I Reincarnated as the Bastard Prince? Well, At least I'm OP!

Chapter 24: New Instructions

The direwolves prowled around us, their massive forms casting long shadows in the flickering light of my floating torch.

These bad boys were huge. They towered over us with hackles raised, their red eyes gleaming hungrily.

I took a step back and turned to Raven. "Raven, get behind me."

Surprisingly, Raven wasn’t scared.

She looked rather calm and confident. I noticed her staff was trembling slightly with magical energy, which was strange considering Raven literally has no magic.

There was something about that staff that ticked me off. I don’t know what it was but I hoped to find out.

"Raven, we might have a serious problem," I said, raising my voice.

Raven turned to me. "What is it?"

I placed both hands on my head. "I don’t have enough mana left to cast an attack spell."

Raven stiffened. "What? Hold on, what do you mean you don’t have enough mana?"

I grabbed her shoulders and shook her slightly, my eyes a trifle wider. "Don’t you get it? I exhausted my mana after defeating the elder lich? That kind of spell consumes a great deal of mana. I’m out!"

The confidence I saw in her eyes evaporated. Panic jumped in, draining the colour from her face.

"You—you can’t run out now! This is no time for jokes. We are going to be torn apart."

The direwolves began inching closer as they sensed our weakness. Saliva dropped from their bared fangs as they snarled, muscles coiled to strike.

Of course I was faking my outburst. I can’t run out of mana.

I was after something. The magic radiating from her staff was growing stronger. It was too strong to ignore.

"I’m sorry," I dropped to my knees and clutched her cloak. "But I can’t protect us. I’ve failed you."

Her face went pale in raw fear. "No.... no way. This can’t be happening... Archer, I can’t be anywhere near danger. I’m carrying something dangerous..."

Before she could finish her sentence, the direwolves sprang at us.

Raven screamed.

Suddenly, a black rift tore open in the group beneath her staff.

A towering figure of a pale, spectral warrior-King slowly emerged from it’s depths.

The direwolves froze mid-charge, their gaze locked on the man before them.

He stood over 10 feet tall, a jagged iron crown resting upon his brow.

His face was hollow and eyeless, save for a long, bone-white beard draping down to his broad, armoured chest.

His lower half was clad in an iron-plated skirt.

Four muscular arms sprouted from each sides of his torso. Each arm is covered with dozens of small eyes embedded in his flesh, blinking in all directions.

He clenched a massive greatsword that’s over 8 feet tall, planted blade first into the earth.

The sword was thick, and squared off with a hilt long enough for three hands to grip.

The Warrior king stood still like an immovable statue. A pulsing red aura oozed from his body like smoke, thick and intimidating.

I stepped back. This was the source of the staff’s magic I felt.

It summoned a Guardian Spirit.

And judging from raven’s expression, this wasn’t a new occurrence.

The direwolves had multipled now. Another dozen emerged from the trees, bigger and more menacing. They seem confident in taking the warrior-king down at once.

With loud howl, they surged towards him with their claws and fang bared to kill.

He took a step forward, his bare feet thudding like earthquake.

The warrior King gripped the hilt of his massive swords with three hands and swung it around in a single arc.

In one powerful swing, he slaughtered every direwolves in, slicing them clean in half.

Blood and fur dropped to the ground like rain.

My jaws dropped. "Incredible."

Not one direwolf was breathing. They never stood a chance.

This Guardian Spirit was powerful. He slaughtered these pack of direwolves with just one blow.

How is Raven carrying something this powerful along with her?

Then, the warrior-king began to dissolve into mists as if it’s purpose had been served.

It vanished like smoke, leaving Raven and I with a pack of slaughtered direwolves.

Raven stood against a tree, visibly shaken. The wild looks in her eyes told me she was scared of the warrior-king.

I approached her cautiously. "You have a guardian Spirit? How is that possible?"

Raven’s face darkened. She staggered back, clutching the staff with trembling hands.

"I don’t want to talk about it," she said coldly, stepping from me. "Stay away from me."

* * * *

Raven and I returned back to the camp to find our party waiting for us.

Anais had outdone himself. In the short time we were away, he’d constructed a sturdy log cabin with a stone chimney puffing steady tendrils of smoke into the sky.

He also furnished the interior with makeshift wooden frame for a bed.

They had stacked up enough firewood to last through the cold nights.

Now, all that remained was food and warm clothing.

"Here you go," I said, dropping eight of the direwolves I managed to haul with magic. "Meat and fur. That should be enough."

Everyone was gasped in shock.

"Those are direwolves," someone muttered, visibly shaken. "How did you kill them?"

I shot a glance at Raven who instantly looked away.

"I didn’t do anything," I replied. "Our leader did."

The kids stared at Raven in astonishment. They looked at her like she was some kind of god.

The attention was getting too much for Raven that she faced the girl who could weave clothing using mana.

"You should probably get started on the clothing? And we won’t have anything to eat if you all just keep gawking. Someone should start skinning these wolves."

The party immediately got to work.

Anais approached us, holding out a weathered scroll to Raven. "We found this in the Snow while building the cabin. It’s instructions from the examiners. You should read it."

Raven unrolled the scroll and began reading it.

Her expression shifted from confusion to dread. Then she slowly turned to me, her eyes hollow.

"This is bad," she whispered. "This is really bad."

I collected the scroll from her and read it.

We were in Frosthelm Mountains. The instructions were clear, but terrifying.

Survive the next three days before the winter storm hits. To advance to the third stage, each candidate must collect three items:

A direwolves fang.

A feather from the Giant Snow Eagle

A strand of hair from an Ice Giant.

That explains the giant footprint I had seen earlier. Ice Giants roamed Frosthelm Mountains.

While we struggle to survive an oncoming blizzard, we also had to hunt down these mythical beats for our three items.

Failure means disqualification.

* * * *

An hour passed.

The group sat huddled around the fire, chewing strips of roasted direwolf meat in silence.

We were too tired to worry ourselves about the instructions. It was too much for our minds to process.

This exam was becoming more brutal with each passing day.

The good news is, we’ve secured eight direwolves which means each of us have gotten a direwolves fang.

We’re only left with two items to find.

We’ve also secured meat and clothing to keep us warm. I give credits to the girl for her weaving skills.

She transformed the pelts into cloaks.

After the meal, most of the group fell asleep. We have a big day tomorrow and we need all the rest we could get.

But not everyone could sleep.

Raven sat at the roof of the cabin, staring out over the frozen lake. I climbed up and sat beside her.

"Mind if I join you?"

She shrugged.

We sat like that for a long time before she finally spoke.

"My guardian Spirit... you have questions about it."

I raised my hands. "If you don’t want to talk about it, I don’t mind."

She glanced at me, her brown eyes shinning. "I’m not entirely sure how it happened, but I suspected my grandmother sealed it inside me. As long as I carry her staff, my guardian Spirit can be summoned... but only summons when I’m in serious danger."

I was beginning to find this girl very interesting.

"Isn’t that a good thing?" I asked, tilting my head. "You seem afraid of something that’s meant to protect you."

"That’s because it’s a dangerous spirit," she retorted. "The Warrior-king is a vengeful ruler consumed by vengeance over his murdered son. The more danger I’m in, the stronger he gets. But once he crosses a threshold... he cannot be stopped. He spirit goes on a rampage, destroying everything in his sight. I cannot control it."

A guardian Spirit of a king fueled by vengeance for his murdered son. That sounds like both a blessing and a curse.

"So it’s happened before?" I asked.

She looked away, her eyes shadowed with guilt. "On my journey to Luminis city, I stopped at a small village to rest for the night. That night, raiders attacked. They were perverted men. They tried to force themselves on me. The warrior King awakened and went berserk. He destroyed the entire village to the ground. Everyone died. Not just the raiders—innocent men, women... even children."

Her knuckles turned white as clenched her fists around her staff. "I couldn’t stop him. He’s too dangerous to let lose."

I perfectly understood what she meant. If she can’t control a berserked guardian Spirit, it would mean harm to everyone around her.

She feared her guardian Spirit.

But I don’t.

I wanted the warrior-king. I believe I can control him. He might prove very useful to me in the future.

Once the selection exam is over, I’ll do some research on guardian spirits. I want to know how to bond with them, maybe even transfer one from host to host.

I’ll be killing two birds with one stone.

Help Raven be free of her burden and inherit the warrior-king for myself.

The thought of this plan filled me with feverish excitement.

"Don’t worry," I said, cheering her up with a playful nudge on her shoulder. "After we get through this exam, we’ll both find a way to help you control your guardian spirit."

Raven smiled at me. It seemed she only needed someone to talk to.

"Thank you, Archer. I appreciate it."