The Rise of the Winter Wolf - Book 2 - Chapter 39 - Let The Hunt Begin!

Wolf

As soon as the call ends, I open my inventory and select the ellipses over and over again until the item I’m looking for appears.

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Tier 7 Advanced Escape Orb:

This allows the user to teleport to either a set designated location, or a location that they have been to before within one kilometer of their current position.

5/5 Uses Remaining

Note: This orb defies space magic and will ignore special and teleportation locks unless the lock is of a higher tier.

Close

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“Interesting,” I mutter as I carefully leave the bathroom and glance at Sapphire, who is currently chowing down on her food near the long table.

I didn’t know that she had access to my inventory.

That’s nice to know.

That said, I turn my attention back to the item’s description.

Crystal had described to me the way Vulcan escaped from them, but his orb was black, while this one is red and black. Does that mean that his was a different version of this one?

Either way, it will help a lot as a last resort escape method.

I slowly make my way over towards the totem to get my dinner.

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One day later

“Seriously?” I mutter as I stare at the strange orb in the palm of my hand, “This is the limiter?”

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Tier 7 Craftsman’s Limiter:

This item allows the holder to limit their overall physical abilities by an adjustable level.

Close

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The item cost a whopping 1560 SP, and I had to use the Auction sub-menu so that I could get it directly from the old man since it’s not sold on the System Store. Fortunately, no one else bought it before I did.

We would have just used the Trade sub-menu, but apparently that doesn’t work in a viewing room.

And he couldn’t just hand it over to me either since System Items can’t be moved away from their owner when in a viewing room.

That said, I get the feeling that he would have sold it to me for a much cheaper price if he could have.

It makes me wonder what Diane's subordinates see in me that makes them treat me like her heir when I haven’t even agreed to the position.

I shake my head to dislodge the thoughts before focusing on the strange red orb in the palm of my hand.

The second the orb first came into contact with me, a strange feeling swept through me and the way to use it instantly entered my head. Surprisingly, all I have to do is focus on the orb and think what percentage of my physical abilities I want to be limited and it will automatically limit that amount for me.

From what I was told by the old man, the orb was originally designed for high level craftsmen so that they can adjust the amount of force they can use while crafting. At some point, however, healers began to use it for adjustment training, particularly for races that are turned by infection.

Like me.

As long as the orb is on my person, or within five meters of me, it will continue to limit my physical abilities. That said, it will have a weaker effect the further away from me it is, making it unable to limit as much.

During today’s session, the old man told me to set the limiter to 88% so that I will have just slightly above the physical strength that I had before turning, because he estimates that my physical capabilities are about ten times stronger now than they used to be.

It irks me to be relying on the empress so much, but this will help me adjust a lot, so any possible favor is worth it. Plus, it’s not like she can ask me to become a werewolf anymore. And this wasn’t a big enough favor for her to convince me to become her heir.

I am assaulted with a large wave of fatigue as soon as I set the limiter to 88% before it goes away, leaving me with a relaxing feeling.

“Finally,” I mutter as I rotate my shoulders with ease, stretching my stiff limbs. “I can move freely again!”

Now then, dad said that Vulcan was still on this floor…

“Let’s go pay him a visit,” I mutter with a smile on my face as I signal Sapphire that it’s time to head out.

She quickly finishes her food before rushing over to me and entering my shadow after briefly rubbing her head against my upper leg.

I look around the room one last time before walking towards the entrance to the store.

Time to hunt.

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Arcadian Live
Several hours later

“It looks like The Winter Wolf is still on the hunt for Vulcan!” Katherine exclaims with a smile as the main screen switches back to Wolf’s livestream.

The audience explodes into cheers of encouragement while they watch Wolf trip right before slicing straight through a dark sprite brute with his claws. Without even looking at the creature’s corpse, Wolf regains his footing, freezes the blood on his gauntlets, and continues his sprint through the forest.

“He’s determined all right,” Mikaela says with a grin before turning to Niklai and asking, “what do you think are the chances that he will actually find Vulcan on this floor?”

Niklai rubs his chin in thought before answering, “Considering how good his hearing is now, it’s possible. Not to mention his smell that, while not anywhere near as strong as his hearing, should still be strong enough to hunt something.”

Mikaela’s grin widens even further as he nods his head in agreement and says, “That’s just what I was thinking!” before turning back to the main screen and adding, “Let’s just hope that The Winter Wolf tears the coward apart!”

A wave of approval roars out from the audience as many of the viewers begin to pump their fists in the air.

“Revenge!” “Revenge!” “Revenge!”

The chant begins in one small corner of the stadium before quickly gaining momentum as it begins to shake the entire viewing room with its volume.

“Revenge! “Revenge!” “Revenge!”

The three commentators look around the stadium in surprise before joining in on the chant as Wolf suddenly pauses and raises his hand to the headphones on his head. He then closes his eyes and turns his head to the right, as if looking for something.

Most of the people in the audience realize that somethings up and stop chanting, causing it to slowly simmer down to a mild roar.

“Did he…?” Mikaela mutters with unhidden excitement.

A grin slowly begins to stretch across Wolf’s face as he opens his eyes with a look of glee.

“Found you,” he mutters before breaking off into a sprint in the direction he was looking, occasionally stumbling here and there until he slows down slightly and evens out.

A bright smile covers Mikaela’s face as he shouts, “Let the hunt begin!”

The audience breaks into an even louder roar than before.

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Wolf

I sprint through the trees as fast as I can after adjusting my limiter up to 90% just to make sure I don’t make any mistakes during this hunt.

To be honest, I didn’t have very many expectations when starting my search for the bastard, but low and behold, I actually heard his voice after briefly lowering the soundproofing on my headphones. He also seemed to be pretty close to a mini boss, considering the different tone of the giggling I heard near him.

Maybe I should finally try moving on to the next floor after I rip him to shreds?

It might be a good idea.

It’s not like there are very many things that can hurt me right now, and even if there were, I still have my ice. Nothing has changed about that.

Plus, if push comes to shove, I can just undo my limiter, shift forms, or use the new escape orb I had just gotten.

As I am running, I adjust the headphones again to lower the soundproofing a little before listening for the sounds again.

“You should run,” I hear an unknown voice say before a familiar beep, marking the end of a System Call sounds out.

Shit, was he just warned by someone about my hunt?! Damn it!

I lower my limiter and increase my speed towards his direction before sensing someone enter the range of my life sense skill about a minute later.

A cold gleam crosses my eyes as soon as I see the one-armed figure.

Vulcan.

I faintly register the scent of ash mixed with the familiar smell of a human being before he throws a black orb down on the ground.

“Shit, don’t you dare run away!” I shout in anger, but it’s too late.

He vanishes right as I enter the clearing he was standing in.

I raise my head and sniff at the air before growling in anger.

“Fuck!” I shout towards the sky.

However, before I begin to rush off again, I pick up a very faint, and very familiar scent. Not strong enough to follow, but strong enough to notice.

My sense of smell isn’t strong enough to follow it!

After a brief moment of hesitation, I shift into my hunter form with a snarl of pain before sniffing at the air and finding the smell to be a lot stronger now.

As I thought. I was alone the last time I shifted, and in a system store, so there wasn’t as much to smell back then, and I was a little preoccupied at the time with how my new form looked.

My sense of smell is stronger in my hunter form.

I raise the limiter back to 90% again, which is apparently the highest it can go, before I break off into an awkward sprint towards the direction of the scent, leaving a large amount of icy mist to freeze everything in my wake.

The scent grows stronger and stronger as I continue running before I trip on my own feet, roll across the ground, and continue running again.

Stupid adjustment problems.

Fortunately, it only takes several more seconds of running before I break into another clearing to see a startled Vulcan.

A wolfish grin spreads across my canine-like head as actual fear fills his face.