Despite the rocky start, the patrol proceeded on smoothly. As Alz had initially thought, this was just a simple patrol, a routine duty where nothing much was expected to happen. They didn't spot anything significant along the path and everything concluded plainly as usual.

After the four-hour patrol, the six elves passed through the gates again, returning back within the barrier. Upon entering the capital, Alz suddenly dashed towards the guardhouse, leaving the group behind.

Following this, the other three elves started taking off after a light greeting, leaving the two warriors looking in Alz's direction with concern.

Alz continued to dash even within the guardhouse, exiting from the northern entrance soon after. His breathing was starting to get heavy, but he didn't stop running, continuing to make his way to the one place he could seek solace.

As he raced forward, small droplets trickled down his fists, staining the grassy lands in a deep crimson shade. The deep nail marks on his palms were surely hurting, but Alz wasn't in the state to care about it now.

It might have just been an uneventful four hours to the others, but it was nothing short of torture for him. The barks and howls from the wolves had sparked his bloodlust multiple times, requiring much effort to suppress it.

He was feeling mentally, far more than after the many all-nighters he spent reading in the past. It was a different type of exhaustion he was used to, an exhaustion from the heart. He was sorry towards everyone in the village, and especially so towards his parents.

Haunted by the memories of the past, he dashed ahead with red, watery eyes, making his way back home where he could lie down and forget everything. His breathing became ragged and his pace slowed down slightly, but he still continued on and arrived back at the garden in under an hour.

The pain finally eased as the familiar view entered his sight. His raging emotions started to calm down as gazed at the flowers and he started to adjust his breathing while learning on a tree nearby for support.

Several minutes later, the strong emotions in his expression started disappearing, leaving only a strong sense of loss. Alz let out a dejected sigh and started proceeding deeper, wanting to drown himself in work.

Just as his eyes were about to turn away, his head abruptly jolted back towards the garden. When he arrived earlier, he had already noticed that something felt off, but couldn't quite identify its source then.

Now that his mind was clearer, he finally noticed the anomaly. Rather, he was noticed, as a stranger was sitting and staring curiously at him from the garden. The stranger was in the middle of a peaceful nap earlier but was roused by the noise Alz made.

Alz felt a tinge of annoyance as he hastily halted his steps, turning to glare at the stranger. He was not currently in the best state of mind, but enough sense remained in him to know what he should and shouldn't do.

Going to the workshop with an outsider present was clearly not an option. After a short moment, he sighed inwardly and decided to return to his hut instead, stepping into the field.

At this instant, a sudden unease rose in his heart, drenching his back in cold sweat. It only lasted a mere instant, but he definitely felt something. His eyes swiftly darted around the nearby trees, trying to find the reason behind.

"Was it my imagination?"

Alz's eyes continued to scan the area, but he couldn't spot anything suspicious no matter how hard he tried. His instinct had flared up earlier, but there didn't seem to be anything that would have triggered it anywhere.

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As a hunter, he had learned to trust his instinct which had saved him on many occasions. However, there were also many times where it turned out to be a false alarm, and this was probably one of them with his current state.

"I must be tired."

He shook his head and continued walking towards the hut with a self-depreciating smile. Apart from the initial glare, he didn't spare a second look at the stranger, choosing to ignore him.

While unexpected, his appearance here was hardly surprising as Alz had already prepared himself for other visitors from the start.

After all, this was not the wolf-ridden forests of the south, and it didn't lie in an inconspicuous hole in the middle of nowhere. Since Maya and her father were able to find this place, there was no reason for anyone else to be unable to.

When it came down to it, this field didn't belong to him, so he had no grounds to chase the stranger out. The best option for him now was to ignore the stranger and return to his hut. However, the stranger clearly had different ideas in mind.

After taking several steps into the field, an irritation started to rise as he stopped in his tracks again, due to the path ahead being obstructed.

"Hi, I'm Kai, nice to meet you!" a youthful voice escaped the stranger's lips as he eagerly walked up to Alz and extended a palm towards him.

Alz first tried to sidestep the other party, but the stranger matched Alz's steps with a playful smile, continuing to stare at him. After failing three successive sidestep attempts, Alz finally turned to look at the other party with a look of unconcealed irritation.

Observing up close, the first thing that he noticed was the height difference. Alz's build was average for an elf his age, neither particularly tall nor short. As such, most of the elves he interacted with were usually taller than him, but this time it was just the opposite.

The other party was short, with a height extending only until Alz's nose. His facial features were highly androgynous, similar to Alz in this aspect. He was wearing a leather robe that loosely wrapped around his body extending down to his feet.

However, despite the baggy attire which looked like it would only hinder his movements, the dagger strapped to his waist and bow by his back clearly indicated that he was a fighter, or at least aspiring to be one.

His pupils were a deep, solid black, the colour of the night sky, surrounded by hazel irises that shone brightly in his gaze. On his head, he was wearing a brown leather bandana which wrapped around his hair.

While this was an uncommon practice, it didn't really bother Alz as he also knew of several elves who did the same, most often because they found their hair getting in the way when navigating the forests.

"Move. Aside." Alz said in a cold voice while staring directly at Kai before attempting to cross over for the fourth time.

Kai stared ahead blankly for a moment before he slowly turned to his empty, outstretched palm. A lonely expression briefly crossed his face before making a stubborn look. He abruptly turned and tried to place his palm on Alz's shoulder, but he quickly found out how unwise this was.

Right before Kai's hand reached his shoulder, Alz suddenly turned around with an anger boiling over his face. Before Kai could even react, Alz held onto his hand and moved in with crisp movements.

In the next instant, Kai felt like the world had flipped and a hard impact assaulted him from the back, knocking the air out of his lungs. All that reflected in his eyes was a pair of bloodshot eyes with the dark skies in the background.

"STOP BOTHERING ME!" a loud roar entered his ears, causing the fear that was starting to rise within him to be amplified further.

After saying that, Alz quickly turned and jogged towards his hut while the surroundings suspiciously. Right as he threw Kai to the ground, he felt like he heard a sound coming from the forest.

Normally, he wouldn't have been too concerned with this, but the sudden warning from his instincts earlier left him in a cautious state, not knowing if it was truly just a mistake earlier.

Relief started to set in as he approached the door and his wariness started to fade, allowing his head to cool down from the released tension. Alz broke into a smile as he looked at the entrance before him, but he suddenly made a light frown just as he was about to enter.

He made a brief look of hesitation before releasing a sigh and turning around and looking back at the field.

*Sniff* *Sniff*. Kai was curled up his body at the same spot as earlier, sobbing quietly while wiping away his tears. He didn't dare to be too loud for fear of the bad bully, but he couldn't muster strength in his limbs to stand up.

"Why now of all times? ..."

As he watched this from the side, Alz inwardly sighed and entered the field again, heading towards the crying elf on the ground.