Seven continents

A spacious grassy field with wolf pups playing on it was to the right of where Frost and Keira were walking. The wolf cubs jumped around and whimpered as they invited the newcomer to join them in their games.

Seeing a beautiful sister strolling alongside their tribe leader piqued the cubs' interest and gave them something new to brag about to their siblings when they returned home.

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Keira and Frost arrived at a cave where a variety of dried herbs were hanging from the ceiling. The ground was covered with animal skins, and the area smelled like herbs and greenery from all the dried plants in the many baskets. As the cave gave the impression of being a herbalist's den, she wondered if the plants that dangling from the roof had any medical benefits.

Inside the cave, she found an elderly man grinding herbs with a mortar and pestle. He appeared skilled at what he was doing, no doubt he must be the witch doctor of this tribe. When he learned that someone new had entered his cave, he put down the pestle and turned to face them.

A startling smile appeared on his wrinkled face when he discovered the visitor was his grandson.

"Ah, Frost, what brought you here so early? Were you hurt?" The elderly man inquired, wearing a worried expression, and switched his gaze to check for any wounds. He then shouted with joy after noticing that Keira was standing next to Frost.

"Have you found a mate?" He exclaimed, his eyes widening with excitement. "Ohh.. finally finally,"

Keira flinched after hearing the elderly man mention 'mate'. She hadn't given any thought to having a relationship with anyone when she was still trying to figure out what, exactly, she had gotten herself into.

Frost then guided Keira to sit on a stone chair before starting to introduce, "Keira This is my grandfather Lincoln, he is the witch doctor in our tribe."

Grandpa Lincoln approached Frost and Keira's seat. Lincoln shared Frost's green eyes, and has gray hair and a long, white goatee, both of which point to his older age. His sagging eyes looked at Keira with gentleness.

When he finally got a good look at Keira's face, he was blown away by how beautiful she was. He wondered where his grandson had found a female with such a lovely face and how many mates she had.

"What is your name, my child?" Lincoln inquired.

"I'm Keira, and it's great seeing you, Grandpa Lincoln." She bowed her head in respect.

Lincoln asked again after some thought. "How many mates do you have?"

She answered, "I have none, Grandpa."

Frost was surprised by the female's words. He tugged Keira's arm and asked, with expectation in his tone, "Really? You don't have a mate?"

"Yes," she repeated, wondering what was wrong with being single. Why did everyone seem so surprised by her response?

Grandpa gushed, "That's so good. Very good." He winked at his grandson and hoped that Frost would soon succeed in winning her heart. After all, Frost had been single for decades and had no interest in having a mate.

Later, Frost began to discuss the issue "Grandpa, I met Keira in the forest at dusk. she was lost from her tribe so I brought her back here," he said, maintaining a neutral tone, "We are here to ask you for guidance."

Grandpa nodded, asking, "Can you tell me what tribe you are from?"

Keira remained silent while giving it some consideration. In fact, telling him about her race shouldn't be an issue. She answered truthfully, "I'm from a human tribe," thinking that Lincoln might know where the humans were staying.

"Human? I've never heard one, Could you describe their beast?" His forehead wrinkled in perplexity. Despite having lived for so long, he had never heard of this tribe.

Keira was nervous after seeing Grandpa's expression. "Grandpa, we can't transform into beasts," she politely responded without letting him notice her anxiety.

"My information isn't that great, but I only have knowledge of elves, who can't change into beasts. The elves reside far away from here, across the sea, on the continent of Ravaryn." Grandpa coughed before continuing,

"It was unusual to encounter an elf because they reside so far away." He pondered thoroughly, then took a stride in the direction of a table and seized a thin piece of animal hide.

"This is a map of Nerevar Eln, the prophet gave it to me when I went to study in the capital city."

Keira took a closer look at the map, a large brown animal hide with landscapes drawn on its surface.

"Nerevar eln?" She repeated, wondering if the map was ancient or artificial, as she had never come across such a name before.

Grandpa replied, "Yes, it's the name of this world." It's not uncommon for beastmen to not know of this, particularly if they came from very small tribes.

"Nerevar eln has seven continents. Nesneirhiel, Echard, Ravaryn, Elsmein, Vochal, Ariaqua, and Reyvak," Grandpa pointed to the hide and said, "We are here in the continent of Elsmein, and that land there is Ravaryn."

Keira looked at the seven continents on the map and felt a chill run down her spine. It was a feeling of both amazement and stress that she was now in a totally different universe. She couldn't believe that she was actually standing on one of those continents, but at the same time, she felt overwhelmed by the vastness of this new world and the challenges that lay ahead.

This world's area was significantly larger, and each continent was like a massive island isolated from the others. It wouldn't be easy to locate a human tribe.

On the center of the map, the continent of Ravaryn, caught her attention. If she wanted to go there, she had to cross the sea by ship or by plane, which was impossible considering the tools and equipment that the people here were using.

Grandpa added, "Maybe I can ask the prophet, he must know your tribe." Grandpa went silent, giving some consideration, and continued,

"But my health isn't well, I don't think I can go with you to the capital city of beasts."

After hearing this, Keira believed someone might be able to assist her. "How far away is the capital of beasts?"

"If I run in my wolf shape, it will take about twenty days." Frost provided the response to her question.

Hearing this, she sighed in disappointment. Given that she was merely human, how on earth would she be able to travel there in those twenty days, which weren't even close?

"Soon winter will set in. It will be cold and snowy. Why don't you wait until the winter is over to go to the capital of beasts?" Lincoln gave some guidance.

To tell the truth, Grandpa wished Keira would stay in the tribe and trust Frost to take care of her. In the future, she might accept Frost as her mate. Also, the fact that many female died during the cold season made the winter frightening and dangerous for females to travel.

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When Keira left the cave, she was speechless. The information she just learned made her lose herself in contemplation. She knew she needed to come up with a plan and discuss with Frost later.

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