The Record of Unusual Creatures

Sacred Mountain towered into the clouds and consisted of three peaks. The highest peak was even more majestic than the former main peak of Dragonspine Ridge. Due to the extremely high terrain, snow and ice capped the mountain all year round. The mountain's steep terrain turned people away, while courageous werewolves treated it as a training ground for the young in their tribe. When young werewolves entered adulthood, they would set off alone, carrying only three days of rations to scale the mountain. Only those who successfully crossed the mountain and brought specific prey back from the eastern side would be acknowledged as being able to become independent. The highest peak of Sacred Mountain, the Sunburn Peak was the goal for the best of the young werewolves. The youngest werewolves who were the bravest—or sometimes the stupidest and boldest—would climb the summit with their bare hands, then take a piece of mountain rock. It was a symbol of heroism. The mountain rock would then be inlaid in the tribe's totem pole by the elders and become a lifetime of glory for the werewolf. It was said that hundreds of the best werewolves challenged the peak each year, but only less than 30 % of them were successful. Under the unremitting efforts of these brave werewolves for thousands of years, the elevation of Sacred Mountain was now almost two meters lower than when the werewolves first migrated there.     

In fact, it was also said that at one point, the werewolf tribal leaders had discussed whether to control the enthusiasm of the young. The overzealous pups had been trying to dig the rocks from the top of Sacred Mountain all day, and they were quickly rounding off the top of the mountain.     

Eighty percent of the werewolves on Holletta lived near Sacred Mountain. The majestic mountain and surrounding vast lands were enough to accommodate the large number of werewolves, who formed a tribal society. Each tribe had its own leader, and all the leaders formed a tribal council, which became the ruling class of the werewolves. It was said that this social form had been in existence since the Ancient Magic Kingdom, perfectly fitting the tradition of the werewolves: it paid attention to both bloodline and unity. Therefore, the tribal-state system brought about stability to the werewolf society for thousands of years. They became an ancient nation that was comparable to the Kingdom of Holletta.     

Uruk, who was sent by the werewolf tribal nation to liaise with Holletta, was one of such tribal chiefs. His tribe lived by the side of Sacred Mountain, and they had built a large city there. His werewolf cavalry was not the most elite of the werewolf nation, but it was the largest. Therefore, Uruk could become the representative of Sacred Mountain's rangers and assume the responsibility of commander in this joint operation.     

Well-equipped elite knights and mage soldiers departed from Hodeceus and divided themselves into three teams to enter Sacred Mountain, joining the werewolf soldiers who were waiting there. Next, they would enter Sacred Mountain under the guidance of the werewolves, and the three teams of soldiers would go deep into the mountain separately. Hao Ren and Ophra's team were traveling with the largest main forces. Werewolf General Elson and Cardinal Orben led two of the teams. As Big Beardy was an ascetic, he was in the third team.     

The knights quickly arrived at the rendezvous point, joining the werewolves. Lily stood on a boulder and took a deep breath. "Ahh—the air of my hometown..."     

Nangong Sanba looked at Lily, whispering to Hao Ren, "Is she sure that Holletta's her hometown?"     

"We can't help it. There's no origin of the werewolves other than the Plane of Dreams, and I haven't found another case of husky transcendence." Hao Ren forced a smile. "So, let's just assume that Holletta's her home."     

Nangong Wuyue had shapeshifted into a snake. Her upper body rose to a height of nearly three meters, allowing her to have a better view of the situation ahead on the mountain road. "Uruk said he would be waiting here ahead of time. Why isn't he here yet?"     

A werewolf aide-de-camp next to Ophra said, "Chief Uruk is coming with his battle wolves. He should be here anytime now."     

As soon as the aide-de-camp's voice trailed off, up in the air, Nangong Wuyue loudly said, "Oh, oh, oh, see! That's a werewolf cavalry!"     

Dust billowed from a distant mountain trail, and the sound of heavy footsteps was heard amid the dust. Dozens of black figures galloped from a distance. Uruk was leading a team of fully-armed werewolf fighters and coming up before them. These warriors were each wearing a rough, black leather armor with a huge cavalry saber behind them, and an animal teeth necklace, which acted as an ornament as well as kill record on their necks. There was no heavy armor. Their rides were huge, black wolves—a kind of savage beast with bony plates on its waist, and it was several sizes bigger than Earth's wolves. Due to their special skeleton, these wolves were rideable.     

Dozens of werewolf cavalry soldiers ran from afar and stopped less than 10 m in front of the knights. Each wolf had no extra moves, and all stopped in a straight-line formation. Their uniformity was unimaginable given the fact that it was a group of untamed beasts. The werewolves lived with their war wolves all year round. Their talent allowed them to communicate with these beasts with no difficulty. Therefore, they matched each other and became the most powerful ground unit in the world. Seeing it for the first time today, they were sure enough... well, really neat.     

Hao Ren was only a layman, so he could only see that they were "really neat".     

The werewolf cavalry was in black attire, which looked like camouflage in night combat. In reality, the black armor and black wolves had nothing to do with camouflage. That was just their traditional battle outfit. Even when they went up to the snow-capped mountain, they would still be wearing this contrasting outfit. This had to do with their customs and practices. It was hard to explain to outsiders.     

Uruk came up to Ophra riding his battle wolf. "You can't control the wolf. You can only go on foot in the mountains. To be honest, I don't think it's a good idea—the knights are very powerful, but as an infantry, I don't think so."     

Ophra smiled indifferently. "Do you think that the knights I personally brought out can only ride on horseback? We've knocked down the 200,000 barbarians in the swamp from the south before. Let's move. Hopefully, the nose of your werewolf cavalry is as powerful as they say in the legends to sniff out the cultists from the cracks in the rocks."     

Uruk smiled as if Ophra's "I-don't-give-a-sh*t" answer had impressed him. Before he ordered his forces to move on, Hao Ren hurriedly asked, "Everyone, check your protective crystals. Have all of you put it on?"     

Ophra turned and waved to the knights. "All squadron commanders, check that all the soldiers have the protective crystals by raising up their hands. Report it if anyone loses it."     

Uruk also said to his cavalry, "Check your crystals! It's a life-saving gadget!"     

The soldiers raised their protective crystals before they set off. Hao Ren had brought the crystals out from the Crapple Research Station, CARS. These crystals were piling up in CARS; thousands of pieces could be knocked off from any surface there. So, Hao Ren had simply given one to each soldier. Ophra took out her own crystal and looked at it. "Unbelievable... Such a small stone can suppress the mind control powers of the brain monster. Even the mentally-strongest cardinal we sent failed to reach the main peak."     

The wolf Uruk was riding had been staring at Hao Ren curiously since the beginning. Now, he could not help but spurt and murmur in the human language, "Wait a second. Are you the hard man?"     

Hao Ren was a little baffled by how the wolf addressed him. When he remembered the wolf who spoke, he staggered. "...Alpha? The one on the steppe?"     

The black wolf sized him and his entourage up, appearing surprised as well. "Oh, it's really you. I wasn't so sure at first. It's so difficult to differentiate you humans, I can't even tell your genders apart. But, it's thanks to your smell, it hasn't changed. Why did you come here?"     

Hao Ren and his little buddies—who had previously met the alpha wolf—were all shocked. They never thought to see the alpha wolf there. Lily sniffled and asked, "Oh, it's really you. I've also wanted to ask you—how did you come here? Aren't you staying in the steppe?"     

"It's a long story... A gust of wind blew on the steppe, the seasons changed, many animals migrated, and wolves had to look for a new dwelling place. Fortunately, with my great wisdom, I brought my fellow wolves and found a new home here..."     

Everyone, from the generals to the soldiers, was rooted to the spot. Even Uruk was wide-eyed; he was experiencing the awkward most situation in his life.     

As the commander, he was being left out in the cold while everyone, including his ride was chatting with the others...