41 Chapter 41 - The Old Relic

"Who are you?" Thinking that the newcomer was an enemy, Se Heon and Mi Young immediately called out their elements. Both students immediately covered the dwarves in order to protect them.

The stranger smiled at them as he held his hands up in the air, just like what the chief of the dwarves did earlier. "Woah calm down. I'm here to help you."

Just then, chief Kah Moon Tii emerges from the back of Mi Young and Se Heon. He opens both of his arms as he walks towards the newcomer in huge strides.

"Brother!" The chief of the dwarves says. The taller guy with tan skin walks towards him and crouches down to give him a hug. "It's been a long time!"

"Brother, I'm glad to see that you are doing fine." The tan skinned guy says as he gives the chief of the dwarves a warm smile. If you look at him closely, you will see lots of wrinkles on the side of his eyes, a clear indication that he smiles a lot. "I heard that the humans are having trouble right now so I immediately went back home to check if our villages are fine."

"Don't worry, brother Ih Doo, our villages are far from humans. Savage beasts won't be able to locate us immediately." Kah Moon Tii explains to assure the newcomer.

"Very well, that's good to hear." The taller guy says. He then proceeds to face Mi Young and Se Heon. "Who are these young lads?"

"My name is Mi Young and this is my friend, Se Heon." The black haired girl starts to say. Se Heon bowed to the tan skinned guy. Although they don't know him and his rank, it seems like he is a respectable person. "We're here to get some violet lamp grass from the lair of the Cyclops. However, we stumbled upon the Silent villagers."

"You want some violet lamp grass?" The chief asks while looking at both students.

"Yes. Do you happen to know where to find them?"

The newcomer laughs, "The only way to the lair of the Cyclops is through the help of the Silent villagers. It's a good thing that you stumbled upon them."

Se Heon and Mi Young's ears perked up upon hearing what the older man said. Their mission would be a lot easier then.

"Yes we could help you but there's a small problem that we need to fix first before we can get you to the lair of the Cyclops." The chief of the dwarves says. "That's why we headed here when we heard someone enter the rock formations."

"As long as it's within our capabilities." Mi Young says in a grave voice. She will do anything to help the young Basilisk Dragon. Mi Young is a maiden who sticks to her promises.

"Good. Follow us then." Kah Moon Tii says as he starts to head back to their village.

Mi Young and Se Heon, along with the tan skinned man, followed suit.

The walk towards the Silent Village was not too long because after around ten minutes, Mi Young could already see smoke coming from the villagers' huts.

When they reached the gate, the gatekeeper sounded the horn, an indication that their chief had already arrived. Then, what happened next was something that Mi Young did not expect at all.

There was a series of howling coming from everywhere around them. Wolves that are bigger than normal wolves emerges from the trees. They walked slowly towards where Mi Young and the rest was, and they started bowing.

A big brown wolf came forward and in a matter of seconds, it morphed into a beautiful young man who was now standing in front of the tan skinned guy. The brown wolf bows and regards the older guy, "Alpha, welcome back."

Both Mi Young and Se Heon's eyes widened in surprise upon hearing what the brown haired guy said. They might come from a time where werewolves are extinct but they know what position an Alpha is and how important its role is for a pack. They just didn't expect the goofy guy to be someone as high ranking as an Alpha.

"Is the pack alright?" The Alpha asks. The brown haired guy nodded his head.

"Everything's fine. Although some of the wolves were having trouble on the east borders because of the three-eyed wolves, we got it under control."

"Good." That was the last thing the Alpha said before he turned to the still wide eyed students. "Why are you looking at me like that? Oh my, I haven't introduced myself, have I? Ah. My name is Kah Ih Doo and I am the Alpha of the Silent Wolves."

The Alpha laughs in a bashful manner. Mi Young turns her head away from him in embarrassment while Se Heon scratches his nape.

"Are these pups messing with you, Alpha? We can dispatch them if you like." Another voice says. Mi Young and Se Heon turn to the newcomer which is a white haired girl with dark skin. She looks back at Mi Young with a scrutinizing stare.

"Stop it, Alessandra! They're here to help the dwarves with their problems. They are honored guests!" The brown haired boy answers. He glares at the woman who also glared back at him.

"Honored guests or not, I will definitely—"

"What? You will what?" Mi Young asks. She doesn't tolerate other people underestimating her. But she doesn't like it more if someone judges other people directly even without knowing them. The woman looks at her in disbelief for a second, like she wasn't expecting Mi Young to talk back to her.

The white haired girl smirks at Mi Young while sizing her up, "You have guts, little pup. Which pack are you from?"

Mi Young really hates people like her. She summons her Pyro mana and a hot blazing fire comes out from her bare hands. "I don't belong to any pack. I'm not even a werewolf, but I can surely know how to burn one."

The people around them gasp. There was also fear reflecting on their eyes. Mi Young looks at the woman who had her eyes wide while staring at the fire in Mi Young's hands.

"You're an elemental." The Alpha says. There was admiration in his eyes. "Perhaps you are the one the Silent Village has been waiting for a long time."

"M-My apologies..." The white haired woman suddenly says as she bows deeply at Mi Young.

The brown haired guy from earlier, looked at the woman and sighs. Then he turns to Mi Young and says in a shy voice, "I'm sorry about Alessandra. She's just overprotective of our Alpha, especially girls who stand beside him."

"It's okay. I'm sorry about Mi Young as well." Se Heon suddenly says as he comes forward and grips Mi Young's blazing hand. He turns to Mi Young and whispers, "Put it out."

Mi Young huffs out a breath before she pulls her hand away from the other boy's grip as she calls down her mana energy.

The chief of the dwarves cough awkwardly to get everyone's attention and to ease the tension building up in the atmosphere. Then, he extends his arms as he guides Mi Young and Se Heon towards their village.

As they walked along the village of the dwarves, Mi Young and Se Heon didn't expect the houses and other constructions around the village to be big enough for humans to live in.

The chief must have noticed their look of amazement and puzzlement because he chuckles before he answers their silent questions.

"We tend to make our huts and houses big enough so our brothers from the wolf tribe can enter our houses with convenience. We also made sure to make them noticeable so our giant brothers can see us."

Mi Young and Se Heon nodded at the chief's explanation. They saw male adult dwarves working on some new huts. They also saw female dwarves planting and growing vegetables while they use their Geo elements, while the children play with one another and some pups from the Wolf Tribe.

To the two students, everything around the village is peaceful and comfortable which made them at ease.

The chief of the dwarves guided them further until they reached a house which was at the heart of the village. It was big enough for a family of four. "Please, come in."

Mi Young, Se Heon, the Alpha, and the chief of the village entered the house. The brown haired boy along with the woman named Alessandra remained outside and acted as guards so no one could enter as the four people discussed something inside.

"Welcome to my humble home." Kah Moon Tii says as he leads them towards the dining table. He called someone from the kitchen, seconds later, a beautiful dwarf emerged from the door. "This is my wife, Kah Ga Maii."

The woman held Mi Young and Se Heon's hands as she shook them. "Welcome to our village. Please enjoy your stay here."

"Darling, can you please give our guests something to drink and eat? They look starving."

The wife of the chief nodded her head before she exited the dining area, but not before sparing Mi young another kind smile.

Now, only the four of them are left once more.

"I brought the two of you here because the moment you entered the rocky formation, I immediately sensed your elemental manas." The chief starts to say. He looks at Mi Young and Se Heon before he continues his explanation. "As I have told you before, we are the only ones who can help you enter the lair of the Cyclops. That's because we hold the key towards their garden."

"Why? Why do you have their key?"

The chief looked at the Alpha before the older man nodded gravely. "Before, all four tribes from the Silent Forest worship the Moon Goddess together. The Silent Dwarves, The Silent Wolves, The Gentle Giants, and the Cyclops. The Dwarves were granted mana, particularly the Geo element, to tend to the forest. The wolves were able to receive the power to shift without the moon's help. The giants were given the ability to protect us from other beasts. And the Cyclops were the ones given the violet lamp grass, which was medicine to all injuries."

"But how come the Cyclops were locked?"

"Our Cyclops brothers became too greedy." The Alpha says in a sad voice. "They forgot how to share the power of the violet lamp grass to our needing brothers. And then they try to take away the Geo element from the dwarves by slaughtering them."

"The Moon Goddess became angry upon seeing how our Cyclops brothers had become. So she cast them out and locked them in the place where the sun cannot reach." Says the village chief of the dwarves. "However, they also took the violet lamp grass with them."

"But you said you have the key to the lair of the Cyclops, am I right? Then why can't you get the violet lamp grass for yourself?" Mi Young asks.

The chief of the dwarves has a sad look on his face when he answered the black haired girl's question. "We used to get it from them before by using the key that only I have. But…"

"But what?"

"Would you believe us if we say that we forgot what happened a hundred years ago along with the language that we were supposed to know? This language was the only language that can activate the spell to open the gate towards the lair of the Cyclops." Kah Moon Tii says as he looks at Mi Young and Se Heon with hopeful eyes. "This language is written on the most precious book in the whole Silent Forest. We call it The Old Relic."