A Door Part II

The light from the campfire drove away the darkness from the area and also kept Arias somewhat warm.

Seemed like the flamed-feet wolf pack was still not going anywhere yet since Arias could still hear the sound of them coming from the entrance once in a while. This must be an order from the pack leader as well. It must be furious that Arias stabbed it with that dagger. Arias still had a lot of weapons like this stored in his dimensional ring, though they were just normal weapons and not magical weapons. These weapons were, in fact, used during his training with Albert. There were only two magical weapons in his dimensional ring: the Shadow Demon Sword and another long sword he got from Farhan, though the latter was only a low-level weapon.

Two days eventually went by. The injuries on Arias’ body had gotten a lot better. With his knowledge and the elixirs he had, the wounds had started to become completely healed. However, the flamed-feet wolves were still showing no sign of leaving. They took shifts and kept watching over him as if he were a prisoner.

“When are they going to get the hell out of here!”

Arias had lost count of how many times he had walked over to look at the cave’s entrance with an annoyed expression. He breathed out heavily, irritated, before marching back to the same old rock once again. It seemed like the only upside of having the wolf pack staying by the entrance was that not a single beast had dared to come anywhere near the cave. But at the same time, Arias could not go anywhere outside of it as well.

“Father and Mother must be so worried about me now.”

Arias sat absentmindedly while thinking about Albert and Maria with sadness in his eyes and concern in his heart. He was most concerned about his mother who must be more worried about him than anyone else. He could only sigh tiredly before lowering his head and letting the time go by.

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At the Scarcia Manor, the situation there was just as Arias expected. It had become more chaotic than it had ever been before. Maria and Albert were out looking for Arias with worry. They kept searching for him day and night without giving themselves much rest. Dozens of guards were sent out to the city and the wood in search of the young man, but the only clues they got were traces of blood and signs of a fight on a path not so far away from the manor. Notices with Arias and Kyon’s faces were posted all over Bernier City. A bounty was set as high as five thousand Crystal Coins for those who could provide information about the two of them, and if anyone could bring them back to the Scarcia Manor, they would be rewarded with thirty thousand Crystal Coins. The amount of the reward money was already higher than an average person’s annual income, but still, there was no sign of Arias and Kyon. The only people who had been brought to the manor were just their lookalikes.

Farhan was gazing out the window, his expression was full of stress and worry, and his eyes were full of sorrow. He, too, had barely gotten any rest ever since Arias went missing.

“Master, it seems like our guards had found some clue, but it didn’t look like very good news.”

Farhan turned his gaze toward Kanl who was standing in front of the door. Seeing the other’s worried expression, Farhan could already guess what he would be hearing. A part of him had accepted that he might never see Arias come back to them alive and well. But he was hoping to at least find Arias’s lifeless body, even if just to give it a proper ceremony.

“What clue?”

Farhan inquired.

“Our guards found this sword at the heart of the woods. A lot of them recognized it as Kyon’s. Several signs of a struggle between mages and beasts were found within the area nearby. The beasts were likely a pack of wolf-type beasts. Judging from their footprints, the pack likely consisted of at least eight wolves.

Kanl reported with a worried expression.

“Have you found anything aside from the sword?”

Farhan’s eyebrows furrowed. He prayed that he would not hear the answer that he was thinking.

“No, sir. Only the sword. However, there was strangely only one set of human footprints in that area.

Kanl replied before handing the longsword in his hand for Farhan to inspect.

“Do not tell anyone about this yet, especially Maria and Albert. I will be the one to tell them.”

Farhan gave his order before turning to stare outside the window with a sorrowful expression once again.

“Sir.”

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At the cave Arias was stuck in, it had been four days and the flamed-feet wolf pack was still showing no sign that they would leave. It was as if they were turning the cave’s entrance into their new den.

“Filthy dogs! How I wish to rip their skins off one by one.”

Arias walked over to look at the group of three or four flamed-feet wolves that were keeping watch by the cave’s entrance in irritation. It must be the pack leader’s vengefulness that was keeping them here.

“Looks like I have to find another way.”

The wounds on Arias’ body were close to being fully healed. He chose to dwell deeper into the cave instead of going back toward the entrance. Some caves had more than one way in and out, maybe this cave would be the same. Arias kept walking on a crooked and damp path of the cave. The path inside of this cave curved and bent like a slithering snake. Some parts of it were so narrow that Arias was barely able to pass through. After more than an hour of walking, there was still no sign that he was reaching an exit. Arias used a torch to provide him with some light to guide his way. He did not know how far he had come, but he kept going forward. The light from the torch fell on a cave wall ahead of him; it looked like he had reached a dead-end. But Arias’ eyes found something peculiar, something that should not be inside of this cave. It was a gray ancient-looking door with a picture engraved on it. This picture was of a terrifying beast that had its mouth open as if it was intimidating its enemy with a roar. One of its eyes was adorned with a dark red gem. When Arias touched the door, he could sense a beast aura coming out from behind it. Instead of being scared, Arias’s lips curled up into an excited smile.

“Looks like being stuck in this cave isn’t so bad after all. I can’t believe there’s a dungeon door hidden in here.”