Chapter 6
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Translator: MJK
Chapter: 006
Chapter Title: White Wolf
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People's pupils trembled wildly.
The magic beast's overwhelming presence enveloped the surroundings. Their skin prickled under the intense pressure.
Alarm bells rang in their minds, but terror rooted them to the spot, leaving them frozen in place.
Magic beasts were inherently like that.
Existences that ordinary humans could never hope to oppose. Superior lifeforms that only superhumans could face.
These mere mortals were utterly overwhelmed just by facing one.
-Awoooooo——!
The wolf-shaped magic beast let out a long howl. The air vibrated, and the mana in the atmosphere resonated. The beast's presence grew even more intense.
That was when people finally snapped out of it.
"R-Run! It's a magic beast!"
"Uwaaaaaah!"
They tossed aside their weapons and torches and fled.
But the beast before them had no intention of letting them go so easily.
Boom!
The wolf-shaped magic beast kicked off the ground and leaped.
It soared to an unbelievable height. Passing over the people's heads, it landed on the opposite side of the group.
Thud!
Trees splintered from the impact of its landing, and dust billowed up.
"Hah!"
"...!"
With a single leap, it had overtaken them, blocking their escape route.
Astonishing athletic prowess. For a beast larger than a horse to cover dozens of meters in one bound.
But there was no time to marvel yet.
Crackle! Snap! Zap!
Blue sparks danced from the wolf's horn. The magic beast was summoning lightning energy.
This was no good.
It was undoubtedly the prelude to an attack.
"Dodge—!"
Hunter Derek shouted loudly as he threw himself aside. Right after.
Krararararung!
A ferocious wave of lightning erupted. Blue bolts splintered into hundreds, thousands of strands, lashing out in all directions.
"Aaaargh!"
Dozens of people convulsed and collapsed from electrocution.
The beast's assault didn't stop there.
Krarung! Krararararung!
Thunder waves ravaged the area repeatedly. Blue flashes flickered relentlessly.
People fleeing in panic fell one by one, writhing on the ground.
A magic beast with terrifying physical prowess and the power to wield lightning.
Ordinary humans stood no chance—not even a scratch on its fur. Only knights or mages with special abilities could hope to fight it.
By sheer coincidence, however.
A fledgling mage walking the path of magic was present.
'That lightning.'
Andy had ducked just in time, narrowly avoiding the beast's attack.
The boy sensed something in the magic beast's lightning.
'I can feel the mana there.'
Krararararung!
Each time the beast unleashed lightning, brilliant blue light burst forth, with azure bolts whipping through the air.
Andy stared blankly at the lightning.
He could sense it clearly.
The flow of mana rippling with every flash.
How that mana was arranged, how it interacted with the world, projecting the phenomenon of lightning into the material realm.
He perceived it perfectly, down to the particle level.
"Ah..."
Andy let out an involuntary sigh.
It was beautiful.
The flow of mana manifesting the lightning. The intricate, precise arrangement and interaction of mana.
Like beholding a work of art.
'That's... magic.'
The supernatural ability of lightning from the magic beast was, in the end, magic.
The horn protruding from the wolf's forehead was a kind of magical organ. It channeled internal mana through the horn to release lightning.
The boy's eyes followed the lightning.
Mana emitted from the beast's horn wove complex patterns, interacting with the world.
The projected mana in reality traced specific movements, manifesting as lightning.
Andy's gaze tracked every nuance of the mana's movement. He memorized the entire process. And...
'I understand it.'
Andy had grasped the principle behind that lightning.
Observing manifested magic and deciphering its principles—reverse-engineering magic.
Something impossible for ordinary mages.
Tracking dispersed mana particles and memorizing their processes was exceedingly difficult.
Like remembering every grain of sand scattered in the air.
Human cognition and intellect simply couldn't achieve it.
But Andy could.
He tracked the movements of the released mana particles. He memorized and comprehended it all effortlessly. His thoughts accelerated to an unimaginable degree. Moments stretched into eternity.
Andy gazed at the blue lightning, entranced.
The wolf continued unleashing bolts.
Krararararung!
The magic beast's lightning swept through everything. The air filled with the acrid scent of ozone where the bolts passed.
Most people had collapsed from electrocution. Only Andy remained.
-Grrrrr...
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The massive wolf approached Andy, step by heavy step. Andy stared blankly at it.
Its horn aimed straight at him.
Crackle! Snap!
Blue sparks intensified, signaling the impending attack.
The enormous white wolf.
Intimidating, yet mysteriously captivating.
Its white fur gleamed softly under the moonlight, and blue flames flickered from its sharply pointed horn.
Why was this?
'I'm not afraid.'
The boy no longer felt fear toward the massive wolf.
From the moment he deciphered its lightning and grasped its principle, the terror had vanished like a lie.
It was strange.
Andy, who would shrink in fear before the village kids, now stood unafraid before this colossal beast.
Crackle! Snap! ZZZAP!
The electric current gathering on the wolf's horn grew stronger. The prelude to attack, building to its peak.
Soon, a bolt from its horn would engulf Andy and the surroundings.
In that moment, as the attack loomed.
Andy thought.
'That lightning. I think I can control it.'
A baseless delusion.
He was just a novice who had never cast magic himself, yet he believed he could manipulate a magic beast's lightning.
But a strange conviction welled up in the boy's chest.
The certainty that if he reached out now, he could seize that lightning.
Andy slowly raised his hand.
The wolf attacked immediately.
Krararararung!
The unleashed lightning surged toward the boy.
Dozens, hundreds of strands splintered, converging to devour him.
His thoughts accelerated.
He read the movements of the mana particles within the lightning. He recognized, and seized control of, its composition and arrangement.
'Grab the lightning.'
Andy grasped the lightning hurtling toward him—or more precisely, the mass of mana particles bearing its properties.
An instinctive act.
His first attempt at mana control, yet Andy handled the atmospheric mana with astonishing proficiency.
The lightning, arcing everywhere, veered and gathered in his hand.
Crackle! Snap!
A massive current gathered in Andy's hand.
He had succeeded in capturing the lightning. He fully controlled the mana composing it, binding it to his grasp.
-...!
The wolf faltered at the astonishing sight. The lightning it had fired to strike the boy was now clutched in his hand, leaving it bewildered.
Andy gazed steadily at the lightning in his grip.
'So this is mana with lightning properties. Quite wild and free-spirited.'
The lightning in Andy's hand thrashed violently, desperate to break free and spread outward. The nature of electric mana.
The boy slowly lifted his head and looked straight ahead.
The massive wolf that had unleashed lightning and felled dozens of grown men alone.
Shockingly,
-...
it was backing away.
With movements full of caution, the wolf-shaped magic beast retreated slowly.
Seeing Andy seize and contain its own lightning, it sensed danger and chose to withdraw.
Wolves were prudent, fearful creatures.
The human it had underestimated had performed the feat of binding its lightning. For now, it backed off to await another chance.
But it would have no next opportunity.
The boy held its stolen lightning.
'Time to give it back.'
The boy hurled the lightning in his hand at the beast.
Krararararung!
Blue light flashed, and the bolt scorched the air as it hurtled toward the beast.
The lightning Andy unleashed differed from the wolf's.
'Stronger, more precise. Focus the power in one direction.'
The boy adjusted the mana's arrangement within the lightning. Preventing it from scattering, concentrating it for greater range and power.
Unlike the wolf's omnidirectional blast that blanketed the area, this was a pinpoint strike.
A single azure flash pierced the air and struck the wolf true.
Zzzzzap!
-Kyaaang!
The wolf shrieked as the lightning hit it dead-on.
Thud!
The wolf-shaped magic beast collapsed, struck directly by lightning.
Dust rose as its massive body tumbled across the ground.
Andy exhaled the breath he'd been holding.
"...Did I take it down?"
Andy approached the fallen beast.
Paralyzed by the current, perhaps? Its body trembled uncontrollably.
Seeing the horse-sized behemoth crawling helplessly, Andy finally grasped the reality of the situation.
'I really defeated a magic beast.'
The boy clenched and unclenched his fist.
The sensation lingered vividly.
Catching the beast's lightning and hurling it back. Wielding supernatural power with a human body.
Ecstasy and relief washed over him.
As if some long-suppressed urge in his soul had been released. And faintly, as if his soul's quality had elevated.
After staring at his hand for a moment,
Andy turned his gaze to the prostrate wolf-shaped magic beast.
"You're still alive."
The wolf hadn't died.
Even after concentrating all that power on it, the strike only paralyzed—it hadn't ended its life.
Of course. A lightning wielder would have some resistance to shocks.
No big issue, though.
Right now, it was paralyzed and couldn't resist properly.
If he wanted, he could end it easily.
Andy's eyes scanned the ground. Amid the trampled forest underbrush, he spotted a fallen sickle.
Andy reached out and picked up the sickle from the dirt.
'If I slit its throat with this sickle...'
It would die instantly. No magic beast could survive a severed neck.
Andy positioned the sickle at the wolf's nape.
One firm pull, and its throat would gash open, blood spraying everywhere.
As he tensed his grip,
-Whine...
The wolf whimpered.
It rolled its blue eyes toward Andy. Their gazes met.
Was it just his imagination, or did those blue pupils hold sorrow and fear?
"..."
Hesitation gripped Andy's hand.
Andy had no experience with killing. He wasn't a hunter or soldier—just an orphan working at an inn. He'd never taken a life.
For him to end one now was only natural to waver.
Staring into its cowed eyes, he couldn't resolve himself.
Andy hesitated, sickle pressed to its nape.
Then.
-Whine...
The beast struggled to shift its position.
Its legs still lacked strength, so it couldn't stand properly. But it flailed into a specific posture—the white wolf's submission.
Head pressed to the ground, ears flat, tail tucked between its legs.
Andy easily inferred its intent.
'...Is it submitting to me?'
A posture of surrender.
The magic wolf that had dominated the mountain behind the village.
It had submitted to Andy.