Upon hearing the name, Vivian frowned as she recalled hearing that name somewhere.
It was quite familiar, like a famous name within the Werewolf society.
"Ah..." Vivian suddenly had her eyes widened completely when she realized who Kassandra was. As she expected—Kassandra was quite famous because of a particular incident in the past. "Kassandra... you are that Kassandra, the Clumsy Maven!"
Not expecting to be recognized, Kassandra stammered.
"O- Oh... you know who I am? I even took off my glasses" She replied.
Her cheeks flushed deep red, as she took out her glasses and put them on. In her flustered state, embarrassed for being recognized as the Clumsy Maven—her hand slipped, sending the glasses flying awkwardly to the floor.
Surprised, she scrambled to pick them up but tripped and fell into a puddle.
Embarrassment washed over her, and her face grew even redder.
Quickly, she scrambled to her feet, brushing herself off, even though it didn't help at all since she was drenched, with a sheepish grin. "I- I mean, of course, you know me! I'm that famous, after all" Laughing nervously, she adjusted her glasses which had gone askew in the fall, and tried to regain some semblance of composure.
But that was not helping at all.
It happened so quickly but Kassandra couldn't hide what had happened.
Vivian who was alerted earlier now looked at her judgmentally, convinced of her guess.
Even the mutated wolf stopped biting Vivian, looking at Kassandra the exact same way.
"That's the Clumsy Maven for you," Vivian muttered condescendingly.
Although it happened a long time ago, Vivian remembered the story of the Clumsy Maven.
...
Kassandra was the Omega of a notorious pack, led by an Alpha Prime, and she was known to be extremely nimble and also adept at creating escape paths that are unpredictable but have always worked.
Because of that brilliant mind of hers, she was able to join an extremely powerful pack.
For years, the pack relied on her to make the ultimate escape route in case of the worst.
Many of the pack members knew how clumsy she could be.
Her clumsiness made her an inside joke and that was also befitting since she was an Omega that would ease the pack's stress, in bad times. However, her clumsiness spread throughout the entire Werewolf society after one particular incident.
During the war between the Vampires and the Werewolves is when this incident happened.
Kassandra's pack, the Ravenous Pack had a pivotal role in the war.
The Princess of the Violet Moon ordered them to do a critical mission, and the mission stated that they were to ambush and kill Cassian, an Elder Vampire who was making a silent journey back to his territory.
He was going back to his territory after learning that one of his crucial cities had fallen.
A city that was led by his grandson, Lord Zarek.
Cassian had received news that his grandson was mortally wounded and might not survive.
Overwhelmed by grief, the Violet Moon Princess learned from her spies that Cassian planned to leave at the break of dawn, right after the night ended which is why she told the Ravenous Pack to move instantly.
If Cassian fall, the Vampire's stronghold would fall.
However—when the Ravenous Pack arrived, at the selected location, they found themselves ambushed by a hundred Royal Vampire Knights. Cassian had already left during the previous night, rendering the spy's information tragically inaccurate.
Anticipating such a possibility, the Alpha Prime had instructed Kassandra to prepare a route.
An escape route as a precaution if things went bad.
Kassandra delivered with an elaborate and flawless plan that filled the Alpha Prime with utter confidence—believing the mission would end without casualties regardless if the information was accurate or not.
Her plan was simple.
Instead of running away, the pack would divide into three groups upon ambush and pierce through the encirclement, diverting the Vampires' attention. Meanwhile, Kassandra was to head straight to the Flower of Golden Shield.
A nearby mutated plant capable of enhancing sunlight to a terrifying degree.
Does the prince like the color yellow because I do!" Kassandra replied—pouring everything, inside her mind.
On the other hand, Vivian could only roll her eyes as Kassandra was noisy.
She even already began to regret asking Kassandra for help.
Emerging from the alley, Vivian sighed exasperatedly, she was already desperate, as the day was nearing night and she had no time, "Look, you can ask everything about his pack later—for now please, for Origin's sake, focus on helping me. I don't have much time"
"Calm down, I could bring us there in minutes," Kassandra replied nonchalantly.
For better or worse, she seemed to be serious about that.
Glancing to the side—both of them saw the people, gathering in the center of the city, the town square. Ignoring them, Kassandra asked, "Tell me, aside from this Bloodstone Crater, are there other things the prince wants?"
"Are you trying to make us get caught?" Vivian looked around fearfully.
Kassandra was talking in her normal tone, others would definitely hear what she said.
Chuckling lightly, she replied, "Don't worry, they wouldn't hear me"
"Garret and Ragnar—he is also asking to see if I could find anything, regarding them," Vivian replied but quickly shifted the topic. "How did you meet him anyway? You must have a pack with you, and the distance to reach him was quite far"
Upon hearing this, Kassandra patted Lucky's head, "I have him to go to places, he's fast"
"As for your Garret and Ragnar, there they are," She continued, pointing ahead.
Vivian looked towards the direction where Kassandra was pointing —and saw the crowd of people going through a massive door into a building—a great hall from what it seemed like. Sitting on the appropriately elevated throne was a hooded Werewolf, sitting leisurely.
Beside him was another Werewolf that emitted a strong aura.
Both of them were none other than Garret and Ragnar.
Slowly, Vivian's eyes turned towards Kassandra with a question in mind, "Wait, are they...?"
"Yeah—Garret is the new Alpha Prime, that governed this city, and Ragnar is his right hand," Kassandra replied, gazing at those two in the distance who had summoned the people. She then turned in the other direction, "Come, let's get you to where you want"
Meanwhile, in a city far away from Overclaw Village.
A powerful pair headed towards the main gate in a steam-powered, snow-covered city.
All the inhabitants of this city were short and bulky, they were Dwarves.
Each of the Dwarven soldiers, bowed to the couple as they passed—showing their utmost respect to the couple. The couple, emanating immense blood, and moon auras, were none other than Rex and Calidora.
Despite Rex's adamant refusal to bring Calidora, her stubbornness prevailed.
She stuck close to him.
Handling her might be a hassle, that he didn't want to face right now, but aside from that, he also knew that she might prove useful so he relented—bringing her along with him. Naturally—his intention here was to handle Caraptaros, the formidable Demon.
It was not necessary for his plan but would be extremely assuring if this was in the clear.
He had the necessary items to weaken Caraptaros' defenses.
A fact that might shocked Evelyn to the core.
Though the System couldn't confirm if Caraptaros' abilities would change it assured Rex that its power would likely, shift to a moon-based form—which was promising news. King Huvuki, was in closed-door cultivation so Rex wasn't greeted by him.
A formality he didn't mind skipping as he wouldn't stay here for long.
Outside, he spotted Caraptaros, a boulder-like Demon covered in snow—tied with ropes and also chains. From the looks of it, the Dwarves were trying to pull the massive creature inside their walls but found the take exceedingly difficult.
Rex and Calidora approached and were greeted by a Dwarf in dignified armor.
"Your Majesty, would you like to bring it inside first?" He asked.
Upon hearing this, Rex shook his head "No, that's not necessary. It would move on its own"
"Hmm...? Forgive me, I don't understand" the Dwarf tilted its head in confusion.
Just then, Rex exposed the row of his sharp white teeth as he smirked.
"I'm going to turn it into a Werewolf so it can walk inside on its own later," He replied.