The Hunt

"Are you ok, Toba?"

"Yes… Not tired yet."

We were walking at a fast pace without rest for hours, but with our current conditioning, even if we were running, we would still be able to keep up for a while longer.

Even so, I was trying to conserve our energy, since we could be attacked by wild beasts at any moment.

Earlier, after we said our farewells to Luna, I wasted no time and started organizing equipment and supplies for a trip to the old wolf cave where Toba and I first met each other.

My plan was to go there, recruit some "Wolf kin" like Toba likes to call them, and immediately head to Alport, the nearest adventurer town, only making a quick stop at the tower to replenish supplies.

I really wanted to waste no time, Luna leaving earlier than expected was sad, but it also allowed us to finally move on and leave this forest.

We couldn't previously go to the cave either, since I decided not to tell Luna about our past, and for some reason she also never took us with her to town.

I had my suspicions for why she didn't, and they were more or less confirmed before she left.

While she was instructing us on how to reach Alport and what to do once we got there, she finally gave us a map, and said that it should take two days to reach it by foot.

That would be completely fine of course… If it weren't for the fact that she only stayed away for 5 to 7 hours every time she went to town, and that would be counting the time to return as well as the time she spent there buying stuff.

Add the fact that she waited until the last minute to tell us about the location and give us a map, as well as her never having shown us a horse or something similar, and I could only guess that she had a means of transportation she didn't want to share with us.

It was kinda obvious too. Regardless of how strong or fast she was, it would be absurd for her to walk everywhere while carrying huge backpacks, and she certainly wasn't fast enough on foot to turn a four-day trip into a five hours one.

Of course, she could also be lying and wasn't actually going to Alport, but that would involve too many lies and fabrications, even the map she gave us didn't list a town that near, and I couldn't think of a reason for her to lie about it.

Regardless of the reason, what mattered is that we had spent far too much time confined in that tower, and I wasn't too keen on waiting for a prince to show up and climb Toba's hair, so I departed as soon as I finished gathering everything we needed.

We certainly weren't traveling light, but I didn't load up on too much food and water either, since I more or less knew the locations of rivers and the waterfall, and we could hunt for food.

What made us slightly encumbered were all the weapons we were carrying, as well as spell scrolls and other equipment.

Turns out carrying two spears, two swords, four daggers, and a giant club wasn't exactly practical.

But even so, I didn't want to leave our weapons behind, and the reason was that bastard tiger.

One of the main advantages of having trained under Luna, was that we mastered different weapons to adapt to all kinds of situations and even confuse our enemies, so I couldn't leave a powerful card like that on the table, especially since we could end up involved in battle with dangerous foes.

If we got into a tricky fight and lost because we couldn't use a spear or throw a dagger in the right moment, I would never be able to forgive myself.

I much preferred ending up overprepared, and if we truly needed to, we could always just discard a sword and a few daggers, our essential equipment were the spears and the weapons with magic circles in them, the rest was just for peace of mind.

Also, the more we walked, the more I felt relieved we were armed to our teeth, but it wasn't because we were facing many beasts on our way.

On the contrary, we didn't see a single animal ever since we crossed the waterfall.

That was bad news, and it was why I was a little on edge. A forest that calm could only mean a strong predator was nearby and was driving all other beasts away.

Still, whatever predator it was, we should have changed territories by now, especially if it was that old tiger. I couldn't figure out why the forest was so calm even after walking for so long.

Maybe Luna cast a spell to protect us? If that's the case, she screwed us over because we'll need to hunt sooner or later.

Even if Toba wasn't tired yet, all those thoughts made me even more worried, so I decided to take a break and rest for now.

I wasn't planning on staying put for long, so we didn't bother setting up a campfire.

As I chewed on some dried meat I took out from my backpack, Toba said something that surprised me.

"Brother noticed it too?"

"Hm?"

"Something is following…"

You realized it and still waited all this time to tell me? I don't have a wolf's sense of smell like you, I need to know this stuff.

Toba had a serious expression on his face, it showed just how much he had changed and matured from the coward and frightened child he was before, but I could still trace a hint of fear on his voice.

"I haven't, my senses aren't as good as yours. How long have we been followed for?" I wanted to scold him for not telling me earlier, but now was not the time for that.

"Not sure… Very good at hiding." He was having difficulty expressing himself, possibly because of stress, but I still needed to get the information out of him.

"Toba, how long, give me an estimate."

"… After waterfall."

That was right when the wildlife stopped appearing, which meant my initial guess was right, but for it to have followed us for so long, and even out of his territory… It certainly wasn't normal.

But whatever it was, we were prepared for it. We might not be experienced in life-or-death fights, but our training with Luna was no joke, and I had plenty of tricks to use too.

"Let's be prepared for it and try to lure it out when we get to a clearing, it won't be good to fight it here, it's a stealthy beast so we should take away it's advantage."

I was assuming it was a beast, but it could be a group of bandits like that time.

That would make it trickier since I don't know if Toba had the guts to kill a human, but it would also be better for us since we're used to fighting Luna and not wild beasts.

Either way, I would not panic. Even if this time I didn't have Luna with me, I wasn't alone either, and I have gotten close to death in a battle two times already.

Keep it cool… It's a nice opportunity to test our skills.

Toba was silent, but he wasn't freaking out, he really had matured a lot.

After eating and resting while keeping our senses sharp trying to spot our stalker, we got up and started walking again.

I was trying my best to notice any movement nearby, and I eventually noticed a bush moving slightly, and a muscular shadowy figure walking on all fours passing by fast before hiding again.

Now I was certain that it wasn't human.

"Did brother see it?"

"Now I did, we need to get into a clearing fast."

I almost asked him if he remembered this location, but it was impossible. We were babies when we last rode through this area.

We were only relying on luck to find an open space, and I had a feeling our time was running short.

"Toba, climb this tree over there, it isn't much taller than the others but maybe you can spot something. I'll stay near you just in case."

"Hm." He nodded, and after setting his backpack on the ground, quickly climbed the tree like a wild beast.

His dexterity was even more impressive when taking into account all the weight he was carrying from his weapons, it was moments like these that made me remember his beast hybrid heritage wasn't just for show.

There was a tense atmosphere in the air, and the few seconds Toba spent looking around trying to spot a clearing seemed like hours.

I was also constantly paying attention to my surroundings, knowing something was lurking nearby made the silence and stillness of the forest seem like the calm before a storm.

"Toba, can you see anything?"

"No… can't see far, tree isn't high enou- BROTHER!"

Toba's shout made my adrenaline instantly spike, and as all the hairs in my body stood up, I turned around to see a dark figure quickly approaching.

I didn't have time to process what it was, I just knew I would die if I didn't do something.

"[REPEL!]" I shouted after quickly brushing my fingers past the guard of my gladius, which was still sheathed at my waist.

My body practically moved by itself after having practiced this spell so much, and before I knew it, past my two raised fingers and the magic barrier I created was a black tiger paw with purple claws, pushing against the spell and trying to break through it.

But it was useless, and instantly the spell threw the creature back, breaking a tree as it collided with it.

What the fuck is that?

I could finally see it clearly now as it got up. It was a large tiger with grey fur and black stripes, its claws were purple and seemed dripping with venom, and the right side of its body was completely grey and was letting out a constant stream of smoke.

It was like half of his body had been burned by something, but it didn't seem like an injury. It looked like half of his body had completely integrated the char and ash into it, constantly burning and letting off small bits of ashen flesh fall off before more grew in its place.

"Ash aspect." Toba spoke my thoughts out loud from up the tree.

After my encounter with the special boar, Luna taught us more about these rare beasts.

Basically, certain circumstances could cause a particularly strong animal to take large amounts of mana into its body, fusing him with certain aspects like wind, fire, and ice.

Or in this case, ash.

As for how this happened, it varied, but it was usually when the beast was at the brink of death.

It could occur when a strong animal was hit by lightning after receiving life threatening injuries, or when a particularly stealthy tiger got hit by a minor firebolt fired from a child, burning half his body, and fusing it with the ash from its own wounds.

Looks like I wasn't the only one who got stronger.

The tiger started slowly circling me, deciding its next move. Toba was about to leap down to help me, but I gestured for him to stay up in the tree, it would be more advantageous that way.

I had already spent a minor spell, so I had only one more left, and I couldn't use darkness either.

I have been closing in on a breakthrough in my mana capacity for some time though, maybe if I force it…

I shook my head at the thought, now was not the time to take risks like that, the fight was only beginning.

I took my fire boar spear and wielded it with my right hand, while keeping the gladius in my left. This was a defensive stance I learned that could deal with charging foes.

Since the enemy would charge forward, the momentum would add force to any stabbing strike I hit it with, increasing the damage behind it even if it had only half my strength. That left my other arm free to keep a sword or dagger and attack if they got past my spear range.

Wielding the gladius also meant I had quicker access to minor firebolt and minor repel, but I preferred not to use them for now.

The ash tiger was smart and wasn't charging forward, there were too many risky factors at the moment, and he didn't have the element of surprise anymore.

I had to start pressuring him, so I charged forward and quickly closed our distance, when I got sufficiently far away from Toba, he attacked.

You dumb bastard!

As soon as he charged, I backstepped and gave a series of thrusts with my spear. My stance was defensive, so I needed to entice him to strike, and he did just that.

He was agile and two of the hits only grazed him, not slowing down his attack, but when I thought it was over for me, he pounced and the third strike lodged the spear deep inside his shoulder, successfully using his own momentum against him.

He roared in pain, but it still wasn't enough to stop him, he was a huge beast weighting hundreds of pounds, and I was just a boy.

He kept going forward, and his now weakened pounce was still able to bring me down to the ground, but I kept holding the spear with all the strength I had in my good arm to keep him from getting too close.

Unable to bite my head off, he quickly unleashed a series of claw attacks, which I clumsily parried with my gladius, but it was enough to save my life.

If it was on a spar, I could parry attacks like this with my eyes closed, but real combat was different. My boxing coach used to say that on a real fight we lose 50% of our training, and he wasn't wrong.

After a few sparks flew and drops of purple poison landed on my face, I twisted my spear and he retreated from the pain.

This was an extremely advantageous exchange for me, I hadn't use any of my resources, be it Toba's surprise attack or my last spell.

Speaking of Toba, he was waiting for my command, but I could tell he wanted to join the fight already.

The reason I made him wait was because this was a stealthy opponent, we couldn't go all out from the start, since it would leave us open for him to retreat and attack again from the shadows.

Toba had the same training as I, so he knew this too.

Just as I thought, the beast retreated into the forest.

The wound on his shoulder didn't outright heal, but it quickly stopped pouring blood, and the aspect from the burned part of his body extended to it, drying it up and turning into crumbling pieces of ashen flesh that fell on the floor and let out whispers of smoke.

This way, he didn't leave any traces behind as he disappeared behind the trees, almost as if it suddenly had turn invisible, it truly had great stealth capabilities.

Still, that method of his can't be healthy, right? If he keeps "burning" his wounds like that, he'll eventually crumble up completely.

I quickly got back to the tree Toba was at, now we had to wait.

"Brother, your face!"

"Huh? Oh shit!"

I touched my face and some of the poison the tiger spewed earlier got on my finger, but the weird thing was, I didn't feel my face when I touched it!

The poison also started slowly burning my finger, and when I realized what was happening, I quickly used my clothes to wipe it off.

"How deep is it?" I asked with a worried expression.

"Not deep, few wounds, and can't see brother's bones yet."

Can't see my bones huh? That's assuring.

That bastard tiger made me think he had poisonous claws, but it acted more like acid instead. Even worse, it was an extremely potent and localized numbing agent, so I didn't even feel it corroding my flesh.

If it wasn't for Toba warning me, even those tiny drops would be enough to cause serious damage with time, and even worse, they could deform me for life!

Damn this tiger! He almost made me ugly! And not in a cool way either, like a nice intimidating scar. I almost ended up looking like an acid attack victim.

Do you want me to wear a burqa? Is that it? How about I wear your skin instead!

Either way, I had no time to be worried about my appearance. The acid didn't cause major damage and it didn't affect my combat capabilities in any way, but the tiger suffered heavy wounds.

My advantage would change quickly if I was struck directly by his claws, however.

"Toba you know what to do, when you get the chance, hit with all you've got, I'll try to keep him busy."

"Hm!" Toba nodded as usual, but he had an extremely worried look on his face.

This was another reason why I didn't think it was a good idea for him to fight alongside me right now. Mustering the courage to jump in and deal the final blow was one thing, but if he was present during the whole fight and made a mistake, we could both die.

This was not an easy fight, and our lives were on the line.

I'll depend more on Toba when he gets more experience, for now I need to be the reliable one. I don't have much experience either, but the bandits and the previous encounter with this tiger are better than nothing, if I'm able to keep my nerves in check, we'll survive.

A few minutes had passed as we carefully watched our surroundings and kept our guards up, but it seemed more like hours.

At this point, we couldn't be sure if he was going to attack again or wait for us to move on before pouncing again, so we had to wait patiently.

We would be at a major disadvantage if he kept ambushing us over and over at unpredictable times, so we could only hope he wasn't that smart.

More excruciating minutes passed, but just as I was about to move, Toba shouted.

"Behind!"

I immediately turned around and pointed my spear forward, this time with both hands for more precision. Surely enough, the tiger was pouncing at me, but I attacked at his head and made him retreat, otherwise it could be a fatal blow for him.

"I can smell now! Ash scent!"

"Good, warn me every time you pick up his scent, my nose isn't as good."

The tiger started slowly retreating again, but this time I was ready for it, and I threw a dagger with my left hand at him.

Toba didn't need a warning and did the same. My attack was dodged with a quick movement to the side, but Toba's dagger hit it, making it growl in pain.

The dagger firmly stuck to the tiger's side, but before the poison in it could have any effect, the flesh again dried up and turned to ash, crumbling, and causing the dagger to fall off along with a few smoky chunks.

"Tsk, our poison won't work either."

It was the blood cricket poison we learned to make, and if it wasn't for the ash aspect the battle would already be over.

We managed to hurt it again, but now he was more aware of Toba's presence in the battle, it wouldn't work a second time.

I again took out my gladius and prepared, I still had one minor spell to use at minimum, and if I could land a minor firebolt the battle would end.

The problem is that I would lose the insurance of Minor repel in case things went wrong, so it was a gamble I was not sure I wanted to make.

If I can make him falter again with a ranged attack though…

As I was deep in thought, something happened that made my bones chill to their core. The wounds on the ash tiger started to slowly regenerate, and the places where the ash had spread started to gain more integrity. The ash aspect was merging deeper into him.

If this kept up, all our efforts were going to go down the drain! He could just continue to regenerate after every exchange, and we would wear out eventually.

Just as I thought that the tiger started to leave again; I was out of time!

If he kept this strategy up, we would end up dead sooner or later I had to act now, there was no time to perfect my plan.

"Don't you run away!" I shouted as I dug my feet on the ground and threw my spear at him with all my strength.

The spear had a good weight to it, and my muscles were stronger than ever, way stronger than I ever was on earth.

The speed of my throw far surpassed my expectations, and the boar tusk that served as the spear head shined lightly with an orange glow. The wind passing by it must have activated its faint magical properties.

As it got closer to the target, however, the tiger leapt with all its might to the side, sending earth and grass flying everywhere, and my spear ended up hitting a tree, creating a crater in it and making it slowly fall to the side after receiving the full brunt of my attack, the edges of the point of impact were burning.

This was expected.

"[IGNIS!]"

My finger was already pointed forward ever since the tiger jumped to avoid the attack, the plan was to mimic the dagger attack earlier, but with a much more potent follow up.

The firebolt quickly exploded out of my finger and rushed to meet its target, who was still recovering from the momentum of its jump.

After drifting from this momentum, he leapt backwards, but the firebolt hit the ground underneath him, causing a loud explosion.

"Huff, huff… He's finished for sure… Let's go Toba."

"… Is brother sure?" Toba said as he got down from the tree.

"He couldn't get out fine from that, right? At most he's gravely wounded, and we need to-"

Before I could finish my sentence, a dark mass rushed out of the fire straight towards us. Its whole face was burned to a crisp, and half of its feline skull was showing, this was clearly his last attempt at killing us, even if it died in the process.

I didn't have my spear with me, and my sword alone couldn't stop him.

I could only depend on Toba, but I didn't know if he would make it in time.

Is this it? is this as far as I go?

By reflex, I touched the yellow magic circle on my sword and extended my fingers forward, I could see Toba's club approaching from behind, but it wouldn't reach the tiger, not before I turned into minced meat.

My two fingers almost touched the tip of the corrosive claws coming in my direction.

"[REPEL!]" I shouted and closed my eyes.

I heard two loud bangs, and as I opened my eyes confused, Toba was behind me, slowly getting up from the floor, and the tiger was on the ground a good distance in front of us, desperately struggling to get up as his limbs crumbled more and more.

The spell worked?

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Toba shouted loudly and started running towards the almost dead ash tiger.

The magic circle in the giant club glowed slightly as his upper body muscles flexed to impossible degrees, he seemed to pour more and more strength into the weapon what was unmoving in the air, only following along his steps in a fixed state.

He got close to the tiger, and loud bang echoed throughout the forest.

The tiger's head was completely blown up, and a small crater formed on the ground underneath where it was supposed to be.

It was finally dead, killed by Toba's Law spell Minor Gather, which I didn't even know he could use yet.

Toba slowly lifted the club from the crater, ash and blood stuck to it.

He looked at me in a daze, and tried to say something, but ended up fainting instead.

"So, you actually learned it, huh?"

A bit overkill to use it now…

But knowing he could do it wouldn't change how the battle went anyway, Minor gather needed either a slow enemy or a big opening to work.

We had finally done it; we survived our first serious encounter with death, our first real battle.

If this is just from wandering the forest alone, I wonder what awaits us as adventurers once we get to town…

…

After shaking Toba fiercely to wake him up, we started cutting up what was left of the tiger's corpse at my instruction.

"Tiger pelt destroyed, why retrieve it?" Toba asked with a tired tone.

"It's true that it's mostly destroyed and turned to ash, but there's still some intact pieces. If I'm lucky I'll be able to make at least a vest for myself."

"… What about Toba?"

What? When did he become so shameless?

"Toba already has the fire boar cloak Luna made, so Toba should be quiet."

After I scolded him a seemingly awkward silence ensued, and we stopped cutting up the corpse. If a stranger were to witness us, they would think we were about to fight.

Not long after, however, we gave in to laughter.

"Hehehehe we really did it huh?"

"Did brother see? I used a spell!"

"How could I not? To think you learned it before me! You're a natural with law spells!"

"Toba only use it once… Brother used three spells and not fainted!" Toba speech was getting more and more broken as he got excited.

"Minor spells Toba, but yes, I'll teach you my technique to stay awake later, hehehe."

We couldn't help but be overjoyed, we defeated a powerful beast on our own, and we could even reap some rewards from it!

According to Luna, we shouldn't be fighting special beasts just yet, and ash aspect was an especially dangerous one since it used ambush tactics.

But to think we would not only survive an encounter like this, but also win!

Risk and reward, the thrill of a battle with lives at stake, the race to get stronger. We were only now beginning to experience what adventure meant in this world, only now after so much training.

We continued laughing in joy as we finished cutting up our spoils.

In total, we managed to gather two medium patches of intact pelt, and we also gathered all it's claws which were still dripping acid.

"How do we carry these claws though? They seem to leak acid on their own, they will ruin our backpacks if the put them there."

"… Why don't hold them inside tiger fur? Tiger not hurt by it."

"…"

"Brother, I say something wrong?"

"No… That's a great idea Toba…"

I got outsmarted by Toba… Not sure I'll be able to recover from this.

…

We walked for an hour in a slow and careful pace, but eventually we got to the conclusion that there wouldn't be another threat for us in this forest, especially since we were carrying the scent of that tiger, which was surely the apex predator around these parts.

And so, we picked up our pace, and without rest we walked all day long, only stopping to take a quick rest and snack at night. The parts of the meat that weren't dried up by the ash aspect tasted pretty good.

After another day of travel, we finally reached our destination.

"We're here."

"Hm? Where is cave?"

"A little further south from here." I said as I scooped some water from the river in front of us.

"You know Toba, this river was where I first saw my reflection, I was surprised to find out I had green hair."

"Hm."

As Toba got closer, we both stared at the clear water reflecting our faces.

My hair was a little above chin height, since I regularly cut it, but Toba already had a huge mane reaching up to his chest.

His grey hair blended nicely with his wolf ears, and it also helped hiding his exposed eye and scarred mouth.

Speaking of scars, my face was still burnt up by the acid, but since it was superficial, it should heal up with a spell. It would not come cheap, however.

I once asked Luna about why Toba's eye and mouth didn't recover with healing spells, and she said there were two factors involved in forming permanent scars.

First was the wound itself, the deeper and graver the wound, the more chances of it becoming permanent and being unable to heal with common healing spells.

Second was time, even a relatively shallow wound like mine could end up becoming a scar if left neglected for too long, and even an almost fatal wound could be healed completely if treated on the spot with the appropriate spell.

This meant that adventurers usually chose which scars to keep.

Somehow this takes away the badass factor from it… I hope people don't think Toba is a weirdo who left his wounds untreated on purpose.

In my brother's case, his wounds were ancient at this point, and he needed a very expensive and high-level healing spell to revert his appearance to 'normal'.

Of course, if it was just the matter of the spell, Luna could probably heal him. The issue was that all healing spells consumed expensive materials, usually gems or large amounts of gold coins, and high-level ones cost a fortune to cast.

"So, want to go meet them? They're probably asleep right now but it should be fine."

"…" Toba tensed up; this was a difficult moment for him.

Can't say I relate buddy, but it'll probably be fine.

"Hey, no need to be so nervous, we're together. Whatever happens, we'll move on."

"… Does brother think they remember?"

"If they don't, we'll run away and get back on track. People will come and go from our lives, but we must keep moving forward, together."

"Hm!" He nodded, and quickly stood up.

Sight… I can't believe I had to do a motivational speech over whether some wolves will remember him or not. But then again, he's probably still getting over Luna's departure too.

"Let's go then."

…

We arrived at our old cave, and as expected, they were all sleeping at this hour. They weren't completely defenseless however, since shortly after we stood by at the entrance, a wolf appeared.

He was slowly walking towards us with his back arched and his fur spiked, letting a low growl, ready to fight.

"Brother… They don't remember us…" Toba was already starting to break down, but I didn't raise him to be such a sissy.

"Oh yeah? And what about you? Do you remember him?"

"… Huh?"

We were arguing as if the wolf in front of us presented absolutely no threat, and that display of confidence was serving as a deterrent, as he didn't get closer to attack.

"Stop being a wuss, just like you don't remember every individual wolf, they don't remember every cub, especially not one that went missing and came back five times the size."

"Besides, we were with them for a short time, and wolves don't have a memory as great as ours."

"But brother, I remember him. He brought fruit to Toba." Toba said with a confused look, and it felt like he was judging me a little.

"Huh?"

He can actually tell them apart? Wasn't his memory fuzzy?

"Anyway… No good will come if you stand there like an idiot, at least let it smell you, maybe he'll remember that way."

There was absolutely no way Toba was able to visually differentiate wolves, they all looked exactly the same, so I could only guess he was remembering the scent.

I gave Toba a gentle push, and he started walking towards the wolf with his arm stretched forward, trying to let the beast smell him.

My instinct was to slap his back and send him flying forward, but if the wolf attacked him because of the sudden movement, the joke would quickly lose its fun.

As he walked forward, the wolf increased its growl, but after they got close enough and he finally caught Toba's scent, he mellowed out completely, and let Toba pet him.

"See? He remembers you, nothing to worry about."

"… Yes, thank you brother." Toba was smiling as he hugged the wolf, and I pretended I didn't see him cry.

…

After a while, wolves came by one by one to meet us, and much to my surprise, Toba recognized all of them.

Our old milk tank was missing though, and because Toba made no comment on that, I kept quiet too.

My initial plan was to meet them, chose two or three as mounts, and immediately leave.

Toba had different plans, and kept nagging me to let him stay longer, so I used the time to find the biggest wolves of the pack and try to ride them.

It took me a while to get used to, but with my new strength I could control wolves much easier, they had no choice but to obey the tyranny of my thighs, constantly forcing them to turn in the direction I wanted.

Eventually I found two that were not only more obedient but were also big enough for me and my brother to ride.

They weren't as big as horses of course, but we weren't adults either, so because these world's animals could get a little bigger and were much stronger than their earthen counterparts, we found our perfect pony-sized steeds.

They weren't all big though, and that variety made me wonder what exactly the key to their differential growth was. If I could get a few inches taller than I was on earth it would be nice.

I wasn't a manlet or anything, but I had a boring height. 1,77 was average in Brazil, so this time I want at least 1,90.

Two days quickly passed, and I finally managed to convince Toba it was time to go.

He seemed to be having the time of his life, but I wanted nothing more than to get back to my previous levels of comfort, I was tired of the wilderness lifestyle already.

If possible, I also want to get a woman to sleep together with me again. After Luna stopped strangling me, I got used to the warmth and softness of sleeping with her, it's hard getting used to sleeping alone again, especially camping outside.

I also noticed the real reason behind the wolves' wariness towards at the start, as well as their easy submission later: It was the Ash tiger's scent we were carrying, and I had completely forgotten about it.

These wolves weren't completely intelligent, but they were clever, and so they probably knew that we weren't the tiger itself but rather we fought with him. That instantly put us on top of the food chain, and combined with our familiar scent, we easily took control of the pack.

I wasn't too keen on bringing around dozens of wolves with me though, so we would only take one each.

"Toba, let's go already, you're testing my patience."

"…"

"I'll take that as a yes, mount up!"

We got on our wolves and set out into the forest again. Our goal was to stop at the tower to resupply and then quickly set out to Alport.

I would not allow this trip to be delayed any longer, and so we would not stop to sleep there. My patience had reached a limit.

"…" Toba looked back at the wolf cave with an intense expression. It seemed he wanted to say goodbye to them all, but the wolves didn't care, and the few that were not sleeping just stood there without a single clue.

Sorry pal, you won't get a movie-like departure this time.

"Go!" I commanded and squeezed my legs while leaning my body forward, making my mount start riding at full speed.

…

As expected, the trip back took only a single day of travel, we rode without stopping, taking full advantage of our wolves' otherworldly stamina.

We even ate while riding, and I actually almost fell asleep one time.

But other than idle chit chat about adventures, nothing really happened on our way back.

"Brother, what will we do when arrive on town?" Toba had an excited smile as he inquired about our plans.

"Well, if I remember correctly, we should start by renting a place to sleep, clean ourselves up as much as possible, and then go straight to the adventurer's guild."

"And later?"

"Then we can either stock up on some supplies with the money she left us or go straight to whatever admission test they give us. She said it shouldn't be hard for us though."

"If we defeated tiger…"

"Yeah, it probably won't be on that level."

As we continued talking, I got a strange feeling.

"Shouldn't we have arrived already? We passed the waterfall a good while ago…"

"Hm! Toba also thinks this."

"Maybe we went in the wrong direction, we were distracted while talking after all."

"There was clearing before, Toba not remember it."

"Clearing…?"

I had a bad feeling about it, we knew these parts like the back of our hands. If we got lost on our way to the cave, it would be understandable, but getting lost so near our base was strange.

We backtracked and ended up in the clearing Toba had mentioned.

It was a large open space, and there was only grass… Or at least it looked like it at first.

We rode to the center, a round patch of land that was void of grass or plants of any kind was there.

"… What is this?"

Was there a building before? How could we not notice it when it's so close to our place? It must have been removed recently because there is not even a single blade of grass here…

The earth was completely flat, and the shape was a perfect circle. There was no way it was natural, there had to be something there before.

"Brother…" Toba looked at me with a pale expression, he looked like he saw a ghost.

"What is it? Enemies?"

He shook his head and pointed at a tree; his fingers were trembling.

I slowly approached it, and I understood his fear once I got close.

That was a tree we had been using as a punching bag, our punch marks were clearly visible, and it was on the brink of collapsing.

Punching trees was an integral part of Luna's training.

The problem was… We didn't punch any trees outside our base, this tree should be right outside the tower.

"What the fuck…"

I took out the barrier key, which looked like an intricate and beautiful hairpin, and gazed at my surroundings.

Our bench press wasn't there, our campfire wasn't there.

But there were marks on the grass where each of them should be.

There were marks on the grass where we used to spar.

There was a huge round patch of compressed dirt where the tower should be.

I had finally realized; we had arrived already, but everything was gone.

"BROTHER SOMEONE STOLE THE TOWER."

"SHUT UP TOBA FOR FUCK'S SAKE."