Chapter 4

The longer that Vorbuk spent in the bar listening to the locals drink and chat with each other the more he learnt about the place. There were many things to learn, but just as he had assumed the local gossips in the tavern were full of conversations that he could feel benefit him in the future. The group he had came in with mostly kept to themselves so to make himself less noticeable he tried to keep himself laid down at the feet of Daryl. Having someone to play the role of his owner was beneficial to him at the moment since he had much to learn before he could set off on his own. The thing that Vorbuk liked even more was that the man seemed to lack any interest in forcing him into the companion contract so he could just follow them around and use him to his benefit without worry.

"I wonder how much longer the Kingdom of Ethiadan is gonna sit on the sideline."

"Are you kidding me? I heard that kingdom has already began trying to invade at the border. Times are dangerous out there. How much longer do you really think our Kingdom of Cadirade can really push them back before tragedy befalls us all?"

"The king is getting old if he doesn't decide which prince is getting the thrown soon things may just fall into disaster from the inside out!"

"You got that right! The crown prince doesn't seem to be the pick of that royal litter, nuh uh!"

"I heard the king may be considering the 3rd prince for the thrown if the crown prince doesn't get his act together. There is only so much the king can do for his son, but instead of working for the kingdom's welfare like he should that boy does nothing but run around like the adventurers."

Well things in here seem to be escalating into a weird drama. Vorbuk sighed to himself as he got up and walked off, pushing the door open to get himself back outside. He could sense the eyes of Daryl on him from behind as he left the building. Thinking for a while as he walked he wondered what the border might be like if it really is under war right now. The thought of going there at this time seems to be something he should probably exercise caution on until he powers up further. Going into the heat of battle between kingdoms on his own right now would easily spell out death to him.

He turned down a dark alleyway and came to a stop as he saw a strange young man in a cloak sitting on the ground against the town stone wall. Thinking for a moment he wondered if he should turn and leave, but the young man slowly collapsed on his back and sighed so heavily it was no wonder if someone on the street could hear him. Slowly Vorbuk approached the man cautiously as he lowered his head and glared at the man trying to sense if something was wrong with him. The man seemed healthy, so his guess was the man was just frustrated at something.

"Who's there?!" The young man shouted in annoyance at being disturbed as he sat back up and quickly glanced around. There was nobody around except a wolf that was glaring at him curiously.

"Sorry, I thought someone was coming to disturb my rest. I didn't realize it was just somebodies Companion Pet." The young man glanced at the Silvervane collar on the wolf and looked around wondering where the owner of the wolf was. "Very irresponsible of them to leave you alone out on the street like this. Something could happen to you... or well you could do something irresponsible yourself being alone."

Vorbuk released an annoyed growl at the man as he turned to leave, but the man stood up and lowered his hood. The man looked to be in his twenties with blond hair and blue eyes. He seemed to be in thought as he watched Vorbuk slowly turn away from him. It was unusual for a person to let their companion pet just wander around without supervision. Slowly he found himself approaching the wolf and calling out to him again.

"Come on, let's find your owner." The man said as he tried to get the wolf to follow him.

Vorbuk wasn't a fool though and he did not really belong to anyone so there was nobody to actually look for. Therefore, he turned and started to run off down the street at a pace just fast enough to get away from the young man. The man quickly chased after him though and neither of them could understand why. The man was unsure what caught his attention to chase after the wolf and the wolf wondered why the young man would bother trying to run after him. Vorbuk found himself at a dead run straight out of the town trying to get away from him. He could hear the man calling out from behind for him to slow down and stop.

When he reached the gate the man looked around as he put his hood back up and darted out of the town at a fast pace after the wolf. He was careful to cover his face so nobody would see who he was as he left. He could see the wolf finally stopping not far up ahead of him on the road as the wolf sat down and glanced back at him. It was obvious the wolf looked annoyed and it caused his body to shiver slightly as he finally caught up and stopped in his place. He was panting to catch his breath as he watched the wolf glare at him as if it was trying to figure him out.

"I was only trying to help, if you run off wont your owner be angry with you?" The young man said as he finally caught his breath and skimmed his eyes up and down the wolf trying to figure it out.

"Status View"

The young mans eyes started to glow as he stared at the wolf as his eyes glowed white for a moment before dimming back down to their natural blue. Suddenly the man raised his eye brows and took a step back, thinking to himself for a moment. He had used an ability that lets him view the stats of any other person or beast in close enough range of him. He finally understood that the wolf did not have a proper owner at all, he only simply had a name, Vorbuk.

"I'm sorry, I thought you belonged to someone... I'm Prince Leo." The young man casually bowed to the wolf trying to apologize to it. "The Crown Prince."