The Rise of the Winter Wolf - Book 2 - Chapter 38 - Catching Up (Patreon)

Aidan

I take a moment as Wolf describes his new species to us to finally take in his appearance.

He really looks like a strange mixture of what you would see from a fantasy character and a modern person. His eyes glow with a pale blue light, with a ring of gold surrounding his pupils. He has skin as pale as snow, matching his now-snow-white hair to a tee, and four fangs replacing what used to be his canines that could likely tear a man’s throat out with ease. Meanwhile his mixture of medieval armaments, gauntlets, and vambraces clashes strangely with the more modernistic black coat that he is wearing over it and the black headphones worn on his head.

Overall, he looks somewhere between badass and like someone who has a very strange style of dressing themself.

My eyes are drawn to his hands as he takes his gauntlets off to show off his claws to emphasize his description of the liquid-ice venom on them in his hunter form.

Those could probably take out a normal person’s eye.

I stare at them for a few seconds before changing my mind.

They could definitely take out a person’s eye even if he was the same level as him…

I lightly shake my head to focus on the words coming out of his mouth.

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Wolf

As I finish explaining to them everything I had heard from the System about my new species, I send a brief glance towards Aidan.

For some reason he has been staring at me as if lost in thought this entire time.

It makes me wonder if he had even paid attention to a word I had said…

My attention is drawn to mom as she says, “Those are some pretty significant changes…”

“That’s true enough, but I will eventually get used to them. Remember the Werewolf Empress?” I pause before continuing after seeing a wave of nodding heads follow my question, “Well, she has set me up with a particularly skilled healer to act as my physical therapist.”

Dad’s eyebrows raise in surprise before he says, “That’s good.”

Various affirmations come from the others before I add, “And the therapist has pointed me to a useful item that can limit my physical abilities when I wear it.”

Everyone smiles at this before Aidan jokingly says, “So you won’t be bumbling about anymore like a newborn calf?”

I glare at him as my family laughs at his joke before Lexi decides to join in, “But if I can’t see that anymore, where will I get my entertainment from?!”

“Yes,” I begin with a heavy hint of sarcasm in my voice, “because you can’t live without seeing me crashing through trees all day.”

“Exactly!” she says with a bright smile before I sigh.

Dad interjects himself into our banter to say, “I’m glad to see that you haven’t changed too much.”

This wipes the smiles off of everyone’s faces as murmurs of agreement fill the room.

I raise an eyebrow at this before asking, “How have things been for you guys?”

They share a look before dad gets up from the chair he was sitting on and begins to leave the room, with the screen following in front of him.

As soon as he gets outside, he turns around, causing the screen to show his current surroundings to me.

My eyebrows raise in surprise as I take it all in.

What used to be a simple village filled with huts is now a small fortress, with various structures made out of wood and stone. I can even make out a wall on the edge of the safe zone, above the tops of the buildings with a sturdy looking ramparts, and various people walking on top of it. The people are all wearing similar clothing, likely some sort of guard uniform, as they patrol the wall.

The buildings within the safe zone are all pretty varied in their style, but they all share about the same size.

“I’m guessing a lot of the people of the safe zone built their own homes?” I mutter as dad turns back around and begins walking across a stone pathway, showing me various different areas of the safe zone.

Dad just nods in response to my question as I notice several people looking at dad and the others as they walk. Some of them are even muttering amongst themselves, as if gossiping.

What are they…

My thoughts trail off as dad gets close enough to them for me to hear one of their conversations.

“That’s him! That’s The Winter Wolf!”

I barely keep myself from gaping at the screen.

Despite my attempts to hide my shock, I vaguely hear someone chuckling before I turn to see Aidan and Katie hiding their mouths.

“I wasn’t expecting to see very many fans here…” I mutter, ignoring their amusement.

You’d think that these people would be too busy to watch me trying not to die.

Dad glances at the screen and says, “Well, you’re a sort of pioneer for everyone on Aegis. You are – or were – the forerunner within the dungeon.”

“Not to mention that you are the most popular Competitor in this dungeon run,” Aidan adds in with a smile.

I’m not really sure if I should be proud of that fact or not, but at least it gives me a lot of free SP.

It feels weird to know that so many people are treating me as some sort of celebrity just because I am trying to survive…

“Putting that aside for the moment,” dad suddenly says as he reaches the outer wall of the safe zone, “we have been doing rather well over here. None of the major factions from the visitors have bothered us, and ever since our agreement with safe zone 53, safe zone 51 has left us alone.”

Mom suddenly joins the conversation, “It’s allowed us to put in a lot of work towards the safe zone itself, while also leveling up our people.”

“I still find it weird that none of the factions have done anything to us. Especially when a couple of them have already attempted to threaten safe zone 51!” Aidan mutters next to Katie.

“Oh?” I exclaim in surprise before raising my hand to scratch my chin, only to decided against it due to my claws, “That is rather odd.”

Could it have to do with the people Diane sent to look after them?

She didn’t really explain what she meant when she said that. All she said was that they would ‘look after them,’ and not whether they will defend them physically or politically, or in any other way.

That said, I can’t help but feel that she is somehow involved with that.

Something to ask about the next time I see her, I guess.

“What about the dungeons?” I ask out of curiosity.

They had mentioned that the dungeons needed to be cleared to make sure they don’t over-populate the nearby area with monsters.

“We have cleared out all of the dungeons within the immediate area, so we should be good in regard to the monster problems,” Katie adds her two cents in.

“The only problems we are having right now is our lack of resources,” dad says with a frown as they reach the top of the ramparts. “We are situated in a snow-coated tundra after all.”

Everyone pauses for a second to look out into the cold snow-covered flatlands outside of the fortress before dad adds, “So far we have been getting by through the nearby woods; by using the monsters as food, and the trees for their wood. We also managed to get stone through the nearby caves, within the spider’s forest to the west.”

“Not to mention the spiders’ silk,” Lexi adds from her place on the edge of the ramparts, with her legs swinging over the edge of the wall.

Dad gives her a brief nod of acknowledgement before saying, “That too. It’s been great for getting clothing.”

Oh yeah, I forgot that they don’t have access to the Daily Necessities Store. What, with it being an Expanded System Store only thing.

“How are you doing in the craftsmen department?” I ask out of curiosity.

They said that they are getting clothes through the silk, so they have to have people skilled enough to make the clothes.

A smile lights up dad’s previously gloomy face as he says, “Actually, we were fortunate enough to get two really talented craftsmen! One of them being a smith, and the other a tailor.”

My eyes widen in surprise.

That’s pretty damn fortunate! It would suck for them to have to rely solely on System Store items and loot drops from the dungeons.

Actually, speaking of craftsmen, I think I actually remember seeing one within the list of Competitors.

I wonder if they would ever be willing to make me something at a later time? Assuming they are still alive, and that I ever actually meet them.