Arias’ back was still bleeding and entirely covered in blood. The wound left there by the flamed-feet wolf’s claws was almost bone-deep. Black scorch marks were still clearly visible on his clothes and around the wound. The pain made Arias grit his teeth. There were times when he felt like he was about to lose consciousness. It was probably because his body was still frail and his magical power was not strong that made him this weak.

    “I used to look down on demon-level beasts as if they were ants and look at adept mages as if they were toddlers. I used to be able to erase them from this world with only one of my hands. Never have I thought that one day, I’d be hunted down by them like this. And look at me now. Huh, how pathetic!”

    Arias raised a scornful smile at his current self. He used to be at the top above other mages. He used to have so little regard for everything around him. Beasts were terrified of confronting him and mages bowed their heads in respect when they saw him. Even rulers of kingdoms had to lower their heads out of respect at the mention of his name.

    “One day, I will put my name at the top of the magic world once again.”

    Arias shook his head and cleared those thoughts out of his mind. His gaze became determined and stern. The more he dwelled on the life he once had as a grandmaster mage, the more the arrogance and pride of his past self came back to him. There was no use yearning for his former power and glory. What he needed to do now was train so he could surpass his previous self. Since the heavens had been merciful enough to give him another chance, he would not let that chance go to waste. He had no idea how long it would take him to reach the master level, but he was going to become a powerful mage one day no matter what it took.

    ROARR!

    The flamed-feet wolf was still roaring in front of the cave’s entrance; the sound it made was full of anger. The most that it could do was shove one of its paws inside the cave, a foolish act that was unlikely to repeat since that was how its paw got stabbed by a dagger. Arias could still remember the sound of its howling and the pained look on its face. At least he had taken revenge on the beast for looking down on him.

    “How long is it going to keep waiting?”

    Arias watched the flamed-feet wolf who was on a rampage in front of the cave’s entrance. Its aggressive outburst had left almost all of the trees in that area broken and red flame burning on the trunks and branches of the now-fallen trees. The wind carried the stench of the beast together with the smell of burnt trees into the cave that Arias was in, making it more difficult to breathe.

    More than three hours passed and Arias could still see the flamed-feet wolf waiting by the entrance; it was not leaving. The wolf’s anger had calmed a lot but the bloodlust in its eyes remained unchanged. Arias decided to stop paying attention to it and focused instead on healing his injuries with healing spells and Moon-Bathed Elixir. When used repeatedly within one day, elixirs became ineffective at healing; the more they were taken, the less effective they became. This was why Arias had to simultaneously cast healing spells.

    AWOOOO!

    The howl of the flamed-feet wolf pack that came from a faraway distance grabbed Arias’ attention and made him turn to look at the entrance of the cave. No more than ten minutes after that, Arias saw the flamed-feet wolf pack respectfully approaching the pack leader in a circle. Though he was not watching the situation outside very closely, he could see that one of the flamed-feet wolves was holding a lifeless body of a man in its mouth. The body was covered in so many wounds that it became hard to tell who it was; that body was drenched in blood. While Arias could not see the face of that lifeless body, he knew very well who it belonged to.

    “Tsk! So he’s dead. A shame that I wasn’t the one who killed him.”

    Arias took a quick glance at the body before turning his gaze away. He was rather disappointed that he did not get to kill the man himself. Arias slowly pushed himself up until he was standing before walking deeper into the cave. He was not really into watching a pack of beasts feast on a human body, though he knew that it was a common occurrence in this magic world. Humans hunt beasts. Beasts also hunt humans. It was probably one of this world’s balances.

    ROARR!

    As soon as Arias got up, he heard the flamed-feet wolf’s threatening growl coming from behind. The wolf watched in anger as its weak prey walked deeper into the cave; an easy prey that should have been under its claws now vanished right in front of its eyes. Arias, however, did not pay attention to the lowly creature. He slowly brought his wounded self deep into the cave before finally deciding to take a break beside a huge rock situated on the floor of the cave. It was a rectangular rock and looked like it was made by humans. Arias examined the rock in astonishment, staring at it with wonder. There were some strange letters inscribed on that rock, letters that even Arias could not understand.

    “What language is this?”

    Arias narrowed his eyes and looked at the letters with wonder. It seemed like some parts had been worn down with time. Judging by their appearance, these letters must have been carved at least a thousand years ago.

    Seeming to be unable to understand these letters no matter how much he tried, Arias decided to stop bothering with them. He looked deeper into the cave warily. He had no idea what kind of strange things could be hidden inside of this cave. It was possible that the cave was a lair of some kind of beast. If that was the case, it would be a nightmare for Arias.

    Finally, darkness started to blanket the entire forest. The sun had started to disappear behind the horizon, signaling the arrival of nighttime. The inside of the cave that Arias was using as a shelter was darker than any other place. The only area with some source of light was the spot where Arias had built a campfire. The light from the campfire drove away the darkness from the area and also kept Arias somewhat warm.

    Seemed like the flamed-feet wolf pack was still not going anywhere yet since Arias could still hear the sound of them coming from the entrance once in a while. This must be an order from the pack leader as well. It must be furious that Arias stabbed it with that dagger. Arias still had a lot of weapons like this stored in his dimensional ring, though they were just normal weapons and not magical weapons. These weapons were, in fact, used during his training with Albert. There were only two magical weapons in his dimensional ring: the Shadow Demon Sword and another long sword he got from Farhan, though the latter was only a low-level weapon.

    Two days eventually went by. The injuries on Arias’ body had gotten a lot better. With his knowledge and the elixirs he had, the wounds had started to become completely healed. However, the flamed-feet wolves were still showing no sign of leaving. They took shifts and kept watching over him as if he were a prisoner.

    “When are they going to get the hell out of here!”

    Arias had lost count of how many times he had walked over to look at the cave’s entrance with an annoyed expression. He breathed out heavily, irritated, before marching back to the same old rock once again. It seemed like the only upside of having the wolf pack staying by the entrance was that not a single beast had dared to come anywhere near the cave. But at the same time, Arias could not go anywhere outside of it as well.

    “Father and Mother must be so worried about me now.”

    Arias sat absentmindedly while thinking about Albert and Maria with sadness in his eyes and concern in his heart. He was most concerned about his mother who must be more worried about him than anyone else. He could only sigh tiredly before lowering his head and letting the time go by.

    .

    .

    At the Scarcia Manor, the situation there was just as Arias expected. It had become more chaotic than it had ever been before. Maria and Albert were out looking for Arias with worry. They kept searching for him day and night without giving themselves much rest. Dozens of guards were sent out to the city and the wood in search of the young man, but the only clues they got were traces of blood and signs of a fight on a path not so far away from the manor. Notices with Arias and Kyon’s faces were posted all over Bernier City. A bounty was set as high as five thousand Crystal Coins for those who could provide information about the two of them, and if anyone could bring them back to the Scarcia Manor, they would be rewarded with thirty thousand Crystal Coins. The amount of the reward money was already higher than an average person’s annual income, but still, there was no sign of Arias and Kyon. The only people who had been brought to the manor were just their lookalikes.

    Farhan was gazing out the window, his expression was full of stress and worry, and his eyes were full of sorrow. He, too, had barely gotten any rest ever since Arias went missing.

    “Master, it seems like our guards had found some clue, but it didn’t look like very good news.”

    Farhan turned his gaze toward Kanl who was standing in front of the door. Seeing the other’s worried expression, Farhan could already guess what he would be hearing. A part of him had accepted that he might never see Arias come back to them alive and well. But he was hoping to at least find Arias’s lifeless body, even if just to give it a proper ceremony.

    “What clue?”

    Farhan inquired.

    “Our guards found this sword at the heart of the woods. A lot of them recognized it as Kyon’s. Several signs of a struggle between mages and beasts were found within the area nearby. The beasts were likely a pack of wolf-type beasts. Judging from their footprints, the pack likely consisted of at least eight wolves.

    Kanl reported with a worried expression.

    “Have you found anything aside from the sword?”

    Farhan’s eyebrows furrowed. He prayed that he would not hear the answer that he was thinking.

    “No, sir. Only the sword. However, there was strangely only one set of human footprints in that area.

    Kanl replied before handing the longsword in his hand for Farhan to inspect.

    “Do not tell anyone about this yet, especially Maria and Albert. I will be the one to tell them.”

    Farhan gave his order before turning to stare outside the window with a sorrowful expression once again.

    “Sir.”

    .

    .

    At the cave Arias was stuck in, it had been four days and the flamed-feet wolf pack was still showing no sign that they would leave. It was as if they were turning the cave’s entrance into their new den.

    “Filthy dogs! How I wish to rip their skins off one by one.”

    Arias walked over to look at the group of three or four flamed-feet wolves that were keeping watch by the cave’s entrance in irritation. It must be the pack leader’s vengefulness that was keeping them here.

    “Looks like I have to find another way.”

    The wounds on Arias’ body were close to being fully healed. He chose to dwell deeper into the cave instead of going back toward the entrance. Some caves had more than one way in and out, maybe this cave would be the same. Arias kept walking on a crooked and damp path of the cave. The path inside of this cave curved and bent like a slithering snake. Some parts of it were so narrow that Arias was barely able to pass through. After more than an hour of walking, there was still no sign that he was reaching an exit. Arias used a torch to provide him with some light to guide his way. He did not know how far he had come, but he kept going forward. The light from the torch fell on a cave wall ahead of him; it looked like he had reached a dead-end. But Arias’ eyes found something peculiar, something that should not be inside of this cave. It was a gray ancient-looking door with a picture engraved on it. This picture was of a terrifying beast that had its mouth open as if it was intimidating its enemy with a roar. One of its eyes was adorned with a dark red gem. When Arias touched the door, he could sense a beast aura coming out from behind it. Instead of being scared, Arias’s lips curled up into an excited smile.

    “Looks like being stuck in this cave isn’t so bad after all. I can’t believe there’s a dungeon door hidden in here.”