Now I’ll only have four days to tame this wolf or at least I want to have it by then. Astvar slowly explained to me about his journey to the Pure Sun. Travel alone will take five days with a few stops and then we will spend two weeks at the capital of the Pure Sun clan, Sehus. Since winter is coming he is going to ask for help with food and clothing for the village. Hakon will replace him for the time being. Also, Tae was going along but for a smaller payout. While I’ll get eight he will only get three per day. Good call that I did all the trading when we arrived in the village.

There was one last thing that I needed to catch that wolf. Something to spread the sprouts of this mushroom. Just throwing them wouldn’t be useful since he can easily dodge them. I went to Galmar to see if he had anything like that in his stand. While I was looking at things that I could use I noticed a lot of stuff that blacksmith uses and then it struck me.

[ Eric ]

“Galmar. Do you have something to blow the air into the furnace? I know that blacksmiths use it. I can’t recall a name…”

[ Galmar ]

“Do you mean a pump?”

[ Eric ]

“Yeah! That’s it! Do you have any?”

[ Galmar ]

“Currently I don’t. Only Taliar buys them so I don’t have many.”

[ Eric ]

“Taliar?”

[ Galmar ]

“Young blacksmith of our village. He has his shop near the port.”

Looks like there are more and more people that I’ll know in this village but getting to know traders and any shopkeepers is a good thing. Maybe I’ll even get a good deal with him or something like that.

When I entered his shop all I saw were shields and by all, I saw I mean that they were everywhere… On shelves and on walls. On one wall there were a few weapons like swords and axes but the price tag said that they were one gold coin each… I don’t know what but there is something weird about this Taliar. I’ve been living in this village for almost a whole month but I never heard anything about the blacksmith and I think I know why… There were mostly shields in this shop.

[ Taliar ]

“Welcome! How may I help you? Did you come for a shield?” Said Taliar with excitement.

I think he is the youngest of the adults in this village from the looks of it. A tall young man with short blond hair and deep blue eyes. No sign of a beard or mustache on his face.

[ Eric ]

“No. I came here for a pump.” As I said it, his smile disappeared. His eyes lost depth and looked like they were empty. “But... they sure look interesting…” After those words, his face looked like the sun again.

[ Taliar ]

“Then you have a good eye! Currently, most of them are made to withstand a spit of those monsters that appeared recently but there also are good old wooden shields! Like this classic circle wooden shield but! I also thought of doing something more square like this one!” The kid was talking and talking only about his shields…

[ Eric ]

“Can you say anything about the weapons? They also… look well made.”

[ Taliar ]

“Yeah… I made them so people wouldn’t complain about no weapons or tools in my shop…”

[ Eric ]

“And you priced them for gold coins?”

[ Taliar ]

“Yup! Only then people will come here to buy the shields!”

[ Eric ]

“Ok… so about those pumps…” His face changed again… He is only interested in selling the shields… Probably if not for the materials he would almost sell them for free… “Let’s make a deal. I’ll borrow one pump and in return, I’ll buy your shield for double the price.”

Now he looked interested and he ran to get the pump for me. Meanwhile, I started to look for some interesting shields. He’ll be happy if I buy any of them but if I’m going to buy one it needs to be a good one. There was one very interesting shield. It was small, a little bigger than my hand but it looked like it was designed to attach it to the hand. I’ll be able to use two weapons and have a shield… That’s what I’ve been looking for. He came back with the pump but before he gave it to me he asked me:

[ Taliar ]

“Did you choose a shield?”

[ Eric ]

“Of course I did.” I showed him the shield on my forearm.

[ Taliar ]

“So you’re the brave one that fights without a shield?”

[ Eric ]

“Nah… I only fought with monsters so I didn’t need a shield. Especially when the shield would be useless.” I whispered the last part.

[ Taliar ]

“What did you say?”

[ Eric ]

“Oh, nothing!”

He gave me almost unused pumps and I only paid twenty-eight for the shield. I paid double but I saw shields in Galmar’s shop and the price there was starting from thirty-four. So I think it is a win, win situation. I wanted to say goodbye to the kid but… He was more focused on polishing his shields…

I had everything to catch the wolf but there were still a few things that I needed to do before I could even try. I need to find or lure the wolf. It attacked kids for obvious reasons. Because they can’t fight for themselves but I can’t use the kids as bait. Was this wolf scared of a group of people? Like it can fight a few at a time but no more than ten? If that’s the case I might have bait for the wolf.

Nightfall has come. The moon shone brightly in the sky. It was so bright that you could clearly see shadows of trees, rocks, and your own skin. Perfect for hunting someone with better night vision than me and for some reason… I said it like some kind of poet… Jezz… This world really changes me.

I found a perfect spot to lure the wolf. It was by the mountain by the entrance to the old mine. There were no trees near the entrance and no shadows and I had a perfect bait. Tae! I think that the wolf attacks weak prey to not risk his life and Tae… Gives that weak vibe… So he is perfect bait! At least better than using children. I was lying in the bushes covered in herbs so the wolf wouldn’t catch my scent.

Tae looked calm until he heard a howl of the wolves. When he started to shake a little bit I think the wolf caught interest in him because it appeared almost before him. From the shadows of the trees and with that my hunch was right. This wolf can move through shadows. It wasn’t that scared of the people but the fire or rather the light that can disrupt the shadows.

When the wolf started to run toward Tae. He immediately ran to the cave. Before he could go deeper the wolf collapsed the ceiling and blocked the path. While Tae was scared for his life I took my time and entered the mine.

[ Eric ]

“Hey! You dog! I didn’t say it's time for dinner!”

I know this wolf is smart but not that smart to know that the coal is used to maintain the fire. The walls of the mine were covered in coal. It was everywhere. I set them on fire with my torch. The fire slowly traveled around the room. Now there were no shadows. I have more chances to survive against this wolf and it has nowhere to run so I only need to blow those sprouts on him.

When I reached for the pump and then looked forward. The wolf disappeared. I looked around but I couldn’t see it. When I looked down there was no wolf… but a small puppy? So it was scared of the light not only because he couldn’t use his powers but it also would change his form?! So I was gathering those mushrooms for nothing?!

[ Eric ]

“Tae… Do you see what I see?”

[ Tae ]

“I don’t want to see it! Especially that wolf!” Shouted scared Tae with his eyes closed.

[ Eric ]

“That’s the problem… There is no wolf.”

[ Tae ]

“What… Do you mean?”

[ Eric ]

“See for yourself.”

When Tae opened his eyes there was a black puppy with cute little horns in front of him. His face immediately changed from scared to happy. He wanted to pat the puppy but when he got his hand close to him, the puppy bit him.

[ Tae ]

“Ouch! It bit me!”

[ Eric ]

“Yup. It’s because this is the black wolf.”

[ Tae ]

“What?!”

[ Eric ]

“How else would you explain the disappearance of the wolf and this puppy…”

[ Tae ]

“So… what’re going to do now?”

[ Eric ]

“Without a light, it’ll probably transform into a wolf again… I’ll wait for the sun.”

[ Tae ]

“But… it’s just... midnight…now.”

[ Eric ]

“Go! Bring me some food and booze. I have to tame this dog somehow.”