Prag (1)

The wolf remained uncertain about what to do.

"It's studying me..."

"KHah!" The man behind coughed up some blood. I turned around; he was in pretty bad shape, but not on the verge of dying.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"G-g-go away from here," the man replied, his voice pained.

As soon as he spoke, a feeling akin to the joy of discovery burst in my mind. It had been years since I heard someone speak to me.

'It's certainly different from being spoken telepathically...' I got lost in my thoughts for a moment.

"LOOK OUT!" the man yelled, bringing me back to reality.

The wolf had apparently decided to attack me, darting towards me at a… ridiculously slow speed.

'Really slow...' I thought, 'or am I really fast?'

The beast raised its left arm and then shot it like a whip towards me, aiming its clawed hand at my neck.

I activated "ax hand," sharpening my right hand. The beast's sharpened hand was advancing rapidly towards my body, or at least that's what an external observer might say... for me, its sharpened hand was moving at an impressively slow pace.

When its hand was less than ten centimeters from my neck, I rotated my body clockwise, sliding to the left. Then, with a sharp blow, I superficially wounded the wolf's side—or rather, I had intended to wound it only superficially, but I overestimated the wolf's fur a bit. The wound on the wolf's side was deep, and a fountain of blood sprayed from it.

The wolf, visibly intimidated, leaped two meters away from me. It stared at me, and I stared back. It didn't seem to have much intention to attack me.

The wolf's wound closed fairly quickly, and after studying me a bit more, it decided to retreat quickly into the forest.

'Ah... thankfully it's gone...' My intention from the start was to simply make the wolf retreat without injuring it too much if possible.

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I turned around; the man behind me had sat down on the ground and removed his helmet, revealing his long, straight blond hair. He had fair skin, albeit slightly tanned. The upper part of his face was angular with a broad forehead, while the lower part was covered by a somewhat unkempt blond beard. He had ash-colored eyes that seemed kind but tired. His eyes were framed by thick blonde eyebrows above and pronounced dark circles below.

The man, probably in his forties, looked at me, flashing a disbelieving smile.

'In these situations... mmh... what should one do in these situations?' Not knowing what to do made me a little anxious, especially because I was facing a human.

"Thank you for saving us..." said the man, his voice tired and hoarse. "I'm Thomas Havi, and that's Pif Gj..." He pointed to the cart, where a small, short figure was staring at me.

'Um... now that I see him better... he's not a boy...'

He was indeed small and skinny, but he had the face and gaze of an adult.

'I guess he must be a dwarf-elf...'

Dwarf-elves are known for their incredible cunning, a quality that make them skilled merchants and bankers.

The dwarf-elf in question had a complexion between olive and reddish, and now that I could see him better, I noticed that he had long, pointed ears. He had short black hair and bronze-colored eyes; his face was delicate like that of a boy.

'Mmh... how did I mistake him for a human boy? Maybe it's because I haven't seen humans for a while...'

"Thank you again," Thomas added, as if expecting some response from me.

'Ah, right... maybe I should introduce myself too...'

"My name is Umut Aracne, nice to meet you..." I said a little timidly.

Thomas breathed a sigh of relief, as if he had just reassured himself about something regarding me.

'Mmh… maybe they thought I was an assassin... or a thief? Even though I saved them? Mmh... Maybe it's because I don't look very good right now...' In fact, it had been a long time since I had washed; I was probably a bit dirty here and there with dried blood (obviously not mine).

"Umut, what brings you to travel through these forests?... They're quite dangerous."

I looked at him incredulously, 'these forests are dangerous?'

Meanwhile, Pif had descended from the cart and positioned himself next to Thomas. He was only slightly taller than sitting Thomas.

"Well, in fact, from the clash earlier, I can certainly say that you are very strong, but still..."

"Um... actually, I got lost..." I made up this excuse.

Both Thomas and Pif gave me skeptical looks. Neither Thomas nor Pif seemed to have believed that excuse, but perhaps not wanting to investigate further, they went along with it.

"Well, if you're lost, how about coming to town with us?" Thomas asked, and Pif nodded in agreement with what the big guy had said.

'Why not...'

"Which city are you heading to?" I asked.

"We're going to Prag" Pif replied succinctly; despite his appearance, his voice was deep and a little hoarse.

"Well then... I gladly accept your offer!"

The two looked at each other with satisfied looks; at the same time, it was as if some tension had left them.

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After a short pause during which Thomas regained his strength, primarily thanks to a reddish potion he had consumed, we set off for Prag. Thomas had to pull the cart by hand because the donkeyKar (a breed of donkey with sand-colored fur and two small horns on the forehead that usually lives in desert areas) that was previously pulling it had run away, understandably frightened by that bipedal wolf.

Thomas told me that the monster I had faced earlier was called a "lycanthrope". According to certain myths, lycanthropes originated from humans who had given away their humanity in exchange for a higher power, losing their consciousness in the process.

'They are similar to me after all... however, I have remained myself, kheheheh...'

Later, Pif and Thomas told me a bit about themselves. It seemed they were new to the merchant sector, and the route they were traveling on started from the distant south, referred to by them as the arid islands. This route, although profitable, was also very dangerous, especially when following the more well-known paths. However, Pif had studied a possible route that made the journey a bit longer in terms of time but less perilous.

The arid lands to the south produced excellent spices and a high quality of coffee. In particular, Pif and Thomas traded coffee and "hajer," a spice that was both salty and spicy, derived from a root.

While we talked, we arrived at an imposing iron suspension bridge, at least 500 meters long, with huge cables connecting the bridge to flying blue crystals at certain points.

Seeing my astonishment, Pif told me a bit about the bridge.

"This bridge is called the 'Iron Titan,' and it connects the island of Liber to the island of Prag... over there in the distance, you can see Prag," he said, pointing to some domes that loomed in the distance before us.

'Woah... I wonder how tall those buildings are...'

"This bridge is a creation that brought together the minds of many wizards and magical engineers. See those crystals there?" He pointed to the blue rhomboid crystals suspended in the air.

I looked at them, their brilliance reminding me of the crystals inside the "Demomachia" cave.

"They are very sensitive to mana, or rather, crystals that can store mana... they are placed in specific points, and they are the ones that support most of the bridge's weight. From what I know, runes specially invented for the occasion have been inscribed on the crystal surfaces... truly incredible, don't you think?" Pif asked with a passionate voice.

"... I think so..." I said, not too convinced.

Pif was a bit disappointed with the response.

"Haha..." Thomas laughed heartily, "Pif! You always become a child again whenever you talk about magic!" he added with a smile.

Pif huffed.

"Why didn't you become a wizard then?" I, perhaps naively, asked.

"You ask me why... of course, because I have no talent..." Pif replied with a gloomy face.

'Like me in the past...' I once again understood how lucky I had been to meet Aracne.

"I understand..."