Gugan Kingdom, Biskan Forest Park, Special Species Protection Zone.
A camouflage-patterned jeep navigated the winding mountain roads before finally pulling into a flat clearing on a hillside.
"Ah, familiar air."
The car stopped and Kevin hopped out. A dozen meters away, a simple campsite was set up. A man with spiky hair, focused on something within the camp, looked up at the sound of the engine.
Seeing Kevin, the man waved. "Oh! You're here."
Kevin returned the wave, then turned to the driver. "Thanks, Begel."
The driver, Begel, gave a slight, silent nod. He seemed a man of few words. He then gestured a farewell through the window to the spiky-haired man in the distance, started the engine, and drove off. His job had been to ferry Kevin from outside the restricted protection zone to this point. This was a national park encompassing multiple protected areas, especially this Special Species Protection Zone. Entering without proper credentials was difficult; trespassers were treated as "poachers."
The man walked over, gave Kevin a thorough once-over from head to toe, then patted his shoulder with evident satisfaction. "Your growth these past six months has exceeded my expectations."
Kevin had transmigrated to this world in February 1994. It was now October 3rd. Unconsciously, he'd been here for over half a year, most of it spent in rigorous training and study—a fulfilling, if relentless, period.
"That's also thanks to you. Bisky is an excellent master," Kevin replied with a genuine smile. He truly owed this man; without his commission and invitation, Bisky would never have noticed him, let alone taken him on as a student.
"Haha, actually, I'm not that familiar with her myself. Only met her a few times at formal events. But she's quite famous within the Association," the man said with a chuckle.
Then, his expression shifted to one of intense, childlike excitement. "Come, come, come! I'll show you something good." He led Kevin away from the camp and into the dense forest along a pre-existing trail.
Both being Nen users, the rugged forest terrain did little to slow them. Soon, they emerged from the thick woods and arrived at the familiar cave entrance.
"A familiar place."
This time, however, no Two-Headed Wolves came out to greet the man as they usually did.
The two men walked slowly into the cave. Inside, the wolf pack was gathered together. The pups from Kevin's last visit had grown significantly; one already had noticeable keratinous bumps on its head. The pups were whimpering softly. A mother wolf lay nearby, watching something intently.
As they approached, Kevin finally saw the large alpha male lying on the ground in the center of the pack, barely clinging to life. The sharp horn on its left head emitted a faint, moon-like glow.
"Is it sick?" Kevin asked. Its moribund state clearly indicated something grave.
The man shook his head and sat down on the cave floor. As rare beasts capable of sensing good, evil, and emotion, the Two-Headed Wolves were fastidious; their cave was dry, quiet, and almost odorless.
The man reached out and gently stroked the prone alpha. The wolf let out a feeble whimper.
"It's dying. Its life has reached its end."
Hearing this, Kevin knelt for a closer look. To his trained eye—honed by months of intensive study in zoology, botany, and minerology for his alchemy—the wolf looked externally healthy. Its fur had a healthy sheen, its body was robust, utterly unlike an old wolf on death's doorstep.
"These aren't ordinary wolves," the man began, his voice taking on a lecturer's tone. "Modern people call them Two-Headed Wolves, a name based purely on appearance. In ancient times, they were reverently called [Haram], meaning 'Messengers of Good and Evil.' Interestingly, traces and murals of Two-Headed Wolves can be found in ruins across several continents. In antiquity, they were widely distributed and revered by almost all ancient kingdoms. Isn't that fascinating?"
The man's face was alight with the passion of sharing profound knowledge.
Kevin nodded; it was indeed fascinating, and he found a bitter irony in it—these wolves were now nearly extinct due to hunting.
"These Two-Headed Wolves don't die like ordinary creatures, gradually succumbing to age and frailty," the man continued, his hand still resting gently on the alpha's side. "Even at the very end of their lives, they maintain the vitality and strength of their prime. What drives them to death might be a deeper, more intrinsic energy of will." He looked at Kevin. "Or perhaps it could be called a soul."
As he stroked the wolf, the man seemed to be speaking as much to himself as to Kevin. "In this Forest Park, there is a ruin—a sacrificial site from an ancient kingdom. They revered the Two-Headed Wolves as sacred beasts. From the murals and carvings, we can see that in that kingdom, the wolves were also seen as messengers who guided souls onto the right path. Only those who were kind and honorable in life would be led to the afterlife by a Two-Headed Wolf after death."
Kevin looked at the wolf before him and understood why ancient people held such a belief. In its final moments, only the pointed horn still emitted that dreamlike phosphorescence, as if the soul was ascending along that luminous path to rebirth.
"From the many ruins I've excavated and preserved," the man went on, his tone shifting into that of a lecturer, "we can understand that a very, very long time ago, when humans first landed on this land, the Two-Headed Wolves followed our ancestors here. That's why the same imagery appears in ancient ruins across various continents."
Kevin was genuinely interested and listened quietly.
"Wait a minute," Kevin interrupted, a thought striking him. "What do you mean by 'landed'?"
At first glance, it sounded like people from an ancient kingdom had come to this land to live and multiply. But the man had used the word "humans," and his implication seemed to be that they came from a more distant place, from an even more ancient homeland, to here. The "landing" he mentioned probably didn't refer to migration within the currently known world.
"It's the literal meaning," the man said, making a broad, encompassing gesture with his arms. "Our ancestors came here, to this known world, to multiply and develop technology."
Kevin stared at him, processing the statement. Slowly, he said, "Are you saying that beyond the seas, in the unexplored territories… is where human ancestors truly originated?"
Hearing Kevin's words, the man broke into a bright, knowing smile. His gaze drifted past Kevin, out of the cave entrance, as if looking toward a place immeasurably far away.
"That's right," he said, his voice quiet but filled with conviction. "That's the true birthplace."
Patreon Seasay, been a busy week, sorry for the upload delay