Chapter 134: The pack

So far they had been lucky enough not to encounter much in the way of monsters. Every once in a while they'd catch a glimpse of one far off but it would head the opposite way. Having a other group of people was a nice deterrent to small groups of monsters.

They had been traveling fairly easy due to the lower amount of snow. At times they would skirt a snow drift to avoid unnecessary trouble. However they soon noticed that the snow was not as untouched as before. "Walker, the amount of ow prints points to a group of four or five monsters roaming around. I'm not sure what direction they moved in there seems to be more ice around here keeping their prints from being clear." Gil was utilizing his scouting abilities to guess what was around them. A group of four or five monsters may have the courage to attack them.

"I want everyone to be ready, if we encounter the group we will target them at long range first. Best case they run worst case we don't see them and they ambush us." He knew that he could trust Gil and his estimate. He didn't really believe they could be ambushed since they were all on the lookout but this terrain was going to be a challenge to work with especially with the wind throwing up some snow to block their long range view.

Midnight was sniffing the tracks trying to discern a scent to be wary of but she didn't seem happy with what she found. Most likely no results came of this, the wind was carrying everything away without much hope for proper tracking. Things would be much easier if the wind died down and Stella could watch from the air.

Moving forward everyone soon became much more conscious of their surroundings. Monster prints increased making it very obvious that they frequented the area. "Leader, there some white fur up here can your appraisal skill identify it?" Since Su was in the lead she was the first to spot a tuft of blues white fur sticking out of the snow. Whatever monster it came from was definitely shedding a bit.

"I can give it a shot, I don't see why it wouldn't work." Walker moved to the front picking up the fur.

' glacial wolf fur

Fur from a glacial wolf. Often traveling large distances with the seasons the glacial wolf travels in packs. Used to create items or gear that can channel water elemental mana.'

Reading the systems information out loud walker saw Laurence's expression grow much more serious. " I take it you've encountered glacial wolves before?"

"Yes, they are a pain to say the least." A loud sigh followed his words. " like you said they travel in packs which make sense wince Gil said he expects for or five in the area. The good news is they don't have any long range attacks to hit an run attack. The bad news is that they make up for it in coordination and fangs made of razor sharp ice. Their bites freeze in contact. They will shake their head to break their teeth off in their prey and quickly freeze more. It's a blitz attack that can completely immobilize prey so the rest of the pack can attack. During the summer they stay near the mountains where it's colder but during the winter they come to the plains to hunt." Distance sounded like their best bet. If these monsters were close range damage dealers then Su could block the ones that got close while everyone else used ranged attacks to incapacitate them. There was one problem though.

"How am I going to see these over grown mutts? Their fur is the same as the snow, which is everywhere!" Remey was definitely not happy in the least that she had to play eye spy again just like when they hunted grey haired spiders. She had the most trouble finding the well camouflaged monsters.

"Hmm Elise, Gil, and I will stay vigilant for the glacial wolves. Remey stay near Su so that you can land a hard punch to any wolf that Su stuns with her shield. Riley and Laurence stay behind Su, if you see anything let us know. Midnight, make yourself as unnoticeable as possible, you might just get to take advantage of your new skills." With a slight change to the formation walker had highlighted those with the best vision so that they wouldn't be caught off guard. The only thing scarier than one monster attacking was the potential for five attacking at once.

Midnight quickly used her shadow wrapping skill to hide away. If walker looked for her he could find her but if he didn't focus enough she would just drift in and out of the corner of his Vision.

Everyone was moving along carefully giving every twig, every blade of grass, and every unusual snow drift a second glance. Nothing would escape their gaze!

' daily quest: man verses beast

Slay the glacial Wolfpack responsible for hunting down many merchant caravans. Bring rest to those taken before their time!

Reward:

100exp'

"Hold up everyone stop! Be in your guard!" Walker knew they wouldn't receive a daily quest for no reason. This meant they were in for a battle. "Looks like we will be hunting for glacial wolves now." The tamers looked at everyone in confusion. What changed that they would go hunting for the monsters they were wary of?

"We just received our daily quest, apparently these glacial wolves have hunted down merchants as prey. So our systems gave us a daily quest to slay them. It's a hero title thing" gil was so nonchalant that it sounded as if he was just going to buy bread from the market. Just a usual thing....not!

"Leader of these wolves have hunted to many do you think there is a quest from the guild as well? We should check." Showing off her brilliance once again Su saw the possibility to gain additional rewards. They had told Clara they would accept guild quests as well.

Walker did not hesitate a second and looked through his system. Clara had indeed sent a myriad of quests related to the area they were in. Top of the list was,

' quest: slay four glacial wolves

Glacial wolves have been hunting the garnet family trading routes to the east. Two prominent up and coming merchants lost their lives to them along with a multitude of merchandise.

Rewards:

Any found merchandise

VIP auction invitation'

"Su you're brilliant, the merchants mentioned were from the Garnett family. If we manage to slay four we can claim a vip auction invitation. Not only that but we also can keep any found merchandise as payment. They must really want these trade routes secured. Not to mention the two up and coming merchants that perished must have been important. When we return we will have to offer condolences to Avis!" The sad and the happy mixed with each other. Walker never liked to hear of anyone being hurt, it was worse that it was from a family he had started to like. However he was happy that Su had thought to check for a guild quest as well, now they could potentially get valuable items to back up their growth. The vip auction ticket was strange though, he had never heard of it. But if it's vip it must mean items not usually auctioned would be there. Who knows what he could find!

" Hmm are you sure we can take down the glacial Wolfpack?" Laurence was worried the party would be too torn protecting them to properly fight.

"Pfft aren't you three joining in the battle? Don't you want your pick of whatever merchandise is left over? Plus it's a wolf pack, what if they have a glacial wolf egg? Do you not want to bring a glacial wolf pup to the guild?" The no hits barred words of Remey struck home. However they seemed to do slightly more than expected.

Laurence, Elise, and Riley suddenly became blurry eyed. Focusing on their system. They in turn he just received a quest.

' special quest: vile glacial wolves

The hero party omnipotence had been tasked with defeating the vile glacial wolf pack. This pack has caused insurmountable harm to travelers and merchants alike. Join them to stand strong as travelers yourself!

Reward:

100exp'

" I don't know how you're title as hero's has so much influence over the system but I guess we will be joining you. We just got a quest as well." Shaking his head Laurence still wasn't sure he was reading it right. This was the second time they'd received a quest a tuner would never get.

Riley himself brushed off the system quest, he would much rather ignore the glacial wolves. They were a wild beast that he could tame since they revolved around loyalty to an alpha. But if it would get him experience he might as well help out.

"Let's gooo hunting!!!" Elise shouted with a hop obviously the most excited to see the new quest. She had been bored receiving the same old quests to increase the bond with tamed beasts or to train with them. However her shout may not have been the best idea. Her lack of control had attracted some unwanted attention.