Speed Is King

[Negative.]

[Price is non-negotiable.]

"Stingy." Elliot grumbled in his mind. But he needed to heal Winter straight away. Time was running out and he had to hurry up and tame as many beasts as possible so that his chances of surviving the coming apocalypse would be higher.

In the previous iteration, he survived by hiding and sneaking around very cautiously.

But he could not do that anymore.

Not with a two thousand kilogram fat bear and a thousand kilogram wolf around. And it would be infinitely harder to sneak around with his two sisters in tow too.

So he had no choice but to pick a large place to hide for as long as he could and then stand his ground when the alien beasts eventually found them because well, it was impossible for the alien beasts not to find them.

With such huge beasts, the amount of blood and meat he would have on his side was humongous. The alien beasts would be sure to lock in on them like the laser-guided rocket-propelled-grenade that killed him previously, and to similar effect, if he did not bolster his strength further.

"Fine. Give me the Beast Full Restore." Elliot sighed.

[Acknowledged.]

A bluish mist swirled and immediately, Elliot felt something cold appear in his outstretched hand.

"Do I pour the contents into her mouth?" Elliot asked Hawk the AI to confirm. It would be a tragedy if he misused the potion!

[Affirmative. Half a portion would be enough to fully heal Winter.]

"Ah that's great!" Elliot's miserly mind rejoiced at the unexpected saving.

"Winter, I have a potion that could heal you. Open your mouth please." Elliot instructed.

Winter obediently did as she was told.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Crackkk.

Immediately, Winter howled in pain as her bones reformed and her wounds closed at a speed visible to the naked eye. And as quickly as it had started, the healing process ended.

"What sorcery is this!" Brock growled and stared at the fully healed Winter in surprise. He frowned deeply when he saw all of the devastating damage he had landed on Winter disappear, leaving only the bloodstains to prove that the wounds had indeed existed before.

"Amazing…" Winter whispered in awe. "My paws feel fine. In fact, even my old wounds… They are healed! My wounds are fully healed!!"

Winter leapt up and turned this way and that way to check on her body, sniffing particularly at the upper section of her left front legs.

Finding that everything was perfect, Winter looked at Elliot with eyes full of gratitude and reverence. "Unbelievable. You healed a wound which I thought could never be healed. I… From the very bottom of my heart, I thank you… Master." Winter then went on to kneel down before Elliot while lowering her head in submission.

Elliot smiled and placed his right hand on Winter's forehead, accepting her submission gracefully. "Rise now, Winter. Since you've thrown in your lot with me, I will do all I can to make you fit and strong. After All, my life is in your hands."

Elliot conveniently forgot how he had argued with the System before begrudgingly accepting the cost for the Beast Full Restore potion.

"Hey, what about me?" Brock asked as he shoved his injured paw in front of Elliot. "Look! My left paw is injured! It's so painful! Ow! Ow!"

"There's only half a bottle left. Do you want me to use it now or next time if you get heavily injured in future fights with ferocious alien beasts?" Elliot dangled the half-full bottle of Beast Full Restore in front of Brock and asked him with a raised eyebrow.

"Ah well. Huh? Hey! My paw feels fine all of a sudden! Ahahahaha! Let's save that miracle potion for next time, shall we?" Brock said as he hastily withdrew his injured paw. "I probably can recover in a few days, it's just a flesh wound after all."

Surprisingly, Winter did not have any snide comments to make at Brock. Instead, she raised her muzzle up and howled loudly.

AWOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Immediately, a chorus of other wolf howls sounded from all around them.

Even the ones wounded and half dead on the ground near her howled as well.

AWOOOOOOOOOO!! Came Winter's howl once more.

As one, all the wolves knelt down before Elliot and lowered their heads in submission.

[36 wolves tamed by proxy.]

[3600 XP gained.]

[Congratulations, You have levelled up to level 21!]

[Congratulations, You have levelled up to level 22!]

"WOWW! AWESOMEEE!!" Elliot cried out inwardly. "Level 22! Less the 10 points I spent for the potion, I have 60 points to spend!!"

In his mind, Elliot was literally dancing with joy!

However outwardly, he maintained a cool and solemn visage to keep up the appearance of a cool and collected leader. He raised his hand lightly and instructed them mentally to arise, which they did immediately.

"Brother! You succeeded! Congratulations!" Jessica cried out excitedly as she made her way to them with Jennifer following close behind her.

"Hip hip hooray for the coolest and bestest brother in the world!!' Jennifer cheered.

"Coolest, bestest, wonderfullest, awesomest, kindest and legendariest brother!" Jessica chirped happily, not willing to be outdone by Jennifer.

Elliot smiled at his sisters warmly.

"You girls did great today! Congratulations for surviving and kicking ass on your first battle!" He said.

"Yeahhhh! We kicked ass!" Jessica whooped for joy. "Woohoo!"

"And we got a beautiful wolf!" Jennifer's eyes sparkled when she saw Winter. For some reason, she felt a powerful connection with her.

Winter too seemed to sense something special with Jennifer. She looked at the little girl curiously.

"This beautiful Frost Wolf is called Winter. Winter, meet my cute little twin sisters." Elliot said.

Winter gave the girls a teethy and fearsome smile as she lowered her head to greet them with a friendly sniff. However even with her head fully bent, both girls had to raise their hands to a full stretch to even be able to touch her nose.

"You're so beautiful." Jennifer breathed in awe and wonder as she placed her little hand on Winter's snout.

"Thank you, little Mistress." Winter's voice appeared in Jennifer's head.

"Huh?' Jennifer blinked in confusion.

[Winter has formed a mind-link with Jennifer Musk.]

Author's Note:

Hey guys! WPC 242 is over! Thank you all so much for all your votes and helping Speed Is King place first in Powerstone Ranking! I hope that the editors like my story as well and SIK can get the gold prize. :)