Chapter 386: King of Mercenaries
Leon now possessed the strength to slay a Title Archmage. For a magical beast like the Hidden Wolf, whose combat strength barely reached five, it stood no chance against Leon. With a swift flick of his vine, the palm-sized Hidden Wolf was instantly caught in Leon’s hand.
"Awooo... awooo..." The Hidden Wolf crawled restlessly across Leon's palm, letting out soft, childish howls. Clearly displeased at being captured, it bared its tiny fangs and nipped Leon’s hand twice in protest.
But its bites were futile. With Leon’s ten Mana Arrays fused into one, he practically carried every spell with him—his body was protected by no fewer than ten solidified defensive spells. The first bite felt like gnawing on stone, and the second nearly cracked the Hidden Wolf’s teeth.
"Awooo..." The Hidden Wolf, stung by pain, quickly waved its claws, trying to scratch Leon in retaliation.
But Leon was ready. Before the Hidden Wolf could even raise its claws, Leon flicked his finger, releasing a ring of mana that acted like invisible shackles, locking the palm-sized beast in place.
"Settle down..." Once he was sure the Hidden Wolf wouldn’t struggle, Leon began to examine it closely.
Just as expected...
It took Leon only a few seconds to confirm his suspicion—the Hidden Wolf’s forehead indeed bore a red mark.
The red mark was tiny, no bigger than a pinky fingertip. If you didn’t look closely, you’d think it was just a splash of blood. Leon tried rubbing it with his hand, but saw no sign of fading. In other words, this mark was truly innate to the Hidden Wolf.
"It really is the Three-Eyed Direwolf..." For a moment, Leon Merlin was stunned.
According to legend, the king among direwolves is born with a third eye. Before adulthood, this third eye appears as nothing more than a red mark—aside from looking a bit uncanny, it serves no special purpose. But once the direwolf matures, that third eye truly opens, shattering the beast’s own limits and allowing it to break through again and again in a short period, even reaching the Sky Rank.
And yet, that’s not even the most important part...
What truly matters is that the Three-Eyed Direwolf’s third eye possesses unfathomable power. It can see things ordinary people cannot—some even claim it glimpses into other worlds, or peers into the future itself.
Stories about the Three-Eyed Direwolf’s third eye are countless—Leon Merlin had heard at least seventeen or eighteen versions. But in the entire history of Northend, stretching back millions of years, only six or seven Three-Eyed Direwolves have ever been confirmed to exist.
The most famous of these appeared at the end of the Pyre Peak era: Buckham, the legendary Mercenary King. His life was a tapestry of miracles and myth. Buckham’s father was, at the time, the master of Cloudspire Tower, known as Imonsus the Sea Lord. When Buckham was seven, the mages of Cloudspire Tower unanimously declared him blessed with unimaginable magical talent—some believed he would succeed the Conqueror Charlie, another transcendent Sky Rank mage.
And indeed, that’s exactly how it was...
Buckham became an apprentice at eight, a mage at ten, a Grand Mage at eleven, and a Magus at fifteen. Even in the prodigy-filled Pyre Peak era, such talent was almost unbelievable—Cloudspire Tower placed all their hopes on him.
But...
No one expected that, at sixteen, Buckham would be struck by a sudden disaster...
When Buckham was sixteen, he was already a Ninth Rank Mage. All he needed was a bit more mana, and he’d step into the realm of the Title Mage. Back then, Cloudspire Tower was already preparing a grand celebration for Buckham’s ascension to Title Mage.
Yet, on the night before Buckham’s sixteenth birthday, this unparalleled magical prodigy vanished without a trace.
Yes...
Buckham disappeared just like that. Cloudspire Tower nearly lost its mind, turning all of Auckland upside down in the search. It almost sparked a war between factions, but sadly, he was nowhere to be found—completely vanished...
Time passed, and soon fifteen years slipped by.
Just when everyone thought that the once peerless genius had disappeared for good, Buckham suddenly returned to Auckland.
And his new identity? Captain of a third-rate mercenary company, trailed by a palm-sized gray puppy and a ragtag band of old, sick, and wounded mercenaries. That’s how he swaggered back into Auckland.
The most baffling part was...
Buckham wore leather armor, carried a longbow on his back, and had a quiver strapped to his waist...
And there wasn’t a hint of magical resonance left on him.