Eating with Wolves
Tiny had once imagined spirit arts training as something like mental cultivation when Estina told him it didn't require mana. Strengthening communication with spirits or finding new ways to utilize them, perhaps.
But after the long night passed and day returned, Estina appeared with a weary expression and made an utterly unexpected proposal.
"......What?"
"Live among the ranger wolf families for a while. Your spirit is a wolf, after all."
"What the hell— no, gah, argh... tongue, tch... Anyway, what are you talking about?"
The absurdity tangled his tongue, making words hard to form.
"Let's use human relationships as an example. What's the most important thing for people to communicate well? The means of communication."
"Uh, well... if it's a means of communication... a hammer?"
He tossed it out as a joke, but she looked at him like he was trash.
"Ha...."
"No, I was just kidd—"
"......Come to think of it, you do communicate with a hammer. The problem is your conversation partners usually end up pulverized. This is ridiculous. How the hell did you even become a spirit user?"
......She's serious.
As Tiny struggled to calm his twitching cheek under her piercing gaze,
"Oh, right. You saved a spirit on the verge of corruption and dissipation, didn't you? You were young then too. Getting to the 3rd stage must've been pure luck. Hah."
He was officially trash in Estina's eyes.
"That's not it!"
"Not what?"
"Anyway, it's not!"
"Whatever. Just go live with the ranger wolf families. Eat together, sleep together. You're lucky—we've tamed some wolves, at least."
"......You're serious?"
"Have you ever seen an elf joke?"
"Yeah."
"Who?"
"Right in front of me."
If she'd seen his memories, she'd know. The future Estina, his comrade, had cracked plenty of human-style jokes with him.
'Though they felt forced, like she was pumping me up...'
Whether it was a habit from living among humans or still true now, he wasn't sure.
"......Ahem."
Estina cleared her throat awkwardly but didn't back down.
"The 4th stage of spirit arts is about fully understanding your spirit, then combining it with your own power to awaken abilities it never had in life—buried potential, basically."
"Hm?"
"Spirits from natural beings usually have simple abilities. They focus on growing bigger rather than developing special powers. Trees, beasts... herbivores are different, but animal spirits like that are especially rare even among rare spirits."
"......Makes sense. But do I have to live with them? The wolves? Can't I just understand them?"
Please say there's another way.
He pleaded with his eyes, but
"True understanding isn't intellectual—it's empathy. And empathy comes from living together. If you were under me as an elf spirit user, I'd have you strip naked and live like a beast with the wolves. Want to try that?"
"......No."
He compromised to preserve at least a shred of human dignity.
"Woof!"
"Grrr."
Elf rangers from nearby in the Great Forest arrived at Estina's call, bringing a ranger wolf family.
Estina exchanged a few words in elvish with the rangers, then turned to Tiny with a smirk.
"Always think of your spirit when living with them. Keep it in spirit form rather than materialized—focus on the 'link'."
"That's easy enough—"
"And if possible, don't talk. Bark with them. As similarly as you can."
"What!?"
"And for meals... Your stomach can handle raw meat now, right?"
"......Does it have to be that extreme?"
"You want to grow as a spirit user, don't you? You know by now—elevating your soul's quality is the surest path to Aura Master."
Estina spoke with utter conviction.
The unexpected soul exchange hadn't just solidified their bond. She'd gained Tiny's insights on soul power from his present life.
'The Sword Emperor couldn't grasp it even when told, maybe because his realm is still low?'
Unlike other Aura Users, Estina had pondered soul quality for ages as a spirit user. It seemed she'd found her own path from that alone.
"You might even reach Aura Master without advancing your spirit arts. Your talent defies common sense. But to be sure..."
"Agh, fine. I'll do it. I said I'd do it."
"Heh, then what are you waiting for?"
"Huh?"
"Get started."
"Right now?"
"When else?"
"Ah, I need to mentally prepare..."
Putting aside his human dignity was harder than expected.
"In a hurry, aren't you? Didn't you say demon worshippers might strike elsewhere? No time for leisurely training once Overbound recovers. You want to learn fast, right?"
She was spot on.
"Arghhh, fine. I'll do it!"
Tiny gritted his teeth and approached the wolves.
Overbound or not, his injuries had long healed. Even without mana, his physical prowess could crush low-grade mana beasts.
That said,
"Arf!"
"Woof!"
The wolves wouldn't tamely accept a human barging in.
"Grrrrr."
The pack leader—an alpha male, by the look—eyed him warily.
Crunch.
Trying to pet a nearby wolf, it bit his hand instead.
"♬♪!?"
"♬♪!"
The elf rangers startled, saying something, but Tiny calmly raised his other hand.
"It's fine."
A normal wolf's teeth couldn't pierce his skin, but it soured his mood. His body could crush the beast's jaw just by flexing.
"Let go. While I'm being nice."
His black eyes filled with killing intent fixed on the biter.
That moment—
"Tiny, no talking."
Another reminder to abandon more dignity.
Ugh....
Is this really the way?
"......Woof!"
Tiny barked—wolf-style—while radiating killing intent. The shame, the betrayal of dignity, only intensified it.
'I'll become an Aura Master and smash every demon skull.'
As his eyes surged with ferocity,
"Yip."
"Gulk."
The biter and the others trembled in fear.
"Tiny, drop the killing intent! Get along! Together!"
"But—!"
"No talking!"
"Grrn... Woof!"
"Good, just like that."
Estina smiled satisfied as the rangers who'd brought the wolves circled fingers over their heads.
"♬♪♪♬♬♪♬♪."
"♪♬♪?"
"♬♪♪♬...."
The rangers cast odd magic on the wolves after talking with Estina. Likely druidic sorcery from innate bloodline mages, but the unfamiliar mana waves made it hard to pinpoint.
"They're enchanted to see you as family now. They won't abandon you, so head into the Great Forest with them. Come back when you feel you've fully understood the wolves."
With that, Tiny's awkward cohabitation with the wolf family began.
Uncomfortable at first, naturally. Chewing raw meat and sleeping among beasts wasn't easy, superhuman body or not. Instinctual revulsion lingered.
At least he'd scavenged worse than raw meat in his slum days.
And—
- I want to know you more.
- Grrm.
Wolrang's memories began flooding in at Tiny's will.
"Kek, grrrr."
Move.
"Woof!"
Why?
"Woof!!"
Enough.
Thanks to Wolrang's soul seeping in post-barking practice, within a week he conveyed intent via howls.
Soon after, the magic made the family accept the overwhelmingly strong Tiny as leader.
"Woof!"
Coming.
The family lured prey and fell back.
"Squeeee!"
A massive boar burst from the brush.
Tiny lunged, slapping its face mid-charge.
Smack!
BOOM!
The boar flew into a tree, skull caved.
"Chit, chitruk."
Thud.
It tried rising but collapsed.
"Woof!"
As the excited family pounced, Tiny ripped a hind leg free and tore into the bloody flesh.
Crunch.
Chomp chomp.
Raw meat dulled after three weeks; hunger made it welcome.
Overbound aftereffects nearly gone, but returning didn't appeal.
He craved perfect empathy with his soul partner via Wolrang's memories and instincts.
Living with the ranger wolves greatly aided absorption.
- Grrm.
'Full.'
After devouring, sleep came; he didn't resist.
In dreams, Wolrang's memories flowed: leading a moonwolf pack pre-spirit, up to awakening as a spirit beast.
- Awooooo!
Suppressing instinct, embracing world's hidden power—from beast to spirit.
It felt like his own.
Pack-leading scent evolved to Soul Sight; night-running love birthed Space Step.
He needed claws, fangs, size for hunting. Potential poured into body.
Typical for beast spirits.
But faint human reason intruded.
- Other paths were possible.
- Whine?
Not always strongest leads packs. Wise elders do too.
Wolrang was such pre-spirit, but grew too big, isolated.
Human reason touched past—
Wolrang's soul realized untapped potential.
- Does a pack-hunting alpha need supreme combat power?
Tiny sensed his breakthrough.
Vrrrrm.
The familiar thrill surged head to toe.
The invisible bond with Wolrang strengthened; souls overlapped, amplified, quality rose.
Completion—
Vrrrrm.
Animus, the Transcendent Weapon soul armor, glowed sunset mana, empowering owner and spirit.
Real-time elevation thrilled his soul, purging Overbound remnants.
Vrrrrm.
Mana surged back like waves.
'Haaaa....'
In ecstasy, mana flowed to Wolrang, materializing him.
As Wolrang reappeared—
"Awooooooooooo!"
The near-3m monster wolf's howl shook the Great Forest corner, fear dominating lesser beings.
"Woof!"
"Woof! Woof!"
The wolf family bowed eyes gleaming to Wolrang and Tiny.
Mana rippled through them, bodies and senses visibly enhancing—like spirits themselves.
Wolrang's new skill: dominating and strengthening kin.
Strengthen Species
Soul Sight and Space Step followed by the third ability.
Lost potential from Wolrang's life, now bloomed.