The Record of Unusual Creatures

It was the first time that Hao Ren witnessed Becky making her move. To put it in another way, it was the first time he saw the power of a human of this world.     

The burning flame and wind pressure on the blade may have been of magical power. The blade storm released by Becky's whirling motion had exceeded the physical limits of any human being. It was probably a kind of combat skill in The Plane of Dreams. Hao Ren's jaw dropped to the ground when he saw this. He knew his three tenants had super powers too and the weakest one was a werehusky but, Becky was a human. His interest in The Plane of Dreams became even stronger.     

Becky threw everyone off guard with the debut of her powerful move. Under normal circumstances, those escaping black wolves could have survived the assault, but the attack was so sudden that those wolves did not stand a chance. They were smashed into pieces. The hurricane lasted for more than 30 seconds before it died down. It left behind a spiral pit of about 10 meters in radius and body pieces. Hao Ren and the alpha wolf immediately rushed to check out the scene. However, they did not expect to see this: Becky was in the pit and throwing up good.     

"Are you okay?" Hao Ren asked.     

"I'm fine. It's a normal sequela." Becky held her breath as she looked up. She waved at Hao Ren. "It's a one-off move. Vomiting after the spin is just an after effect. I'll be alright. Hold on a second; I'm at it again—"     

"Is she your travel partner?" The black alpha wolf was cautious. "She's one of the swordswomen, very powerful among the humans from whom I would stay away."     

"Yes, a temporary travel partner, sort of." Hao Ren nodded and appeared to feel awkward. Was Becky that powerful? He was not sure. Becky was a total wreck after spinning for just 30 seconds. A little number crunching in his head told him that any three-minute superhuman could whack her six times over. Nevertheless, her 30 seconds were unassailable, like a meat grinder in human form. Hao Ren was tempted to test the waters with his Steel Membrane Shield, but he chickened out.     

Becky puked her guts out for almost two minutes before she slowly regained her strength. She wiped the puke off her mouth before she staggered out of the pit, looking energetic as if nothing had happened. She stared in amazement at the cautious alpha wolf before she turned to Hao Ren. "Didn't you say that you're a magician from the Hognar Empire? How did you come to know this alien wolf pack?"     

"Are they famous?" Hao Ren asked without much thought.     

"Kind of." Becky shrugged. "According to legend, these speaking wolves are the descendants of experimental creatures from the Ancient Magic Civilization before the great disaster. Travelers bump into them in the steppe occasionally. Sometimes, they would interact with humans. So, in a sense, they are well known. The one I saw was a lone wolf. I didn't expect you to know the whole pack."     

The alpha wolf was not delighted with hearing its kind becoming a subject of willful discussion. It raised its thin lips and growled. "Don't talk about us like we're some low-life!"     

Sensing the tension, Hao Ren quickly stepped in between Becky and the alpha wolf, trying to defuse the situation—he knew if things went wrong, the alpha wolf would not stand a chance against Becky. He tried to explain. "I met the wolf pack a few days ago when I was here. I have been trying to teleport back for the last few days, but it has not been working—that's why I fell from the sky."     

The alpha wolf was wide-mouthed. He wanted to point out that Hao Ren was not wearing the same clothes when he first came but, it looked like there was something more than met the eye. He kept quiet. Becky threw a few suspicious stares at Hao Ren, then waved her hand and said, "Whatever. It's none of my business. You guys carry on catching up on old times. I'm going to collect my prize."     

Becky went ahead to harvest the bone lamellae from the dead wolves which were strewn across the grassland. The bone lamella was a previous ingredient in her medicinal recipe. The alpha wolf pulled the bottom of Hao Ren's trousers with his mouth and asked in a low voice, "Is she dangerous?"     

"Don't worry. She is not going to hurt you." Hao Ren smiled. "She wanted to go on a killing spree, but I stopped her." He told the alpha wolf everything that had just happened. But something puzzled the alpha wolf: Why was Becky so confident in beating the two wolf packs when she needed a two-minute cool-down break after a 30-second spin?     

Maybe the chick had some other tricks up her sleeve.     

"May I ask you something?" As Becky was busy collecting her prize, Hao Ren remembered he had a mission to accomplish—find out the truth about The Plane of Dreams. He needed to get as much information as possible before he was out of there again. He asked the alpha wolf, "Becky said you guys are the descendants of the Ancient Magic Civilization. Is that true?"     

"That's what humans say." Unlike Becky who was incredulous, the alpha wolf pulled no punches, and that made him an easy source of intel. "About seven or eight thousand or maybe 10,000 years ago, which I can't tell in Earth's time but I know it is a long, long time ago, there was once a mighty, omnipotent magic empire. The empire was so much more prosperous back then when they even ruled the moon. I had read somewhere that humans, elves, orcs, the Blood Clan, and demon populations were ten times their current numbers. I think that's just some bullsh*t though. How could the world sustain such a large population?"     

Maybe some photos of the traffic rush during the spring festival could open the eyes of the alpha wolf, Hao Ren thought.     

"The Ancient Magic Civilization created you?" How did it end then?" Hao Ren wanted the alpha wolf to keep talking.     

The end of civilizations and the emergence of a new one in its place was a routine film theme. Scientists on Earth had speculated the existence of an ancient super civilization. So, Hao Ren knew the alpha wolf's story was more than legendary. And honestly, talking wolves were not compatible with the theory of evolution.     

"We have no history." The alpha wolf shook his head. "Unlike humans, we don't delve on the inessential. We don't know from where we come. But, human scholars believe that ancient civilization could create new races. Some even went as far as to theorize that the werewolf was a hybrid of a human and wolf—of course, werewolves were enraged by this theory. I've no idea how the ancient civilization ended. Look, I'm just a wolf with a few years of learning to read and write from a weird old man. That's all I've got. I can hardly read. If you have questions, you should ask the swordswoman, err, I mean the female."     

The alpha wolf gave Hao Ren a sincere stare as if to tell him, "Look, I'm not the brightest bulb in the box. Don't expect too much from me." Hao Ren was stared down. As he got to his feet, Becky spoke up from behind. "Ancient Magic Civilization? It was said that a goddess wiped it off the world because the people wanted to create artificial life."     

"Are you done?" Hao Ren turned his head around and saw Becky holding a bulky bag, which was filled to the brim. From the shapes of the bulges on the bag, Hao Ren could tell it contained bone lamellae harvested from the bodies of the dead wolves.     

"Easy money. It's my lucky day." Becky swung the bag back and forth happily. "Normally, it isn't easy hunting these wolves. These things are fast. Oh, by the way, you sound like you're into the Ancient Magic Empire thingy. But, why ask, when you're already a magician yourself?"     

"There are different versions of the story. I'm interested to know them all." Before Becky became more suspicious of him, he made up a story to cover his tracks.     

"You guys are funny. What's so interesting about that?" Becky spoke as she twitched her mouth. "My grandpa told me that the Ancient Magic Empire violated the realm of God because they were making artificial beings. The magic emperor and the elf queen conspired with each other to create some perfect life form. They gave themselves loads of deity titles—God of Arcane, God of Life, God of Creation and blah, blah, blah—you name it, they got it. It, of course, enraged the real deity. The goddess threw a glass of wine into the world, and the divine wine turned into a sea of fire. The civilization burned for three days and three nights before more than half of the people perished. That was how the Ancient Magic Civilization ended. My grandpa also said that The Beinz Blood Lake in the west and the red spot on the full moon were marks left behind."     

Hao Ren listened with amazement at the magical yet absurd mythical story. Then Becky added, "She was such a magnanimous goddess..."