My Joker System: From Low Mana Trash to the Mightiest Wizard!-Chapter 101: Little Storms

There was a reason why Yve was the one assigned to protect Hal and Liora while Lucien and the others hunted Arran down.

She was a master of the earth element, and there was a corpse they needed to tend to.

Monk had been nothing short of a great comrade.

The least they could do for him was bring him back to the capital and give him the proper burial he deserved.

And so, Yve made a temporary earthen coffin for her fallen comrade, retrieving a spray solution in her item box spell and using it on Monk to preserve his corpse.

She then closed the casket with another layer of hardened soil.

As much as Yve wanted to bring Monk along with them while they searched for a decent resting spot, she could only leave him here.

Thanks to the special spray solution, he wouldn’t be noticed or bothered by the beasts and monsters in the area, anyway.

They would return for him once Lucien and the others came back.

But before Yve could finish her duties for the fallen Monk, the bushes a hundred meters behind them rustled, causing all three to turn and gaze coldly in that direction.

They were ready to fight off whatever was charging at them.

Only, there was no need to.

It was just a black-furred, cross-eyed Dharmwolf pup dashing toward them, tail wagging.

"Loki!!" Hal exclaimed in utter joy and relief.

He, too dashed towards the dog-sized cub, catching the little guy mid-pounce and hugging him tightly.

Yve’s brows rose, and she subconsciously looked at Liora for an explanation.

"Ahh, this is Loki, Hal’s Variant Dharmwolf pet. This little one helped us survive all this time with his sharp senses and is a valuable part of our little squad," the maiden explained with a smile.

She, too, was greatly pleased that Loki had survived.

A few moments later, the green-haired veteran had to forcefully interrupt their sweet reunion.

"Ahem," Yve began. "As much as I’d like to let you two continue, we need to quickly find a hiding spot. I’m not as strong as Sir Lucien, and I can’t claim I can protect you from every creature in this runeforest."

Almost immediately after hearing her words, the smart little Loki, who truly seemed to understand what she said, quickly sprinted ahead, turned, and barked at them as if telling them to follow, before continuing.

The three humans looked at each other.

Yve frowned in confusion while Hal and Liora swiftly followed suit.

"Hey, didn’t I say we have to move soon? Call your pet back and let’s get going to find a decent hiding spot," the older wizard said in a slightly irked tone, halting the two.

"Ahh, Loki’s saying he knows one. He probably hid there earlier, so let’s take a look first," Hal explained.

Yve fell silent for a moment, ultimately sighing in the end.

They would have to look for one, anyway, so she might as well humor them.

If it turned out that the cub was merely delaying them with its whims, then she would use that as leverage to make the two younger wizards obey her every word without question.

After traveling for around fifteen minutes, they arrived at an area with dense shrubbery and two Iridescent Willows growing unusually close to each other, forming a thick cover that could conceal them extremely well.

Only, it seemed a beast had already beaten them to it. As they moved the willow leaves aside to follow Loki, they noticed the pup entering a massive burrow hidden beneath the dense thicket and foliage.

Yve immediately grew vigilant, slightly resenting her decision to trust the Dharmwolf cub.

There was no way a beast capable of living in the center of the crater area of the Luminous Runeforest could be weak.

But then, her heart melted at the sight inside the burrow after she peered into it.

"Stormshade cubs!" the three exclaimed almost in unison.

Inevitably, they remembered the scene from earlier, and their hearts broke for the little foxes.

These pups’ mother was probably the Stormshade that the Fell Cohort had hunted down...

It also explained why she had seemed weak and malnourished, desperately searching for food at all times, neglecting herself for the sake of her little ones.

Hal didn’t, but Liora and Yve knew that a male Stormshade would never stay in the same area as the female after impregnating her.

So the two women understood that this was indeed the perfect hiding spot.

Not only would other beasts and monsters avoid the area after catching the Stormshade’s scent, but they would also be relatively close to where they would reunite with Lucien’s Pursuit Squad.

And so, the three of them settled in, giving the hungry cubs something to eat.

It was a good thing that Stormshades, by default, could already eat meat from the moment they were born, though only in small bites.

Hal had some left, and Loki willingly shared his part with the little ones, acting like some sort of older brother.

As much as Hal wanted to keep at least one of them, he knew it would be impossible.

Lucien and the others were the ones who saved them, and it would be inappropriate to ask for even one.

The cubs would probably end up as the older wizards’ battle companions.

After all, they would be terrifying A-ranked beasts upon reaching maturity.

Perhaps their companionship would help the others move on from Monk’s death a little sooner?

After giving them one last bite each, Hal sighed, washed his hands, and lay down on his sleeping bag, using his hands as a makeshift pillow.

The burrow was fairly wide, so there were no issues with spacing.

The three of them didn’t have to lie so close to one another, and yet, Liora placed her sleeping bag just a meter away from Hal’s.

Hal didn’t notice, though.

His thoughts were already on something else.

’Tch... I can’t pass up those cores, but how can I get them without the guild wizards noticing?’

Hal was only willing to share the massive loot with Liora, and maybe Ennya if he ever got the chance, but no one else.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel