Chapter 1018 — Book 2: Chapter 217: The lone flame in the ice (5)
11 min read ·
Lock urgently flailed his hands once he made eye contact with Koukan.
“The name of my tribe is the Blue Wolf tribe, sir! He is not saying that I am the Blue Wolf.”
He timidly continued.
“How could I be such a god, anyway, I am just a Wolf!”
Hong opened his mouth again.
“That’s not the case, nya. Lock Hyung is a Wolf- mmph!”
On covered Hong’s mouth.
Hong, who was forced to stop talking, looked at On with his eyes wide open. On shook her head.
‘Shh.’
Cale petted Hong’s back before looking toward Koukan.
“What do you mean by being unable to go berserk properly?”
Koukan debated for a bit before answering the question.
“May I show you?”
The moment Cale nodded to answer, Koukan headed toward the center of the underground training ground.
He then let out a deep breath.
Boom. Boom.
His heart was running wild.
Koukan looked toward the Beast people.
Other than Gashan, who had a large physique, Witira and Lock looked like regular people.
However, his instincts were telling him.
It was saying that they were the true appearance of the Beast people.
‘This is my chance.’
Koukan thought about his friends who were deep inside the Erghe Mountain Range.
‘I need them to look favorably on me no matter what.’
Cale seemed to be an ally.
Of course, he was an ally whose strength difference to them was clearly visible.
That was why he needed to do most of what they asked him to do, in order to stay in their favor and get their assistance.
Even if that meant he had to do things that embarrassed him and made him look servile.
‘Shit.’
He did not want to show them his berserk state.
It was too unsightly compared to that of his ancestors as he read about in the records.
“Huuuuuu.”
However, he couldn't hide it, so what else could he do but show them?
Boom. Boom.
Koukan could feel his heart beating inside his body. He closed his eyes.
The others watched him.
‘Hmm?’
Cale’s eyebrows slightly rose up.
Koukan's appearance started changing.
“Ho-”
Gashan subconsciously let out a sigh.
Witira quietly observed Koukan.
Lock blankly looked at Koukan without being able to say anything.
Koukan opened his eyes after a bit.
“…….”
He looked around at the people around him.
He made eye contact with Gashan. To be more specific, he couldn't tell whether they made eye contact because Gashan's eyes were completely white, but it seemed that way.
“Ahem.”
Gashan let out a fake cough and asked.
“…Is your berserk transformation complete?”
Koukan smiled bitterly as he nodded his head.
“Yes sir.”
Koukan's physique was big to start.
He wasn’t as bulky as Gashan, but he was tall and muscular, fitting his role as a hunter.
Such a person had gone berserk.
“Ho.”
Gashan asked in disbelief.
“Why is your physique the same?”
He sounded as if he could not understand.
Witira chimed in as well.
“There isn’t much difference other than fur growing on your body and your finger and toenails getting a bit sharper. Mr. Koukan. What about your strength or other abilities?”
As she mentioned, Koukan's appearance did not change much other than having fur and his face turning into that of a wolf.
It could be considered a big change, but his physique, strength, fingernails and toenails did not change much.
“I can use approximately 1.5 to 2 times the strength of my human form.”
Gashan shook his head after hearing Koukan's comment.
“…I don't know about other Beast people, but… Wild Beasts like those of the Tiger tribe, Wolf tribe, or the Lion tribe can usually use ten times their usual strength in their berserk state. There are records of some being able to use much more than that as well. But only two times as much? This is quite the damage to the Wolf tribe’s reputation.”
Koukan's head sank down the more Gashan talked.
Lock watched and subconsciously bit down on his lips.
“This is, mm, the situation is too dire.”
This was the first time Lock did not want to hear Gashan’s disappointed voice.
Of course, Gashan was truly disappointed and had no choice but to speak up in order for Cale to understand the situation.
Lock knew that, but the more Gashan talked the more Koukan's somber appearance became etched in Lock's eyes.
It was at that moment.
“Hmm. That is why… Lock.”
Gashan continued to speak, and Lock, who had been worried about what Gashan would say next, responded a beat late.
“Excuse me?”
“You show him.”
Smile.
The Tiger shaman smiled gently, but for Koukan and others who were seeing him for the first time, the smile looked vicious.
“The true appearance of a berserk Wolf. You can do it.”
“Ah-”
Lock subconsciously looked around.
He saw a calm Witira and On and Hong, whose eyes were sparkling. Then there was Cale, who was looking at him nonchalantly as if telling him to do what he wants. Lock stopped there and then looked at one more person.
Koukan the hunter.
He was looking at Lock.
The two of them made eye contact.
Gulp.
Lock subconsciously gulped.
For some odd reason, his heart riled up the moment he saw Koukan’s sulking gaze.
He saw the grey fur, the fur that resembled a cloudy sky and did not have any shine to it at all.
For Lock, who had been spending time with the adult Tiger warriors until now, seeing an adult Beast person looking like this was unfamiliar.
But why did it feel so familiar at the same time?
Lock felt as if he knew the reason.
‘It is probably because he is similar to me.’
The way Koukan was timidly curling up, the way he knew how lacking he was but still understood he needed to persist through this situation, everything made Lock think of himself.
Furthermore, Koukan… His age made Lock think of someone.
‘… Uncle.’
His uncle, who had fought against Arm when they attacked the tribe and lost his life.
He was someone who was said to become a Wolf King in the future.
‘My uncle was huge at that time.’
His back was as large as Mount Tai.
Cale was the only person who made Lock think of his uncle’s back.
But looking at Koukan right now, he thought about his uncle for a different reason.
If his uncle had shown such an appearance-
‘…I wouldn't be able to accept it.’
He couldn't even imagine it.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
His heart was beating wildly.
Lock looked into his heart.
He slowly realized the inner feelings of his heart.
He wanted to show the demeaned Koukan that a true Wolf did not look like that.
He wanted to show him how cool and amazing a Wolf was supposed to be.
Most importantly…
‘I don’t want to see it.’
He didn't want to see a fellow Wolf looking like this.
Yes, he just did not want to see it.
He wanted Koukan to be confident.
His current situation wasn't even his fault.
It was okay for him to be confident.
‘Ha.’
Lock barely held back a sigh-like laugh that escaped him.
Koukan's current appearance… That was basically a mirror image of himself. The way he was denying it seemed laughable.
However, he could still confidently say that he did not like what he saw.
Boom.
Lock felt the change inside his body the moment his heart thumped loudly.
Berserk transformation.
He was capable of naturally transforming now.
Koukan's eyes opened wide as he watched this natural transformation.
Lock was tall but he was skinny.
To put it negatively, Lock was feeble. However, he was changing.
He grew even taller and his body became bulky. No, rather than call it bulky, it turned into a fit body that clearly showed the wild side of an animal.
His fingers and toes grew sharp nails that would not be afraid of most blades.
And finally…
“Ah-”
Silver fur grew all over Lock’s body.
There was some blue glimmer in the silver fur as well.
Each and every piece of fur glowed and clearly showed off its color.
Koukan could not look away from Lock.
‘Beautiful-’
He was sure that this young boy, who just looked a bit clueless and good-natured, was now giving off pressure and looked almost savage.
Nonetheless, the silver fur and the faint blue glimmer on his body made this young boy look like a dignified warrior.
“…I understand.”
He finally realized it.
He understood why the Dragons tried to get rid of the Beast people two hundred or so years ago. He could clearly feel why those bastards of the Holy Empire tried to massacre their Wolf tribe.
Animals.
The people of the continent called the Beast people animals and said that they carried dirty blood.
They said that the Beast people would have no intelligence at all. They called the Beast people barbaric.
‘Would they be able to say such a thing while looking at this?’
Lock.
This young boy clearly looked like an animal.
Human and animal…
To be more specific, he was showing the difference between the two.
However, he was still beautiful.
‘Yes, this is right.’
Were animals barbaric?
They saw all sorts of animals and wild beasts while living in the Erghe Mountain Range.
Their lives were beautiful.
In fact, they seemed free. That was why Koukan, who had to be tied down to the Erghe Mountain Range, was envious of their freedom and wild nature.
‘Koukan. I must make sure to properly go berserk.’
He recalled the words of a young girl.
The young girl who became responsible for the Wolves…
The girl who became the tribe leader was working hard to complete a proper berserk transformation.
‘If we can return to the proper appearance of Beast people as seen in the records… Then we can reclaim that name as well!’
Our name.
The name of the ‘Ice Wolves’ that had spread throughout the continent as one of the symbols of the Archduke's House of Snow.
Koukan was recalling their past glory while looking at this silver Wolf.
It was at that moment.
“…….”
The young boy looked at him.
‘They are clear.’
The young boy's blue eyes were transparent like the sky.
They did not feel threatening at all.
How could such a proper Beast be called dirty blood?
The confident yet slightly clueless…
The clear eyes that were cautiously looking at him…
Despite that, Lock's body did not cower at all.
He looked huge just standing there.
‘This is a true Wolf.’
Koukan blankly observed Lock without being able to say anything.
Lock had gone berserk feeling a bit solemn but was now looking confidently at Koukan.
‘Mmm.’
However, Koukan just blankly looking at him like this made Lock not know what to do.
Should he say something first?
The silence was too long for him to do that.
‘Why is nobody saying anything?’
Lock felt even more awkward as nobody was saying anything.
His confident shoulders felt as if they would now cower.
But he couldn't do that. He didn’t want to cower in front of Koukan.
He heard Cale’s voice at that moment.
“I was worried about us not being able to go berserk properly either, but I guess it's not a problem.”
Cale had a small smile on his face when they made eye contact.
“You look a bit bigger and stronger. I guess you must have been training hard?”
Lock felt the joy in Cale's calm and nonchalant voice that he immediately answered.
“Yes sir! I've been training hard with the uncles and aunties of the Tiger tribe!”
He then peeked toward Koukan.
“!”
Lock's eyes opened wide.
“Huh, uh-?”
His voice was extremely anxious.
Drip.
A tear dripped out of Koukan’s eye.
The ash-colored Wolf approached the Silver Wolf.
Koukan, who was much smaller than the berserk Lock, grabbed Lock's arm.
“Huh?!”
Lock became anxious.
Koukan didn't care and spoke desperately.
“Lock! Our Jessie, no, please save our tribe leader!”
“Excuse me?”
As Lock was anxious and cluelessly asked back… Koukan asked desperately once again.
“No, please teach her! Please teach our tribe leader how to properly go berserk! Please!”
“Uhh, uhh-”
Lock didn't know what to do and his eyes aimlessly moved around until he looked at Cale.
"W, what do I do?”
Cale chuckled at the question.
He then spoke to Koukan.
“Why don’t we first head back to your tribe?”
He then spoke to Lock.
“Are you going to become a teacher too?”
It was a mischievous comment unlike Cale’s usual self, but Lock Did not realize it and became extremely shocked as he showed.
“Excuse me? A teacher?”
Lock pointed at himself while shouting in an extremely scared voice that did not fit his large physique.
“M, me? Me, a teacher?”
Hong wagged his tail and happily commented.
Wow, our hyung is a teacher now, nya! I want to be a teacher too, nya!”
“Shh.”
On quieted him again.
However, it was all useless.
Baaaaang!
The door to the underground training ground slammed open and a small Dragon rushed in like the wing as he fluttered his wings and puffed out his tummy.
“I got permission! I can use magic!”
Cale thought that Raon looked like a general returning victoriously from war.
—
Translator's Comments
That was fast, Raon. How did you manage that?
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