The Amber Sword

Chapter 144 – The Warg’s heart

The mist filled the mountains.

The forest was in a bizarre state of stillness after the battle. A hundred-odd centaurs were shuffling about as they took a short respite from the earlier battle. The youths that Brendel brought were not far away and nearly everyone was injured. Even the Tree Elves who rode on the Centaurs were wounded.

They felt a fatigue that reached their bones after carving a bloody path through the tens of thousands of wolves. Their exhaustion felt like a claw grabbing at their nerves, dragging them into the abyss of deep sleep. But no one dared to stop moving, even if they had to close their eyes to fight.

Brendel was sitting on an ancient fallen tree. Its age was a mystery and impossible to tell what generation it belonged to. The trunks and branches were hollow, covered in thick green moss with a layer of mushrooms.

He was currently pressing his hand on his injured face, gritting his teeth in pain as he allowed Merial to treat him with a healing spell. It was fortunate that the magic spell was as effective as the game. His wound tickled slightly, but it quickly healed and did not hurt any longer. Still, the blood loss caused a lingering fatigue. The spell accelerated the healing speed, but it could not create energy from nothing.

“My lord, you were lucky that you defended yourself in time. The Warg’s fangs nearly reached your left eye, but it was hindered by your gauntlet and cheekbones.” Merial said.

Brendel could hear Amandina’s grumbles nearby, which eventually stopped because she knew he had to solve this problem personally.

Amandina also chimed in: “The leader of the wolves?”

“If you were expecting a bloody heart, this isn’t it. But this particular artifact can be seen as housing the ‘soul’ of a Warg, as it holds in the rampaging Mana and the Laws of Chaos.”

“The Laws of Chaos and rampaging Mana…..?” Carglise did not understand.

Brendel nodded. The person who was lucky enough to possess this would become an Alpha Wolf!

“So what does it do?” Carglise asked again.

“You will get to see it immediately.”

The Misthowler’s heart was classified as a Rune, but its use was a little different from normal Runes.

As for the usage of the rock……

Brendel brought the rock and placed it flatly against his forehead. Everyone watched the rock vibrate suddenly and started glowing with red light. It softened and started melting as though it was liquid, assimilating into his skin. It was as though someone was painting an intricate pattern on his face, extending all the way to his neck and chest.

The process took a few minutes before it ended, and the pattern of light started to fade a little. But the curving patterns made one trace Brendel’s features and the faint glowing red light accentuated it, making one unable to take their eyes off him. The only thing that lightened this devilish charm, was the white diagonal scar that went across his cheek and forehead.

– System linked, creating ‘Nest Overlay’ over your nerves
– Checking requirements, Will check: Passed.
– Conditions met.
– System updated.
– Title gained: Leader of Wolves

“There, it’s over,” Brendel said as he felt sensations in his mind around the forest that felt familiar to him. He could even feel them miles away.

“Yes?” Someone said.

Everyone woke up from their stupor. Amandina was still at a loss for words when she saw Brendel’s strange appearance.

With a mental command, he reached out to a nearby sensation. In an instant, that sensation got up and tilted its head, before it started galloping towards him.

[Oh, that’s really fast, maybe even reaching 100 OZ worth of agility. A peak Silver-ranked Direwolf. It’s quite a mature one too.]

“My lord?” Carglise called out to Brendel when he just sat there without saying anything.

Wydall, who was resting not far away, suddenly stood up in alert and peered at the Dark Forest. He raised his hand and the centaurs immediately got up as well.

“Alert! Get ready for an assault!” He shouted in order to inform the other men. The expressions of the Tree Elves and Brendel’s men changed. The youth said the wolves would not be attacking them, not at least for a while.

“No, it’s okay! Let this one pass.” Brendel responded.

The bushes rustled and an immense thud could be heard as a burly Dire Wolf jumped out. The trees trembled in response, and the men were tense. But the creature did not attack and regarded Brendel with puzzled eyes.

Scarlett raised her lance and stood in front of Brendel, while Quinn readied his arrow on his longbow, targeting the Dire Wolf, but the youth waved them down and looked at the wolf. It hesitated for a while before it finally approached him. There were no signs of aggression, and it stood a small distance away from him.

The wolf brought its large head over to Brendel and sniffed him…… and rubbed against him intimately.

Almost everyone dropped their jaws.

“T-that’s the use of the rock?” Carglise was the first to understand. But he could hardly believe his eyes.

Brendel rubbed the Direwolf’s furry snout enthusiastically. He turned back and said smugly: “Why, is there a problem?”

“No…… Of course not……” Carglise’s eyes suddenly brightened: “My lord, how many can you control?”

Brendel read the green words in his eyes: “According to the system, I’m now a minor Wolf Leader. Controlling two Direwolves and two hundred normal Black Wolves will be my limit. But this thing can level up, which is why it’s considered to be a cheat item.”

“System?” Carglise was confused.

“Hmm? Oh, it’s just an explanation.” Brendel was so delighted that he forgot to maintain his facade. This item was the equivalent of possessing a full army, and it was incredibly unlikely for a solo gamer to get it. Only major guilds would possess this item most of the time. There was also the fact that such artifacts drop upon the character’s death.

Plus the placement of the Rune was on the forehead. Everyone could see it.

[Hmm. Hmmmm. Wait, a Misthowler dropping a Warg’s Heart…… Perhaps it’s a 100% chance of dropping it and not a rare lucky drop?]

Brendel scratched his head. He thought he might have rubbed off some luck from Dia, but it seemed like his bad luck was still going to continue when it came to getting rare loot drops.

[Back then in the game, there are other good drops from the Wargs…… But it’s impossible to get them. Just this one Misthowler alone would have killed me if it was not for the Unyielding Talent. It’s not good to get greedy here. Besides, the Warg’s heart is the best drop compared to the others. No gamer would come after me in this world for possessing this item, and I doubt the ‘NPCs’ here know anything about this item. Such profit!]