Greatest Legacy of the Magus Universe - Chapter 1222

Chapter 1222: Three Wolves

Adam kept low to the ground, the rubble of the ruined city hiding his presence as much as his stealth artifacts did. He crouched in the shadows of a broken wall, eyes fixed on the outskirts of the city where the weaker wolves roamed.

These were the underlings of the three great wolves that ruled the city. They were leaner, stronger, and far less disciplined. He watched as they paced along the broken streets, sniffing through rubble, snapping at one another over scraps of food.

The black-furred wolves were the most aggressive. They were quick to bare teeth even among their own. The white-furred wolves moved differently. They were more coordinated, sticking close together in twos and threes, their senses sharper than the rest.

Whereas the grey-furred wolves filled the gaps, neither as feral as the black wolves, nor as disciplined as the white wolves. But they held their numbers, swarming in loose groups that gave them strength through sheer presence.

These wolves circled the city’s outskirts, never straying far from the ruined city. They moved as though they were guided by the will of their alphas. Each howl, each movement seemed to contain meaning and purpose.

Adam noticed this all with rapt attention despite the constant ravings of the Faceless Mask. He studied their habits, how they marked their territory, how they responded to distant howls from their alphas, and how they kept the ruined outskirts under constant patrol.

They weren’t rulers like the three great wolves, but even these small fry were dangerous in numbers. After studying their habits for days, he realized that each pack consisted of at least a thousand wolves!

He knew he was treading dangerous ground. One wrong movement and those predatory eyes might turn towards him. Yet it had to be done. He needed to study them and come up with a plan of action. Time was of the essence.

As the days passed by, he slowly learned more and more about them. Thankfully, the Stealth Cloak and the Stealth Boots concealed his presence to a great degree. They were Grade 4 Artifacts, after all. Though they consumed a lot of mana, they were well worth it.

Adam learned that the black wolves were more like scavengers. They rarely hunted in groups, preferring to pick at carcasses left behind by stronger beasts.

When they did hunt, it was abrupt and messy, pouncing at prey with raw aggression, often injuring themselves in a frenzy. Their innate magical ability allowed them to go into a berserk state, increasing their strength momentarily in exchange for losing their sanity.

The white wolves, on the other hand, were organized hunters. They worked in small units, cornering their prey and striking from multiple sides. Their kills were clean, and they shared food within their group instead of fighting over it. Their innate magical ability allowed them to invoke the element of ice.

Lastly, the grey wolves were opportunists. They didn’t hunt as effectively as the white wolves, but they followed other beasts’ trails and attacked weakened prey. In large numbers, they overwhelmed targets through attrition, wearing them down bite by bite.

Of all the wolves, the grey ones were the most troublesome, according to Adam. Their innate magical ability allowed them great defence. Thus, they were quite hard to kill.

All three kinds relied on the river that cut through Feypore. The black wolves went their recklessly, drinking in the open. The white wolves approached in formation, keeping watch for threats. Meanwhile, the grey wolves arrived in packs, chasing away the smaller beasts before drinking.

At dusk and dawn, the river became crowded as each group came down in turn, never overlapping, each respecting the other’s time at the water.

Considering the black wolves’ wild and reckless nature, Adam could only assume that the reason they were so docile within the city had to do with their alpha controlling them.

Still hiding within the shadows of the broken wall, he watched as the three types of wolves gathered at the banks of the river. Some were playing in the waters, while others were quenching their thirst.

His lips gradually curled into a crooked smile as he focused his senses on the flowing river. He followed the river upstream and realized that it flowed from the western side of the city.

Gradually, a plan started to form inside his mind. Although the consequences of doing so would be utterly dire, he had to do it nonetheless.

Now that he had formulated the foundations of one plan, he had to start thinking of contingencies. He was facing not one but three Mana Core-level beasts, after all. Not for a single moment did he believe that his plan was foolproof.

Having made his initial report on the habits of the three types of wolves, he chose to return to his temporary base inside the broken Magus tower.

But not before carrying some specimen with him…

***

The chamber was dark as usual. Adam did not require any lighting anyway. It wasn’t like that would have made any difference to him.

Three wolf corpses—black, white, and grey—lay on the stone table. These belonged to Mana Foundation-level beasts. They were the easiest for Adam to deal with, and they’d do the job.

Given that the anatomy of the wolves was the same, with the only difference being their levels of mana reserves and strength, studying the corpse of a Mana Foundation-level beast would work just fine.

Each of the corpses had been cut open cleanly, exposing their internal organs. Adam stood before the table with a wide grin on his face as he murmured, “Ah, it’s been a while since I’ve had to do something like this…”

Meanwhile, the mimic, standing in the corner of the room, trembled uncontrollably. “Gege…”

The grin on Adam’s face widened unnaturally as he prepared to inspect the corpses one at a time.

The black wolf’s organs were dense, showing signs of a strange crimson energy saturating its insides. The white wolf had traces of frost mana spread through its lungs and heart. The grey wolf’s organs were reinforced several times more than its counterparts.

Just as he was carefully comparing their hearts and their mana pathways, he suddenly sensed a disturbance in the surroundings.

And then… the sound of countless wolf howls echoed through the ruined city.

Adam’s back was drenched in cold sweat, thinking that he must have been somehow found out. But the actual cause of this disturbance was something far more grave.

A fourth Mana Core-level beast had appeared on the outskirts of Feypore!