Longread

The wolf reacted just as fast, as though its heavyweight had no effect on its agility. It leapt to meet his attack, pouncing with its claws. 

With his attributes growing, Warden didn't have much of a difference between their physical attributes. Even still, the cursed dire wolf was stronger than him in sheer physical presence. He had to abandon the notion of confronting it head-on, as there could be more prey lurking in the dark.

Warden manoeuvred himself over the back of the beast and plunged his sword in for a grip. The beast lunged in madness, struggling in pain and trying to swing him off its back. 

But his grip was strong, the blade digging deeper into its body. The only regret was that he hadn't pierced a more critical spot that would weaken the beast.

Warden clutched the hilt with his left arm while infusing void energy into his right arm. Without further notice, he punched the neck of the beast with his full force. The void energy flung away from his palm and impacted on the beast's skin, leaving behind scarred and torn skin.

The wolf howled as Warden persisted on its back, slamming his fist onto its neck unrelentingly. Filthy blood poured out more and more with his fist tearing into the same spot. 

Void energy had a terrible effect on its super regenerative ability. With the energy stagnating, its defence forms as well as the regenerative ability were diminished, leaving Warden with hardly any challenge.

After a while, he literally tore through its windpipe, claiming its life.

[Iron Grade Energy harvested.]

[+1.9 Strength.]

[+0.3 Spirit.]

Warden wiped the palm from the blood, only to find it wasn't only smeared in the wolf's blood. There was a fair share of his own blood.

Cleaning his palm on the wolf's fur, he found his palm was pretty torn up, skin split open and oozing out blood. He hadn't even noticed it before.

"Hmm, why don't I feel much pain?" he thought aloud, and only then a slight tinge of pain registered in his mind. 

After he redacted the void energy, the wound closed pretty soon, leaving lightning-like split scars. Thinking it was all normal, Warden didn't think much of it.

***

Kiara was growing pretty irritated with the malfunction of the Longread device. They had been in the Transmission Chamber for half an hour, yet it seemed the young Artificer apprentice was still unable to locate the problem.

Yacob's face was red from embarrassment as he tinkered with lots of wires and complicated circuits. Kiara lacked even the basic knowledge to comprehend what the issue was. For once, Liam seemed to hold the same expression. This stuff about artificing and scripts were just too complicated for rankers of other paths.

"Sorry," Yacob said finally, lifting his head from the huge device planted in the chamber. "This model is just too old. There's an issue in the script, which I'm afraid to tinker with. As you can imagine, a device like this didn't come cheap, even the ancient-looking one. I'm afraid to tinker it beyond repair."

"Is there no one who can have a look at it?" Liam asked. 

"I'm afraid not," Yacob said. "I guess you guys have no other choice but to use the old way."

"The old way?" Liam arched an eyebrow.

"The receiver is faulty, but not the transmitter," Yacob explained. "We may not be able to receive a voice transmission, but we can send one."

"Really?" Kiara's expression brightened. "Then what are we waiting for?"

"Well, nothing," Yacob said, gesturing with his palm as he got up. "Help yourself."

He departed, leaving them exchanging glances with one another. 

"What?" Liam asked, finding her not making the call.

"I don't know how to make a connection on this kind of Longread," Kiara said, a little flustered. The ones she had at home were way smaller, with already registered connections to everyone she ever needed to call. Where this one looked like old junk, she had no clue how to even turn it on.

Liam let out a breath and got near the seat of the board. "At least you have Professor June's Connector Card?" he asked. "Or should I just connect to the mission hall?"

"I have it," Kiara said curtly. She fumbled into her bag and brought out a sleek metal card. She handed it over without even giving it a look. Professor June had given it to her after she became her mentee, but even after almost a year, she never got to use it. 

Liam took the card and stuffed it into a slot under the reader. He pressed more than a handful of buttons, as the device came to life like a dying beast stirring up before eternal slumber.

"It connected," Liam said, reading the glittering text in the reader. "Should I leave the message or..."

"I'll do it," Kiara said, determined. 

Liam gestured at the seat and stood up to stand behind her.

"Professor June, it's me, Kiara," she began immediately, taking the transmitter in her palm. "I don't know if you received news of us, but I almost died." 

There was no answer from the other end, so she had to continue. Kiara expressed almost all her experiences, none of them chronologically. Even Liam, who had been with her for a time, had trouble understanding how she could make a mess of simple events. Perhaps that was how women talked among themselves, so he didn't bother any more. After all, Kiara mentioned almost everything.

From how Little Cupcake was lost, and then rescued by someone else, who even saved their lives, to how the beast attacked and how many people died.

"I thought I would never see Cupcake again," Kiara said, leaving no semblance of composure. "So I accidentally offended the man when he brought back Little Cupcake. Warden—that's his name, apparently. I always thought it to be funny, don't you think so? Thankfully, he didn't take offence and continued to help the village. Oh right, we left the village this morning. He's still there, making sure of their survival. 

"We are in Triu now, still a few days away from the academy. Hmm, I forgot to mention, there's apparently some reinforcement arrived in the town, but they aren't even taking it seriously. Liam had gone to ask why, but they just dismissed him, giving no answer."

"Torin Walt," Liam said from behind. "That's his name, a junior Instructor from the academy."

"Walt?" Kiara perked her eyebrows. "Is he from the Walt family?"

Liam shrugged and didn't bother to give an answer. Well, there was no need for it, and with that, they reported this Torin Walt. If he didn't do his work, Professor June would see to his abdication.

"I'll try to call again when we reach the next town and get a better Longread. Thank you. Your mentee, Kiara Ward."