Back at Calico city the Mund house partied all the way through the night, only when dawn broke through the sky did they finely settle down, they had not known the full details on the trade but they knew that they would soon be rich thus they didn’t hold back

“Sir Madu you gotta rest well, we will need your business head when we get to Halferg”

“Hahaha don’t you worry and just count on me, I will make sure to wring them dry”

The drunk Madu smugly proclaimed to his fellow scholars before he went into his chambers, he had received praise for identifying the water that was sung all night, he had never been able to boast so much for the last few years, now that he was finely in the spotlight he had to boast to the best of his ability

“And it all thanks to you” He looked at the crystal container of water he had filled with some of the precious Elixir Water, he got his clutches on this after persuading the baron that he needed to conduct studies on its level of purity, although he actually had no knowledge about that to speak of, he really just wanted to admire it

“Huh?” He could’ve swore that the water looked deeper before, he rubbed his eyes a bit thinking that he was drunk but still the color wasn’t getting any deeper

Madu was now feeling a little anxious but he didn’t let it get to him, he went ahead and splashed his face with some cold well water and came back, then he opened the bottle and fished out his dropper and stones to test it again

Clack, roll~

He soon dropped the first stones when the results came out, panic could be seen on his face as he rushed out to the houses treasury

“Master Madu, where are you going”

“get away I need to check on the water”

“I’m sorry master Madu we can’t let you in, it was baron’s specific orders not to let anyone in”

“I need to check the water NOW!”

Madu was stopped by the guards at the doors of the treasury, naturally the baron wouldn’t let anyone near this new treasure he gained

“What is going on, what are you doing here Madu?” Soon the ruckus attracted the captain of the guards even the baron and the butler came rushing when they heard the noise near the treasury, seeing the frantic Madu they suddenly felt a bad omen

“You need to let me through I have to check the water”

“Why? What happened to the water?”

“The one in my room it, it, it’s not Elixir Water anymore!”

“WHAT! Open the doors NOW!” The baron suddenly lost his cool, he had already suspected something was amiss about that noble and now the water he had given to Madu wasn’t the same? His heart shuddered in fear at the prospect of all the water having the same fate

As soon as the doors were open Madu and the rest rushed in, they opened the barrels and Madu took a sample to test it, but the results came back negative again, he couldn’t believe his eyes, so he moved on to the next, and tested again, and the next, but his face only got paler, when the third barrel proved to be useless as well his knees suddenly gave in, it was lost, all lost, they would blame him for not figuring it out sooner, he was doomed doomed!

Seeing the old Madu despairing the others didn’t need any words to understand the situation, Secor shouted toward the sky in rage ordering his men

“TRACK THAT NOBLE! GO! NOW!”

His shout reverberated through the residence waking up all the occupants from their sweet dreams, plunging them into the cold and merciless truth, there was no free lunch here, they didn’t even have leftovers

………..

While the Mund house was going through crises, the cause of the problem was facing a dilemma on his own

“Why.Cant.I.Sleep!”

Lyra looked worriedly at the seething Yu, this was his third day in a row, no matter how tired, how relaxed, or how sleepy he was he couldn’t get a second of shut eye, the mental and physical fatigue were driving him mad!

“Wuuu!” “No we can’t stay here any longer, they might have figured it out already, they could be in the forest searching as we speak, since dawn had just risen we need to start moving as well, once we reach Begaria we will research my problem, were strong but not against a whole house”

Yu never thought he was one of those valiant warriors who fought hundreds on their own, especially not when he didn’t even know how to fight himself, Lyra had her own limitation of stamina, even if she could take on the beasts of the Mund house and the elite solders she would still cave in under the hundred men they would certainty bring along

“Let’s go”

The duo got up and started rushing toward the next city in a straight line, since they made quite the mess by burning the highly resilient trees and their destination could be easily guessed there was no need to try and move in a strange pattern anymore, instead they should put up as much distance as possible

Awooooo! Awoo!

Many howls sounded beyond the trees, followed by shadows speeding toward them with high speed, numerus sets of yellow eyes accompanied the shadows

“Damn! Take to the left! We need slow their momentum” Yu and Lyra head a bunch of trees that were a bit too close to each other, this would stop whoever was coming from surrounding them from all sides, the trees would make a good cover

As they approached the trees Yu finely caught a glimpse of the enemy, it was the Harrowing Hunter Wolves!

-Harrowing Hunter Wolf, Beast Branch, Wolf Sub-Branch, Beast Attribute, Bronze-Silver Rank

“Of course it’s these guys, where there are human caravans, hunting beasts would come, relentless bastards”

Humans and beasts weren’t really on good terms, after all more often than not these beasts were either eaten, killed for materials, or imprisoned with Soul Stones, only a minuscule amount would be bound to a Grimoire and even then they may not receive a good treatment, Yu’s body’s previous owner was the best example on that

“Wuu!” Once they got to the dense part of the trees Lyra didn’t waste any time and instantly jumped on one of the trees, using it to jump back the opposite direction she landed on the back of one of the closest wolves, the poor fellow didn’t even get a chance to be surprised before his neck was twisted around with one bite from Lyra

“Haha you really wanted to flex after ranking didn’t you?”

Yu didn’t sit still either as he brought out his new crossbow out, he had a lot of pent up stress to let out, and these poor wolves would his punching bag

“Sorry guys but I need to get a move on” He let loose a bolt toward the wolf that was circling around Lyra to get to him, the bolt seemed to shine with a deadly glint as it flew silently toward its target, promising absolute death when it came in contact

Crack-Poof

That promise could never be fulfilled though as the bolt suddenly broke half way through disappearing into a puff of smoke

‘What?’ Yu didn’t understand why such a strong attack enhanced by Runes vanished for now reason, then he remembered the baron explaining the weapon was defective so he grunted and replaced the Runic crossbow with his normal one

This time the bolt he sot found purchase, sinking into the coming wolfs thigh, but it hardly flinched and continued its advance toward Yu in a mad bid to bite his head off, this was precisely why they were harrowing, their merciless pursuit and mindless battle left the opposition in horror

Yu didn’t panic though, instead he lifted his other arm shooting a grapple toward one of the tree’s branches, once the grapple hooked around it he used the mechanism built in to propel himself upward

The wolf still madly gave pursuit as it tried to climb the tree, of course that would be a hard task normally, not to mention when it had an injured foot

“Lyra don’t mind me, make as much distance as you like” Lyra nodded her head at the now safe Yu and dashed away, if she stayed in place things would get tough as the wolves would corner her sooner or later, she might as well lead them on a blind chase and hit them when they break apart, while she couldn’t wield fire and darkness with as much ease as her current power let her she could still cover her paws with flames, that and her already superior power proved to be a sure one hit kill to any Bronze wolf that took her attack head on

‘Good girl, I shouldn’t lag behind too much either’ Reloading his crossbow he shot one bolt after the other at the wolves trying to climb the tree, his attacks almost always landed, and if they didn’t then the wolf fell as it dogged the attack, once any of them got closer he would use the grapple to move to another branch, these mindless beasts were practically dancing the in palm of his hand

AWOOOOO

The loud howl interrupted the flow of the battle causing all the wolves to stop dead in their tracks, but that didn’t last long as they only got madder, the practically clawed their way up to Yu while the ones on Lyra’s side were pushing their bodies beyond the limit crushing their own legs from the exerted pressure

“When theirs smoke theirs fire, and when theirs a pack of wolves theirs a pack leader, by the sound of it this guy is probably also a Silver Rank”

Turning his head toward the incoming pair of huge eyes Yu felt his back tingle, the real battle was only just about to start