The second quest was in the northeast sector.
Wild wolf zone. Average rank A, some B on the edges. The guild report said the pack had blocked an important trade route for three weeks and that four hunter teams had tried to clear the path without success.
Not because they were attacked.
But because the wolves simply wouldn't move.
Kai read the report twice.
"Why won't they move?" he asked.
Aldric looked at him from across the counter.
"That's exactly the question no one has been able to answer."
Kai folded the paper.
"Alright. I'll take it."
---
[GarcíaFTW: second quest in two days]
[NocheEterna99: 'zone of wolves that won't move' — with Kai's Beast Resonance, this is going to be interesting]
[StreamerHunter: Serah is going with him. I know it. I can feel it.]
---
Serah went with him.
She didn't ask. She didn't wait for an invitation. She was simply at the inn door when Kai came out with the map, wearing her usual expression — and most notably, her confident smile.
Kai looked at her.
"You coming?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Serah looked at him as if the question were unnecessary.
"Because I have to protect my property."
"So I'm a piece of furniture to you?"
"What is furniture?"
"Right."
Kai kept walking.
Serah simply said, "You'll be the father of my future offspring. I need to make sure you're not in danger."
---
The wolf zone was an hour and a half northeast, past two hills and a small river.
Kai used the time to go over the leg kata he'd been adjusting since the previous day. Serah walked beside him this time.
[Micro-progression detected. Logging.]
[Lateral movement kata — hip axis correction. Logged.]
---
The wolves smelled them before seeing them.
Kai knew because the forest changed — the normal sounds went quiet one by one, like someone gradually turning down the volume. By the time they reached the edge of the zone marked on the map, there was complete silence.
Then the first one came out.
A B-rank wolf. Dark gray fur, shoulder height up to Kai's waist. It emerged from the trees at a slow pace and stopped eight meters away.
It didn't growl.
It just looked.
Kai looked back.
"Hi."
The wolf did nothing.
"Good."
---
Twelve more emerged over the next forty seconds. Three B-rank, the rest A-rank. They arranged themselves in a semicircle with no visible coordination — as if each chose its position independently, but all ended up forming the same pattern.
The chat took ten seconds to process the image.
---
[GarcíaFTW: THEY'RE FORMING A SEMICIRCLE]
[NocheEterna99: none of them attacked. They're... waiting for something?]
[StreamerHunter: collective chat silence. That never happens.]
[Beast Resonance active — 13 entities within influence range]
[Behavior: non-hostile]
---
Serah arrived two minutes later.
What happened was immediate.
All thirteen wolves smelled her at the same time. The entire semicircle lowered their heads — not aggressively, but with hierarchical recognition. Three of the smaller ones stepped back.
Instinctive submission to a primordial SSS.
It lasted exactly four seconds.
Because on the fifth second, all thirteen pairs of eyes went back to Kai.
Serah noticed.
Her expression didn't change. But the silver markings on her skin, which normally pulsed at a steady rhythm, quickened slightly.
---
[GarcíaFTW: THEY SUBMITTED TO SERAH AND THEN LOOKED BACK AT KAI]
[NocheEterna99: Serah noticed the wolves ignored her to look at Kai and her face…]
[StreamerHunter: that's not jealousy. That's something worse than jealousy.]
---
Kai chose three wolves.
Not by any special criteria — just the three closest ones. One large A-rank, one medium B-rank, and another B-rank that seemed more curious than the others.
"You three," he said, pointing at them. "The rest can stay or leave."
The three chosen wolves approached.
The other ten stayed.
'Good.'
Kai got into guard stance facing the three and pointed at their feet.
"We start with this."
---
Serah watched the first five minutes from behind with her arms crossed.
It was on the sixth minute that she spoke.
"You're teaching them too?"
"Yes."
"What need is there for that? They're inferior. You shouldn't concern yourself with them."
Kai corrected the B-rank wolf's posture with a touch on its shoulder, not taking his eyes off the three animals.
"I need more sparring partners," he said.
"You have one."
"One who can easily take ten percent of my power." Pause. "That's why I like you. But I need to practice with more before you leave me without any tricks."
Serah closed her mouth.
The silver markings glowed brighter than before.
The large A-rank wolf looked at Serah. Then at Kai. Then went back to guard stance with the specific focus of someone who just decided they weren't getting involved in this.
---
[NocheEterna99: 'that's why I like you' — KAI SAID IT JUST LIKE THAT]
[GarcíaFTW: Serah went silent. SERAH. SILENT.]
[StreamerHunter: the A-rank wolf decided not to get involved in the drama. Wise.]
[xSorinx: just joined the stream, can someone explain why there are 13 wolves watching a human train]
---
The session lasted two hours.
The three wolves learned the basic guard stance at a speed that Serah watched in growing silence. Not Serah's speed — she had taken sixteen repetitions. These took forty, fifty, eighty.
But they did it.
And every time one of the three held the stance for more than two seconds, the ten wolves watching from behind made a low, collective sound that wasn't exactly a growl.
It was closer to approval.
[Three new entities initiating technique synchronization]
[Progress: 0.1% / 0.1% / 0.1%]
[The system notes that synchronization in non-SSS beasts occurs more slowly but steadily.]
[The system updates its Beast Resonance model.]
---
Serah approached at the end of the second hour.
She stood beside Kai, watching the three wolves practice.
"How long until they're useful?" she asked.
"For basic sparring, two weeks."
"And for real combat?"
"Longer."
Serah looked at the large A-rank wolf. The A-rank wolf looked back, held the guard stance with obvious effort, and didn't lower its head this time.
Serah studied it for three seconds.
"It's progressing," she said, in the tone of someone admitting something they'd rather not admit.
"Yes."
"Still inferior."
"Everyone starts somewhere."
Serah didn't respond.
---
It was a B-rank she-wolf that evolved.
It happened without warning — in the middle of the tenth repetition of the stance, the animal simply went still. The markings in its fur changed from dark gray to black with silver edges. Its size increased by ten percent in ten seconds. Its eyes shifted from yellow to a deeper amber.
[EVENT RECORDED]
[Allied beast: B-rank She-Wolf has evolved to A-rank]
[Documented cause: external aura synchronization accelerated natural evolutionary process]
[NOTE: First evolution linked to external aura documented in Aethon]
The newly evolved she-wolf looked at her own paws for a moment.
Then she looked at Kai.
And walked toward him.
---
[GarcíaFTW: SHE EVOLVED. IN REAL TIME.]
[StreamerHunter: she's walking toward Kai. What's she going to do.]
[xSorinx: Serah showing jealousy and a wolf evolving to get close to Kai is a dangerous combination — someone do something]
---
The she-wolf reached two meters from Kai and lowered her head.
It wasn't submission — it was acknowledgment, or perhaps wanting to court Kai like Serah had. A gesture made when someone has done something for you and there are no words in the language you share.
Kai extended his hand.
The she-wolf sniffed it, then licked it.
She took another step, bringing her snout closer to Kai's arm with a movement that, in any domestic dog, would have been called affection.
What followed was fast.
A low, deep sound filled the clearing — not a growl, something older, more territorial. The temperature dropped six degrees in two seconds. And Serah was between the wolf and Kai before either of them processed that she had moved.
In human form one moment.
In primordial she-wolf form the next.
Three meters tall. Black fur with veins of silver light pulsing to the rhythm of something that wasn't calm. Ice-colored eyes fixed on the newly evolved she-wolf with an intensity that made the other twelve retreat five meters at once.
The newly evolved she-wolf stood frozen.
Serah exhaled — a sound between a roar and a warning that made the leaves of nearby trees vibrate — and positioned herself physically in front of Kai, her back to the entire clearing.
Marking.
Without ambiguity.
Without apology.
---
[NocheEterna99: SERAH TRANSFORMED]
[GarcíaFTW: OVER A WOLF THAT JUST CAME TO SMELL HIS ARM]
[StreamerHunter: viewers: 180,000. STREAM RECORD.]
[xSorinx: I CALLED IT WAS DANGEROUS. I CALLED IT.]
[NocheEterna99: the twelve wolves retreated five meters. AN SSS MARKED TERRITORY ON LIVE STREAM.]
[Current viewers: 180,241]
[Gift received: Gold Coin x500 — User: V_X]
---
Kai looked at Serah's back in primordial form.
Then he looked at the newly evolved she-wolf, who was still frozen with her head lowered.
"Serah."
Serah didn't respond. The silver markings kept pulsing fast.
"Serah."
"No."
"She just came closer."
"She's too close."
"To my arm."
"To what's mine."
Kai processed that.
"Can you turn back to human form?"
Four seconds of silence.
Then the temperature slowly rose. The markings stabilized. Serah's form reduced with the same gradual process as always — water taking the shape of a new container — until she stood in front of him, hair loose, eyes still the color of ice but without that intensity from thirty seconds ago.
She turned to Kai.
She looked at him.
"She was too close," she repeated, in a completely normal voice.
"I heard you."
Serah looked at the she-wolf, who still hadn't moved — standing almost in shock, watching her life flash before her eyes.
"She can stay," Serah said finally. "But let her learn where the limits are."
The she-wolf slowly raised her head.
She looked at Serah.
She looked at Kai.
And stepped back exactly one meter.
---
[GarcíaFTW: THE WOLF UNDERSTOOD. EXACTLY ONE METER BACK.]
[NocheEterna99: 'she can stay but let her learn where the limits are' — Serah just established hierarchy with an evolved wolf like she's a new employee]
[StreamerHunter: this stream is changing me as a person]
[xSorinx: The she-wolf negotiated her position with a primordial SSS. Respect.]
[System — notification]
[Additional SSS entity — current distance: 22 km]
[Speed: unchanged.]
[The system merely reports.]