Chapter 80: Chapter 80

Savannah arched a brow, lips twitching in mock indignation.

"We did all this work, and you can't even come up with a plan? Way to go, cap…"

Her words caught in her throat, however, as her gaze flickered to Kazzah, observing the scene with a deep frown.

Sensing the awkward pause, Kan pitched in, "I do have an idea, though."

Sokram's eyebrow lifted in interest. "Please, do tell, big brother."

Kan nodded, turning to Amber. "You can use the Vines spell, right?"

Amber nodded, pointing at Sokram and Savannah. "They can use it too."

Kan's excitement was palpable as he asked. "Can you guys use it to create openings for us to wound or even sever their legs?"

"That's a good idea, but mine and Savannah's vines would be too weak to hold them," Amber explained, not pausing in her reading.

She had already finished the scroll and now held an enormous tome in her hands, she added. "They're mostly Uncommon-level beasts."

"Well, we'll have to use vines for when we tame the cows, but not on their legs," Sokram finally began to unveil his own strategy.

"There is one weakness you ignored. Cows, although they can swim, aren't strong swimmers and can easily get tired like that, especially in high-stress situations such as trying to escape."

Kiana's ears perked up as she glanced around. "But Sokram, I don't hear a single river nearby."

"Heh." Sokram grinned, pointing to the snow-covered grass a few meters away.

He gathered his mana and stomped his foot.

The team sensed a subtle shift in the ground where he pointed, yet nothing visually changed.

Before they could question him, Sokram, using Force, made a small boulder nearby float toward the spot where the shift had occurred.

As he dropped the stone, instead of the expected 'thud,' they heard a muddy splash.

"It's harder to swim in mud than in water for bovine monsters like these," Sokram explained.

"Even if they're earth-element oriented, they're too unintelligent to escape it."

Sokram's wrist flickered, and the messy pool of mixed snow and mud solidified again.

Sokram glanced at Amber and Savannah, nodding toward the terrain ahead.

Savannah stood, choosing the same spot, and drew two simple runes on the ground.

Taking ten steps back, mana flowed from her, and as she sat back with them, the solid, earthy floor that had turned into a mix of snow-covered grass and dry muddy earth transformed back into a six-meter-wide mud pit.

"Wow…" Nora voiced her astonishment, a sentiment shared by everyone.

In the next second, Amber, finally looking up from her book, waved her hand toward the muddy expanse, instantly casting a spell over it.

"Dry!" she commanded.

The mud pit solidified again.

Then, with a second wave, she cast: "Mud Pit," and the spot reverted to a churning mire.

The team looked even more stunned at Amber, even Kazzah and Timothy unable to conceal their flabbergasted expressions.

But Savannah scoffed at her mockingly, "Show off!"

Amber, her cheeks slightly flushed, returned to her reading, struggling to suppress a proud grin.

Sokram's voice drew their attention back to him. "These pits are six meters deep and wide, perfect for trapping medium-sized beasts such as the Taurino bulls and cows, robbing them of their only real strength. As for the vines, after losing their center of gravity, the vines can easily subdue their arms while they try not to drown. They might even rely on the vines, afraid of drowning."

The team exchanged approving glances.

Sokram, seeing their understanding, continued, "Alright, with that explained, here's what we are going to do. We'll divide ourselves into three teams. Amber will lead one, Savannah the other, and the last one will be led by me. Amber's team will have two people, and Savannah's will have three."

Sokram glanced at Lucy. "You have those Mithril arrows with the Runic Enchantments, right?"

With a flick of her wrist, an arrow of pure mithril shimmered into her hand. "Yes, Master. Granny commissioned it just as you specified." Lucy's voice was undeniably flirty when she called Sokram her Master. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn novel-fire.ɴet

Sokram could only smirk and shake his head at her antics.

He also sensed Timothy's poorly concealed hatred locking onto him as Timothy's knuckles whitened around his spoon.

Seeing Lucy caressing Sokram’s arm, the spoon bent in his grip, a silent snarl twisting his lips before he schooled his face into neutrality after Kazzah softly elbowed his side.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

None of it escaped Sokram's senses as he continued, "Lucy will be on Savannah's team. The barrier runic spell we used on the last hunt is engraved on those arrows. After Amber's team kills one of the cows, they will join Savannah's team, and she will use the taming spell on the cow that Savannah's team will trap."

Sokram's gaze shifted between the twins. "As for the other members of their groups, it's obviously our two berserkers."

He flashed Lara and Nora a confident grin. "With the runestones and your clan's expertise with equines and cattle, you can handle it, right?"

They eagerly nodded. "Yes, leave it to us, Captain!"

Lara and Nora's cheerful tone, unmindful of Kazzah's presence, echoed their respect for Sokram.

Nora took the initiative to join Savannah, and Lara had no qualms about helping Amber.

Sokram then addressed the rest of the team. "The four of you are with me. I guess we can take on the bull by ourselves, right?"

He winked at Kiana, who raised her shield and gave it a confident thud.

"With these runestones, I can tank even the fearsome Snow Beasts, Captain. My shield is yours." Kiana answered with confidence.

Seeing her becoming more and more cheerful, Sokram recalled the words of the Huntress, the Paragon revered by most of the wolf-kin tribe: "A hunter in grief will cry for a thousand moons for a lost loved one, but the breath of the wild will mend any broken heart."

"The huntress is wise in her ways," Kiana flashed him a bright smile.

"Wisdom is wisdom, but a strong heart? That is praiseworthy, wild one." Sokram saluted her, knocking a fist over his chest.

Kiana's eyes shimmered with unshed tears, but her smile never faded. These were tears of acceptance and solace.

Lara and Nora sat beside her and hugged her.

Nora said, "After this hunt, we will go to the Red Moon and drink until sunrise, alright?"

"Alright! But if the bards are there, you'd better be prepared to sing with me." Kiana accepted the invitation cheerfully.

Kan, seeing his cousin escaping the claws of depression and grief, felt a weight lift from his heart.

He nodded at Sokram, silently thanking him for the words.

Sokram knew that when it came to the wolf-kin people, grief was their true struggle.

Defeat was a lesson; dying in the wild was a reward.

But losing a loved one was akin to being left behind, and in Kiana's case, she wasn't just abandoned; she was also betrayed.

And Sokram was profoundly impressed by her strength of heart...

After discussing a few more details, Sokram dismissed the team to rest. He returned to his tent to meditate until his guard duty shift began.

Unbeknownst to the group, two silhouettes clung to the highest branches of the ancient oaks a few hundred meters away, their breath misting in the cold night air.

Leaves rustled softly below them, stirred by a breeze only they could feel. Their eyes trained on the camp, Hannah’s sandal shook the branch as it landed on it, the sound swallowed by the wind.

Sayuri smirked beside her, tails flicking.

"You’re stealthier when you’re not babysitting," she leaned against the tree trunk, her tails swaying lazily behind her.

A sly grin played on her lips. “This isn’t the first time you’ve shadowed your grandson, is it?”

"Hah," Hannah didn't even bother to glance back. "You act like the only reason I'm here is not because I caught you following them."

"Well, he is still my savior and the only chance I have to escape stagnation. I can't let anything happen to him, can I?"

Sayuri glanced at the camp, then a few hundred meters south. "That pup was really leaving breadcrumbs. Why did you stop me from erasing the track he was leaving behind?"

"Unlike Hilda and Mira, I don't try to clip his wings with overprotectiveness. Besides, I'm sure he saw what that pup was doing, so he will be prepared."

Her gaze shifted to where Sayuri was looking, and she sneered, "Besides, I'm pretty confident that Sokram and his team can deal with that."

After that, they fell silent again.

Hannah left no openings for Sayuri to start conversations.

Yet in the quiet presence of the Grand Duchess, she felt a familiar ease settle over her, an understanding that needed no words.

Dawn painted the camp in pale overcast light, the air sharp with frost. Sokram’s breath fogged as he stepped from his tent, greeted by Kan and Lara, their feral senses sharply noticing the rustling coming from the other tents.

Sokram lit the fire with a wave of his hand and began preparing soup for breakfast.

The best ingredients he had went into the soup, a potent concoction to ensure his team had ample energy for the day ahead.

As he cooked, a frown creased his brow; he was thinking about his cultivation.

He had spent the whole night cultivating but had only advanced a tenth of his usual progress.

He sensed that his core, which had been expanding, began to compress again. And he feared his progress would slow down significantly.

A sigh escaped him, a whisper of frustration against the cold morning air. Still, even in his deep thought, a ripple of movement caught his peripheral senses, a sly fox trying to creep up.

Before she could wrap her arms around him, Sokram swiftly dodged, pulling her into his arms instead. "Good morning, my naughty little fox." Sokram kissed her forehead and then let her go.

Lucy groaned disappointedly as his arms released her.

Just as she was about to complain, her keen hearing picked up why he had been brief in greeting her that morning: Timothy left his tent with a frown, avoiding her gaze.

Seeing him so downcast, Lucy felt conflicted.

She couldn’t help but muse on the pervasive effect of Devotion.

Logically, she knew she should feel bad, even ashamed.

Lucy’s fingers brushed the hilt of her dagger, a nervous habit. 'Shouldn't I feel guilty?'

The thought slipped like water through a sieve, leaving nothing behind. Only Sokram’s warmth lingered in her mind, sticky as honey.

She felt nothing romantic for Timothy anymore, but not just for him.

Growing up among the girls of the Pavilion, Lucy had learned to behave in a flirty way that had become second nature.

She had always enjoyed flirting with others as if it were just a sport.

But now, she could no longer feel any thrill in it, except when it came to Sokram.

Validation, comfort, safety, security. Anything Lucy could ever seek in a companion, whenever Sokram met those needs for her, her heart filled with so much more longing for him, in a way that almost no one else mattered.

She still valued her baby brother, family, and friendships.

But lately, when it came to her female friends, like Savannah, for example, though her feelings of friendship and sisterhood hadn't changed, she found herself feeling impulses to push Savannah, maybe even lure or seduce her, into Sokram’s harem.

Not only Savannah, but also her mother and Ayame.

And when it came to Sokram’s family, seeing how much he cherished them, she couldn’t help but share these same feelings.

Sometimes she even had a few slips, calling Hilda mom instead of ma'am. Something that happened more times than she could justify.

Luckily for her, Hilda seemed to enjoy it and even teased her sometimes, too.

Lucy turned toward Sokram; her gaze lingered on his jawline, sharper now, promising the man he was becoming.

The firelight danced across his features, casting shadows that made him look older than he was.

Her cheeks warmed despite herself. 'For Nhiria's sake, I'm getting obsessed with this dragon, and I'm loving it.'

The way her lustful gaze was locked onto Sokram attracted the attention of others who were now emerging from their tents, lured by the rich, savory aroma of pork ribs, purple pepper, and many other lettuces Sokram added to the soup drifting from the campfire.

Savannah, seeing the knowing smiles on the faces of the other girls, couldn’t help but smile too.

But for some reason, as she watched Lucy lean closer to Sokram, something flickered behind her ribs.

A tightness she wasn’t ready to name, piercing her chest, 'Is this... jealousy?'

She pushed the thought away, trying to ignore the way his easy laugh came so naturally around Lucy.

Then she glanced at Amber, who met her gaze, and she understood: They were having similar thoughts, perhaps even sharing the same jealousy.