Once they enter the den, Tasha looks up and asks what happened. Grey tells the good news, and Tasha beams with joy and pride at her son's achievement. The three celebrate together. As they celebrate, Tasha cannot help but feel a sense of pride in her son's achievement and the bright future ahead for their pack. Their bond grew stronger as they shared the joy of Luden's success.
Later in the evening, Luden came near Grey, who was resting and asked him, "Dad, Today, when I fought with the awakened boars, I felt one was stronger than the other. I thought all awakened were the same. Do you think some awakened may be more powerful than others?" Or am I just imagining things?"
Grey Sighs. "I didn't want to bring the awakened issue up with you because you are not awakened, but I guess educating you on them is necessary for you to avoid dangerous situations."
"Let's start with animals like us. Animals have a higher chance of awakening than humans if they grow enough. As for humans, they need external help to awaken, as our elders learned after interacting with them for many years."
"but not all animals awaken. For example, if you notice, all our packs have evolved, and the three tusked boars you hunted today have very few awakened among themselves. You see, the reason is bloodline."
"Bloodline? What has blood to do with being strong?" asked Luden
"You see, the stronger the individual is, whether an animal or human, the greater the chance for his offspring to become strong like him in the future and the more chances they will be awakened."
"So you're saying that The Ancestor is the reason for our pack to all be Awakened," asks Luden
"Exactly" nods Grey
"How strong is the ancestor?" asks Luden with anticipation
"He is almost the strongest on the planet." says grey proudly
"almost?" says Luden
"Being awakened doesn't make you the strongest; you must take steady steps to grow stronger and stronger. There are ranks, as we call them."
"What are the ranks?"
"There are Six ranks starting with someone who has just awakened, like your awakened friends; we call them soldiers. When we reach our full potential by training ourselves, we have a certain threshold to reach and advance. Once we reach it, we animals consume the force around us and advance or are reborn into the next level. Once we advance, we become so much stronger than before. We animals have certain abilities that we gain from our bloodline, or sometimes we mutate a stronger one by chance. I don't know about humans in this regard or how they gain their abilities. Still, I heard that even their equipment could give them new abilities. I'm not sure if it's true or not."
What are the six ranks called?
"Apart from unranked, which are called soldiers, there are knights, captains, commanders, generals, lords, and kings."
Kings are the strongest on the planet, as the titles suggest; they rule areas with their powers.
"What are you and the ancestor?"
"Okay, these are enough questions for today. Go up to sleep; you have a long day waiting for you tomorrow. You have to lead your new team and make new plans."
For the next week, Luden enjoyed devising new plans and finding new ways to use all his team members' powers to develop better and more efficient hunting methods. He was glad he was given this chance and always enjoyed sharing his achievement stories.
The pack welcomed a new hunting team, and the elders and the others couldn't wait for the new young ones to take the lead one day. The pack was impressed with Luden's leadership skills and his ability to strategize effectively. They knew that the future of their hunting success relied on the young ones like Luden stepping up to take charge. Tasha and Grey enjoyed watching their son being praised by everyone in the pack.
But all things come to an end. One day, on a fateful day, there was a howl that the pack had forgotten for years.
A howl warning them about INTRUDERS
Grey and Tasha wake up immediately and look into each other's eyes. Grey says, "I will be right back," and he runs at full speed outside. Tasha looks worried, notices Luden is slowly waking up, and smiles at him. "It's okay, honey, everything will be alright,"
Luden looks at her and nods.
Soon, Grey returns with his face full of worries. He then composes himself, looks at Tasha and luden, and then turns at Tasha and nods at her; Tasha understands. Grey's look, sighs, and turns to Luden. "Honey, we have to go, come with Mama, and let's leave Dad to his business," says Tasha with a hoarse voice
"What do you mean, Mom?" says Luden but is interrupted by Grey coming closer to him, bending down, licking his face, and saying, "Listen to me, champ. Whatever happens today, I want you to know that you are my proudest achievement ever. If I have to go back to the day that I took you with me a million times, I will choose to take you again in every one of them. Remember, whatever life throws at you, brave it, and keep holding on to life no matter what. Beware of your kind. They are easy to corrupt. You are the son of Grey Alpha of ancestral brown wolves. Stay true to your heritage, and always remember the values instilled in you by your pack. Your strength and resilience will guide you through any challenges that come your way. Now, take out the item you created to store mana."
Luden listens in confusion, but he understands something is wrong. He remembers every word Grey says to his heart, takes out the device, opens it for Grey, and brings it close to him.
Grey breathes a whiff of his mana into the device and nods at Luden. Luden feels a power surge as the device begins to glow with energy.
He knows he carries a piece of Grey's mana with him, a tool that will help him always remember Grey. Luden nods and closes the device quietly. "Why are you giving this to me, Dad? I don't understand where you are going," says Luden quietly
Grey then looks at Tasha, comes closer to her, and embraces her; without saying a word, they nod at each other.
Tasha takes a minute to embrace Grey, then turns and grabs Luden, puts him on her back, and starts running outside. She hears Luden's voice: "Mom, what is going on? Where are we going?"
"Everything will be okay, dear; remember to hold my fur tightly and promise Mom one thing, please, dear," says Tasha in a serious tone.
"what is it, Mom?" Luden asks worry
"Remember to close your eyes and never open them, no matter what you hear. Can you do that for me, dear?"
"Yes, Mom, I promise," Luden replies, holding onto Tasha's fur tightly as they run toward safety. Tasha's heart races with fear. Still, she knows she must protect her son at all costs.
Soon, he starts hearing different shouts. From adults, elders, and cubs: "It's the humans!" "There are so many!" "Mom! Dad!"
Luden's heart races as he clutches Tasha's fur tightly, keeping his eyes shut as instructed. The chaos around him grows louder and more frantic, but he remains obedient to his promise to his mother. He started to hear the sounds of howls and explosions of different kinds of elements. He struggles several times to keep holding tight while feeling the strength against his face. Despite the fear and chaos surrounding him, Luden stays true to his promise to his mother, determined to keep his eyes shut and hold on tightly. The sounds of howls and explosions only intensify, but he remains resolute in his obedience.
This goes on for what feels like forever until he herds Fang, saying, "Tasha, use this way. We already cleared the way for you." "Thanks, Fang; please keep yourselves safe. I will be back soon." "I will do that. says Fang and then turns to Luden. "Keep yourself safe, little troublemaker. May the wolf spirit guide you." "Okay, Uncle Fang," says Luden in a crying voice. By now, he knows that the pack is in grave danger and can no longer keep himself from worrying for his family and friends.
A while ago, a legion of 10000 awkened marched steadily and surrounded the pack.
A man wearing full armor that glows with light and holding a white soward riding a majestic being horse shouts, "Remember we are here today to punish these vile creatures for their crimes against humanity and Sunset City. They are a scourage that corrupts the forest and must be abolished BY THE LIGHT."
The ten thousand men all shout, "BY THE LIGHT."
Just as they were about to continue marching, they heard howls from ahead. An army of 1000 brown wolves, led by a majestic black wolf, shot a wind blade from their mouths. The blades decimated the army, and some were cut in half.
"Shields" Just as the second wind blades are about to reach the humans, 3000 shields wall gets erected, and the blades get nullified
"Range attack ready!" "fire," but soon, the wolves get greeted by thousands of ranged attacks, and hundreds fall
. The wolves are about to despair, and finally, the elders and the Ancestor join the fray. One elder complains, "There are so many of them!" "How did they get so deep in here without alarming anyone?"
"Where are the other packs?" "ENOUGH," says the Ancestor, "It's that so-called king of the forest he sold us."
"It's a lord-rank wolf!" "retard, it's a lord," the humans start to shout in despair
But soon, they get interrupted by loud "fools, so what if it's a lord? We have two lords with us now get ready to engage again."
Tasha starts running again. Luden can feel the sounds getting lower and lower until there is nothing. Finally, Tasha stops and puts Luden into a hole in a big tree. She looks at him with tears in her eyes. "You did well, dear. Mom is proud of you. You can open your eyes." Luden slowly opens his eyes, looks at his mom's sad face with her white fur and the full moon shining behind her, and asks Mom what is happening.
"It's okay, dear. Some bad people want to hurt the pack, but your dad will care for them all. Mom will now get back and help him, and soon, I will be back. Now take the device that can store your mana, and I."
"You're lying, Mom. You're not coming back, are you? Is that why you want to store your mana?"
Tasha's voice quivered. Sometimes, she hates how smart Luden is. No, Luden, I promise you I will be back."
"Your promise?"
"Yes, I promise now. Please, Luden, help Mommy with this request," says Tasha with more tears in her eyes.
"Okay," says Luden, who takes the device out and opens it for her.
Tasha does the same thing and stores her mana.
Once Luden puts the device in his backpack, Tasha says, "You know, Luden, I never told you this before, but you have Mommy's white fur as your hair color and Dad's black fur as your eye color. You are the perfect piece of both of us" says. At the same time, she tries to cheer him up, but her heart is killing her because she can't say goodbye. After all, Luden will know she is leaving him. Tasha gets close enough and licks one last time, just like she used to when he was a baby.
"I want to do one more thing for Mommy, dear," says Tasha with sad voice
What is it, Mom?
"I want you to cover your ear and sing the song I used to sing to you when you were sleeping as a baby. Do you remember it?" says Tasha gently
"Yes, the Moon watches over my baby," says Luden
"Yes, dear, can you sing it while you close your ears so I can find my way back to you?" asked Tasha
"Yes, remember you promised to come," says Luden to make sure she knows
"Yes, I will find my way here if I hear that song." And she finally runs to the pack
Luden watched Tasha's figure getting smaller and smaller until it faded into the horizon slowly, closed his ear, and started to sing.
"Watch over my baby, dear moon."
"Watch over my baby from night to noon."
"Watch over my baby so he doesn't cry."
"Watch over my baby until Mommy chases the bay guy."
"Watch over my baby when mommy is outside."
"Watch over my baby until Mommy is at his side."
Luden sang the song again and again and again.
Until the sun loomed over the horizon, until it turned to night again, he waited until he was hungry. He watched the spot she disappeared to on the horizon, waiting for her, but she never came. With tears in his eyes, he whispered, "But you promised."