Nila remained seated on the ground, her feet numb from the quick confrontation that had ended in Arthur's favor, not the red-necked bats.
Ovend reached out his hand and helped her up, and she stood up with difficulty, while Ethan joined them, slowly moving forward as he surveyed the giant bat corpses scattered around them. He quickly noticed Ovend's astonishment, which was directed at Arthur, who, a few feet away from them, had begun to skin what he had so eagerly caught.
With a small, luxurious, high-quality dagger, Arthur meticulously slit the necks of the red bats, knowing that their wool sells for a high price in the hunter's market.
Nila watched his fighting skills with admiration, then couldn't help but praise him, admiring the way he fought. She went on for a full two minutes, while Arthur listened silently, responding with faint words, not letting her talk distract him from his work.
Feeling a twinge of remorse, Ovend apologized to Arthur for having previously suspected him of being an impostor, especially after learning that he had no mana. Arthur raised his head for a moment, then shrugged:
"You're not the first to say that, and you won't be the last."
In his home country, Sunset Valley, he witnessed many who bet on his death when he left the stone crevice where he lived with his only sister. When he left the Sunset Lands, those cracks in the earth that dot the deserts of Western Arentia, he went out as a trickster boy with big dreams, and now he is a trickster, but an old one, with old experience
Arthur, on the other hand, was delighted when Ethan helped him skin the bats and cut up the meat, explaining that it tasted delicious. But the rest of the group disagreed and called him disgusting, considering the idea of eating the flesh of a cannibalistic predator to be truly disgusting and frightening.
They continued their preparations and went deeper into the ancient cave, where the vegetation and moss grew denser, the glowing stones became more prevalent, and the number of bones scattered on the floor increased.
Arthur told them that these bones belonged to a group of red-necked bats, after Ethan and Ovind had made several wrong guesses.
- "Did they die of a disease?" One of them wondered.
Arthur ruled out starvation, as these bats have great stamina, and disease is unlikely. Another type of predator could have decimated them.
They didn't have much time to think, as they suddenly found themselves in a short grassy meadow, where the air was fresh and clear water flowed nearby. Arthur pointed Ethan toward a distant slope, where the red garnet flowers clustered there shimmered with a mesmerizing glow.
Ethan in turn alerted Nila, who greeted him with amazement before running towards him at a remarkable speed, followed by Ethan, who was surprised at her speed.
Nila picked a number of beautiful flowers, imagining how she would later grow them and hybridize them to impress Mr. Camilla in the next class. Ethan tried to help her pick the rest, while Ovend was nearby, ready to intervene as well
Arthur stood in the huge empty space, still pondering why there were so many bones. He deduced that these creatures would not have died easily, unless another predator had risen to the top of the food chain here.
When he spotted limbs moving in the shadows, he growled softly, sensing the gravity of the situation. In an instant, the sound of bones cracking under the weight of his footsteps made Ethan and the others heed Arthur's warning without warning. Everyone rushed to get ready, sharpening their swords, while this time Nila prepared to fight without hesitation.
At first, the creature refused to appear, as if it knew that someone was trespassing on its territory. Eventually, it answered the call and emerged from the shadows, sharpening its massive fangs.
With lightning speed, it lunged at Ethan, who was advancing in front of Nila. He didn't have time to react, as his reflexes seemed to be slow. But Arthur was there, blocking the last-minute attack with his high-quality blue dagger, saving Ethan from the silver wolf's broken horned jaw.
As its name implied, this creature was truly dangerous. It wasn't just any beast, it was mentioned in encyclopedias of hunters and adventurers, categorized as highly dangerous, determined by the number of its red stars. Even more dangerous... this wolf was an adult.
Arthur didn't know how a creature as fearsome as the Silver Horned Wolf ended up in this cave, especially since these creatures are supposed to live in small packs on mountain tops, but at least he knew he was responsible for the bones scattered here, even if he didn't do it alone. But at least he was certain that he was responsible for the bones scattered here, even if he didn't do it alone.
Arthur had only a moment to act, and he pulled out his pistol while holding his dagger in the other hand. Vapor pressure built up inside the weapon, then leaked out in a thick stream, ready to fire.
The demonic wolf's fangs slammed into his dagger as Arthur prepared to strike with his pistol, but had to back away abruptly, dodging huge balls of flame from behind. The flames didn't affect the majestic wolf, but they almost hit Arthur.
It was a desperate attempt by Nila, who stood by Ethan's side, at least until Arthur fired a barrage of shots, forcing the wolf to retreat, snarling savagely, all four feet planted on the ground, his eyes glowing with a fierce glow, his silver hair cascading down like a waterfall.
He lunged at Arthur again, and their confrontation raged in close proximity. Arthur fought nonchalantly, pushing the wolf back, trying to block its deadly jaws.
He fired two shots - one wounding the predator, while the other did not affect it at all. Arthur realized he had no choice but to use the dagger... whether he wanted to or not.
Ethan joined him without fortifying himself with mana, as Arthur had. He attacked and stabbed the wolf, but the predator retreated, then came back with a vengeance, its paw darting out to rip into Ethan, who barely avoided the blow, had Ovend not distracted the wolf with a small wind spell suited to his weakened level.
Arthur noticed something strange in the wolf's movements - he wasn't as fierce and fast as his peers he had fought before. He was exhausted... rather, he was wounded.
It seemed obvious; the wolf could barely keep up with Ethan and his friends, even though they were no match for him. Nila took over the defense, creating a soft-looking, yet sturdy bubble to shield Ethan and Ovind from attacks.
Arthur raised his pistol and fired two heavy shots that sent the wolf reeling, no doubt having lost the hearing in his right ear. In the end, even though Ethan was slightly wounded, Arthur wasn't about to lose another student on a mission like this.
He lunged at the wolf, his dagger slicing through the air, ending her suffering with a direct stab to the chest. It was a mercy, she had been through so much while fighting the red-necked bats, she had even been mortally wounded. And now, when Arthur could see her wounds clearly... he realized that those wounds were not caused by him.
Ethan stood in place, staring at the wolf's dying body, her tired eyes fixed on the ceiling of the dim cave, if not for the glow of the luminous stones scattered here and there. She gasped faintly, as if she was moaning in an exhausted voice, before it all faded away.
Arthur explained to them that this wolf, in any case, was going to die. She had fought so many battles against the red-necked bats and didn't give up, as if protecting something he hadn't realized yet.
Ethan didn't know why he really felt sad for her. Was he just a predator who died for his land? That thought broke him a little. As for Nila, although she didn't feel the same deep sadness, she couldn't deny some sorrow, even though he was the one who had attacked them first.
After Ethan and Ovend's wounds were bandaged, and Arthur finished his cigarette, they had to leave. Their purpose for being here had been fulfilled with the red garnet flowers.
As they walked out, leaving the wolf carcass alone, they heard a faint whimpering sound, like the echo of a pack of puppies. Arthur turned quickly to find a few puppies playing innocently near their mother's corpse, unaware of what had happened to her.
Arthur stepped forward to examine them, then reached out to one of them, the one with the black fur, but the youngster backed away in obvious alarm. Another puppy with silver fur stepped forward, seemingly more familiar to Arthur, Ethan, and the others.
Arthur sighed and said, "It's always like this... In every cave, there are victims who don't deserve their fate."
Nila mumbled sadly: "And like these poor puppies, who just lost their mother..."
Arthur wanted to get rid of the puppies so they wouldn't suffer, but Ethan intervened, emphasizing that he shouldn't do that, that they weren't guilty of anything. Ethan tried to convince Arthur to give her a chance:
He bent down and picked up the black-furred puppy, who looked weaker than his doppelganger, and said insistently: "I can take care of him... At least for another day, to see if it can live."
There was a heavy silence that was finally broken by a cold look from Arthur, his gaze grim, before he turned his gaze away from Ethan and sighed.
At the end of the day, they left the cave, leaving it alone, taking the puppies with them but not reaching out to take innocent lives. After hours of walking, they found themselves back at the academy.