After everything had been packed up, the now, slightly larger expedition team readied themselves. Though, there was something to take care of first.
"What do you mean, aunty!? Why can't I hunt the prey! There's so much! I wanna hunt lots!" Shurry pouted, pulling on Lyca's jacket.
"You can't because Alfia & Meteria need help getting to the surface. You can carry them on your back."
"But… I wanna hunt!" Shurry started complaining, nearly crying.
"We can fire off our magic from your back. You'll be able to hunt from far away like that?"
"Huh? Wait, so it's another way to hunt?" Shurry asked, tilting his head. "Will I get to eat lots of food too?"
"Aunty Lyca will pay for another trip to that tasty place you went the last time."
Shurry's expression changed, to full of excitement, and expectation. "Really! We can go again!?" He asked, wagging his tail, flicking his ears, licking his lips, with sparkling eyes.
Lyca sighed… "I'm gonna have to hunt down some money of my own to pay for that again. You just eat too much." She answered, and was about to ignore him, but the sad pouty face was too much. "I know, I'll invite you and your goddess to come by for a large meal."
"Mommy can come too! Yay! Yay!"
"But you have to carry those two on your back." Lyca added, reminding Shurry of the requirements.
"Okay!"
Shurry jumped back, and howled really loud. Transforming into a wolf, only this time he was quite a bit bigger than normal. All five of the ones who needed a ride would be able to get one.
Though, this wasn't without a fight between Ardee, Meteria, and Neze… They all wanted to sit up front. In the end, Alfia claimed the front before anyone else. However, this only turned the three girls against her… It wasn't enough to beat her though, Alfia bopped all three of them on the head, and then Alise jumped up taking the second place, squishing up next to Alfia.
"Huh?"
"You're first, well, I'm second."
"Hey! That's my seat!"
Another round of complaining happened, until Lyca just picked the girls up one by one, setting them in line. The bickering didn't stop…
"Alright Shurry, you're technically the leader, right? Go ahead and call it."
Shurry's tail magnified in speed. The wolf pack howled a safe travel farewell. And Shurry replied with a howl of his own. Lyca and Neze did too, and even some others who'd got excited joined in, though they didn't realize that there was actual meaning behind these howls. Lyca turned to look at them with a raised brow.
"Hey, I know it's not something you know. But I think it's fair to know what you supporters just said… "Lyca's so super sexy hot stuff!" Thanks, but you're not my type."
The supporters who'd howled along went beat read in a flash. They looked at each other, and nodded, silently vowing to never howl again.
"Alright! It's time to go home, and play! Let's go! Wee!"
Shurry bounded off, once he did, the bickering on his back stopped. The rush felt too good. Soon, the group fought their way through the Great Falls section of the dungeon. They made pretty good time, though it wasn't even remotely as good as if Shurry or Lyca had been actively participating in combat.
And because of that delay, by the time they returned to the 18th floor, it was already really late. So they convinced Shurry to let everyone rest. But there was a problem, there were far too many people in the woods. Like everyone that was in the dungeon city had moved away. Before the expedition reached the other people, he transformed back to normal.
"Oh thank goodness, Lyca the Lycan is here." The current leader of Rivera came running over to the group. "Would it be too much to ask of you to take care of some of these monsters?" His weaselly hands rubbing together like a snake oil salesman.
"Oh, I dunno, it looks like a LOT of monsters over there, a huge swarm of them." She giggled, smirking. He definitely wants to hunt. This is the perfect time! Go wild!
Shurry's anticipation built, he started dancing in place, like he wanted to burst. He'd been holding in the desire to hunt for the whole day. And then, he couldn't take it anymore, running off towards the concentrated smell of monsters.
"YUMMY PREY!"
What followed were the sounds of pure carnage. Monster roars, drowned out by the howling of a wolf, only to be filled up by the sounds of monsters dying enmasse, trees falling, boulders smashing, and the occasional childish voice saying "Yummy prey!!!"
From afar, some adventurers witnessed the carnage. They could see fountains of monster blood spraying into the air, sometimes even reaching twice the height of the trees.
"What the hell is that kid? Level 4?"
"No, no, he has to be at least level 5 to pull this off, there's simply that many monsters in this horde."
"Just look at him, he's enjoying this?"
"Wow, that is one fierce smile. And now he's eating the monster's corpse? Damn, that's hardcore…"
"He's a strong male, that's for sure." One licked her lips. Then Lyca stood in front of her.
"If you even so much as dare to touch my little nephew, I can promise your whole familia will leave gekai for good."
"Huh… Yes ma'am! I won't touch him. That was the first and last time I'll even dare!"
"Good." The funny thing is, he'd be the one doing it, not me… Those whores in that familia are the last thing he'll tolerate touching him. Maybe that'll change when the alpha mindset truly takes over a bit more. But, he's got a long way to go before he'd desire such things.
Shurry came running back, laughing. "That was so much fun aunty! Lots and lots of prey!" He licked his lips. "If we collect the crystals, then we can go to that special place again right? I want more of their flavorful meat!!!! Meat! Meat! Meat!" He started cheering.
"Why not. Not like it'll take long for those to be collected. We have a lot of helpers this time…" She glanced at the guy who'd asked for help.
"Uh right! Everyone, if you want to have a place in Rivera, go and help collect those magic stones and bring them back here. This boy earned them."
And just like that, Shurry had lots, and lots of magic stones.
"Yay!!! I love hunting. I get to earn money while eating, and then I can eat again with the money!"
That night was very peaceful, Shurry slept in Nernatti's tent, but, during the night, someone snuck in and joined them. Snuggling close to Shurry, her bluish silvery hair touching Shurry's silver hair.