Chapter 44 Diego POV

Just where exactly did I go wrong? We had them within our grasp, yet let them get away. I was so confident that the 4 of us would be able to beat the 3 of them. I was so extremely confident that we would be able to win with our numbers advantage. I was sure that I knew that half elf's weakness, and could exploit it for victory. Astra and Ana should have been of no problem, since an elemental fox controlling their mana is practically unheard of. I always believed that they were getting help in suppressing their mana.

However, neither of my assumptions were true. The half elf's weakness did not really exist. Well, to be more accurate, it was his weak point, but not something easily exploitable. He is bad at ranged attacks, but can still perform them if he needs to. Also, Astra and Ana are really able to control their own mana, which makes them extremely dangerous. After all, the powers that would usually be separated into different elements for rainbow foxes are concentrated onto their elements. That is why elemental foxes can't control their mana, but would make them extremely strong if they are able to control. It is just absurd that they are able to have control over their mana, even if it isn't perfect.

The good thing was that we retreated before there was any serious damage done to us. If we were seriously injured, we would have to return to the clan. Returning to the clan would be detrimental to the plan to become the new king. I was confident in retreating, as I still possessed the leaf. With that, we would be able to return to their home base. However, after retreating, I couldn't find the leaf. It must have been lost during the fight, which caused us to be set back to square one. Finding that leaf was an act of extreme luck, and would be something that wouldn't be replicated. It literally flew into my face, with the ash writing upturned for me to see. That definitely won't happen again. If I had known I would've lost the leaf, then I would've recorded the journey we took to their base.

I was enraged at the setbacks, so I began to vent by casting magic spells at a nearby tree. My spells began to attract other demonic beasts, but I didn't care. I just switched my targets to them, killing them as quickly as they appeared.

"Calm down Diego," Dawn began to shout at me once a pile of bodies began to form.

"We lost our way to them," I responded angrily. "How am I supposed to calm down?"

"We can just follow our tracks," Dave says. "We left from there, so we should have tracks leading back."

"If that doesn't work," Donald says. "Then we can just observe our surroundings. We have walked there, and should know the general area."

"You're right," I say as I begin to calm down. This might have been a setback, but it wasn't a major one. We have already been there once, so we should be able to find our way back there. We have also gotten more information on our opponents, which will be beneficial to our next fight. Thinking about it this way, we didn't have any setbacks, and instead had plentiful gains.

"Okay, now that you're calm, let's eat something," Dave says.

"That fight has really made me hungry," Donald chimes in.

"Luckily Diego has already hunted our food," Dawn says.

"Okay, let's eat, and then rest up," I say. "Tomorrow, we'll head back, and try to kill them."

With that, we began to eat the meat. Of course, the skin was taken off before we gorged ourselves. After we finished eating, we moved away. After all, the smell of blood would definitely attract other demonic beasts. That would be counterproductive to a good night's sleep. Then once we returned to our base, we began to sleep. I kept watch first, to make sure that we would be safe. After some time, I woke Dave up and then went to sleep.

I was woken up by Donald. It seems like the night has passed. I used some water spells to splash my face with water to fully wake myself up. Once I was fully awake, I realized my hunger. Luckily, someone had already hunted for food. It seems they woke up early for us.

"Let's set out," I say once I've had my fill.

"Not yet." "I'm still hungry." "Give us some time."

"No," I say forcefully. "We are so close."

With that, I leave the rest of them, and head to the area with the pile of bodies from yesterday. The pile of bodies have either been picked clean, or removed. Blood still remained on the floor. I began to look for clues of our movements. I was able to find trampled grass, and some imprints in the ground. This was the direction we had come from.

Once I had found this, Dave, Donald, and Dawn had caught up to me. I didn't care to acknowledge them, and just followed the trail we had left behind. Donald would sometimes comment on not recognizing the places we walked through, but I ignored him. After all, these were the only tracks left behind in the area that could have belonged to us. The rest of the tracks were of different demonic beasts.

We followed the tracks for a long amount of time. I began to think that these weren't our tracks, as the trip wasn't as long, before. I still decided to keep following these tracks, since they were our only lead. We followed this trail for a little while longer, before it stopped. However, we didn't find their base.

"I told you the surroundings were different," Donald said smugly.

"They might have created false tracks," Dawn suggested.

"Or it might have been a similar demonic beast," Dave added.

I really could stand Donald's smug attitude, so I said, "lead the way then Donald."

"Gladly," he responded.

We then began to travel back to the place where the pile of demonic beasts was. On the way, we hunted some food and ate it. We soon arrived, and then Donald began to lead the way. He would get turned around sometimes, but he walked in the same general path. I began to trust that he knew the way, but he began to stall.

"What's wrong?" I asked sarcastically. "What happened to your familiar surroundings?"

"There is nothing familiar here," he replies. "We must have found a coincidentally similar area. If we go back, I'll definitely find it."

"Okay, but only since we have no other leads," I reluctantly agreed. He has wasted our time with this, but is still the only person with an idea. I definitely can't see anything similar in our surroundings. The others haven't even given out any ideas. As such, we followed him back.

"Anything?" I ask impatiently once we get back.

He didn't respond for a little bit of time, so I asked again.

"There is no other similar area," he suddenly says. "That dead end was the only area similar to what we have passed through."

"So we haven't found them," I say angrily.

"They might have covered their tracks," he says shyly due to my anger.

"Looks like we are back to square one," Dawn says jokingly, trying to relieve my anger.

"We only found that leaf by luck," I replied, making it known that my anger was not relieved. "We definitely won't find it again, and now we don't even know where their home base is. Does anyone have any ideas?"

Silence followed my outburst. They might have been too scared to say their ideas, or didn't have any.

"Looks like we are gonna go back to patrolling for them," Dave says to relieve the silence. I didn't even comment on that, and just started to leave the area.

The others began to follow me as well, so I yelled, "split up and search."

My yell got them to split up. I'm not sure what they are planning to do, nor do I really care. After all, I doubt that they will be able to find anything. I just started stalking a group of demonic beasts. For a couple of weeks, this was how our days passed. We would split up from one another, and try to find any traces of Astra, Ana, and that half elf. I was getting frustrated though, since we hadn't found anything.

There were times when I felt like someone was watching me, and I could never find them. I feel like it is that half elf, mocking me from a distance, while hiding himself. However, I was never able to find the presence, so I can't be sure if it was the half elf. We were suddenly attacked by a bird type demonic beast while we were out hunting for our food. Yet, other than that, the demonic beasts would mostly leave us alone, which is expected. After all, we are rainbow foxes from the forbidden zone of the Forest of Calamity.

Today also seemed to be shaping up to be a normal day. We had all separated after eating a meal. I had chosen a random direction to walk in, but found nothing. Sure there were some tracks, but most of them were from other demonic beasts. None of them could have been caused by Astra, Ana or the half elf. It began to feel like they had left the Forest of Calamity completely. Yet, around lunch time, my hope was renewed.

We had all gathered together at our base to have our own lunch. It was then, when we saw smoke in the sky, and smelled a foreign aroma. The smoke that was in the sky was barely visible, as if someone was purposefully trying to make it that way. This made me think it was the 3 of them, and the aroma just further emboldened my guess. After all, I have never smelled something like it before. It smelled like a fire based spell hit a target, but wasn't able to burn it into ashes. Since it was fire based, Astra should be involved. Of course, it could be a demonic beast that learned how to use fire spells, but my gut told me otherwise.

"Let's head to the source," I yelled out.

The other teased me for a little bit. They were insinuating that I wanted to go to the source to eat whatever was there. After all, while the smell was foreign, it was extremely appetizing. I corrected them on the way, since I wanted them to be serious if we did encounter the half elf. After exposing my reasoning, they seemed to agree with me, and we soon arrived at the source.

However, the source was abandoned when we got there. Even the smell that was so potent before seemed to have vanished. Confused, I asked the others if they had smelled what I had. Even though we talked about it on the way, I couldn't help but feel like it was all some sort of figment of my imagination. However, that wasn't the case, as they confirmed that they had indeed smelled what I had.

Realizing that it was true, I said, "I'm sure the smell came from here. Let's search the area. Do it thoroughly so we don't miss anything."

They should be here. If they are not, then they shouldn't have gone far. They could have also left behind some clues in their haste. I don't care what we found, but it would definitely be useful, and all we needed to do was thoroughly check.

My guess seemed right, as Dave suddenly yelled, "Diego, I found footprints. It should be Astra, Ana, or that half elf, since these tracks can only be made by those who walk on two feet."

"So they are here," I said happily. "Good work, let's follow these tracks, and see where they lead."

With that, we all began to follow the trails. After all, they were the only clue we could find from a quick glance around. However, the trail didn't go for long, and it ended by a tree that was swaying in the light wind.

"The trail ends here," Dave says, stating the obvious.

"Do you know why?" Dawn asks.

"No, it just disappeared. They probably didn't care about this part being found out, and covered their tracks after this point. They also probably went out hunting, and covered their tracks." Dave responds as such, and then gives his reasoning for why the trail would just disappear.

"Uh, if only we could find their cave again." Donald suddenly says, disappointment obvious in his tone.

"We found them once, we'll find them again," I say with newfound confidence now that I know they are still within the bounds of the Forest of Calamity. "They've obviously been here, and the smell shows that it has been recent. As such, they should still be in the vicinity. Let's expand our search area and keep looking."

With that said, we once again split up, and started searching the surrounding area. As said before, they must have not gone too far, since the smell was still potent when we got here. The tracks might have been to misdirect us, so I decided to focus my search area on the opposite side of where the tracks were leading. I looked through as closely as I possibly could, but I got no results. I found different tracks, and lots of smashed plants. However, I wasn't able to find a single clue. The sun was setting, so I decided to call it quits, and rejoins with the others. It seems like they had similar luck to me, as they had also found nothing.

The next day, we went back to that clearing, and once again began to look around. We had no other major leads that we could follow, and we might have missed something yesterday. The motivation that I was starting to lose had come back in full, but that didn't give me results. In fact, we had just wasted another day with no results. The other decided to give up on this clearing, but I persisted, yet my persistence wasn't rewarded. I went back to our base after another fruitless day.

"Does anyone have any helpful ideas?" I suddenly yelled. What we were doing right now wasn't helping us, and it seemed like it wouldn't be that helpful even if we did find something. My question was once again met with silence. I was so frustrated that I began to, once again, vent using my spells. I slept once I felt I had vented my feelings enough, hoping that someone would have a new idea that would help us out.

The next day came, and we once again set out to do our useless routine. I had no motivation, since we have never been able to find anything. I was just despondently patrolling the area, hoping for a lucky break. Yet, this lucky break never came to me. The sun went high into the sky, but I hadn't found a thing that would help us. I decided to take a break, before grouping with everyone. Who knows, maybe they have thought of something. I highly doubt that, but I need some semblance of hope. We had all grouped together at our base, with the exception of Dawn. She was nowhere in the vicinity.

"Anyone know where Dawn is?" I asked.

"Nope." "No."

"We'll, does anyone have any ideas on how to find the half elf?" I asked.

"We are the passive ones here, and as such need to wait for the other party to make a move","Dave says.

"Passively waiting will take too much time," I yelled in opposition. "Do you have any ideas to find them that won't take a long time?"

This time my question was once again met with silence. I know that I am asking too much, and Dave is right, but I just want results. We've already been here for a multitude of weeks, and have fought with them on multiple occasions. However, despite all of this, we are no closer to achieving our objective. It is just really weighing on my mind. While I'm still lost in my thoughts, Dawn suddenly rushes in, panting.

"Slow down, take your time, you're not in a rush," Donald says, soothingly.

"We'll what is it?" I ask once she has caught her breath.

"I have an idea on how to find their base," she says in response to my question.

"Well, spit it out," I say, not expecting much from her.

"We know that they are in the forest, right?" Dawn asks this question first, and then continues upon seeing us nod. "Even though they have been in the forest, we have never caught them hunting. I doubt they have escaped our perception all this time, which means they have been hunting near their base."

"Okay," Dave responds. "I'm following, but I don't see how this will help find them."

"I was just getting there, so give me a sec," Dawn replies. "We have also started to find some traces of them. I'm referring to the unknown smell. This means that they have exhausted the demonic beasts near their bases. So, if we look for areas with low numbers of demonic beasts then, we'll find them there. We can also look for areas in which demonic beasts have moved, since that will most likely be related to them."

"Brilliant," I praised after fully digesting the information. "Let's immediately do this then."

With my words, we began to search for areas that had low amounts of demonic beasts. That was harder than one would expect, as the Forest of Calamity is really big. Yet, it seemed like luck was on our side, as we were able to find a place where demonic beasts weren't prevalent. However, it was already pretty late by the time we had found it, so we had decided to explore it tomorrow.

The next day had come, and we immediately went to that location. While we were walking, Donald would talk about areas he had passed before. I didn't really listen and just pushed forward. I wanted to make sure we had actually found their base, since this could just be an area with less demonic beasts.

We stayed together, as we might run into the other group while we had split up. If that happened, then one of us would surely die. However, because of our precautions, it took a while to fully explore the area. The sun was even beginning its descent, which almost caused me to wish to go back.

"We've been here before," Donald suddenly exclaims. "I remember walking through here, which means they are close by."

"Fine, lead the way," I reply. "I'll give you till the sun sets."

I didn't really trust Donald, especially after what had happened last time. After all, he had failed retracing our steps, despite sounding so confident. However, we really had nothing to lose at the moment, so I decided to let him lead the way. I'm glad he did, since we really did find their cave. Before we did anything else, I made a map of our travels. This way, we could come back here again.

While that was happening, the sun had already set, blanketing the sky in darkness. I originally wanted to return, before realizing this would be the perfect opportunity for an ambush. As such, we immediately went to the cave. Right when we got close, we were able to see the half elf emerge from the cave entrance. It seems like it was only him, which is exactly what I wanted.

I began to walk over to him. Since he appeared to be alone, I dropped the whole ambush plan, as it wouldn't be needed. He tried to start a conversation with me. He wished to find out how we found out his base. I assume he was also trying to stall for time. Because of this, I gave him a curt reply before heading straight into my attack.

We were able to suppress him pretty well, and we didn't really give him a chance to chant a spell. However, he began to take a couple of hits, and chanted a spell. The spell formed a protective dome around him that would counterattack if it was as damaged. With this spell, he was able to rest up, and chant more spells. He was even able to heal himself inside the dome. It seemed like he never really took our fights seriously, as he had these cards up his sleeve.

I was half expecting him to wait till Astra and Ana came. However, he didn't do that, and dispersed his protective dome. I guess it was a spell made to give one a temporary respite, and wouldn't last long. Since he was attacking, we were able to hit him with our spells. However, he changed to a defensive style of battle. There was no doubt in my mind that he was waiting for Astra and Ana, wherever they may be. Because of this, we began to fight harder, planning on killing him before Astra and Ana could even show up.

It took a little bit of time, but it seems like he had finally been exhausted. I asked for his last words, but he replied with arrogance. I went to kill him, but another protective dome appeared before him. This time, a firebird also appeared, and I realized that Astra and Ana had made it. This meant that we wouldn't be able to kill the half elf. Realizing this, we immediately fled. I had to create earthen walls, and even use water spells to help escape. Luckily, this time we actually had a map. This meant we could come back whenever we wanted.

The initiative was now in our hands, and they had no idea where we were. We could exhaust them, by fighting with them everyday, before killing them when they are exhausted the most. As for them leaving the Forest of Calamity, I highly doubt it. We went back to our base, and I slept happily knowing that we held the upper hand. Soon, I would be able to kill that half elf, which would then allow me the opportunity to become the king of the rainbow fox clan.