Chapter 217

Bam!

Vorbuk landed while slamming the gray wolf down against the ground. His jaws snapping down onto the gray wolf's neck. It was difficult to hold the wolf down. The gray wolf struggled, growled, and tried to bite down into the side of the black wolf that held him down. Every action the gray wolf took sent a searing pain throughout his body from his wounded leg.

Pressing his paws down into the gray wolf, he could feel the gray wolf slowly giving up on his struggle. The both of them growling deeply at each other. Glaring intently at one another as the gray wolf contemplated. A soft gray fog covering him as King Luke slowly returned to his human form. His wolf ears pinned back against his hair.

"Are you going to kill me?" King Luke asked while looking into the red eyes of the wolf that towered above him as he lay there. Pain surging from his leg causing his body to flinch. Those red eyes almost seemed cold. "I thought you needed me?"

A black fog covered Vorbuk as he shifted into his human form. Kneeling down as he glared at the king on the ground before him. His heart felt complicated.

"I still need you alive for now," Vorbuk muttered in response to the king's words. "I need to take you with me to the palace."

"Haa.." King Luke sighed deeply as he heard those words from him. "You are colder then I thought."

"I never said I was kind to start with." Vorbuk stated.

"... Indeed. I guess you never did." King Luke had a weak smile on his face.

There had never been a moment Vorbuk had told anyone he was kind. He was not someone who had ever been close to others in his previous life. As someone with his fame and money as a famous artist when he was living his life as a normal human it difficult for him to trust others.

Many people had tried to use Vorbuk for things whether it was to gain fame from his name or to try and use him for cash. Throughout his entire life he had lived til the very end without anyone to care about him. He could not name a single person that had ever gained his full trust. This was not emotional damage that had been done simply because of his fame.

Vorbuk had gained his wealth completely on his own. When Vorbuk was a child there was no family that took care of him. The earliest memory he could recall of his childhood was living on the streets. He was a young child that never had a place to call home. Everything changed for him the day he met a man while playing on an old piano when he sneaked inside a college to evade the snow one winter day.

"Why did you pick this place to sneak inside?" The man had asked after catching the young Vorbuk standing at the piano.

"This is the only place with a piano." Vorbuk had smiled unashamed of getting caught inside the building pass hours.

"You have no place to go?" The man asked the boy.

"If I did would I be talking to you?" The young Vorbuk scoffed at the man for asking the obvious.

After a moment of silence the man smiled back at the boy and asked him, "Would you like to learn to paint?"

"Why would I want to learn something like that? I can't afford classes. Are you blind? Why else would I sneak in?" The young vorbuk did not hold himself back. He had no home, no food, no where to belong.

"... I will teach you and feed you," The man placed his hand on top of the young boy's head. "in return... Lets just say you owe me one in the future."

The young Vorbuk had the time had no reason to refute the man's offer. Every single day for years he had gone back to the place every day. Practicing with that man had grew Vorbuk's talent drastically. When they took breaks together the man would tell Vorbuk strange things that he could not understand. He never took the man's stories seriously.

One day the man left without a word to the young Vorbuk. After spending a few years together Vorbuk had lost all connection he had with the man who gave him his very talent. He could only push on by himself from there. If someone tried to get close to Vorbuk his natural reaction would stop him from opening up. The only person he'd ever gotten close with and gained much from had abandoned him. He'd felt used by the man just like every other person had done to him as a kid living off the streets.

This time he had grown to have people around him but could he honestly say he was kind? Vorbuk wanted to protect those close to him while remaining distant from them. He knew he could to claim to know much about any of them.

"Vorbuk! We're here!" Daryl called out to Vorbuk snapping him back into reality. He had noticed the distant look in Vorbuk's eyes as he was approaching. Unable to decide on if he should ask what was bothering him the only option he could choose was to call out to him.

The tiger rushed passed Daryl and headed for Vorbuk. Purring as it nuzzled its head against Vorbuk's hand. Vorbuk raised his hand and placed it down on top of the tiger's head, petting him gently. Even if Chase was a beastman Vorbuk could definitely see the beast part in him. However he felt that was not completely unexpected given Chase lived alone in a dungeon for years with only the dungeon master to look over him.

"We should get him back to the temple to regroup with the others." Vorbuk said.

Taking a step back from King Luke his footing stumbled. The tiger moved his body close to Vorbuk so that he could brace his balance by holding onto him. Vorbuk had sweat dripping from his forehead as he felt exhausted. He had worn himself out and would not be able to maintain a human form much longer.

"Perhaps we should sleep for tonight somewhere out of sight." Daryl spoke while looking at the condition that Vorbuk was currently in. They would not be able to make it back when the wolf was already pushing himself at his limit. The only option they had was to rest for the night and make their way back inside the following morning.

"We head back first thing in the morning." Vorbuk had no room to refute the suggestion from Daryl. He knew his own body better then anyone else.

"Of course," Daryl answered while kneeling down beside King Luke and pulling out some rope to bind his wrists together. "I will keep watch while you rest. You need it more then I do since I don't fight using mana like you do."

Vorbuk watched Daryl tie up King Luke while listening to him speak. "... Do you not have an element?"

"I never tried to learn mana control. I could not even tell you what my element is. I was always fond of the sword as a child and put my focus in training that instead." Daryl explained.

Everyone in the realm was born with mana. Countless types of elements existed as mana flowed through everything. Light, Dark, Fire, Earth, Wind, Water, and Ice were only basic kinds that emerged among them. The only way to know what element you were was to train your body over time til the person unlocked the ability to use their element. This did not mean everyone could use mana.

Among those who lived among the realm there were five ranks in total. The fifth was the highest and they were known as Demi Gods. They could not ascend to become a true god because gods could not be born on their own. The guardian's mark was needed to show that a person was given a chance to grow and ascend to become a real god. For mortals the fifth rank was the peak of their growth.

Since Daryl did not train in mana he was still considered a first rank among the realm. That did not mean he had no talent. His swordsmanship could compete against a gang of knights on its own. He simply had no trump card like mana to protect himself outside of his natural talent for the sword. Daryl had no problem with being unable to unlock his element because he was comfortable living an average life. To Daryl he never needed something like mana to give his life meaning.