32 Chapter 32 Golden-horned Elk

"It seems the bunch of youths from Baro clan came to the mountains to train. Too bad I am a little late otherwise I wouldn't mind greeting them", said Walion Mori.

The newly arrived group of men turned out to be Walion Mori and his guards.

"Young Master, do you think they are aware of the treasure!", asked the captain of the guards.

Walion Mori turned to look at the guard, "Hexan, almost everyone from the central region who came for the peerless treasure is concentrated in and around the Withering Valley, but no one knows that my grandfather who has a 'Seer Vial' saw a dragon shadow over the hollow mountain range. So, if those from the central region are not aware of it then, do you think the Baro clan will know!"

"what young master said is correct", Hexan nodded.

"If not for attracting unwanted attention, my father would have personally came here to seek the treasure. Anyway, we should hurry, lest someone gets their hands on the treasure. Let's go"

Walion Mori took his guards and left the place too.

After another two days, Althea was now in the middle region of the hollow mountain range. She unintentionally entered the middle region while chasing after a low-level golden-horned Elk.

"You cannot escape from me this time", said Althea looking at the Golden horn Elk who was cornered.

Quickly summoning her golden spirit light Althea chanted the few words and a golden orb with a little bit of reddish hue the size of a pearl was formed on her fingertips. With a flick of her wrist, Althea sent the orb towards the golden-horned elk.

After a few breaths, the Golden Horned Elk slowly walked towards Althea and lowered its head in reverence. With a closer look, it was slightly trembling. Althea had expected this outcome because when she sent out the taming orb, she used a sliver of dragon flame's energy which was why the golden orb had a reddish hue. The dragon is one of the ancient beasts and its bloodline is nobler so any other beast would bow its head in front of the Dragon.

Looking at the Golden horned Elk, Althea had a content smile on her face. 

"Finally.. ", Althea murmured.

Althea spent a week in the middle region of the hollow mountain range. Even though she is only a low-level mage, she could easily deal with a mid-level beast. Unless she came across a high-level beast, Althea is confident enough to take down any beast or human at mid-level. She was very careful not to step into the inner region because it is hard to tell whether she can come out of it unscathed or not.  During her stay in the hollow mountain range, Althea had tamed a few beasts. Now she can tame beasts at mid-level. 

Currently, Althea was riding a mid-level metal-clawed wolf which was infamous for its vicious claws. Using the metal-clawed wolf as mount, Althea was currently heading towards the outer region of the forest. She was planning to leave the mountain today since it has already been over ten days and if she delays her return further, her mother and grandfather might be worried about death.

As Althea was leaving the middle region of the forest, she sensed a group of people heading in her direction. She planned to evade them by taking another route but the other party had already sensed her existence too.

From between the tall trees, Althea saw a group of men emerged. As soon she saw the man in the middle of the group, Althea couldn't help but creased her brows. It was Walion Mori and his guards. 

Walion Mori halted his footsteps the moment she saw Althea. The scene before him was breathtaking. He saw a young lady dressed fully in black with a veil covering her face, her long black hair tied up in a high ponytail and her big round eyes were extremely alluring to look at. Even though she was wearing a veil, it couldn't conceal her exceptional beauty. She was sitting atop a big silver-colored metal wolf, making her look like a guardian of the forest.

Recognizing Althea, Hexan immediately went close to Walion Mori and whispered in his ears, "Young Master, the lady in front of us is the one who took the Star Anise back at the Rainbow auction Hall"

After the Auction, Walion Mori had sent his men to investigate the whereabouts of the lady who took the Star Anise, but the lady mysteriously disappeared. It was as if she had disappeared into the thin air. No matter how much he investigated, there was no result. 

After hearing from Hexan, Walion Mori narrowed his eyes, he couldn't believe that he would encounter the lady he had been looking for in the hollow mountain range. 

Walion Mori put on a smile and walked towards Althea, "This young master's name is Walion Mori, heir of the Mori clan, one of the biggest clans from the Southern region. May I have the honor to know the name of this beauty in front of me!"

Althea had no intention to strike up a conversation with Walion Mori. Besides, she couldn't stand the haughty attitude of Walion Mori.

"This Young Master from Mori Clan, we are just strangers who happened to meet on the way. I don't think we must introduce ourselves and be acquainted. ", said Althea.

Walion Mori frowned, he couldn't understand how the lady in front of him is unaffected by his countenance and status. He is used to countless ladies throwing themselves in his arms once they laid their eyes on him and learn his background.

Walion Mori had no intention to let go of Althea, so he decided to act unaware of Althea being indifferent to him. "This young lady here might not know but I was also at the Rainbow Auction Hall a month ago. I wanted to get my hands on the Star Anise back then but have to give up when you made a move"

"Any item at the auction will belong to the highest bidder. If you wanted the star anise, you should have bided higher than me", said Althea indifferently.

"What you said is correct but this young master was short of money that time. I wanted to meet you after the auction so that we can negotiate about it as the Star Anise was important to me but you were nowhere to be seen after the auction. Since we happened to cross paths here which is quite a coincidence and can be considered as a fate so, I wanted to ask if you still have the Star Anise. I can assure you that I will try to satisfy your demands if you can hand over the star anise to me", said Walion Mori with an amiable smile hanging on his face. 

Enlightenment dawned on Althea, 'So he is trying to snatch Star Anise from me. Even if I say I don't have it, he will not believe it. He can easily capture or kill me with the help of his guards' thought Althea.

The situation right now was not favorable for Althea. She had only a mid-level metal claw wolf on her side to aid if a fight broke out. What bothers Althea the most was two high-level experts standing behind Walion Mori. Back at the Starry inn, she was not afraid of them because there was both Northem and Furiana by her side, but right now she was alone.

"This Young master, I am sorry but the star anise is no more. It has already been used. Now that we have no business left, I will take my leave", said Althea as she lightly patted the metal claw wolf and started moving.

Seeing through Althea's intention, Walion Mori signaled the guard behind him. The high-level expert getting a signal from Walion Mori quickly went to stand in front of Althea blocking the path.

"Miss, why are you in a hurry to leave, we can discuss the terms", Walion Mori turned towards Althea and said.

Althea had already expected this, "I think I have already said that I don't have the star anise anymore"

Walion Mori laughed, "Since you choose the hard way, forgive me for my actions"

"Guards!" shouted Walion Mori.

Immediately, the guards surrounded Althea tightly blocking off all the escape routes.

'Since this fight is inevitable, I have no choice but to use that method', Althea thought as she prepared to fight.

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THE AUTHOR HAS SOMETHING TO SAY: Everyone, our Male Lead and Althea goona met in the next chapter.   (T_T) ....I am excited….dkfhdkgfvd,bfca,smnxcsm,bdsggggg