9 A little lesson in history

Stopping by the edge of the creek, Caerum spotted Fulrian filling up her flask with the creek's water. "Could you warn me next time before you suddenly take off like that, please?"

Fulrian ignored him taking a small drink. Caerum took a deep breath, as he dropped onto the lush grassy edging the creek. In the corner of Caerum's eye, he caught a little movement; it was a little Stoneshell Rodent. It had crawled out of the bushes for a little drink. He was interested in watching the Rodent's daily goings. It wasn't long until the Rodent was satisfied and crawled back home towards the bushes once again.

Then out of the blue, as the little creature was about to reach the bushes, a sudden flash of red was seen that was accompanied by a strong wind where the Rodent was. A fox stood with the Stoneshell Rodent in its jaws; it was an Arblast Fox.

But Caerum didn't have time to admire it, for as soon as it had a glimpse of a human, it would shoot off as fast as it came.

"Boo!"

"Heugh!" Caerum jumped up startled.

Behind him was a giggling Fulrian. He had been too distracted to have noticed Fulrian standing right behind him, watching him. "Ya like foxes Caerum?"

He just gave her an annoyed look as he calmed himself and said, "Ahh, lets just keep going."

Caerum observed his surroundings. Just how deep have they have ventured into the forest? Caerum felt his stomach stirring a bit, his breakfast is starting to get to him. He clutched his stomach with one hand, having the other struggling to continue holding his spear."Ugh, Fulrian… I feel a bit sick".

Fulrian sighed "I'm afraid we have to keep going, but you can lean on my shoulder… if that helps."

Caerum stumbled over to Fulrian, placing his left hand on her shoulder in an effort to support himself. "Thank you, Fulrian."

Though it was her fault that he had such a stomach ache, he was still grateful for her consideration. There wasn't anything he could really do about it, the only thing that he could do was to think of something else to divert his attention away from the aches and pains.

Thinking back to the time at the restaurant, he really didn't think through his plans at all. He just spouted about wanting to goto the Ultramarine Ocean without giving much thought into how he would even get there in the first place. And somehow now, he is training in the middle of the Magus forest so that he can pass the trials, so that he could become a Silver Wolf. Aside from the fact that he had to become apart of the Silver Wolves, how was he going to sail across the ocean in the first place? Would he just simply travel all the way to the Vorgine Kingdom and hire a ship? Caerum sighed. "I should just stop thinking about all this. Instead should just focus on the present and what the future has in store for me." With these thoughts a question suddenly rose within Caerum. "Uh hey Fulrian, why are we training in the forest anyway?"

Thinking about it, what kind of organisation would warrant one to train in such a way as this, especially in the middle of a deadly forest like the Magus Forest.

"Ain't it obvious? For the SIiver Wolf Trial of course!" Fulrian responded almost instantly.

Since entering this forest, she has been dodging many of his questions in such a manner. Caerum was determined to get a proper answer out of her, "But… What's in the trial, that will makes us have to train in the middle of a magical forest?"

"Uhhh," Fulrian paused for a moment before giving her response, "I dunno actually."

Hearing her response Caerum face became contorted. "Do you even know what's the trial is about?"

"Nope! But it's better to be safe than sorry right?" Fulrian replied.

"Failing a trial would be better than dying in a forest." Caerum grumbled.

"Eh? What did you say?"

"Oh, umm nothing."

Caerum questions what goes on in her brain sometimes; how much does it take for her to construct such crazy plans and put them to work.

"So, can you tell me more about the Silver Wolves then?" Caerum asked.

There wasn't much he knew about the Silver Wolves, except that one apparently would need to undergo harsh combat training just to be eligible to undertake the trial.

"Okay, from what I know. The Silver Wolf Order was founded around after the First Mythic Cleansing, The Origin of Mana. But, after the fourth cleansing they disappeared just like that.".

"So if they disappeared, what happened to them? And how are they still active now?" Caerum questioned.

Why would an Order even more ancient than Arcadium, suddenly reform itself?

"Well, it was said that the Order was dissolved across Arcadium. The cities that were inhabited by the order, were then turned into ruins during the 5th Cleansing." Fulrian explained.

"Okay, but how is the order still around now then?"

Caerum had never really heard of the Silver Wolves until recently, so he was really curious as to how a supposedly ancient and prestigious Order, would suddenly go unheard of.

"I heard that it's because a few decades ago, a group of people with a Silver Wolf lineage found an ancient Divine Artifact in SIlverHeart Forest," Fulrian explained

"A divine artifact?!?"

Caerum was incredibly surprised to hear that. Divine artifacts are as implied by their name; objects blessed with divine powers. They are both extremely rare and powerful.

Having such a group to have found one, to them would have been a massive stroke of luck. However, what was unusual was not the finding of a divine artifact, but the fact that this incident had gone relatively unheard of.

"Yep! The divine artifact is called 'The Emperor Fang'. According to written records the Emperor Fang is a needle crafted from the fangs of the 'Silver Wolf Emperor' long, long ago." Fulrian said.

"That's cool and all but, y-you still haven't told me how the Order was rebuilt." Caerum replied.

"I'm gettin to that! The artifact was an essential part of the Silver Wolf Order, because of its ability to inject the Silver Wolves Bloodline into someone when getting pricked by it. But, the only people with the Silver Wolf Bloodline can use the weapon or it won't do anything."

Explaining all of that she took a drink from her flask, "Sorry I'm feelin' a bit thirsty today. As I was saying, they gathered up funds and reformed the Silver Wolf Order using the traditional way of recruiting Silver Wolves through a dangerous trial. After completing the trial they would have a ceremony, which those who have passed will then receive the Silver Wolf bloodline."

"Wha… so," Subconsciously Caerum raised his left hand towards his chin. "So, the entire reason you're trying to make me join the Silver Wolves is because I'm weak!?".

Caerum didn't believe that Fulrian would make him join any organization that offered an immediate powerup, especially if it would involved one having to pass a deadly trial first.

"That's part of the reason but, sometimes you gotta think of the long term benefits as well."

Caerum eyes squinted as he heard at her reply "L-long term benefits?"

"Ah, you don't need to worry about it for now." Fulrian said to Caerum as she patted his back.

Stopping for short pause, Caerum then slapped his abdomen. He realised that he no longer had a stomach ache, the mana that has been causing his stomach pain had now dissipated. Smiling to himself Caerum strutted forwards.

"Ooh, Caerum feelin' a bit confident now eh?". Fulrian teased.

It was then a distant buzzing echoed through the forest. Sensing impending danger Fulrian stopped in her tracks and focused her attention on the approaching danger. "Uh, Fulrian…"

With the abrupt stop of Fulrian, Caerum couldn't help but tense up, tightening his grip on his spear.

"Don't worry I'll handle this." She said as she gently pushed Caerum behind her.

The buzzing increasingly got louder as time went on, it was clear that this creature was aware of their presence. Turning her head to the source of the sound willed her mana into her palms, with lightning enveloping it.

Then the creature came into view. A massive flying beetle as large as a person came buzzing towards them.

"A Virbeetle!" Caerum exclaimed, backing away from the approaching bug.

Seeing the beetle come into view, Fulrian gave an irritated grunt; it was just an overgrown insect. The beetle dropped onto the ground with a thump, creating a flat leveled ground underneath, a cloud of dust dispersed into the air. Fulrian didn't react to the beetle's display of confidence and strength and continued to channel more mana into her palms.

Rearing itself towards Fulrian, the beetle clicked it's jaws showing it's aggression to the opposition. During this time the amount of lightning surrounding her palms began to cackle violently, turning into a volatile ball of lightning around her hand.

"Come at me!"

Though the bug couldn't understand her words, it understood that this human was taunting it. Opening its jaws, it let out a battle cry and charged full speed towards Fulrian. Caerum could only watch the battle, if he could barely handle a creature as low in the food chain as a Rose Crawler, he wouldn't stand a chance against a Virbeetle, especially in the weakened state he was in right now.

Unlike previous encounters he wasn't at the forefront of the battle, he wasn't scared or anxious in this scenario. He didn't know how to feel about this encounter, he was only able to watch in fascination.

"No matter how big of an insect you are, your still a puny bug in the end." Fulrian said to the Virbeetle.

The beetle closed in. It was only a few meters away from Fulrian, when suddenly in a bolt of lightning she was gone. Only to reappear on the right of the beetle. Caught by surprise the Virbeetle wasn't able to react in time before Fulrian slammed her lightning wrapped palm onto the creature's back. A small green explosion bursted from her palms as the lightning struck the creature. Smoke engulfed the area. The Virbeetle let out a last cry, as its entire body was wracked with an intense electrifying pain.

"Ha, you can't go through a day without fighting some beast in this forest." Fulrian said as she dusted of her hands, looking down on the corpse in front of her.

Caerum was stunned, though he hasn't seen the full extent of her abilities yet. He thought he had a general idea of her strength through many instances in Alistair Academy already. Before this, he already believed that she was undoubtedly strong, but he didn't think that she would be strong enough to utterly annihilate a Virbeetle with a single attack.

Walking up to the awkward Caerum, Fulrian had a cocky smile on her face as she placed a hand on his shoulder snapping him back to reality.

"It's time we got going again." She said in quiet voice a contrast to what her face shows.