, Wind magic
Compound Magic: Healing magic
STR: 6 842
END: 6 689
AGI: 7 465
INT: 7 411
DEX: 7 328
A rare variant of the elemental wolf.
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The other wolves were various types of elemental wolf, with each specializing in something different. Their individual average power was around 5000, but I knew that if they work together they could show a lot more fighting power. However, only 2 of them knew a compound magic. Still, they were new magics, and I would do my best to learn them. Putting this at the back of my mind, I landed in front of Silverpelt and her group.
[To what do I owe this honour, lord dragon?] Silverpelt said, looking me in the eye.
[Please, call me Rontu. I have recently claimed this area and simply want to know what you are doing here.] I responded, trying to sound polite.
[We are a small part of a larger pack, created and maintained by me personally. I heard that the chimera was slain and there is a new ruler over this land and I have come to negotiate.]
[Over what do you wish to negotiate?]
[I want permission for my pack to travel through your territory.] she said, watching for my response. She might think I'll refuse, but this is perfect for me. If I let them move through my territory, I get free guards and, if I'm lucky, I could befriend them.
[I can allow that, as long as you do not kill for no reason.]
[Really? That is very kind of you. I can also assure you that we will only kill when necessary.]
[If that is all I shall return to my home. If you need to find me, I will be inside the cave on the south side of the mountain. I wish you the best.] I nodded my head towards Silverpelt and her group before flying to my cave. They shouldn't cause any problems but I'll keep an eye on them for the next few days. If what Silverpelt said is true, she is quite the amazing leader. If that is only part of her pack, the pack must be massive, and holding such a large group together is very difficult. That aside, I want to keep up the image of me being noble and refined, but my cave isn't exactly pretty. I thought about how I should improve my cave as I returned to the mountain.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone