"EVERYONE, COMBINE YOUR STRENGTH AND ATTACK THE WOLF FROM FIVE SIDES!"
The five pointy-eared creatures glanced at one another under the command of the white-haired elf, then nodded in unison, "Alright!"
They immediately took their positions to form the formation. But just as they were focused on combining their strength, one of the three beasts attacked first, sending all five tumbling to the ground, away from the wolf.
As they lay on the ground, the creature vanished, leaving behind a brick-red smoke.
"Damn! We've lost its trail," said Carlos, the white-haired old elf. Or rather, the Elder of Elvendria, the ancient castle where the elves trained and honed their powers.
Isaura—one of the five formation members dressed in sapphire blue—who was still sprawled on the ground at that moment, hurriedly rose. Ignoring the pain spreading throughout her body, she staggered forward, "I will chase it until I catch it!"
Without waiting for an answer, the girl took off, running and stepping onto several trees to propel herself forward. Isaura's sudden departure drew the gaze of four pairs of eyes behind her.
"Isaura!" Darius shouted. But the girl had already moved beyond his sight. Darius lost her again, for the umpteenth time. And that, of course, made him throw a punch into the empty air, "This isn't Isaura's first time. Why does she still not understand?"
Behind Darius, who had just shouted, stood Evelyn, supporting Eliot. The two of them walked over to him, "Isaura is always reckless in making decisions. What if that creature attacks her?"
Darius remained silent at Evelyn's words. He knew how dangerous it was. But the long-haired elf could do nothing without receiving orders. So, he quickly turned around and looked at Carlos—who was now walking toward him.
"You three, follow and find Isaura until you catch up. That wolf is no ordinary wolf, it can injure anyone who tries to harm it," said Carlos, looking at Darius and nodding. It seemed the Elder understood Darius's worries.
Darius returned the nod, though no one noticed except him and Carlos, of course.
"Elder, Eliot is injured. We must let him recover his strength first. If we force him to go, his wounds may become even harder to heal," said Evelyn. Truthfully, Eliot's injuries weren't too severe. But if left untreated, they would only become troublesome later.
One of Eliot's hands held his stomach. He tried to speak, then pulled himself away from Evelyn's support, "I'm fine. Isaura's situation is far more important right now."
Elder Carlos looked at Eliot with deep concern, though he tried to hide it. "Are you sure you can go? Don't end up being the next victim just because you're trying to save one person."
Eliot nodded firmly. And that answer finally made Carlos take a long breath.
"Then let's go. That wizard truly can't be relied on. Perhaps her life would feel boring if she didn't cause problems," muttered Darius in restrained emotion. He took off first, flying after Isaura without looking back.
Meanwhile, Evelyn was still supporting Eliot. After making sure he could fly on his own, the elf followed behind, ensuring Eliot wouldn't get hurt along the way.
Watching them leave, Carlos clasped his hands behind his back, "I knew this day would eventually come. But I hoped we still had enough time to face it all."
---
Elsewhere, Isaura was giving her all to chase the brick-red smoke that was the wolf's form. She unleashed all her strength and struck at the target she saw, but missed.
Angered by the sudden attack, the smoke turned back into a real wolf. The creature was much larger than the wolves found in the human world. But it had three tails and thick brick-red fur.
On its head was a small crown that symbolized what the creature truly was.
Without warning, the wolf swung its tail toward Isaura again. But this time the girl managed to dodge. She drew her sword and struck, injuring one of the wolf's legs.
The wolf howled in pain, which made Isaura feel a twinge of pity. And because of her carelessness, she didn't notice the creature still had three other tails, one of which struck Isaura hard. She was thrown into a tree before collapsing onto the ground.
When Isaura lifted her head, she saw that the wolf had already vanished, its smoke drifting toward the abyss at the edge of Darkvale Forest. A dark chasm, of which no one knew the bottom. It was said to be the most dangerous abyss in Elvendria.
Isaura tried to sit up, but her strength was already drained, and she could only cough up blood. Darius, who arrived first, immediately approached Isaura, "Are you satisfied now?"
The girl lifted her head and found Darius crouching in front of her. Seeing his furious expression, Isaura tried to avoid his gaze, "I'm sorry, Darius. I was only trying to stop it. We must know why it attacked Elvendria Castle so suddenly."
"And did you get your answer?" Darius asked coldly. Isaura shook her head, making Darius continue, "Besides these wounds, what else did you gain, Isaura? Do you think if you're injured, we can still search for that monster's whereabouts? Just one person injured could destroy the formation Elder Carlos worked so hard to build. Did you not think of that?"
The girl clenched her fingers tightly to vent her fear, lowering her head further, "I let my emotions take over, so I couldn't think clearly."
"Couldn't think clearly?" Darius smirked coldly, "Since when have you ever liked to think?"
Not long after, Eliot arrived with Evelyn behind him. Though the wound in his stomach still hurt, Eliot immediately rushed to Isaura, "You're injured, Isaura," he said, quickly checking her condition. He was shocked to see traces of blood at her mouth.
Just as Eliot was about to wipe away the blood, Darius spoke again bitterly, "She's injured because of her own doing. If only she had listened to the Elder's instructions to always solve problems together, she wouldn't have gotten that wound."
Isaura glanced up at Darius for a moment before lowering her head again. Meanwhile, Evelyn only stood nearby, watching the quarrel unfold.
Eliot gave a displeased look to the long-haired elf before him, "We also won't be able to solve this problem if you keep treating Isaura this way."
The two elves exchanged sharp glares, each filled with hostility. Seeing the tension rising, Isaura finally spoke, "Enough, I'm fine. We'd better return to the castle. I will apologize to Elder Carlos. We also need to help heal the other elves who were attacked by that wolf prince earlier."
After making sure Isaura could stand on her own, the four of them chose to return to the castle.
Elvendria was an ancient castle, vast and seemingly endless. It stood upon floating land, a place where supernatural beings like Isaura honed their abilities.
There was a reason why the elders made this old castle a place of study for supernatural beings. First, if they built a regular school or academy, it would be easily discovered by their enemies.
So they chose another option: turning the castle into an academy. After all, who would suspect that Elvendria was actually a school? With the magic the Elders wielded, they concealed Elvendria so that to ordinary eyes, it was merely a floating land shrouded in mist.
As for the second reason, only the Elders knew.
At that moment, as they were leaving, Isaura, who was at the very back of the group, suddenly halted when a whisper rang clearly in her ears, "Come here, this is your home. Come here, it is time."