Chapter 264: I Am a Wolf
“Moon Worshiping Wolves?”
Ace murmured, looking at the wolf pack shrouded in silver light.
His eyes twinkled with wonder. Under the observation of the Perception Spell, the mental power of every Moon Worshiping Wolf had increased significantly, and their bodies had also improved slightly.
Just then, the Alpha Wolf of the pack—snow-white all over with silvery-bright fur and a vigorous body—stared at Ace with its intelligent eyes and let out a low growl.
Ace, who had exited the shadow state, snapped back to reality. Having not used any concealment methods, he had unknowingly been discovered by the Alpha Wolf.
The Alpha Wolf didn’t act rashly. It keenly sensed the immense power hidden within Ace’s body and soul, realizing the fundamental gap between itself and him.
Long-term baptism by the silver moon mana had made the Alpha Wolf very smart. It only wanted to drive away this voyeur beside its den; it didn’t want to fight Ace head-on, nor did it have any chance of winning a direct confrontation.
Ace observed the wolf pack with interest and slowly activated the 1-Ring Spell “Dream Force Field.” A mist with dreamlike colors gradually enveloped the entire hill.
The Alpha Wolf keenly sensed something was wrong. It felt a bit light-headed. The other Moon Worshiping Wolves fared even worse, collapsing to the ground and falling into dreams.
Just as Ace attempted to invade the Alpha Wolf’s soul with the dream mist to confuse it, the silver mana in the Alpha Wolf’s body and soul erupted, unexpectedly dispersing a small area of the mist.
The Alpha Wolf’s eyes regained clarity. Staring at Ace with lingering fear, it bared its teeth and howled, opening its mouth to spit out several silver light blades that spun as they flew towards Ace.
In the Alpha Wolf’s eyes, the light blades hit Ace directly, instantly tearing him to shreds. The Alpha Wolf was somewhat astonished; it hadn’t expected it to be so easy.
The faint cawing of a raven seemed to sound, and its shadow squirmed slightly.
It felt no joy, but rather a confused and cautious hesitation, attempting to take the opportunity to move away from the mist.
As the Alpha Wolf tried to flee, several stone warriors suddenly drilled out of the ground within the dream mist. Raising stone axes and stepping to the thump-thump beat of drums, they charged at the Alpha Wolf.
Although the Alpha Wolf couldn’t understand everything before it, it didn’t hesitate. Instead of retreating, it advanced, roaring as it charged towards the stone warriors. The silver light all over its body shone brightly as it suddenly accelerated, actually carving a bright silver arc and rushing out of the mist.
Just as the Alpha Wolf landed, it fully activated its silver mana, running for its life. It failed to notice its shadow, which had changed from its own shape into a terrifying human figure grinning from ear to ear.
It panted heavily, its mana almost exhausted, tongue lolling out like a husky that had successfully escaped after secretly trashing the house. There seemed to be fog… so tired, so sleepy… its eyelids grew heavier and heavier.
“Are you happy? Are you tired? Just sleep, and you’ll be fine.”
In a daze, it seemed to hear a gentle voice. At the same time, the pitch-black, grinning human shadow beneath its feet stood up and gently stroked it.
The wolf pack opened their eyes to find the sky was bright. Everything was as usual. Time seemed to have flown by; in the blink of an eye, they had fallen asleep, and upon opening their eyes again, it was another rainy day.
‘Huh? Why did I say “another”?’
The Alpha Wolf thought somewhat confused. Time was flying; it became younger and younger, finally turning into a newborn pup, playing happily in the hills and jungle.
It had followed its master since it was little. The master had always shepherded the wolf pack, and it was the master’s favorite cub!
Ace carefully wove the dream, merging the dreams of the wolf pack into a shared dream. He was very experienced in this area. Then came the accelerated jumps in the dream—essentially flipping through their memories quickly, then starting from the beginning and injecting his own figure at key nodes.
The wolf pack, lying scattered on the hill, woke up one after another. They looked at Ace with affection and awe. The Alpha Wolf actively ran to Ace’s side, rolling over to expose its soft belly and neck.
Ace stroked the mane on the Alpha Wolf’s neck, petting it for quite a while, smiling happily—just like the grinning human figure that night.
“This is my first attempt at tampering with memory using dreams. Thanks to the low intelligence and simple life experiences of these Monsters, it worked. If they were humans, the difficulty would probably skyrocket.”
Ace sighed with emotion. Afterward, he ate and lived with the wolf pack as if he were truly their master, shepherding them daily. Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was another full moon.
The wolf pack continued their pious and solemn custom, praying to the moon for power.
Ace observed and recorded nervously. Although he saw it clearly, he couldn’t grasp anything; he gained nothing.
A year gradually passed. Ace constructed a new 1-Ring Spell mimicking the ability of the Spirit of the Book—Comprehend Monster Languages, achieving communication with the Moon Worshiping Wolves.
“The Moon Worshiping Wolves seem to be a wolf clan that migrated from far north. They have always maintained a simple Silver Moon Rite. This behavior of theirs is different from the sacrifices I saw with the Son of the Sea; it definitely hides some secret!
“This spontaneous ritual behavior of theirs allows them to draw upon the Silver Moon’s power scattered in the world, strengthening themselves. If I can thoroughly research this method and apply it to meditation…”
Halfway through recording, Ace suddenly thought of something. He paced back and forth, an idea gradually forming in his mind.
He looked around, set up a warning rune array, and had the wolf pack and Shadow Raven flock stand guard. Then, his spirit sank into the Soul Sanctuary, touching the chaotic “mezzanine” at the top of the space, slowly guiding the True Spirit giant to descend.
As the spiritual light from the chaos spilled down, two and a half True Spirit phantoms appeared. Ace’s spirit merged with the True Spirit and communicated with one of the True Spirit phantoms.
Ace controlled the True Spirit to communicate with one of the phantoms. Hum!
The resonance on the frequency of the True Spirit made Ace feel as if he were falling into clouds. Crossing the spatial barrier, he instantly synchronized with his clone in the High Tower Territory.
They exchanged thoughts. Afterward, Ace began setting up the Summoning Magic Array. About four or five hours later, four Doppelgangers at the level of powerful low-level Monsters were teleported over through the Summoning Magic Array.
Ace felt the master-servant contract with the Doppelgangers and smiled. The clone had handled things very reliably.
He erased the soul of one Doppelganger. Following the Supernatural Transformation method invented by Caruso, after making corresponding improvements, he directly projected the Time-Limited Mirror Image into the Doppelganger that was now just a body.
Ace synchronized with the mirror image, feeling the condition of the Doppelganger. Then, he devoured a Moon Worshiping Wolf, thoroughly transforming into the appearance of a Moon Worshiping Wolf from the inside out.
“Since being a bystander can’t reveal the hidden secrets, I will use the improved Supernatural Transformation to completely become a Moon Worshiping Wolf and experience the changes and differences firsthand.”
As Ace spoke, he stroked the body of the Moon Worshiping Wolf controlled by his clone projection.
Time passed quickly, and it was another full moon day. Ace controlled the Moon Worshiping Wolf, following the simple ritual sacrifice. He played two roles at once—experiencing it personally from the inside while observing and recording from the outside. Gradually, it reached midnight, and the power of the bright moon reached its strongest moment.
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