Cain stopped at a small village on his way to Trako. It had been three days since he left Havelvaih, he walked with a comfortable pace all this time as he wasn't in a hurry. It was noon when he rested at the local tavern. The tavern was a more family-oriented tavern than a drinking tavern. A few groups of people were there besides Cain.

“Traveler?” asked the tavern keeper, he was bald, a bit fat with a brown thick moustache precisely shaved as if it were his prized feature in the face.

“Yeah, I think I’ll take the lunch set,” said Cain as he looked at a wooden menu, hanging on the wall behind the tavern keeper, “oh, and this,” Cain handed his empty water bottle to the tavern keeper for refilling.

The tavern keeper nodded.

“Also some for this one,” Cain petted Beil.

The tavern keeper smiled. He came with a set of food and drink for Cain, and a simpler set for Beil.

“Hey, how far Trako from here?” asked Cain to the tavern keeper.

“Two days if you’re on foot.”

“I see.”

“I suggest you go south from here, don't follow the main road,” said the tavern keeper.

“Hm? Why?”

“The cliff, it has a good view. From there, you can just walk to Trako along the cliff, it’s safe even though it’s far from the main road, no dangerous beasts there. Also, if the weather is good, you’ll see the neighbor’s extravagant beach town from there, well, a bit.”

“Beach town?” asked Cain curiously.

“Yeah, Grock Bay on Krevias’s side was a wall of stone, but on Ezilai Kingdom’s side, it was a long coastline. It’s a perfect place for a vacation,” responded the tavern keeper.

“Hoo, good to know, thanks,” said Cain.

“Sure, I often go there with my family, nice place.”

“Heh, must be fun.”

“It is!” the tavern keeper laughed.

After Cain paid him and got his refilled bottle back, he went south, to the cliff of Grock Bay.

On his way, he opened the Book of Gomara while walking. When he flipped through the pages, there was a new page revealed.

“What’s this?... poison arts? Ah, must be revealed after I drank that potion… hmm… if the permanent poison resistance is the prerequisite for this, then Gomara’s poison arts must be nasty. But I’ll skip them for now, so many techniques and magic revealed, but so slow to master them,” Cain sighed.

“Meip!” Beil suddenly ran ahead of Cain.

“What’s up, Beil?... Oh!” Cain looked over what's ahead of him.

A land was seen in the distance. It was the land of Ezilai across the bay. Cain could see a structure, but barely because of the distance.

He stood on the edge of the cliff. Fresh air ruffled his hair, while the sound of waves crashing against the rocks could be heard from bellow him. It was late noon, one hour left for the sun to set

Cain looked over his left side, a horizon where the sea met the gentle sky served for his eyes. Then he traced his gaze towards the right side of the land, it was a long coastline that connected at Grock Bay. A meadow on his right was waiting for him before his next stop.

“I bet it will take us about two weeks or more to get there, Beil,” said Cain.

“Meip!” Beil started walking to the meadow direction. Cain just smiled looking at Beil.

In the meadow, he took his time to enjoy the landscape, he also looked at the wild beasts that were not bothered by their presence. Before the moon settled in, he camped in the wilderness, next to a river. After a varied training session, he caught some Green-eyed Nocturnal Rabbits, for their supper.

“Hmm… my skills on cooking won’t improve if what I’m cooking are just some roasted rabbit legs,” said Cain, he and Beil were waiting the rabbit legs. He was roasting the skewered rabbit legs over the bonfire. “That means I have to buy cooking wares… I probably should buy a horse too, to carry my stuff.”

Cain decided to think about it later.

…

After three days, he finally saw a town right before a dense forest. The forest was the official border between Krevias and Ezilai Kingdom. And the town was Trako. He took three days, a day longer in the meadow because he didn't follow the main road.

“Hmm… finally, Trako Town,” Cain looked at the town from the higher ground.

“Hmm?” Cain saw a three-tailed grey wolf was being cornered by a group of armored men outside the town, a bit near the forest.

“That wolf… is not an ordinary wolf!” Cain quickly took out the Book of Gomara, he flipped the pages excitedly.

“This! A Clastival Wolf! A super rare beast!” said Cain, “wait!”

The first paragraph after the drawing of Clastival Wolf wasn’t about his characteristic or its uniqueness, but a capitalized sentence.

‘IF YOU FIND THIS WOLF, DO NOT ENGAGE! IF IT’S INJURED, HELP! DON'T LET IT DIE NO MATTER WHAT!’

“What…” Cain was puzzled, then he looked again at the wolf. It was injured on its left hinder leg. The people who cornered it were attacking the wolf with weapons while keeping their distances, and the wolf was just defending.

“I should help the wolf?? But those men, they’re probably the town’s guardsmen. Maybe I can persuade them… but if not, I have no choice but to get rough. Anyway, why the wolf didn’t just run away or fight back?”

Cain looked at the page again. “A Clastical Wolf has low combat abilities… a non-aggressive beast… it’s a Kralv of its forest…”

“Low combat abilities despite being a wolf, huh? And a Kralv? What’s that?” Cain scratched his head, “ah, whatever!” Cain closed the book, he did not read the whole page about the wolf.

“Beil, you stay here!” said Cain as he put his stuff down. Then he covered his face except the eyes with the cloak.

He took a leap, to the wolf and the guardsmen.

“Damn, this wolf is tough!” said the guardsman.

“It’ll be over soon! Keep your focus!”

A guardsman shot an arrow to the wolf, the beast couldn't even try to dodge the arrow because of its injury.

Thankfully, Cain came in time, he stepped the flying arrow as he landed between the wolf and the guardsmen.

“That was close,” said Cain.

“Whoa! Who are you!?” said one of the baffled guardsmen.

“Where did he come from??” said another guardsman.

“Sorry, but I can't let you kill this wolf,” responded Cain.

The guardsmen looked at each other.

“Are you stupid or what? That is an exotic rare beast! We will not kill it, we’ll capture it and sell it! For the coins! Hahaha!” exclaimed one of the guardsmen, followed by other guardsmen laughter.

“...” Cain just looked at them. There were eight guardsmen.

“Who are you, huh? You look suspicious with your face covered,” said the guardsman.

“I’m no one, just passing by, but I can’t let you take this wolf.”

“Tsk, go away, man. This beast is our coins,” grumbled the guardsman, he walked towards, Cain.

When he tried to grab Cain’s collar, Cain hit him in the chin with his palm, and swept the guardsman off with a sweeping kick to the legs. The guardsman was knocked out, flat on the ground.

“What the!? Be careful! This man wants to take our beast!” shouted another guardsman.

“I won't hurt you if you just let the wolf go,” said Cain.

“Shut up!” the guardsmen pointed their weapons towards Cain, “attack!”

“(Gomara better has reasons about saving this wolf!)” thought Cain as he took a stance.

One of the guardsmen jumped and swung down his medium-sized steel axe. Cain reacted with a spinning high kick to the head when the guardsman was still in the air. The guardsman was thrown away a few meters to the side. He was also knocked flat on the ground.

A dent on his kettle helmet put a bit hesitation towards the rest of the guardsmen.

“S-surround him!” said the guardsman.

The guardsmen took a wider formation to surround Cain.

“Are you sure we’re going to do this?” asked one of the guardsmen to his ranks.

“We are! Can’t you see we’re just one step away from a huge bag of coi-”

A kick in the face stopped him from further yelling. It was Cain’s kick.

“(Better wrap this up quick, and I’m curious about this wolf,)” thought Cain.

Cain grabbed one of the guardsmen’s hand and threw him to the startled guardsmen. Then he took the axe from the ground and knocked more guardsmen with its haft and knob.

“... You guys are pretty weak for a town’s guards,” Cain frowned as he helped them ‘rest’ on the ground.

Two guardsmen just watched their friends getting knocked down one by one.

“Sh-shit! A bag of coins ain’t cut for a hit like that! I’m outta here!” one of the guardsmen said, running at full speed from there.

“Me too!” said another guardsman

“... And cowards too.” said Cain as he watched the guardsman leaving the area, “now, let’s see…”

Cain turned around, looking at the wolf. The wolf was licking its wounds. But when Cain walked towards it, it stood up and started growling at Cain.

“Easy, I’m not gonna hurt you,” said Cain, he walked slower this time.

He uncovered his face and kneeled on one foot to get a closer look at the wolf’s wounds.

But the wolf did not let its guard down to its savior. When Cain tried to touch it, the wolf ran away, to the forest direction.

“Well, so much for my curiosity… I guess it’s fine if it can run like that at least.”

After that, Cain also left the scene, he did not want to be there any longer among the unconscious guardsmen. After he took his stuff, he and Beil entered the town.

When he passed the town’s gate, he could see the two guardsmen he met earlier were being yelled at by someone, looked like their superiors. Cain could hear faintly about ‘leaving your post’ or something. Cain just smiled lightly and kept walking.

The town was lively, Cain saw many wagons on the side of the road with a load of goods. This town was a perfect place for a rest area before the merchants and traders crossing the border to Ezilai or vice versa.

“Hmm… let’s find a place for lunch, I’m hungry,” said Cain.

“Meip!”

Cain found a tavern on the side of the road, he could see so many wagons parked there.

“Look at that, maybe that place has something good,” said Cain.

When he came in, a scene of packed and crowded tavern made Cain a bit surprised. It was a big tavern with a lot of tables, which mostly occupied.

“Welcome to Sparrow’s Nest! Come, come! We still have empty tables!” greeted a middle-aged woman with a tray on her hand.

“Corvey! Get this man a clean table!” shouted the woman to a girl.

The girl came and smiled at Cain, then she took him to the nearest a table for two. Beil jumped to the table as Cain sat on the chair.

“What do need? Our lunch menu? Drinks?” asked the girl.

“Food, perhaps your chef recommendation or something? And for him too,” said Cain while lightly pointing at Beil.

“Oh, sure,” she looked at Beil, “umm…”

“... Go ahead if you want to pet him,” responded Cain.

The girl looked happy as she petted Beil, then she smiled at Cain and went to deliver his order to the kitchen.

Cain looked over the people there, from a group of silk-clothed gentlemen to a group of rough-looking young and old people. Also, there was a group of drunk old men in the corner.

Cain smiled lightly as he watched the guests of Sparrow’s Nest. He felt excited, far from the land he knew and being surrounded by strangers with high diversity was one of his favourite atmospheres besides being in the fairytale-like landscape or in a good fight with a challenging opponent.

After a while, Cain’s food came. A roasted spicy lime duck served to him, Beil also got some, but on a smaller plate.

A delighted expression painted on Cain and Beil’s face after they tasted the first bite. They cleaned the meat from the bones in no time.

“(Now I know why this place is so crowded! The food is so delicious!)” thought Cain.

Cain asked Corvey about lodging in the town after that. She pointed him to the inn next to Sparrow’s Nest. Cain took the rest of the day walking around the town after he booked a room.

…

In the next morning, Cain left the town. To reach Ezilai, Cain had to go through Balrth, the border forest.

On the main road of the forest, there were so many wagon convoys, accompanied by their bodyguards, consist of mercenaries or even Hunters. The main road in the forest was actually quite safe. Ezilai had half of the forest belong to them and it was the main access for traders between the two Kingdoms, so both Kingdom made an agreement to keep the road safe with some patrols from both sides. The merchants hired the bodyguards to repel beasts of the forest that did not hesitate to seek prey in the main road. Sometimes, wild beasts ventured the main road, far from their habitat, the deeper part of the forest. The deeper part of Balrth that Cain very interested into.

“This forest has nice fresh air!” said Cain. He and Beil were walking in the deeper part of the forest.

Cain observed the trees and beasts that roamed the forest. He also took some herbs he knew had uses for Gomara’s potions.

Suddenly, a faint howl came to his ears. Beil also alerted upon the howl.

“A howl? Wolf? Usually they do that at night, don't they?... Oh!? It could be the Clastival Wolf!”

“Meip?”

“Let’s go, Beil!”

Cain decided to seek the howl’s origin, they proceed further than the deeper part.

The howl took them to an open area. There, the Calstival Wolf was sitting on a big stone in the center of the area.

The wolf looked at Cain with its gentle eyes, quite different when they first met. Somehow, the wolf gave a different aura, it had a calm aura that gave a serenity to whoever looked at it.

Cain looked at the folded hinder leg of the wolf, it had a scar, matched yesterday’s event.

Cain walked to it, but a raspy voice stopped him from going further.

“Stop right there, human.”

The voice came from a figure on a big tree. But the lushness of the leaves covered the voice owner in the shade. Only a fully pulled bow with an arrow that gripped with a furry hand was seen because it was outside the shade and aimed at Cain.