The grizzly bear wasn’t just angry but also hungry, making it highly aggressive and hostile. Even so, its strength was no higher than Mid-level Rank 2.
Anyone in the party could easily deal with it.
“Guess it has been decided,” Vaan uttered.
He pointed a single finger at the incoming grizzly bear with the intent to kill it with Rock Bullet, but Aeliana reacted quicker.
She killed the grizzly bear with a single wooden spike impaled through its head.
Vaan wryly smiled.
As he glanced at Aeliana, he could see her staring back at him intently. He could picture her wagging a tail, waiting for praises.
“Good job.”
“Hehe.”
Aeliana giggled foolishly after receiving Vaan’s praise.
Moving forward, Astoria grabbed the grizzly bear by the leg and dragged it along the way with brute strength.
“We’ve just passed the Red Maple Tree marked with the cross. The wolf den shouldn’t be far from here,” Vaan mentioned.
His judgment was further proven by the sound of running water several hundred feet up ahead.
“Lower the brightness to avoid provoking the Volcan Wolves.”
“Alright, Teacher Raphna.”
Shortly after Astoria dampened the brightness of the light orb hanging above them, they drew closer to the wolf den.
“Why do people need to give the Volcan Wolves such considerations? Can’t we just kill them and be done with it if they attack us?” Aeliana wondered.
“Volcan Wolves have steel stomachs and can eat anything living or growing in the Thousand Fog Mountains’ lower regions, Lord Aeliana. Thus, they are great for keeping the ecosystem in check and preventing the spread of diseases caused by the corpses of other monsters and beasts,” Astoria explained.
“I see…” Aeliana uttered thoughtfully.
She had discovered quite a few piles of bones on the ground along the way. However, none of them carried any foul stench or fleas.
All the meat had been cleanly devoured.
Furthermore, the land was quite vibrant with life as plants and weeds grew everywhere. There wasn’t a single patch of barren land, which was a surprise considering the thick fog blocked the sunlight.
There was truth in Astoria’s words.
The Volcan Wolves stink, but they keep the rest of the environment clean and healthy.
‘No wonder people preferred to pay tribute to the Volcan Wolves rather than kill them,’ Aeliana thought.
Wiping out the Volcan Wolves ruins the ecosystem; it wasn’t a sustainable option.
True Witches and Aura Masters would eventually have no monsters and beasts to hunt for battle experiences and skill refinement if the lower regions were turned into wastelands.
Awrooo!
A sudden wolf cry resounded when Vaan’s group approached within two hundred feet of the wolf den, which prompted them to pause their steps.
Within the next few moments, several more wolf cries were heard as if the Volcan Wolves were being slaughtered.
“Someone’s killing the Volcan Wolves!” Hester assumed.
However, Vaan furrowed his brows. Based on the feedback from his senses, there weren’t any other beings besides the Volcan Wolves in their den.
Rather, the Volcan Wolves seemed to be turning on each other.
After Vaan’s group quickly reached the wolf den, a group of trees with burrowed holes underneath their trunks, they quickly found several Volcan Wolves running around and biting other Volcan Wolves.
They behaved like rabid wolves.
However, they were only cubs. Thus, they were no match for the adult wolves, who headbutted them away.
Even so, a few adult Volcan Wolves had scratches and bite marks on their bodies. Then, within moments, those adult Volcan Wolves also displayed rabid behaviors and turned on their kind.
Nevertheless, it stopped when Vaan’s group arrived. They became the bigger targets for the rabid Volcan Wolves.
“Didn’t you say the Volcan Wolves were friendly to humans now?” Aeliana mentioned as she prepared her wooden spikes.
However, Vaan raised a hand to stop everyone from attacking the incoming rabid Volcan Wolves.
At the same time, he directed a stern glare at the rabid Volcan Wolves; his gaze carried a strong trace of his intent and warning.
‘Begone!’
In that instant, the rabid Volcan Wolves froze in their tracks as their trembling bodies screamed with fear.
At the same time, their fogged eyes, laced with killing intent, momentarily cleared up.
They cowered and backed away in the next moment, completely intimidated and suppressed by Vaan, a person with a superior wolf bloodline.
“This…” Astoria and Hester revealed their surprises.
Nevertheless, Vaan quickly shifted their attention with his following words, “These rabid Volcan Wolves don’t seem to be in their right state of mind. They seem to be affected by something.”
“Leave the bear and try casting a cure spell on them, Headmaster Astoria,” Vaan instructed.
At the same time, he brought his hands together and summoned an earthen cage to contain the rabid Volcan Wolves in one place.
“Alright, Teacher Raphna,” Astoria agreed with a nod.
Curative Light!
A soft, warm, white light enveloped the seven rabid wolves and cubs in the earthen cage, mending their wounds.
However, the spell failed to relieve them of their rabid states as their eyes remained tinged with a reddish hue.
Upon seeing that, Astoria cast a different spell.
Cleansing Light!
Once the second veil of white light enveloped the rabid wolves and cubs in the earthen cage, the reddish hues in their eyes gradually faded.
Astoria’s eyes flickered before she said, “I thought they were afflicted with rabies, but they seemed to have been poisoned instead.”
“Poisoned?” Hester raised an eyebrow before she mentioned, “I thought Volcan Wolves could eat anything living and growing in the lower regions.”
“Yeah, but that’s only limited to the lower regions,” Vaan raised a point while staring at the water stream next to the wolf den.
Hester and the other two ladies followed Vaan’s gaze before she uttered, “The water stream was poisoned?”
“Or contaminated,” Vaan casually added.
With a wave of his hand, the earthen cage crumbled and returned to the land, freeing the cured wolves and cubs.
Aeliana’s gaze turned sharp when the other Volcan Wolves approached them, led by a much bigger Volcan Wolf, who seemed to be the leader of the pack.
However, they paused a short distance away and lowered their heads to express gratitude for their timely aid.
“It’s the first time I’ve heard or even seen Volcan Wolves behaving like this,” Hester commented with surprise, taken aback by the scene before her.
It also seemed like they were being worshipped.