"Everything ready?" Blanc asked as they prepared to leave the burrow for one or two days.
"Arrows counted, weapons polished, enough water and food, tents and beds back in the bags, dry clothes, and all our gold," Celine replied, listing the maintenance they did this morning and all their valuables they had on them."It seems everything is in order."
"If that's the case, let's go," Blanc groaned, getting to his feet.
To which all nodded as they left the burrow and started heading westward, with the sun at their back.
Though the sun shone brightly, no warmth reached them because of the Gardens.
However, with each harvest completed, the cold became less annoying to deal with, to the point that the early morning was quite pleasing to the five of them.
Pleasing enough for casual conversations.
"Brother, I have a question that has sat on my mind since that bear woman visited us in the rainforest," Kael said.
"Allegra?" Blanc asked, chuckling as he found Kael's description amusing, "What question do you have?"
"They aren't Noble Bloods that we know of, correct?" Kael wondered.
"No records ever mentioned Metamorphs as they call themselves, or any group of people that resemble their powers, so no, it's safe to assume they are not Noble Bloods," Blanc replied, looking forward
"Then isn't it illegal for them to have Raw Vita inside their bodies?" Kael continued.
"It's hard to say," Blanc said before thinking on the matter, "They are too unknown to answer this question properly. Perhaps they aren't even from the Empire."
"And if that is the case," Celine continued, "The Empire's rules do not apply to them. But you are right, my love, there are too many unknowns when it comes to them. I would have suggested that if we had enough time, to investigate this matter, but since we don't, it wasn't worth mentioning."
"No way," Miyanna shook her head, "I would suggest we put as much distance between us and that damn Allegra and her weird shapeshifting friends."
"I wonder how they do that, though," Blanc mentioned, ignoring Miyanna's suggestion, "Transforming into beasts and all that."
"I want to be a bear and bite people's ears off," Lune said, entering the conversation.
With Kael joining her soon after, "I want to be an eagle and fly everywhere."
"Haha, sounds fitting for the two of you," Blanc laughed at the differences between the twins, "But on a serious note, it's fascinating. Are they different races entirely, or are they some kind of byproduct?"
"What does that mean?" Miyanna asked.
"In this case, Blanc asks if their ability to transform into beasts is a result of maybe their way of harvesting Raw Vita or True Vita, or perhaps magic itself," Celine explained.
"Exactly," Blanc nodded, but decided to change the subject before Miyanna gets angry, "But at this point, it's just a game of guessing, with no proof backing it. And since we don't plan on finding those answers, it's best to leave it there."
"Exactly what I like to hear," Miyanna nodded proudly as they continued their walk, changing the subject to a more Miyanna-pleasing topic.
Two hours later, they decided to take a rest near a frozen lake, which they had to walk around before they could continue.
But as they got to drinking water, Blanc found out they were not alone.
A wolverine was slowly approaching them as it casually walked closer and closer.
"It's cute," Lune said, looking at the medium-sized beast.
Its fur was black on its back, belly, and legs, but brown on its sides.
Looking at it, peacefully approaching, one would be fooled into thinking that it was cute.
But they would be totally and utterly wrong.
Wolverines would fight wolves and bears with pretty decent chances of winning if they felt threatened.
And if there was no threat, they had the bad habit of making one for themselves by doing exactly what the one in front of them was planning on doing.
Perhaps they were in its territory, or perhaps the wolverine was bored and hungered for a proper fight to the death.
For Blanc, it was all the same.
"Stand back," he said to the rest as he pulled his sword, deciding to respect the beast's bravery, "This one is mine."
And as if awaiting those exact words, the wolverine snarled, pouncing on the ground.
Once.
Twice.
Then it stopped, growling at Blanc as it approached.
Its claws were long, sharp, and ready to dig into flesh.
Luckily, Blanc's sword was the same.
Blanc dashed forward.
The wolverine did so too, meeting him midway, its little feet moving in quick succession atop the heavy snow.
Blanc swung his sword downward, not taking the fight too seriously, allowing the wolverine to get more and more into it.
It dashed to the side, dodging Blanc's swing.
It then swiped with its left claw.
But Blanc took a step back, the claw missing him by a mere inch.
"Quite the energy for how small its body is," Blanc laughed as it dodged step after step, making the wolverine miss each of its attacks, enraging the beast even more.
"Are you sure this is how you want to rest, Blanc?" Celine asked, taking the waterskin from her lips.
"Makes for good training," Blanc replied, looking down at the beast as it swiped at his ankles, "You rest, I'll play with this little fellow for a bit longer before I begin harvesting it."
"As you wish, but be careful," Celine added, "Wolverines are durable."
"I know," Blanc replied as he took a step forward, lowering his feet on the wolverine's back, pressing it to the snow, sending the beast on a wild frenzy, trying to escape, "Unfortunately for him, however, I am stronger."
And for another five minutes, as the rest watched, Blanc and the wolverine kept their dance going: attacking, dodging, growling, swiping, and missing again.
When the beast got too exhausted, when its attacks did not come at the same speed as it used to, and when the rage in its eyes subsided to a tired expression, Blanc decided to give the beast its proper rest.
He dashed to the side and kicked at the beast, making it fall on its back, belly upwards.
The wolverine snarled, but it was too late.
Blanc placed his sword atop its chest and pressed downward at an angle, straight into the beast's heart.
The wolverine's heavy breathing ceased into silence as its body went limp.
Blanc turned to the others, a satisfied grin on his face, "We can keep going after I harvest this, okay?"
"Do your thing, hubby," Miyanna replied from a distance.
"It was a wonderful performance," added Celine.
To which the twins nodded, starting to clap with food in their mouths as they kept on munching.
"Thank you, thank you," Blanc bowed deeply a few times before he kneeled in the snow in front of the beast and pressed his hand on its chest, allowing his mind to go below the surface of the world.
Blanc stared at his new Mark as they were now well past the lake, after already walking for yet another hour.
The new White Mark of the Wolverine was the same as that depicted in one of the books he had read in the past.
On the inner side of his right palm, on his fingertips, stood now the outline of the wolverine's claw.
Once he finished the harvest, he felt the cold lessening once more.
He also felt his strength and durability increasing.
Yet he also felt he had received something else, which, at the risk of looking like a fool in front of his wives and siblings, decided to test for himself.
"Wait a moment," Blanc replied, placing his right hand on a tree.
"Another beast approaching?" Celine asked, unsure if combat followed.
But she soon found her answer as Blanc shook his head, "No, I want to test something. Move aside."
Not sure what Blanc planned, they listened to his words without arguing, moving a few feet away from him and the tree he had his hand pressed against.
He set his feet properly on the ground, pulling his right hand backward as much as he could, allowing for as much momentum as possible.
With his hand open, in the form of a claw, he swung at the tree.
And, except for his fingers hitting hardwood at full strength, nothing happened.
"Fuck…" he yelled, the pain sending shivers through his entire body as he grabbed at his fingers.
The others were confused at the chain of events they had just witnessed.
"I see…" Kael muttered, not sure what he was expecting besides the result in front of his eyes.
But, being the brother that he was, he slowly started clapping for whatever Blanc achieved or at least attempted.
In the confusion that was and kept on growing, as Kael began clapping, Lune, followed by Miyanna, and lastly Celine, started clapping with a frown on their faces, once more, not understanding what they were clapping for.
Blanc, still gripping his hand, however, became embarrassed as he had indeed made a fool of himself.
And as such, ignoring the pain and the claps that resounded like a never-ending echo to his ears, he gave up on that thought, and got to his feet, "Let's not waste time, we move on."