Fyrilk Forest (Time Night)

"*Pant* Come on! Come on! *Pant* There has to be a way out of HERE!?" A man gasped for air to fill his lungs but was out of luck. "Hanh!" Each time he took in a breath, it left his body quicker than he could take another one.

"*Pant* *Pant*" He was drenched in sweat with cuts and scrapes on his arms and legs from running like a madman through this maze of a forest for hours on end. "I hope *pant* they left me alone?" He crouched down under a tree to recover his strength with his eyes darting all around.

"There gon-!" But the moment he let out a sigh of relief, the haunting howls of his chasers echoed around him. Some were far off while others were much closer than he liked. "Fuck!" He sprang to his feet in hopes of making yet another run for his life. "*Pant* Ok? Where to now?" He looked around for a path to follow, and his eyes widened at many pairs eyes glaring back at him under them were white fangs that shined even in the total darkness. "No! Wait! Please! Just let me go! Just let me go! Goddess dammit! Why the hell are you doing this to me!?" He begged and pleaded with streams of tears and sweat running down his face and went to his knees as the eyes and fangs closed in on him slowly.

"Why? You ask?" A rough masculine voice asked from the shadows, causing the eyes to stop. "Yo." The clouds up above parted allowing the light of a half-moon to illuminate the area showing that these eyes belonged to a pack of wolves each with different colored fur ranging from; black, brown, grey, and orange.

"GRRR!" They all were growling at the man but backed away at the sound of the voice.

"That's easy. It's the Law Of Nature; everyone here knows about it." The voice answered just as a massive wolf the size of a fully grown horse appeared, easily towering over the others of its pack. Its fur was an almost magical white that seemingly glowed in the faint light of the moon.

"..." The man could only put his back to a tree and gaze up at this monster of a wolf that looked back at him with a pair of sharp emerald green eyes that seem to stare into his soul. "A-a-a-a-!"

"A giant talking wolf? Hah, yea? Amazing, aren't I?" The white wolf muffled a laugh having heard this from just about every human he met. "But you did give us a nice jog for a while there, so I'll be nice, you have 5..." He offered, turning around to walk away while his pack went back to growling and drew closer to their prey.

"Huh? 5? 5, What?" Man questioned in desperation, getting the massive white wolf to turn his head around with an unwelcomed smile on his face.

"5 words and you just used 4 of 'em, friend." The wolf answered half sarcastically, half threateningly and caused the poor man's face to twist and turn in fear and dread, which was only amplified by the other wolves closing in on him from all sides. "Now, let me guess the last one you're going to use?" The wolf twisted his head left and right, trying to think.

"*N-N-N-NOOOOOO! GE-!" Before he could get the next word in, one of the wolves lunged at his neck with the crunchy sound of bone and flesh being snapped and bitten. "GAUUH!" Then the wolf pulled away with now blood covered fangs, and the others joined in biting and tearing at their food as he kicked and screamed.

"Hah, I thought he'd go for 'ah' meh..." The wolf turned away and leaped high into the air, landing on a branch that could support his weight then sniffed the air. "Hmm? There's no one else in the forest...guess that ends tonight's hunt." He muttered before jumping from tree to tree deeper into Fyrilk Forest.

Fyrilk Keep

After getting out of that storm, Blake's party came to rest at Fyrilk Keep. A fort at the edge of the forest it was named after, it was built as a defensive post for the capital when the kingdom first started growing but was now just a pit stop for travelers, adventurers, merchants, and the like as they moved towards Gorz.

"Ok, let's see here? If we go here...then through there...and..." Blake was currently looking over a map of the forest, trying to find the best way through it without getting lost or wasting too much time. "...Hmm? This is such a pain in the ass. Why did the fastest way to Gorz be through a big ass forest?" He groaned at all the twists and turns this place had to it.

"Aww, Hubby, don't be like, that it's not like you're going through it alone, not when you have me right ~here~" Baba purred suddenly from behind Blake and wrapped her arms around him, smirking when Blake flinched at her touch.

"O-o-oh! Hey! Baba, what's up with you?" Blake greeted Baba, a bit surprised as he was really into the map for a second there. "And you don't make a sound."

"~Oh~ you just had such a thoughtful look on your face that I couldn't resist bringing you out of it..." Baba answered and moved to Blake's side, rubbing up on him. "...Unless you were thinking about little old me?"

"Little and old are a bit too literal for you, don't you think?" Blake tried to tease Baba, but it was rather ineffective since she just giggled at his light jab at her. "...And no, I was just seeing how we're going to get through this forest. After this and about a day's worth of traveling more, we should be at the gates of Gorz." He answered and once again looked at the map. "Huh?" Then raised an eyebrow at a section of it that was marked off in red. "What's up with that?" He muttered quietly, the area wasn't in the way of the path Blake had mostly planned out, but it was giving him a feeling. "Hey, is there something going on in that neck of the woods?" Blake turned to a guard who was standing at a corner.

"Hmm?" They took a look at the spot Blake was asking about before speaking. "...It's just that a large pack of wolves has gotten out of hand in that area over the last few days, so we're keeping it off limits to travelers until we can get things under control." They explained then went back to their post.

"Wolves, huh? Well, guess it shouldn't be a problem for us." Blake muttered with a Demon, a Dragon, an Elf with a Fairy and an Ala on his side, a few wolves shouldn't be any trouble, but he still looked back at the marked off area again. "Hmm? Come on, Baba; let's get back to the others."

"Aww, but we could have a nice cozy stroll before going back to them, can't we?" Baba insisted then pulled on Blake's arm for him to go her way.

Blake just lifted Baba off her feet with a light tug of his arm. "As nice as that would be, I don't think this place is romantic enough for that kind of thing." He pointed out with all of the stone walls and men in heavy armor with spears and swords. "I can't really get into a loving mood here."

"Well? Then I suppose you'll have to take me on a date when we get to our destination as a replacement for tonight, hmm?" Baba hummed out and let go of Blake's arm to float in the air much to the shock and awe of the other people around them.

"Sure thing," Blake muttered not paying it much mind then pulled Baba back down and walked back to the others with her happily wrapped around his arm. "I'm going to regret that, aren't I?"

"Hey, Blake, have you planned out a path for us to take tomorrow?" Lu asked once he saw Blake coming back with Baba, he and the girls minus Saffire were at a table talking with each other.

"Yep, all done, the path I picked out shouldn't have any problems unless those wolves have anything to say about it," Blake answered then took a seat along with Baba trying to get in his lap, but Mari appeared to take that spot. "Hey, baby sis!" Blake patted her head for the save. "Granted you're not any better..."

"Did you say wolves, Sir Blake?" Risabeel asked after allowing Baba to sit next to her.

"Yea, it looks like a pack of 'em has a part of the forest under their paws," Blake explained and looked back at the map again just as a blue-haired man walked up to it. "Who's that?"

The man was dressed in a white frilly shirt with puffed out shoulders, a pair of blue pants that were tucked into leather boots that went up to his knees which had white fur around them and over his back was a small blue cape that had a white ram head on it.

"..." The man continued to go over the map like Blake did earlier before turning around to stare at Blake with pale gray eyes and around his neck was a gold necklace with a silver ram head as a pendant. "Heh," He put a light smirk that oozed with confidence as if he was the most important person around. "What do we have here? Some lowly commoner looking behind my back without my approval?" His voice was vain and prideful as he made his way over to the table the party was sitting at with long elegant steps. "Greetings to all, I am Stefon Ovis, third in line to lead House Ovis, and yes the honor is all yours." Stefon introduced himself by swiping a hand through his blue locks and brought his boot down on the table.

"..." The immediate reaction to that was everyone else staring at Stefon awkwardly, and silence hung in the air for a moment or two until Blake finally decided to speak since this weirdo wasn't going away anytime soon by the looks of it.

"Ovis? Ovis? Hmm? Someone with a last name, you must be important or something, right?" He asked not too sure on what to think of this guy other than the fact he's a pompous ass. "And take your foot off the table! People eat here, you know?"

Surprisingly instead of being outraged from not being recognized and ordered at so rudely, Stefon just widened his smirk to a broad smile and lowered his foot back to the floor. "Oh, that is understandable for someone from a backwater countryside background, I am sure you're rather confused at the sight of a nobleman such as myself! You see this fine kingdom of ours did not appear out of nowhere, mind you, it was built from the ground up by our dear king and his allies one of which is my family the Ovis, maybe that will ring a few bells in that head of yours...hmm?"

At hearing that vague answer, Blake understood who this guy was now. "Oh, you're a part of the Founding Houses, right?" He guessed, and an overly pleased look from Stefon confirmed it.

"Founding houses?" Both Risabeel and Baba questioned either seem to be in the know, the first due to her memory loss and the latter due her not caring about what went on outside of her old home.

Lu held up a hand to get their attention. "Let me explain; the Founding Houses are a group of three different groups that make up of the most important figures in Laudonia and the ones behind the forming of the captain city of Gorz. They are in control of nearly everything that goes on in the rest of the country. The first of the houses is the royal family, Penfenics, who leads the other two houses and stands at the top of everything. The second of the houses are the Ovis who supply the funds needed to gather an army, food for the people and run most of the trading between other kingdoms. They're in control of the money in Laudonia. The last house is Le Fay, which isn't a family or anything like that but instead, it's a term used for all the magic users in Laudonia, it's almost the name of that school Nathan said he was from if I'm right? In short, with all three of them working together are the main reason why this kingdom is...well a kingdom."

"You are quite well learned my lady. I did not think that anyone not from the capital would know that much." Stefon took Lu's hands in his and gazed at him with half-lidded eyes that made the feminine Elfin boy sweat lightly. "May I know how such a beautiful creature like you knew about my family?" He asked, inching closer to Lu's face as he pushed one of the Elf's bangs behind his ear. (Someone tell him)

"W-w-well? We Elves aren't ex-exactly under your king's rule, and my king wishes to share good relations between our people, so we learn about you in our training for going to the outside world," Lu answered reluctantly and moved back with red cheeks thanks to Stefon being so overly close.

But to Stefon, Lu's reaction just made him press on harder. "Ah! That's understandable, but I know so little about your kind, would you be willing to 'Personally' teach me on every aspect about you and your people?" He asked with eyes that said he didn't just want a history lesson and left Lu squirming under those eyes. "I'm sure it will help in tighten the bonds between our people."

"HEY! Back off! You pervert! Stay from my Lu!" To the rescue was Rena who flew in to deliver a kick to the tip of Stefon's nose that somehow had enough force to knock him back. "Hmph! That's right! Feel the power of Fairies! Bwahahaha!"

"Ugh!" Stefon held his nose in pain, but unfortunately for Lu, he recovered quickly. "Ah, I am sorry, I could not resist such a feast of the eyes that is your friend, little Fairy." He apologized to which Rena just turned her head up, and Lu was still flustered. "Oh? Did I make her feel embarrassed by my compliments? Stefon, you know how to work women right, ohoho!" (Someone tell him!)

"So what are you up to out here? Away from the nice and safe walls of Gorz, Oivs?" Blake asked since this noble wasn't going anywhere anytime soon so the smith should at least get to know the guy just enough that it might help him out when he gets to Gorz.

"Hmm? Nothing much just out for a little bit of hunting, maybe bring back a wolf's head as a trophy and maybe a lady friend?" Stefon winked at Lu and smirked at the flinch the Elf made that he thought was a cute fidget. "What of you? Uhm? I am sorry, but I do not. I think that I have gotten your name yet, not that it matters?"

"Well, it should! Since you're looking at the newest and greatest blacksmith to step foot in Gorz! By the name of Blake and we're just trying to get through this forest, that's all." Blake stated and gave Stefon a wide grin.

"Ohohoho! Another country boy, looking to make it in the big city, how droll." Stefon rolled his eyes at yet another soon to fail dreamer. "But I do wish you the best of luck in your efforts, if only that I may have another chance to meet with the young lady Lu, again." He said but a better thought when through his mind. "Unless if you'd like, there is no reason for you not to come with me, hmm?" Stefon offered a hand to the Elf, expecting it to be taken by them without any thought sadly that never came to pass. "Oh?"

As Blake reached out to grab Stefon's hand in a tight grip making the noble wince in pain. "Alright, if you don't mind, I'll speak for the rest of my friends on this, and I think we've had enough of your company for the night and it's getting late, someone like you should get your beauty sleep, lest something happens to that fragile face of yours." He warned, keeping a calm laid back tone as he stood up to place his left hand on Stefon's right shoulder.

"Huh?" At that very moment, a pair of gauntlets came down on Blake's shoulders, making him turn his head to find two large men who each stood a head over him. "Oh?"

They wore heavy suits of full body armor which were made from Blake's guess entirely out of silver. Their gauntlets and greaves had white fur near the elbows and knees respectively with a large mane of fur over their shoulders that turned into a long blue cape with the same white ram head that Stefon's cape had. To finish off the armor, each of their heads was covered by ram styled helmets that had faceplates to hide the likely stone cold gazes they had on Blake.

"Mmm?" Blake hummed slowly and glanced down at their hands which were both holding a sizable spiked mace to strike a lethal blow on someone if needed. "Friends of yours?" He asked, turning back to face Stefon who had a small mocking smirk on his lips.

"Oh, no, no, they're just the 'help,' father believes that I need them whenever I leave home despite what I tell him, such a worry wart," Stefon answered as cold as ice with his bodyguards at his side. "They must have seen you take hold of me in such a...threatening manner." He explained and tightened his hold on Blake's hand in an attempt to put him in his place.

But rather than back down and apologize Blake smiled, then slowly got his hand out of Stefon's and rubbed the noble's shoulder lightly before pulling off a small lose white string from his shirt. "Sorry, it was annoying me, and I just needed to get rid of it." He said, holding up the string for Stefon.

"Understandable, I sometimes feel that way about people..." Stefon took the string from Blake giving him a small glare all the while then nodded to his men who let go of Blake. "...and I will listen to your advice on getting some sleep, smith." He turned around while throwing back his small cape in Blake's face. "I hope to see you before I depart tomorrow, lady Lu." With a wink, he told the Elfin boy goodbye still unaware of Lu's true gender, and his men followed closely behind.

"...Dick, should have rubbed my fist on his face and got rid of a tooth!" Blake groaned loudly, hoping that Stefon heard it as clear as day.

"Well, why didn't you?" Baba asked with her head held up by both of her hands while watching the whole encounter. "You got Risabeel and me here with you. Those two big boys wouldn't stand a chance." She tugged on Risabeel's hood, making her hold it in place yet something might show that would get the guards grabbing at their weapons.

"Not worth my time and this fort has enough on its case with those wolves out there the last thing it needs is a noble beaten black and blue by a smith," Blake answered Baba and stopped her from troubling Risabeel then fixed her hood back. "And I feel like his 'lady' Lu might have a problem with that." He joked, putting a big emphasis on the lady part.

"Ugh..." Lu's ears dropped low, and his face followed suit. "...Please don't, he's gone now, and I don't need a reminder, especially when someone was looking at me the same way the first time from inside a brush if I remember correctly." He built up the courage to joke about Blake since he also missed took Lu for a girl at first sight.

"Hey! Hey! I wasn't the weirdo bathing nude out in the middle of nowhere!" Blake shot back but the small drop of sweat running down his face showed that it did affect him, with a few more jokes thrown around, the party spent the rest of their night with laughs.

The next day

Blake's party was all and set ready to depart from Fyrilk Keep and into the forest hopefully without any problems. At Nash's reins was Blake with Baba at his side floating around him. On top of the cart's roof was Lu sitting with his bow in hand and his quiver resting next to him while Rena was sitting on his head and as for the others, they were inside.

"Oh? That is quite the mode of transportation you've got there, smith, for a country bum, I suppose." Came the unwanted voice of Stefon who was pleasantly sitting on a lavish roofless carriage made fit for royalty.

It was printed in a deep blue with gold designs such as flowers, trees, and rams on its sides and was being pulled by a pair of white horses that had blue coolers over their backs with the same white ram head as with anything else that Stefon had.

"Easy now." Holding the horses' reins was the coachman in a finely made suit and top hat, his face was utterly emotionless not wanting to bring any attention to himself.

Behind the carriage was a larger white cart twice the size of Blake's with the same gold designs as Nathan's carriage pulled by four horses. Finally, both vehicles were surrounded by 20 of Stefon's guards with ten on either side.

"..." After gauging what Stefon had with him, Blake decided to speak. "So are you planning on raiding those wolves in there down to the ground they piss on? Or is this more of your daddy's love?" He asked and cracked Nash's reins to get

"Hmph! The latter and I call him 'father' mind you," Stefon answered, waving a hand to his carriage driver to keep up with Blake and then set his eyes on Lu on top of the cart watching him push back a lock of hair that was in his face. "~Ah~ such beauty." He whispered lovingly and reached out for a bowl of fruit he had with him. "Care to come over and travel with me, my dear?" He offered and popped a grape into his mouth.

"Ugh..." Lu shivered as he leaned down to Blake with a desperate look on his face. "...can't we go any faster?" He asked, quickly darting his eyes between Blake and Stefon to get the point across.

"That's a bit of a problem..." Blake pointed at a guard standing at the gate except this one had something in his hands that wasn't a weapon but a wooden box. "What's up, gatekeep?" Blake asked, pulling Nash to a stop along with Stefon's carriage the next second.

"Indeed, what reason do you have for blocking my way, guard?" Stefon questioned as well while he was leaning deeply into his seat.

"Well, I am very sorry for the inconvenience, lord Ovis..." The guard apologized sincerely to Stefon without giving so much as an afterthought to Blake then opened the box he was holding; inside were a pair of odd looking arrows each one had a red ball with a thick string hanging off of it. "...These are reworked fireworks that can be used in the day; you can use them to single us here at the fort if you need any help." He explained before handed one of the arrows to Stefon's driver. "...And you too." He turned to Blake, giving him one.

"Fireworks, huh?" After rolling it around in his hand, Blake held it up for Lu. "Here, archer, you've got the right equipment for this thing." Then he looked at Stefon about to ask how he was planning on using his since all of his bodyguards had either spears or maces and didn't look like the types to use ranged combat.

"Ohoho, a fellow archery enthusiast! How fate plays with us so..." Stefon was standing up when one of his guards came up with a blue crossbow in hand, it had some gold designs on it, and its top was carved into a ram head with its horns making up the bow giving it an overly flashy but well put to together look. "...I've part taken in it since I was a boy, father wanted me to do something that built character and so the way of the bow and arrow was placed on me." He boasted, taking the crossbow from his guard, posing a little with it.

"Heh, that's sound interesting and all...well good luck with not getting your men to do all the work for ya, friend," Blake said to Stefon and cracked Nash's reins finally getting out of the fort and into the waiting forest.

1 hour later inside Fyrilk Forest

"Ah, another hour or two, and we should be out of here..." Blake yawned with his arms behind his head while Baba was holding Nash's reins doing a good job at driving the cart, that or Nash was in a good mood. "Yo, Lu, everything's pretty easy down here. What about the rest of the forest?"

"Hmm?" Lu's ears were in constant movement, and his eyes were scanning the tree line, listening, and watching for anything. "As far as I can tell, no. And that's understandable wolves are most active at dawn or dust both of those are a few hours away so we should fine...for now." He answered, still looking for anything out of place.

"And even if they did show up! It'd be a piece of cake for us to whoop some doggie butts!" Rena yelled out, fluttering around Lu's head before hovering above him to look for anything as well.

"Good to know just keep watch then," Blake said back up to them and was about to nod off to dreamland. "Whoa!" When the cart came to a sudden stop nearly knocking him out of his seat. "Baba, what was that for!?"

"That," Baba answered, pointing at a fallen tree right in the middle of the road. "And no need to yell at me like that Hubby, save it for in the bedroom,"

"Uhm, sorry about that." Blake apologized and hopped off the cart then walked over to the tree. "But this is a bit random now, isn't it?" He thought out loud and checked where the tree fell from. "Huh?" Found that it was torn off its trunk instead of falling naturally or getting chopped down. "That's...unusual? What could've knocked a big tree like this down?"

"Maybe a bear but that doesn't answer why it was knocked down so close to the road most animals try to stay clear of anything that has to do with people," Lu commented on, still listening in on the surroundings when he did he heard something almost like a scream. "Hmm?" He turned his head to the faint scream's direction, but nothing more came from there. "...Blake, I think something might be going on at lord Ovis' side?"

"Really? You're using 'lord' for that guy? Don't worry about him; he's got a small army, he's fine. Let's deal with our problems first." Blake muttered not worried about the noble at all and grabbed a rope to tie around the tree and make Nash drag it aside which was the plan until a wolf jumped up from behind a tree into Blake's face bearing its white fangs at him. "AH!" He jumped back just as its fangs snapped shut.

"Blake!" Lu yelled from above, drawing an arrow and fired it at the wolf's feet expecting it to run off, from getting shot at.

"Grrr!" But it just growled lowly at the arrow before setting its eyes back on Blake about to try chewing on his face again.

"Tch! Fine, I didn't want to put you down, but!" Lu quickly pulled back another arrow, but a flicker from his ears made him turn with the arrow ready to shoot at a wolf that leaped out of a nearby tree putting it down.

"Nice, but what about me?!" Blake still facing down a pair of fangs yelled up to the Elf just as the wolf made another move on his face only to get caught in mid-air then tossed into the fallen tree with bone breaking force all done by a green gust of wind. "Thank you, Baba."

"You're very much welcome," Baba returned Blake's thanks with a wink and floated over to him in time for the wolf to get back to its feet, growling at her and Blake. "Oooh? This doggie is tougher than it looks." She hummed at the beast's quick recovery about to toss it around again when it raised its head to send an echoing howl into the surroundings followed shortly by multiple other howls. "Oh?"

"Ok, Baba, I'll take charge from here!" Blake declared and held out his left hand for Baba to turn into a gust of whirling wind and then into her buckler form right before a group of three wolves appeared after their companion's call who together with them pounced at Blake. "Right, Gale Shield!" Holding Baba up, Blake sent out a gust of wind that caught each of the wolves in mid-jump and tossed them around. "Haha, kicking ass without touching'em!" He cheered, watching the wolves get back up and surrounded him. "Shit!"

"Need some help?" Lu asked from the roof of the cart firing arrows at the wolves, hitting each of them dead on, they all yelped in pain but still held their ground growling at Lu and Blake.

While Blake and Lu were dealing with the wolves, one of the side doors on the cart swung open, getting their attention. "Hey! Why did we stop? Weren't you some hurry, Scaleless?" Saffire popped her head to look around for Blake.

"Ran into some problems, stay inside! Lu and I can deal with it!" Blake yelled at her then noticed a wolf creeping up on her from the sidelines before it leaped at her. "Saffire, watch it!" He tried, rushing up to her but the pack he was fighting didn't back off.

Sadly for the wolf, it was caught by Saffire with just one hand and had an enraged look on her face, but it was sent Blake's way instead of the wolf's. "Do not yell at me!" She roared, and the wolf's neck suddenly went up in flames before getting tossed aside. "And these furballs are annoying!" She ignited her hands with fire and showed her fangs and horns. "Run or Burn!" She threw a fireball at each of the wolves, lighting two of them on fire.

"Haha! Nice job, Saffi-! What the hell!?" Blake raised Baba in time to block a fireball thrown at him once it hit his Gale Shield, the flames mixed with the winds and a mini-firestorm raged around Blake torching everything around him mainly the wolves which scared them back into the deeper parts of the forest. "Huh? That was a good combo but uncalled for..." He muttered, staring at Saffire with a raised brow. "...Not going to get a sorry out of you, am I?"

"No." The Dragon spat out about to throw another one at Blake but clenched her fist to put it out. "And what did you do to piss off those guys?" Saffire asked just as Risabeel and Mair came out.

"Sir Blake, what has taken place here?" Risabeel asked, looking worried after getting out of the cart.

"And what is that smell? Yuck!" Mari asked as well with both hands covering her nose.

"Burnt fur from a pack of wild wolves that tried to chew off my face," Blake answered in a deadpan, keeping Baba at the ready for another pack. "Hey, Lu, any more of them out there?"

"Hold on..." Lu listened in on the movements from the trees hearing the pack they just scared off and few more going somewhere else. "We're in the clear, I think bu-!" He was cut off by a whistling sound of something going into the air, leaving a trail of red smoke behind it until it exploded in a red cloud.

"That must be Ovis, looks like he needs help..." Blake let those words sink in before turning to the fallen tree. "...on to more important matters, hey, Saffire, mind turning into a Dragon and picking this up?"

"But Sir Blake, what of the nobleman Ovis? Are we not to go and assist him?" Risabeel asked, feeling a sense of urgency come over her while Saffire was muttering something but Blake trying to order her around.

"I'm sure the fort is going to send a group to save his ass, not our problem." Blake shrugged his shoulders with his eyes closed when he opened them Risabeel was giving him a stern look; eyes glared, lips in a small line and arms crossed. "Ugh." It made Blake flinched not wanting to deal with that and looked at Lu for his input. "...Lu, what do you think?"

"Well, it's weird? Those wolves just came after us, and there was no sign of us coming on to their territory by my guess? That and the one I shot at first called for help instead of running off," Lu explained, putting his bow around his shoulder along with his quiver. "It's like their getting ordered around by something, and that's a not good sign."

"...Fine, since you're all set, go ahead of us, you can get through the trees faster than the cart can," Blake said and got up into the driver's seat, a bit annoyed but once Risabeel lightened up he broke a smile. "Hey, Lu, hurry up your 'lord' is waiting for you, haha!"

"Ugh, I don't like how he said that." Lu groaned, feeling some reluctance in doing this now but nonetheless, he began jumping from tree to tree with inhuman agility and skill.

"Don't mind him! Just get rid of all of those wolves before he can get there! That'll show him!" Rena cheered, striking a fist in the air while holding onto the rim of Lu's quiver.

A few minutes later

"Dang, when Lutwig needs to, he can move," Blake said in amazement only awhile ago were he and others able to see the Elf moving through the trees but now he had fallen out of sight outpacing Nash quickly with little effort. "I knew he'd get there before us but geez."

"Oh, it's not that bad, Hubby, you've got me right here." Baba cooed from Blake's arm which got a puff of smoke from Saffire who was sitting next to Blake. "Hmm? What was that for, Hot-head?"

"Tsk! Hearing you speak to him like that is a bit much for me." Saffire answered dryly under her breath and turned her head away when Blake was about to question her on that. "Huh?" When she did, a wolf was running alongside the cart. "Hey, Scaleless, look?"

"Huh?" Blake turned to look, just as a tree on the other side was falling right on top of them. "Oh shit!" Seeing it at the last second Blake pulled on Nash's reins nearly throwing the cart on its side.

"Sir Blake! Has someone attacked us?" Risabeel rushed out of the cart's side door after it stopped with a frantic look on her face. "...And where is Saffire?"

"Wha?" Blake turned to where Saffire was, but it looked like she got tossed out when Blake made that quick turn. "Well, she's going be mad." He muttered and went face to face with Nash. "And you, Why didn't warn me about that!?" He yelled at the black horse who just blow air back at Blake and motioned his head towards the tree. "What!? Oh?"

There standing tall was a massive white wolf that had its paw over the area of the tree that got snapped in half showing. "..." It scanned over Blake and Risabeel with its piercing green eyes and sniffed the air around it to get a much better feel for them.

"Oh, that's a big doggie," Baba said at the sight of the wolf.

"A talking shield? Interesting...." The wolf said, sniffing the air again someone was missing from the group from the first time he came across the scent of Blake's group but more curiously for him was that none of them were all that surprised by him speaking.

"It speaks...that's good," Blake spoke up first, getting the wolf to look at him. "So, what's a big bad Greater Wolf doing out here?" He asked with a smile sent the wolf's way. "Primo Ore here I come!"

Hunting Monster, Greater Wolf: One of the powerful and rarer breeds of wolves within the world. They are known for their high speed, strength, and endurance that are far great than their already large bodies would say. They usually grow to the size of a fully grown horse, but there have been stories of far larger ones rivaling some Dragons.

Their physical abilities are only surpassed by their sense of smell, which easily allows them to track prey for months on end or miles away. Because of this, their nose is considered a third eye, with all of these skills taken into account these beasts are given the title of Greater as a sign of their might.

Items forged with this monster's Ore are spears, axes, halberd, and glaives.

"Hahaha! That's pretty good; most of you just scream 'giant talking wolf.' It gets kind of boring after a while." The Greater Wolf joked around with somewhat of a smile impressed just a little by Blake's reaction to him. "But that doesn't change the fact that you hurt some of my pack."

"So you're the one bossing them around? Makes sense when they attacked me earlier. I was looking for some payback for that." Blake said, keeping his eyes on the wolf's feet to be sure of his next move. "Now what better way of doing that then taken out the one at the top?"

"That's some big talk when all you've got is a talking shield to fight with." The Greater Wolf growled, going down low with his tail in full view behind ready to start things. "I'll give you a five-second head start to grab something else before I start ripping you apart, friend."

"Heh, bad idea, Risabeel!" Blake quickly dashed to Risabeel, giving her only a short moment to realize what he was going.

"Right!" With any more words, Risabeel transformed and was caught by Blake.

"What!?" The Greater Wolf only snarled in shock when Blake grew horns and gained a new layer of smell that he couldn't make out.

"Still got a second left! Demon Slash!" Blake wheeled around with a two-handed swing and sent a purple wave at the Greater Wolf.

"Well then!" The Greater Wolf quickly leaped high into the air and landed onto a nearby branch that bent under his weight, while Blake's slash continued into the trees ahead cutting each of them down causing a series loud thunderous booms to echo throughout the area. "Not bad. You could've put me in half with that one!" He admitted after seeing the damage Blake did. "But now the hunt begins!" With barely any warning the wolf darted off the branch splintering it in half and went right after Blake.

"Well, try dodging in midair!" Blake fired off another Demon Slash at the wolf, this time he had no way of jumping out of this one. "What the hell!?" Blake gasped when the wolf twisted in the air dodging his Demon Slash and came down on Blake claws first. "Not yet!" He brought up Baba up to block the attack with a wall of wind between them, but the force of the wolf's claws meeting Blake's Gale Shield made both of them bounce off each other with Blake getting knocked into a fallen tree.

"Not bad, human." The Greater Wolf growled then readied himself for another go at Blake, going down low and tightened his legs.

Blake recovered quickly and held Baba up in his left hand keeping up a Gale Shield while Risabeel was held to the side in his right. "Thanks!" He accepted the compliment right as the wolf did a forward dash that left a trail of dust swirling behind him. "Nope!" Instead of blocking it, Blake rolled out of the way, allowing the wolf to slam into the fallen tree behind him and tore right through it. "Definitely a nope."

"And here's more!" The Greater Wolf performed another dash the moment he finished the first.

"Tch!" Blake narrowly dodged it by jumping to the side, feeling the rushing wind go by his face at the last second. "Damn, that attack might be in a straight line, but he moves faster than I can swing with Risabeel and blocking it with Baba might break my arm." He weighed options for countering that wolf's dash.

"Alright, third times the charm!" The Greater Wolf declared about to make yet another assault on Blake, but a twitch of his nose made him turn down the path that Blake's cart came from. "Really? You have one of those with you?"

"Huh? What's he looking a-" Blake was interrupted by the ground shaking followed by a familiar low growl, and he smiled. "Took you long enough to get up."

"Shut it! You're the one who tossed me out!" Saffire spat out, coming into view now in her Dragon form, staring down the Greater Wolf. "Hah, you're a bit bigger than the rest of those furballs."

"And you're an over-sized lizard, ever heard the saying the bigger they are, the harder they fall?!" The Greater Wolf snarled back at Saffire, aiming at her now instead of Blake.

"Don't bite off more than you can chew, doggie." Saffire readied herself for what this slightly bigger furball had up his paws, building up embers in her mouth.

"Hey, don't forget about me!" Blake yelled at the both of them without a response from either of the beasts he just sighed and got into a fighting stance from the looks of things he was going to be Saffire's support for the battle. "Let's just hope I don't get hit by a random fireball or that wolf dash."

Chapter End