Chapter 36 - White Paw Tribe

The instance we entered the forest, I had already blacked out. I was so mentally exhausted that i couldn't keep myself awake for a second more. I was still healed and the wolf had given me some of his vitality but vitality does heal the mind, sleep does.

I woke up after what felt like a few hours of sleep. I was laying on a bunch of hay where i was surrounded by many wolfs. A lot of them kept me warm while some seemed to keep guard. I got up slowly as to not wake up or scare anyone and used gravity field to coat just my body and make me as light as a feather. I then used air magic to make sure that i would make no sound and simultaneously using earth magic to negate the vibrations of my footsteps.

I walked outside to be greeted by a few white maned wolfs standing guard outside. I was grateful for the fact they didn't eat me right off the bat so i gave them both a small bow before walking to the center of the tribe village.

The homes were either carved out of the mountains or made out of leaves. They were made to be the more ergonomic towards wolves, not humans. This meant that they wouldn't need a fire place nor would they need multiple floors or even stairs. They would just sleep in groups within huts they could make in less than 10 minutes. The homes were quite spaced apart but the chief home was visible and identifiable for a mile away. It was a huge caving area that was carved from the mountain and greeted its guests with skulls of several animals and humans while keeping their skin hanged up as if they were scarecrows, but instead of being made out of hey and straw, they would be made out the decomposed bodies of humans, beasts or animals without discrimination.

Why did they let me live then? I'm not going to complain, but it does make me curious as to why they would treat me differently from everyone else. Was it because of Keaurin or did they have another reason to keep me alive?

I walked towards the huge caved in area that was blocked by a boulder the size of 9 elephants stacked on top of each other in rows of 3's. When I started getting closer some wolfs growled at me for a second before averting their attention. I didn't pay them much attention because I was told by Keaurin before that the wolf tribe didn't like humans much. I completely understood their hate for humans since I'm not too fond of them either.

When I finally got to the huge boulder, I didn't know if I should knock and hope the vibrations would get to the other side or if I should be sending some kind of magic signal to allow the person or people on the other side to know I was there.

I knocked a few times before realising that's probably not how the wolves communicated with each other. I went around and asked how to open or signal the chief that I was in front of the door just to be greeted with a few snarls and growls before I found someone who was willing to grudgingly help me.

The wolf put his paw on the boulder before emitting some white particles from his paw. The boulder started to vibrate before shifting to the right giving me a hole big enough to go through. My eyes grew wide as I asked "Was that light magic?"

The wolf growled a little before saying "yes and no. It was a mixture between earth and light, Nevertheless, since most people cant use white magic they can't open the door. Now go in and waste my time no more!"

I started walking towards the opening within the wall and boulder that was created. I was greeted by a warm environment. In the center of the open area that was surrounded by mountain rock was a white wold the size of an elephant with two magnificent yellow feathered wings that are veined with white. The wolf's mane burned with a calm hue and its silvery eyes shone with a wise aura. It lay there motionless with on paw on top of the other and finally the head on top of one of the forelegs

When I finally snapped out of my absent mindedness I felt some movement just to be greeted by the lick of a tongue at least half the size of my entire body, if not just as big as me. I flinched back and fell on my a*s. I was about to rebuke by insulting the wolf just to realise it had moved to my side so fast that I barely even felt it.

"kekeke. Stop looking at me the same way you would look at a dragon for the first time. I'm not that rare! Is it my mane? Is it so magnificent that you are having trouble arranging your thoughts? HAHAHAHAHA"

Promptly, most of the allure that I felt from the wolf had disappeared as fast as it came.

What the hell is wrong with beasts in this world? I met 4 and I have a bad memory stuck with all of them! AND WHAT THE HELL IS WITH HIS ONE CHARACTER TRAIT THING EVERYONE HAS! Come one dude, be unique!

"hey, I'm Atlas, you?" I said while looking the wolf directly in the eyes. My eyes flared with mana at the question.

"ho ho… The name is Juilam. So why have you come here? I would have expected you to leave immediately but to my surprise, not only did you stay but you came all the way to my lair."

Hmm, should I ask him why he kept me alive? Wait no, that's a waste of a question. I should try and find a question that is worth his time rather than one that he would either not know or would answer in less than a second of thought.

"Can you teach me some magic in the next 2 days? I don't use the hand signs or chant the humans do, nor have I inherited their weak fragile bodies. I have been having a few problems with earth magic since it is my weakest affinity." I said without stuttering or looking away

"Really? That is it? I expected you to ask to be taught some white magic while you were at it, but I guess not..." The wolf said while pouting his head in disappointment.

"Well, since 'White magic' as you call it, can only be used by your race, I assumed it would be a secret within the tribe. I didn't want to overstep my boundaries too much, and asking for a tribe secret would be a little too much, even for me."

"Ho ho, you really aren't human." said Juilam while my eyes widened slightly at the words "aren't human".

"Maybe, maybe not. I guess you will never know" I remarked before grinning and shrugging right afterwards.

I don't really know the answer to the question myself. What am I? Humans don't reincarnate after they die with all their memories intact do they? Then I'm not human after all... The wolf is right, I might as well be closer to beasts than humans since I carry more similarities with them than to humans.

"So what are you going to teach me?" I asked looking at the oversized feathered wolf in front of me

"well, earth magic and the basics of white magic. You can either live while using the white magic basics that I give you or you can improve on them. First lesson will be on how to emit 'light magic' as the humans call it."

"and how can I emit light magic when I don't have an innate affinity to it?" I retorted

"well that is what I'm going to teach you. First off, I wont be able to teach much earth magic if you take too long to manifest your light element. I'll Teach you what I cant about earth magic for the first day or so before telling you how to emit 'light' magic... Deal?" the wolf stated without a second thought.

I nodded, promptly starting my two day apprenticeship to master the basics of the earth element and to finally grasp the light element that I don't even know how to manifest.