43 Frost Wolf
He couldn't dismiss this as this might be the best or rather only clue, he would get, so without hesitation he followed the trail which hopefully led him to his objective. The hunter had informed him which direction the wolf came from and that he had only attacked him because he was in the way.
The wolf was probably just passing by, maybe fleeing, or hunting something. Whatever the reason was, it was the only thing that allowed the hunter to survive the encounter.
Leo was fortunate that it hadn't snowed the last few days otherwise the snow would have been completely covered up the ice sheet trail. Now he at least was able to follow it somewhat.
Some areas were more covered than others due to the wind, but it honestly wasn't much more difficult to track an animal through a forest. He was treading through a forest that had white trees that sprouted white leaves.
Although, he liked the view he was more apprehensive of his surroundings, after all he was expecting a wolf that had injured another low-level cultivator just a few days ago.
Even if the hunter were an independent cultivator and therefore his techniques somewhat subpar, he was still a hunter that would consider numerous of earth's top predators as easy game. At the very least, he wouldn't be surprised easily.
After advancing through the forest, he ended up at a clearing with a small frozen lake. He looked around and saw only a few openings on the surface, but there weren't any animals around. Unfortunately for Leo the trail ended right at the border of the lake.
It had to traverse the lake. Considering the direction, it took while running, which was almost a straight line, Leo could guess where the wolf had to exit the lake. Without further ado, he ran around the lake to the spot he thought the wolf exited from.
He would have just crossed the lake, but he was too paranoid for that. He felt like something would awaken and break through the ice just to swallow him whole. He might just break into the ice, although he didn't mind the cold or being wet, it was still a waste of his energy to play around now, he felt like his encounter with the wolf was imminent.
After running around the lake, he picked up the trail again and started following it again. It didn't take long from there to reach a cliff of ice. He peeked into the cliff only to find darkness, though in the distance he saw the ground lighten up more.
He couldn't quite see the ground underneath him, but he did find a way down and it seemed like the wolf had taken the path as well.
Maybe it would be the wolf lair, which wouldn't explain why it was in such a hurry to leave a yummy meal, called a human, on the road.
Leo slowly made his way down the slippery slope with his spike boots that he prepared before making his way down. Fortunately, he knew what kind of terrain he could expect, after all there had to be ice in the frozen grassland, right?
He was already imagining the day he would be able to fly. It would be a godsent to not have to walk down an ice slope.
After traversing down the ever-darkening cliff, he had reached the ground of a blackish ice that might be the cause of Leo not being able to see it from above. Still, this wasn't the end of it. There was a hole in the wall or rather a tunnel with the end shimmering in a white bluish color.
Leo slowed down to a crawl as he was preparing for the worst. He made the conscious decision to dig his spikes deeper into the ground. In case of an emergency, he could kick off the ground with all strength and escape upwards.
After entering the light, his eyes adjusted quickly as he entered the closed off cave. The giant wolf was sleeping quietly. With its every breath it released a chilling frost which was refreezing the ground it was breathing on.
From the entrance Leo was only able to see the right profile of the wolf and he easily confirmed that it was indeed a frost wolf, even if it had the ability to release a coldness capable of freezing snow.
However, even with the giant wolf, it wasn't what caught Leo's attention first. There were only two things in this black ice cave. The wolf and a little bluish flower that was glowing fiercely. No doubt about it, it was the source of the light, Leo saw before he entered.
It shone brightly, making even the black ice that the cave consisted off seem more of a dark gray.
'So, this wasn't in the report.' Leo thought bitterly.
It was obvious that the scouts doing the assessment hadn't followed the frost demon home. They probably followed it around on the surface but didn't dare to follow it down a cliff, or what was more likely the scouts only saw it once or twice and thought it was good enough.
Leo didn't blame them even if it were the case of a sloppy work. It was rather common for some variables to come into view that weren't regarded in the assessment or were just too dangerous to be investigated by the run-of-the-mill scout.
It wasn't their job to find out every detail anyway, just to confirm the mission's description. The information that they provided in this mission was already detailed enough.
They confirmed that it was a mutated frost demon and what was most likely enhanced by the mutation, that it had no members of its pack around to fall back on, he knew what its level was and confirmation of its general territory. In fact, this was already more than most would get from an assessment if there was one at all.
He looked around carefully to see if there was anything else he needed to consider before trying to eliminate it.
He had many options from here on. He already thought about preparing a trap and luring the frost wolf into it. He wanted to avoid damaging its fur as much as possible but if push comes to shove, he had bought some grenade like contraptions that he could use for the initial strike and then finish it off mano a mano.
It wasn't something he wanted to use as it would be shredding into the wolf's fur, though he would still have the meat to sell and even if he manages to thoroughly ruin the meat with shrapnel as well, then he would still have the reward for the mission.
Either way, he dismissed the thought as there was this flower figuratively grinning at Leo. Should he go for it or just blow it up with the beast?
On one hand he would have evened the plain, making it possible to defeat the wolf with just the right amount of effort, but destroy this flower whatever it was with it, or he lured the beast out kill it somewhere away from the flower and then come back to pick it.
As he was musing about several plans that were already concocting in his brain, the wolf started to stir in his sleep.
It turned its head to the entrance with now wide-open eyes. Leo had no way to hide in the entrance, so he just quickly dashed up the short tunnel he came through.
With a beastly roar the wolf had instantly sprang into action, making its way to follow the intruder.
As Leo was running upwards, he triggered his grenade and dropped it into the tunnel just after he exited it. After he saw the other side of the frost wolf's head, he had dropped any hesitation about taking the wolf out without damaging the flower.
Although, he didn't recognize the flower but even if it was of tremendous value, he didn't desire it anymore. The frost wolf had a small budding flower coming out of its left eye.
Its head was slightly translucent on that side as well, and it allowed Leo to see the budding flower running its roots through the brain. Whatever the flower was in that cave, Leo had no intention of taking it with him. In fact, he didn't want to come near that flower at all.
Leo wasn't planning on catching some mind controlling seed and becoming a flowers slave. At least, he interpreted the situation as such. He had no botanical knowledge, so he wouldn't risk getting nearer than he already did.
He already moved further upwards not intending to stay anywhere near the territory of the flower. It wasn't that he was sure, but he would rather avoid the black ice that covered a good part of the cliffs ground.
He had a feeling that the black ice was result of whatever the flower was either releasing into it. It didn't absorb any anima from the ice that was sure. It wouldn't turn black that way.
The beastly roar resounded after the tremors of the explosion stopped. The wolf dashed out of the black smoke with soot covering its upper body. There were shrapnel from the grenade lodged into its fur, piercing into its skin underneath it.
The wolf bled from all the wounds it received, making the frost wolf turn half white and half black red. The budding flower coming out of its left eye was unnerving especially with the roots moving about in its brain.
The budding flower seemed agitated as it rapidly moved its roots inside the head.
The wolf looked around before locking onto the fleeing figure of Leo, who occasionally looked back only to see the hulking body of the mutated wolf dashing towards him up the slope. The wolf was stronger than Leo and even if it was slower than its brethren, it was still faster than Leo.
Leo quickly reached the top of the slope before coming to a quick halt. He turned around and held up his hand that was holding his staff. He pointed it at the dashing wolf and concentrated to bring out the anima inside his body into the staff.
With the emerald as the head of his staff, it helped with the process of drawing Leo's body and concentrating it just at the tip of his staff. Leo willed the world to bend to his will as he manifested the law of his fireball into existence.
A sphere of fire the size of a ping pong ball quickly grew to the size of a tennis ball before Leo pushed the staff forward as if he were trying to pierce the sphere of fire. With his motion the sphere shot forward as if it was a cannonball.
The process of creating a spell and firing it seemed long but it was finished in less than 1 and a half second. A time only reserved for those that had mastered the spell.
It traveled the distance between the two with tremendous speed making the controlled wolf unable to dodge Leo's attack. It caught the attack squarely with its head, making the little sphere of fire explode, enveloping the beast completely.
The shockwave of the explosion shook the ice and Leo could feel the tremors all the way to the top. He was only 20 meters away and he could see the ice crack on the slope, he knew with a few more spells he could blow out a chunk out of it.
The smoke released by the explosion vanished shortly after and revealed a slightly burning corpse of a former frost wolf. Its head was sizzling at least what was left of it. There wasn't much to still call it a head.
A stump was all that was left. Leo could smell the burned meat through the distance, but he had no intention of going near that corpse, who knows if there wasn't some residual of that flower's seed?
