Juna sprinted through the mountain pine woods while sharp frozen branches whipped against her bare arms and bruised legs.
The damp forest floor rushed beneath her bare feet faster than her clouded senses could process the winding terrain.
'I was dead... I remember the void closing over my final breath in the snow.'
The memory returned, bringing the suffocating smell of burning timber and blood spilled across the village.
Human hunters stormed her village at dawn, cutting down her mother before setting fire to the huts.
She remembered the harsh clashing sound of steel blades slicing through flesh while terrified pack members fled into the mountains.
The merciless men showed zero pity, laughing loudly as they trapped her wounded clan inside their blazing wooden homes.
'Humans took everything from me... why did human hands drag me back here?'
Hot tears blurred her eyes as she leaped over boulders, clutching the stolen coat tightly.
A warm spiritual tether pulled gently inside her chest, refusing to weaken no matter how many miles she ran.
'Why can I still feel his presence...? Why does this bond feel warm instead of chains?'
The steady spiritual anchor pulsed against her heart, whispering the name he spoke with quiet authority in the clearing.
'Juna.'
She pressed both hands against her chest, feeling the insignia burn beneath her skin as she tried to catch her breath.
Her exhausted knees buckled beneath a mighty ancient oak, sending her sliding into the damp dirt among tangled roots.
Grief and spiritual exhaustion overwhelmed her frame, drawing ragged sobs from her dry throat into the quiet woods.
She curled tightly against the rough tree bark, burying her face inside the thick folds of the coat.
'Nowhere left to go... the living world holds only pain for a lone wolf.'
The crying slowly subsided into faint shivers as deep slumber claimed her battered spirit beneath the ancient canopy.
The golden tether continued to pulse in the quiet shadows, guiding a patient pursuer along her winding forest trail.
A rich, savory aroma of roasting meat roused her from slumber several hours later as afternoon sunlight filtered through.
She sat up with a sudden start, discovering a thick wool blanket carefully tucked around her bare trembling shoulders.
'He tracked me down... how did he move so quietly through the brush?'
Hajin sat calmly across a crackling campfire, turning a thick wooden skewer loaded with sizzling venison over glowing embers.
His notched sword rested quietly beside his feet, showing zero hostility toward the feral girl watching him suspiciously.
Her empty stomach betrayed her with a loud, rumbling growl that echoed clearly across the small rocky forest clearing.
A faint smirk touched the corner of his bruised lips as he sliced a steaming chunk of tender meat.
"You're awake... finally," Hajin said with a lazy smirk, slicing a steaming chunk of meat with his hunting knife.
"Eat up," he urged, pointing the skewer toward her. "Running across mountain ridges on an empty stomach ruins your legs."
Juna bared her sharp white fangs in a defensive snarl, keeping her back pressed firmly against the oak.
"Stay back!" she snarled, baring her fangs as her ears pinned flat against her hair. "Don't come any closer, human...!"
'Don't fall for gentle words... human hunters always smile before springing their traps.'
The mouthwatering scent of caramelized venison overwhelmed her fierce pride, demanding nourishment after days of endless spiritual starvation.
She crept forward on all fours, snatched the sizzling meat from his fingers, and darted back to the tree.
She tore into the succulent roasted venison with savage hunger, glaring at him between bites to ensure zero movement.
"Plenty more on the fire," Hajin offered mildly, nodding toward the roasting spits with an easy shrug. "Eat as much as you can hold."
He laid another fresh pine branch across the flames, allowing the aromatic smoke to drift into the sky.
'She suffered terrible cruelty in her past life... patience is my only weapon.'
She swallowed the last bite of hot meat, wiping grease from her chin with the back of her wrist.
"What did you do to my soul?!" she demanded, her eyes blazing with fierce, frightened pride.
Her rough voice demanded answers, vibrating with the fierce pride of an untamed mountain predator facing an impossible mystery.
"I died in the frozen north... I know I did!" she shouted, clutching the blanket with trembling fists. "How did you drag me back into the living world?!"
"I opened a door and held out my hand," Hajin replied with a dry, honest grimace. "You know as much as I do."
He tapped the air before his eyes, summoning the glowing blue interface that hovered silently above the campfire embers.
[ Summon Status ]
[ Active Summons: 1 ]
[ Juna ]
[ Name: Juna ]
[ Race: Wolf Beastkin ]
[ Rank: 1 Wing ]
[ Experience: 0 / 300,000 ]
[ Stat Multiplier: 1.5x ]
[ Starter Skill: Hunter's Nose ]
[ Bond State: Unstable ]
He studied the floating statistics with keen curiosity, noting the bizarre wing classification system that governed her spiritual growth.
"One Wing," Hajin muttered aloud with an arched brow, studying the floating status screen. "What kind of rank designation is that for a wolf?"
Juna flattened her ears against her hair, glancing nervously at the empty air beside his raised hand.
"Who are you talking to, human?" she asked, her ears twitching with deep suspicion as she backed toward the oak. "Nobody is standing in this clearing... you look insane."
"Reading a glowing system window," he sighed with a self-deprecating chuckle. "Explaining it out loud sounds ridiculous."
"A glowing window?" she repeated, her brow furrowing with incredulous disgust. "Are you possessed by a trickster spirit?"
"Something like that," he replied, cutting another strip of meat. "Or maybe an ancient deity decided I needed a headache."
'She thinks I am raving mad... which is completely fair.'
A secondary notification expanded across his field of vision, clarifying the rules of the divine reincarnation summoning framework.
[ Wing count represents summon evolution stage. ]
[ Each wing is a multiplier on the summon's base capabilities. ]
[ 1 Wing = First evolution stage ]
[ Grants increased physical ability and one starter skill ]
[ Current starter skill: Hunter's Nose ]
'Wings serve as evolutionary stages... rebuilding her shattered soul while multiplying her speed and power.'
[ All summons begin at base mortal state after retrieval from the Veil. ]
[ Evolution rebuilds what was lost and opens future growth paths. ]
[ Higher wing counts indicate greater development, not fixed species rank. ]
He read the explanation twice, realizing that her current strength represented only the very beginning of her true potential.
Her starter skill allowed her to track scents across vast distances and detect hostile mana lingering in the mountain breeze.
Juna flexed her clawed fingers against the tree bark, staring at her wrists as if disbelieving the solid bone beneath her skin.
The ancient silver scars from metal slave collars were gone, and the sharp mountain breeze brought her thousands of layered scents.
She could smell pine sap leaking from three ridges away, water rushing from a mountain spring, and the faint ozone of his dormant golden Ring.
"I can smell everything," Juna murmured, her clawed fingers flexing against the bark as her tail gave an involuntary twitch.
"Where is your whip, human?" she demanded, glaring at him with raw suspicion. "Where are the binding scrolls every noble hunter carries?"
"Don't own a whip, and nobles burned my family registry three years ago," he answered with a bitter smirk.
"A summoned fighter who chooses to stand beside me will tear out an enemy's throat ten times faster than a terrified slave."
"Do you really expect me to believe a human treats my kind like an equal?"
"Believe whatever keeps you awake," he retorted, tossing another bone into the embers. "I survived by trusting actions, not empty words."
"I am not your pet, human!" Juna snapped, baring her teeth even as her fingers snatched the flying meat straight out of the air. "I am a frontline huntress of the lunar wolves!"
She snapped her teeth in his direction, though she didn't retreat an inch as he sliced another piece of venison.
He tossed the roasted meat across the fire pit, and her hand snatched it out of the air before her mind could refuse.
'A multiplier of one point five... faster reflexes than an imperial guard even before her second evolution.'
He dismissed the glowing window with a flick of his wrist, turning his calm gaze back toward the suspicious girl.
The comment feed on the right edge of his vision flashed with new text from his lone Earth spectator.
[ CringeSlayer91: bro tracked her across the mountains just to cook her a barbecue dinner ]
[ CringeSlayer91: absolute cinema, but she still looks ready to bite your head off ]
[ CringeSlayer91: feed the wolf girl some more venison before she eats you instead ]
Hajin ignored the amused Earth viewer, focusing his calm attention upon the wary wolf girl watching his every breath.
Juna stood up abruptly from the ground, clutching the blanket around her shoulders with defiant determination.
"I am not your pet, human!" she warned, lifting her chin with stubborn pride. "The second morning touches these trees, I'm gone...!"
"The forest has no gates," he chuckled, rolling onto his side and closing his eyes. "Walk away whenever you feel ready."
"Don't think I won't," she hissed, her tail swishing behind her. "I survived northern blizzards alone!"
"Then you can survive a warm night by the fire without pride getting you frozen," he countered quietly.
He stretched out upon his bedroll beside the warm stones, resting his head comfortably upon his folded pack.
"Campfire burns whether you stay or leave. Sleeping near coals beats freezing in the dark."
"Hmph... don't think for a second I trust you," Juna growled, though her tail curled securely around her bare ankles.
She glared at his relaxed posture for several long minutes, searching for any hidden deception in his quiet demeanor.
Her pointed ears twitched toward the crackling flames, drawn to the comforting warmth radiating across the clearing between the trees.
'Gave me his coat, cooked food... and went to sleep without drawing steel.'
A quiet sigh escaped her lips as she sat down near the outer circle of glowing orange firelight.
Her bushy tail betrayed her inner comfort, curling around her bare ankles to trap the heat against the night breeze.
Across the embers, Hajin rested his head against his travel pack, his hand remaining loose near the hilt of his notched blade.
Juna pulled the blanket tighter over her shoulders, resting her chin upon her scarred knees while studying his face.
Back in the northern ranges, every human who crossed her pack carried weighted nets, barbed arrows, or massive collar rings forged for subduing beasts.
She raised a tentative hand to touch the warm golden insignia glowing softly upon the center of her chest.
It carried no suffocating weight or burning agony, pulsing only with a steady, quiet resonance that kept her lungs filled with air.
'No iron collar, no whip marks... just a thread of light that doesn't pull.'
She bared small white fangs in a private, stubborn scowl, glaring at his calm resting profile through her bangs.
"Three meals," Juna whispered into the night, glaring stubbornly at his sleeping form.
"I stay until I eat three full meals of your roasted meat, human. After that, we will see."
Hajin did not open his eyes, but a faint, knowing smirk tugged at the corner of his lips before he shifted his shoulders against the pack.
He kept his breathing steady, tracking the rustle of wind through the hollow and the distant calls of night predators hunting along the lower ridgeline.
Taking an unregistered runaway into the capital wards would invite trouble from the first city watchman they encountered at the gate.
Tomorrow he would have to find proper clothes for her and secure enough coin for guild entrance fees before the Flints noticed his return.
Until sunrise, the fire kept the creeping frost at bay, and the stubborn huntress remained curled safely within the perimeter of his camp.