The moment Ethan touched the large white wolf on the side he felt a connection with him, it was as intricate as his connection to Nora but not as deep and meaningful as to bring it to the same level of understanding. The wolf could feel what Ethan wanted and in return Ethan felt what the wolf wanted. A feeling of security and protection, worry about food and water. Also there was the bond this wolf shared with the elves through nature magic. It was an interesting feeling, there were no words needed and their feelings exchanged as quickly as his talks with Nora.

He smiled and gently patted the wolf while it bumped into his shoulder with its big wet nose. "I believe we will make a great team for the time being." Ethan tried to climb up the wolf, it looked very awkward at first until he gave himself a boost with a foot sized ice pillar that pushed him into the air. Sitting on a predator was something else, the lizards in the desert were so massive it felt like sitting on solid ground without much movement, here he felt each muscle as work when the wolf moved around. It wasn't uncomfortable but he wasn't used to it. His hand grabbed the scruff of the neck as he tried to keep his grip. For the most part he kept a loose grip but after the wolf trotted to the middle of the pack he had to hold on tight when the whole pack suddenly launched forward.

He quickly realized that sitting up straight on the back of a wolf was a stupid idea but once the first branch hit his forehead he bent down over the wolf, one hand holding its neck while the other kept his hat from flying away. When the stars stopped to dance in front of his eyes he finally got a good look at his surroundings, the elves were riding alone or in pairs around him, the wolves moving through the thick jungle with ease, each footfall precise and practiced, they knew what was safe and what should be avoided, making them run elegantly through the jungle.

Ethan screamed when his wolf, Pale, jumped against a tree, hanging there sideways for a fraction of a second before it launched itself from the tree and over three other wolves. That stupid mutt had even the guts to send amusement over their temporary bond. Ethan nearly lost his food in the process but managed to keep it down once they walked on all four paws again. He grumbled something but the wolf just sped through the forest.

While he trusted Lorena he wasn't sure how they should communicate, he saw her only once and that was right before the pack started running. He tried to spot her but in the thick undergrowth and low hanging branches it was almost impossible. He sent a question to the wolf, picturing Lorena in his mind, surprisingly the wolf answered but not with thoughts but a smell. A smell that originated in front and to the left of them.

Maybe I should take the wolf with me, he thought jokingly and just let the animal run, he wouldn't be of any use in the current situation, for Ethan this was just a reminder that he should focus more on perception so he could see the most basic shit instead of overlooking everything in his vicinity. He closed his eyes and focused on the up and down of Pale's movement, his mind wandering to the task at hand.

The sudden stop made Ethan sit up straight, his eyes wide open. The wolf under him was breathing heavily, his fur slick with sweat, the muscles trembling. Ethan jumped from him and walked to the head of the big wolf, he summoned a loose snowball in his hand and offered it to the wolf. He couldn't use water so this was the next best thing he could do. Pale sniffed on the ball and gave it a lick with its massive tongue before snatching it from Ethan's hand. He smiled and kept giving him snowballs until he seemed satisfied. Pale being calmer with his breathing having relaxed too. He smiled before giving him one final pat on his cheek.

After that Ethan walked over to Lorena, she stood at the front with the glass bottle in hand. He looked at the violently shaking bottle she clutched in her hand, the black ooze was aggressively pounding against the side. "It seems we're close to him or at least to another part of him. But I must admit this looks like an ordinary part of the jungle to me." Ethan took the glass bottle and inspected the blob of necrotic sludge.

"Yes to you Ethan it seems normal but I can feel something is off about this place, it feels out of the ordinary. There is no living thing here, not even an insect or bird. The plants still live but apart from that, the jungle is completely dead." She whispered, fearful what she could awaken when saying it out loud.

Ethan raised an eyebrow, but matched her tone nonetheless. "But shouldn't the plants be affected and look dead or at least damaged? They're still green and vivid. Nothing ripped apart or out of place. I don't even feel the putrid magic of a necromancer here."

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"That's what worries me the most, there is basically no magic in the air, like everything was sucked from the atmosphere. We should look for another lead elsewhere…this is too risky." Her hand wandered to her bow while talking. Ethan looked around, the others looked just as uneasy as Lorena.

"I know this is an ambush but while I hate being tricked I think we should try to find out more, but on our terms. Have everybody pull back. I will try to flush out whatever lurks here with my magic." he turned around and walked past the elves and wolves. Looking for a relatively open spot in the sky, once he found it Ethan shot in the sky, standing on an ice pillar over the canopy in just a minute.

He looked down at the magicless part of the jungle, his staff in hand. Ethan activated his aura and cracked his neck, his palm facing outwards as he focused on the lake of mana in his body. The cold of winter flowing through his mana channels, the stream converging in his arm and focusing in his hand. He took a deep breath and used a skill he hadn't tried out so far.

[Frozen Prison of the Progenitor] [While others create traps, he builds a prison. Slows enemies down before freezing them in place, frozen shackles bind everything besides the strongest foes]

When faced with an unknown foe in an unknown location it sounded like the best spell to use as it affected an entire area. He closed his eyes and took another deep breath the magic gathered in his hand until his fingers started to turn numb. The moment he opened his eyes the magic was unleashed.

There was no big explosion or violent storm, it was almost silent. Slowly the jungle transformed from lush and green to a dying white realm of ice. While it took time everything started to slowly freeze over, each tree, bush and each blade of grass turned into an ice sculpture. After almost ten minutes it slowed down even more before stopping, the mana he expended wasn't even that much, his regeneration almost fast enough to keep up with expenditure. Ethan made the pillar vanish again, sinking to the ground with each segment he removed at the bottom.

Once he stood on firm ground again he walked towards the area his spell had effected. The wide eyed looks he got didn't matter to him, he stepped on the frozen ground and used his staff to break apart every plant that stood in his way. Feeling something behind him he turned around and looked into Pale's red eyes, the wolf following him closely. "Alright, you can come with me, but be careful."

Ethan walked towards the middle of the frozen jungle, his feet not slipping on the ice as he supplied his boots with magic. To his disappointment he didn't find James but instead was greeted by a different sight. In the middle of the dead jungle was frozen hand, the same black ooze already in the process of breaking through the now ice covered skin. The amount of liquid that came from the hand was unreasonable. He encased the entire hand in a thick block of ice and slid it over to Pale, the wolf taking it in its mouth and carrying it back to the elves, his tail wagging happily. "Still just a big dog huh?" Ethan smiled and looked for some more clues.

In the end it was an obvious trap, around the hand were three dozen undead, all of them some form of snake or lizard. They looked like frankenstein creations, their bodies chopped up and combined with other different animals. The worst was a lizard which had five snakes attached to its neck only for its entire back to also be covered in snake heads. He shuddered as he killed each of them, because while his ice trapped them it didn't kill them. The spell was after all a prison and not meant for execution.

Overall it was a good trap, only with his aura could he feel the undead monsters and only then when he stood directly in front of them. What made them obvious was the fact that the moment his ice encased them he felt the rise in necrotic energy as it had no way to escape from the icy coffin that surrounded the undead.

He finished the last one off and returned to the elves, they all took a step back when he stepped back into the lush jungle. Lorena being the leader managed to stand her ground, her eyes wandering from Ethan to the block of ice next to her. "So you managed to find something…without a scratch no less." She looked to the white crystal forest. "Your magic is almost as scary as that from the necromancer."

Ethan smiled. "Good that I'm on your side then, right?"

Lorena shuddered and nodded.

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