"This... I agree...", Beta answered while trying hard not to laugh.
He thought that the two would end the fight decisively but they somehow got carried away and attacked many times. He was even more surprised by Domian, who seemed to have forgotten about his injuries and was even more brutal than Brian. These two companions of his were really birds of the same feather. It may have been their enemy, but now the mighty and proud Black Wolf looks like it had been tortured. They didn't exactly feel bad since it attacked them with the intention of taking their lives, but they still didn't want to look at its corpse. Beta, instead, turned around and looked at Domian's wounds. He was pretty unlucky in this fight.
"Brian, fetch me some water from the river. Domian, you lie down for now. I'll fix you up as much as I can. There shouldn't be any problems in a few days.", Beta assured him with a warm smile.
Looking at Beta's smile, Domian felt relieved. But at the same time, he thought of the smile Beta had when he battled. Beta always looked trustworthy... but sometimes when he smiles, it always tends to give the onlookers a weird scary vibe. He couldn't tell, when is it a natural one? Or are both natural? Which one is scarier? Domian was getting more confused mulling about it even more so he just stopped thinking about it. What good would it do to doubt him the whole time? They saved his life and now even helped him recover. After going through this battle, he definitely would count Brian and Beta as his best friends. They could have just sacrificed him and ran away but they stayed and fought with him. It was a battle which was very taxing on their minds too due to the pressure and anxiety as they could have been attacked at any time. But still, no matter what... they stayed.
Beta didn't know anything of what was going through Domian's head. He grabbed some herbs that he had picked up earlier out of his backpack and used a hollow stone as a container. He then grabbed another cylindrical stone and ground the herbs. Beta then took some water from the river that Brian had brought him, filtered it, and added it to the ground herbs. It was only a bit though, barely turning its texture into a paste. Then he dug a small hole right next to the river. As it filled up with water, he put the hollow stone with the medicinal paste into the water in a way that the water wouldn't flow in. He stabilized it with two sticks and went back to Domian.
Beta took the rest of the water and started cleaning up Domian's wounds. In the middle of the fight, some dirt had gotten into them. Afterward, Beta brought over the paste, which now had cooled down due to the river water, and applied it to Domian's wounds. The cooling sensation brought Domian pure bliss. Up to now, his wounds had hurt like crazy, as if his skin was burning and throbbing non-stop, but due to the cooling sensation, he's finally feeling much better. Beta then grabbed some vines and weaved it expertly as he used them as bandages for his wounds. As soon as he was finished, Domian sat up.
"We should hurry. Wolves hunt in packs, so there should be others nearby. We really don't want to encounter more of them for now.", Beta said in a serious tone.
Brian and Domian knew that he was right, so they didn't say anything and just packed up. They also decided to not head any deeper into the forest, wary of meeting the pack. Instead, they left the proximity of the river, trying to avoid them and make a huge arc around that area. Every now and then, they were met with a beast but luckily none of them were as strong as the Black Wolf. Brian and Beta felt indignant. They didn't feel satisfied by the small number of weak beasts that they had to face right now. Domian, on the other hand, was nonchalant about it. He didn't have any desire to meet those wolves again.
As they continued killing beasts, they unknowingly entered deeper into the wilderness. Even if they didn't want to meet any wolves, they still wanted to fight some strong beasts.
"Awooh!"
Silence. After this howl, none of them dared to even move. They looked in the direction where the howl came from and couldn't believe it. After taking a huge detour, they still weren't able to avoid the Black Wolves.
"We need to leave. Now.", Beta whispered in an almost inaudible voice. It was getting dark soon and they were exhausted. If they were to meet a pack of Black Wolves now, they wouldn't be able to get away unscathed.
They sneaked forward, trying to hide as much as possible.
"It seems to me that they may have tracked our scents starting from the Black Wolf's corpse. If that is the case, it doesn't matter how long we try to hide, they will still find us. We need to get rid of our scents and lure it away from us. But, if we get separated later on, we will meet up at the camp. If anyone isn't able to get there in time, just go back to school as fast as possible.", Beta calmly said, while thinking of tactics they could use to survive their predicament.
After all, they just stepped recently into the beginner stage of being Elementalist. Fighting a pack was still impossible for them, so vying for survival was the only thing they can do. They all knew that if they couldn't make it to the camp within the specified time, the probability of coming back is very low. But in case something unforeseen happens, it is nonetheless important to mention it.
"Awooh!"
"Tsk… It's coming closer... Looks like they really are coming for us. Instead of separating later on, let's just do it now. That way, our chances of survival will be higher in case the wolves split up." Brian said, lamenting about their misfortune.
Beta and Domian silently agreed to Brian's suggestion. When they entered this wilderness, they did not expect to encounter such a strong pack on the first day, but now that it had come to this, they had no other choice. They could only take up the option with the highest rate of survival. Beta, at first, was hesitant to separate from the two since he worries about them, but since this experience will help them grow independent and stronger, he let go of his worries and agreed to the plan.
"Good luck, you two. Do your best on escaping and staying alive. Even though you're both sometimes troublesome and noisy, I do appreciate your company.", Beta said while looking at their crestfallen faces.
"You too! We'll meet again later.", Brian and Domian said in unison, looking slightly hurt from his teasing words but they knew deep inside that Beta was worried for them, so they actually felt warm inside.
They then decisively split up. Each running in a different direction. Beta, instead of running on the ground, climbed up a tree and jumped from branch to branch like an agile monkey. Brian escaped towards the river, and Domian headed to the mountains. Even though Beta was quite fast, he could still hear the pack coming closer, almost reaching the point where they had split. While jumping, he also constantly scanned his surroundings, searching for plants that could hide his scent and places to hide in.
Only after around an hour, Beta was finally able to put some distance between them. He sat upon a treetop and started meditating to replenish his soulpower and stamina. He didn't dare to stay for long though. After a few minutes, he left his position and continued on his escape. Beta believed that they wouldn't hunt him down indefinitely. At some point, they would surely stop chasing him. But since he couldn't just depend on that method, he made sure to not stop his search for something helpful.
"If I keep running away, I will just tire myself out... By now, there should only be two or three Black Wolves left. Should I risk fighting them? Just one was already troublesome, so two, or even three... But I don't have any other choice left.", Beta thought while looking behind him, at the direction where the Black Wolves currently are.
Then he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. As if approving of his thoughts, a cave suddenly appeared near him. He was wondering how it could've appeared without him noticing, but he only shook his thoughts in the back of his head since he didn't have the time to care at the moment. Beta ran towards the moss-coated entrance of the cave and entered swiftly. It was dark and it barely had any light coming in from the entrance. But Beta was lucky, for he has special eyes which enabled him to see pretty well here. Although it still didn't reach the threshold of night vision, it was already very close to it.
The cave was narrow, barely having enough space for two people to walk beside each other. Soon, after heading deeper in, he arrived inside a big space inside the cave. Glowing stones covered the ceiling, filling the room with colorful lights. It was a truly beautiful sight, especially with the small pond in the middle of the cave reflecting the light. There were stalactites hanging from the ceiling every now and then that had glowing water droplets falling down from them. Sadly, he didn't have the time to appreciate the cave's beauty for long.
"Awooh!"
"Sounds like the Black Wolves are about to enter the cave."
He then went back to the small pathway at the entrance and positioned himself there, waiting for the wolves to arrive. When he saw this narrow part of the cave, it gave him an idea on how to deal with the wolves efficiently. Since the space was restricted, the wolves will only have one way to attack him. The same applies for Beta and his staff, but he has other ways to fight so he planned to face them head on.
In about the time it takes someone to fry a piece of meat, the wolves finally arrived. Three Black Wolves stood in front of him, growling menacingly. Seeing their target, they couldn't help but salivate. They then slowly moved towards him, inspecting him in the process. Just like the first wolf that the group encountered, these wolves were indeed intelligent. Suddenly, one of them leapt at Beta.