PS: if you read the chapter 1 before 14/05/2016, please re-read it: I decided to try to give a better shot on writing and grammar, rather than doing it for the sake of doing it.(Actually, same reason, but now I'm trying to be good at it)

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The forest was peaceful. The animals were eating, living in their own lifestyles, without any concern in the world. Deers were eating grass. Wolves were eating Deers. The peaceful life of the forest animals were simply beautiful…

Until we arrived. “Uh…Arnold?” Looking at my friend, seemingly the only other sane man in the group, reassured me.”…Did this happen in the last year too?” I said, referring to something…which I couldn’t help but find unusual. Forest wolves scared me? No, not now. What scared me the most was…

“HAHAHA! I killed more wolves than you! Suck it!” One of the would-be knights said, pointing his own sword to a friend, taunting him.

“I’ll kill more wolves next time we find a pack!” The other one shouted. It was scary. Gerald’s teachings were, ‘Defeating enemies is the objective of the knights, but you shall not lose your cool, and sacrifice an arm for a head.’ Or something along the lines.

“…Don’t worry too much about it. Just be glad you are not born a wolf.” My partner said, placing his hand on my shoulder. “Yes indeed. What a bad day to be a wolf.”

I stayed in the backlines, together with Arnold. Not because we were afraid of the wolves, but rather, we were the only ones who didn’t break the formation to run after them like bloodthirsty idiots.

Thankfully, the amount of wolves were slowly dwindling, while the more reckless ones were also getting tired, and occasionally wounded enough to be reluctant to run into danger again. Meanwhile, the number of wolves were also dwindling down, as the initial invasion and sounds of fighting drove the majority of the beasts away.

I sighed a bit in relief, as I saw everything going smoothly. So smoothly, that it was slightly boring.

“Hey! Get a little lower will you?” Only then I heard a childish voice behind me, which as I turned back, both of us froze. It was Larissa…”Oh, you’re the ‘not animal’ boy from earlier?” She said with a teasing smile.  “The name’s Reynald, Larissa.” I replied with a smile.

“Alright, but now get a little lower! I want to shoot some wolves too!”  The little girl said, in a childish voice that made me unable to not comply with her wishes. Yet a  better idea came in my mind. Smilling, I lifted the little girl up, in a piggyback ride. “Would this work?” I replied.

“Y-…yes..” She said, in the shyest voice I’ve ever heard. Other men were glaring at me, though. I shivered slightly from the previous bloodthirstiness, directed at the wolves, was now aimed at me. I knew I made enemies with the majority of the knights, just from this action….but no matter. Just the feeling of being so close to Larissa was enough to make me feel better.

As I was stuck in bliss, Larissa had a much easier time shooting down wolves, as her hands never stopped moving, now that she had a clear sight of her targets.  I knew

“Yo, lucky bastard.” Arnold said, with a laugh as he walked over to me…with a shiny new sword, a lot better than the one he came with.

“W-wait, what are you doing here? And wasn’t…wasn’t your sword a lot less…” I replied, blinking as I stared at his sword. It had a golden handle, and even some gravures along it.

“Eh, I made a deal with a rich guy. He traded swords with me…and in return…” He grinned, giving me a small punch to the shoulder, enough to stun me for a few seconds, yet it wasn’t enough for me to drop Larissa. “I had to punch you. Congratulations on becoming the common enemy of all villagers except the two of us, lucky pervert.”

“…What is he talking about? I mean, this ‘common enemy’ thing?” Larissa asked, from above. I smiled back. “Something about people not wanting you to be with me.”  I replied, twisting facts as much as possible for my advantage.

“But I want to stay! You’re giving me a ride when my feet hurts after all!” She shouted back, innocently falling for my trap…although she soon let out a laugh. “Or so you’d expect to hear from somebody like me. Let haters be haters, they gave me nothing in my life, so I’m not even giving them a wink.” She replied, before she shot another arrow. “Another wolf down!” She shouted excitedly.

Arnold laughed a bit, before his laughter died down, as she stared at the wolf was shot down. “It is too bad this might be the last month we’ll spend together, though. Wish I could do more, like steal Larissa’s heart from you.” He said, with a small, sad laugh.

“Wait, what?” I said, stuttering a bit, surprised at Arnold’s words. “You know, you’ll survive this hunt. And I’m sure the relationship won’t develop that far in a single month, we’re just friends, right?”

“Yup! Plus, you look a lot more handsome than Reynald!” Ouch. My male pride was killed, just as brutally as the wolves we’re hunting. But yet, I couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m sure I’ll be even better than Arnold, just give me a year or two.”

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“Yes, I know we’ll survive…it is just that…well, I’m 16. In a month from now, I’ll be going to the knights academy, and I’m not sure we’ll ever bump into each other again.” He replied, with a rather sad smile. “So what are your plans for the future, Reynald?”

“Never gave much thought about it. Maybe following you to the knights academy, maybe turning into an adventurer.” I replied, honestly speaking.

“Adventurer? I prefer becoming a hunter! A hunter of legendary beasts!” Larissa said, shouting cheerfully, as she shot another wolf. But yet, I suddenly got a bad feeling. There was no other beasts around…even the other would-be knights decided to stay quiet. It was an oppressive aura, a killing intent we were trained to sense during our whole life. Arnold didn’t bother replying now, as he took a battle stance.

Anybody who wishes to ever go outside of the safety of a village, needed to ‘feel’ the killing intent. The scent of death soon arriving at our location.

“People, be careful! It’s a great wolf!” Hell’s teacher, demon of wrath Asur- I mean, Gerald, shouted. Immediately everybody tensed up…and I knew why.

Great wolves are the ruler specie of this small forest. The strongest the place had to offer. Yet…it wasn’t supposed to be here. It shouldn’t be here. It mustn’t be here. Yet my denial was interrupted , as I heard a voice. “From above!” One of the knights shouted. I looked up, and saw the great wolf jumped from the above, and in the middle of the formation…right in front of me. This beast, easily bigger than anything the forest had to offer: 5ft tall, even standing on his legs, and a silver-colored fur, as tough as steel…

The majesty of a king yet the power of a tyrant. I gasped in awe, but then I felt it glaring at me, as if I was easy prey…

And yet, denying such fact is impossible. I took a few steps back, while the other knights began to scatter and run from it.

The myths weren’t proven untrue in this situation, as even the arrows from the hunters only gave it light wounds, only the head of them lodging inside, not deep enough to hit any vitals…

Except for one, which managed to hit the wolf’s eye, I looked at the direction where the arrow was shot…and yet I saw Larissa above me, with a sheepish smile. “…Wolfseye?” She said. My face became devoid of any color, seconds later: the beast let out a howl of pain and rage, as If it was a declaration of revenge. I did not plan to go out without a fight But yet, fighting with Larissa on top of me…it was suicidal, to say the least.

Before I could put the girl in the ground, the wolf began to dash forward, towards me. I took a step back, knowing I was going to be dead meat now. I closed my eyes, resigning to my fate, while swinging my sword forward, in an attempt to greet its attack with one of my own.

Confusion surged on my head, as nothing was hit by my sword…and I opened my eyes.

Arnold managed to hit the wolf’s head with the sword’s pummel, enough to stun it for a second: Enough to save my life. The monster glared at Arnold, instead of me, as his target of hate…and nobody was close enough, or daring enough to save him.

The wolf lunged at my best friend.

I could see it. Everybody’s faces were horrified, as Arnold screamed in pain at the bite, but before the wolf could bite off a massive chunk of Arnold’s flesh, the teacher finally managed to go through the formation, from the left- the side which the wolf couldn’t see, due to the arrow lodged in his eye. Without hesitation, the teacher slashed the wolf’s neck, killing it instantly.

He survived. Arnold managed to survive. But yet, the nasty scars on his chest…probably could never be healed.

“Everybody! I am afraid the hunting is over, we’ll be going back to the village before we find anything as dangerous as that!” The teacher shouted. There was no doubt he’d do it for any of us: any other knights got bitten on the arms, some on the legs, but none had a large bite on the chest, just like Arnold’s. I wasn’t…even sure if he would survive…

“I-it’s my fault, isn’t it…?” Larissa said, still being carried by me. It was. If she wasn’t being carried, I had no doubt I could, at least, escape from the wolf. “No, it’s mine…” I couldn’t let her carry the blame for this. It...it was something I wasn’t even sure if I could carry.

“It’s ours.” Leonard, the chief hunter, intruded in the conversation. “I know what happened. Please do not take such travels lightly anymore, no matter the numbers or your power. I have seen people recover from worse injuries….but treat this as a valuable lesson: you won’t always have a healer close enough to save a fellow friend. Now go home and reflect on your actions.” He said, sighing.

“…Yet…I wonder what the great wolf was doing here. It’s still three hours of travel to where the territory of the beasts are…” He furrowed his brows slightly, as he spoke such words.

I nodded. I couldn’t help but still feel guilty... but for now, I can only pray that Arnold survives… and silently, I swore to myself to never be weak again.