‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍Adrian arrived first as Kijad was still busy fighting some wolves that were continuously multiplying.

Nalem always told the disciples that creatures in the wolf grounds follow the leader so by catching the leader one can disable the army. On this premises, he was looking for a wolf that stood out the most but that was proving to be very difficult because they all looked the same. This just made him very annoyed and irritable.

He called his thunder element . His fists, eyes, and boots emitted dense streaks of red as the wolves were charging for him . With less than twenty-five feet from him , he pulled his muscles and deposited all his strength to furiously stomp the ground. This motion caused the earth to glow up and revel nearly a hundred lethal foxes orbiting them . As much of a scene that was , seconds following the big reveal ,the beasts stood at ease.Those that were fighting with Kijad halted and eventually came to an abrupt stop.

Chulee snapped his fingers twice and from the ground emerged thirty-one human like figures. Each one had a slight modification from its counterpart. From no face , no arms , no legs, open skull to cracked chest, long and horrifying ocular spaces. What was even scarier was that the recognizable entities resembled some part of Adrian's body.

Adrian looked to Kijad who was trapped in the encirclement with him. He seemed as awestruck because this was starting to look a bit personal than random. The way he looked at Adrian was as if he expects to confess something.

Kijad bit his lip and he lit his hands. he tossed a medium-sized fireball to one of the morphs but it absorbed the fire, melted then shackled while it regenerated.. Immediately after attaining form , it spit a similar design blurb of mud to Kijad, corroding the ground before his boot

Adrian without command sent a thunder bolt to the creature that dodged it and flew towards him . The melted morph slid across the ground along with other morphs that has no legs nor a lower body.

Adrian emitted a green solid aura that crystallized to make a dome around him and Kijad to separate them the morphs.Kijad used nine-heaves fire element spell that allows him to chanel his strength nine times the original count,to created fire scorpions that he planed to disperse to the morphs. Kijad told him to lower the walls after which he flew out of the dome and he started to shoot the scorpions through his hand. The morphs that he managed to obliterate, transformed into liquid substances that would jerk from the ground like cobras.

As if that wasn't enough, some wolves stated to climb the dome while the rest ran past it. Valian called Adrian from out of the dome and others reacted by flowing downwards of the dome pacing for him.

Kijad nearly had a stroke when he saw Valian.

The first beast that attacked Valian cracked his sword.After only five more fights, his sword was useless. The blade was shamelessly damaged and the handle was damaged . At this point he really wished that Joln and Jakhyer has gone for quality weapons.

" Go to Adrian!", Kijad screamed trying to kill the morphs and wolves that were regenerating as they climbed the dome as well as those that were regenerating on the ground and aiming for Valian.

Adrian who was used his qi as a bait for the morphs only to burn them with the same power as they contacted the dome , tried to stretch it. His goal was to reach close enough to Valian and protect him but it was a very straining exercise.

Valian was hell-bent on attacking the wolves and thus didn't hear anything nor notice Adrian's attempt. He abandoned the sword and fought with fire. From shurikens to arrows, balls and blades he attacked left to right but still no avail. Furthermore whenever he tried to float, a creature would pounce on him or pull him down by the shanks.

Kijad multiplied his output to both the things attacking his disciples. He was emitting high energy levels in five different locations, including back at the camp were Syin was. As much as it bruises to admit weakness, he was really wishing for Jakhyer to come but he was who unfortunately guarding the tents since Jakhyer detected foreign inhumane energy around the camp .

Adrian let his dome become permeable and he stated to attack the first creature that was well equipped with martial arts. Valian mimicked the dome protection but he couldn't make it solid and strong enough to hold for long

Nearly four hours later of constant fighting, the disciples were sweating profusely. And Kijad felt like a dried up log. His energy output was sluggish and he felt cramps all over his body . Adrian was barely moving and currently laid flat on the ground. He hyperventilated and he had heated up despite his legs feeling like they were submerged inside ice. The dome he had formed was so far away from Valian.

The foxes wouldn't stop fighting and their numbers were far from reducing. There were literally ten more morphs outside the dome and the foxes were bordering five hundred. It wasn't that Kijad was incompetent, but rather that Chulee kept making more and more for every ten killed. He was having fun since the energy that the foxes absorbed from Kijad, the dome and the disciples , was in fact being packaged back to him and he relayed to the underground channels

" Kiki, I am tired!", Valian whispered and fell to the ground

Adrian turned his head to look and met Valian losing stability. Before he even contacted the ground, the wolves jumped onto him and started to tear his skin from let to right.Valian wasn't even screaming. His consciousness left him after he called Kijad's name.

Adrian closed the dome and just laid there gawking at Valian getting devoured. Kijad was just frozen.His heart had dropped from his chest , through his body and slammed on the ground first. His blood went dry and his face turned blue. Though he could tell what was going on , nothing seemed to trigger him into action

He slowly descended till his soles touched the floor .

For no reason his body changed to crimson and he gradually walked closer to the wolves. Immediately he overflew with energy that the wolves melted and sizzle.

His tear-filled eyes saw Valian's mutilated body on the ground and along with them he choked on tears. Most of Kijad's skin hung on his bones, all of his torso was brimming with blood and tattered cloth. His face was unrecognizable as his jaw had been torn off and his eyes eaten away. His neck was ripped off, his hands had no fingers and what remained of his abdomen did the most to hide his guts. Kijad squatted but he didn't know where to touch , what to hold. All seemed painful so he merely hovered his hands Valian while his tears silently fell to the ground. This is a traumatizing and gruesome picture that was scaring Kijad!

***

" There is nothing we can do for him when he is in this state! He is just awaiting death!", The extremely old and versatile monk whispered the last sentence to Jakhyer.

The crew had immediately packed when Jakhyer finally returned after he had gone to look for Kijad and Adrian. He found grief-filled Kijad kneeling next to lacerated Valian while Adrain was unconscious in a distance. On setting course, Syin transformed to a wolf along with Herim and Ryle as they were marking the perimeter. The crew traveled to the alchemist craftsman who was supposed to give them weapons and medicine.

After an un-confident consultation ,Syin ordered for the best medicine to be hunted throughout the mountain but to no avail. He continued throughout the place with Ryle lingering by his waist. Even if he was supporting him, he knew that whatever sort of remedy they found would not undo the damage. As for Joln,he felt awful since he was the one who had left Valian all alone therefore he guarded his room.

Anyway after the eight examination, it was already reaching dawn . Adrian had woken up nearly two hours ago and he went out to find herbs with Syin's team. But Herim carried him back when he kept feeling dizzy. Nevertheless he couldn't muster the courage to go and see Valian just because of how shattered Kijad was .

Kijad's mood hadn't returned back to normal and everyone was sort of reluctant to try and make him feel better. Anyway without argument, the monk let him into Valian's room but all he did was just sit next to his bed. he just thought about how naive he was .

A part of him knew something that the rest of him refused to acknowledge. Everything happened so quickly and now he is losing his disciple. As much as he wasn't against them bringing Valian to the monk, he knows Valian will not recover . He has lost a lot of blood , his huge amount of qi was sucked by foxes and finally he used a lot of energy back then that his meridians are irreparable. The only reason he is still alive is because of his core that will turn off in four to five days. All that is left is to prepare him for burial !

***

" Sir , can you read our fortunes?", The worker asked the man who agreed.

He was told to give the cultivators a deluxe treatment no matter what so despite his reluctance , he can't disobey the king or the prince's comrades

He read the worker's and told them everything. Though he was very vague to the ears of the audience, he seemed to hit the nail on the head for his intended target. Out of curiosity Herim jumped in. To be honest he really needed a distraction. he fortune teller told him that he will make a costly sacrifice for love that will leave him irreversibly poor.

Of course the first wolf that came to his mind is Joln. He turned to look at him and saw him with his head buried. A surge of pain erupted throughout his heart as he saw Joln in pain over his true friend. he lowered his eyes back down. He could almost feel the pain that Joln is in as he has to bare his friend in that state. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know the basic fact that Valian won't see the next full moon. Everyone is this room knows as much but they seem to be playing dumbfounded because everything happened so fast ! One minute he was there and the next he is gone!

The fortune teller offered to read Jakhyer's but he refused so Adrian said requested to read his.

He said that Adrian had a lot of questions ones which the answers will break his heart and soul to lengths that have no degree of measure. Nevertheless according to him Adrian underestimates the extremity of the pain that could come from the truth and believes that the state of not knowing anything at this point is far much more crippling.

Jakhyer knew what the fortune teller was talking about but he kept quiet.

Suddenly the old man turned to look at Jakhyer.

A monetary heartache was created! As if that wasn't enough , Adrian turned to look at Jakhyer.

Time stood still as he looked at his son right in the eyes.

' does he sometimes feel that I am his father? ',

' why does he look at me like that? ',

Jakhyer felt the tears stinging in his eyes so he stood up and walked out of the room.

Everyone else decided to leave and that is when Adrian spilled the depths of his heart.

" I lost my mom at a young age. No one knows who or where my father is because he abandoned mom and I. My mother was an angel so why did he abandon her? Is it because of me? ", He covered his face and already sensitive due to Valian, he couldn't help but cry

Jakhyer who was currently atop the house, was sobbing in the same manner . Something about hearing Adrian cry was so nerve-wrecking. It just magnified the degree of guilt inside.

Outside the house , Joln looked into the plains and views of the mountain but everything was too blurry as he was just crying. His skin was red and dried up. All he could remembe

r was his last conversation with Valian and how he left him all alone. It just hurt too much !