Upon seeing Alex absorbed in his new acquisitions and the events surrounding his brooch and the necklace, the envoy decided to make a stealthy move. It hadn't escaped his notice that Alex had no knowledge of his mystical form and soul projection. It was evident that he didn't know how to defend himself in this state and how vulnerable he was to attacks in this form.

Determined not to leave empty-handed, the envoy chose to leave a curse mark on Alex's soul that would draw him back in the near future. At least, that was the plan. What the envoy hadn't considered was that his skill, in which he had so much confidence, was mediocre at best. It wasn't that he was truly bad at what he did, but rather that his confidence stemmed from always measuring himself within the confines of the empire or its neighbors. However, animals in the wild were much more savage and almost always superior in quality on the same level.

The moment the envoy made the slightest move to place a mark on Alex's soul, it was noticed by Rhenar and all the alphas present. Rhenar knew what would happen next. Rhenar threw all caution to the wind, simply grabbed the princess, slung her over his shoulder, and ran at full speed towards the drake.

On the other hand, the alpha of the Moonstalkers did not take the intrusion into Alex's soul lightly, as expected. He immediately launched a counterattack that almost destroyed the envoy's soul with a single pulse. The envoy had no time to lament the damage to his soul, as he was almost immediately attacked by a Moonstalker.

Thus, pandemonium broke loose, and the elves left in the area were slaughtered by the present animals without being able to mount any resistance. The gnolls were terrified by the sudden attack from different packs, but ultimately, they were not harmed, reinforcing their belief that the human was their only way out of this situation.

The marquis, the princess, and the drake would have a difficult journey back and would eventually reach the city battered and bruised but with all their limbs intact—something no one before them could boast. However, they knew there was nothing to boast about, as they were not pursued by any of the leaders. If the Moonstalker had held them responsible and hunted them down personally, there wouldn't have been much they could do.

In this way, most of the packs considered the Iretar Forest emergency over. All were in a sorry state and longed for time to rest and replenish their strength. They quickly said their goodbyes and returned home to rest.

The only ones left were the little Lunaria and the great Moonstalker.

"Human, the service you rendered to the forest is immense, as is the sacrifice you were willing to make," the majestic and ethereal voice of the great animal resonated in Alex's mind and soul. "The forest animals have deliberated that you are a friend of the forest and are granted free passage only to you."

The great animal paused as little Lunaria kept making threatening sounds in his direction.

"Before she causes any more trouble, you must know that I am personally grateful that you answered this call on behalf of our tribe. As such, the Moonstalkers of the Iretar Forest consider you a brother and a member of our tribe," the great animal said, soothing the little Moonstalker.

"Thank you very much for your considerations. It's natural to defend the forest when we are all inhabitants of it," Alex spoke casually.

These words somehow shook the great predator, as he felt no malice or falsehood in them. It was hard to understand how a human could be so connected to the forest, enough to face a primordial horror head-on when none of the alphas could hold their ground in its presence.

"Indeed," the Moonstalker could only nod.

"If I may satisfy a curiosity, is little Lunaria your daughter?" Alex asked.

"Lunaria, huh?" The great Moonstalker chuckled, but from the perspective of others, it was more of a threatening gesture showing anger and revealing his fangs. "Free animals don't have names; names are constructs of you civilized beings," he explained to a visibly confused Alex. "And to answer your question, no, she's not my daughter; she's the daughter of my older brother."

Lunaria immediately became dejected upon her kinship being revealed. Alex could sense the conflicting feelings the mention of her family brought to the small creature, so he didn't press further on that matter.

"What will happen in the forest now?" Alex asked.

"Don't worry about the Eldritch; the situation with the invasion has finally been resolved, and the forest will be safe for a while," the Moonstalker paused briefly, during which his eyes and hair glowed like a starry night. After a few moments, he added, "The Protector Karan informs me that you are worthy of a reward from the protectors. However, not at this moment. They will contact you later if you agree to this arrangement, or else they might give you something in advance."

"I have no problem waiting. But who is Protector Karan? You hadn't mentioned that animals have names," Alex asked, puzzled.

"Kid, you're asking for trouble if you mix a black dragon with animals. Their origins and culture are not the same as ours," the Moonstalker said with another chuckle. He found this human extremely interesting, and his genuine curiosity and lack of malice were refreshing.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"Oh, it wasn't my intention to offend," Alex said.

"Don't worry about that. However, before I go, I must give you advice from the Thunder Protector. You used a forbidden technique and depleted much of your innate potential and life essence. Combined with your low level, it has left you in a precarious condition. It is advised not to use any abilities linked to the spectral form you showed; that energy is extremely powerful but could lead you to an early grave," concluded the great Moonstalker.

Finally, both Moonstalkers bid farewell to Alex and left slowly.

As for Alex, he finally had time to address the present gnolls and answer their questions.

"Matriarch Atarra, do you have any questions you'd like to address first?" Alex asked.

"Not much. We could start with an introduction of ourselves. I have been the matriarch of the Ra clan for at least 70 years, combined with the long time it took for the preparation and retirement of the previous matriarch, you can assume I'm quite old," the matriarch said with a chuckle.

"I'm Alex Hughes from Earth. I entered Glamoria not long ago, and from what I understand, people like me are called first generation. Besides, I'm quite young for my race, around 18 years in my world," Alex replied.

"Quite young indeed. However, the fact that you're a first generation intrigues me. Why aren't you with your kind?" the matriarch asked.

"I have a personal conflict with Sera; that bitch sent me here to die," Alex replied with apparent hatred. He soon realized it wasn't a good idea to show his personal problems, but the matriarch was quicker to respond.

"Don't worry about that, youngster. You're not the only one with problems with those above. After all, our race is cursed for a reason. We, too, were abandoned by Sera," Atarra reassured him.

"Thanks for understanding. The rest can be discussed as we head south. We've decided to mobilize in that direction to free the large gnoll masses held there and increase our forces," Alex said.

"I understand. Do you need help getting up?" the matriarch asked, observing how Alex couldn't stand on his own.

"Please," Alex said with a self-deprecating smile.

With the help of some gnolls and a Torel who had remained hidden all this time, Alex began the journey south. Atasha was leading the original group in the march south. However, due to the large number of gnolls, they couldn't march as fast. Also, the fact that there were children and elders in that group, unlike the new group, which only had young gnolls about to reach adulthood and adults, contributed to the slower pace.

Both groups began to share their stories. The elderly matriarch told him about the precarious situation of the gnolls in the cities and how only the fittest were selected for the journey. Alex, on the other hand, mostly narrated the events of the gnolls in his camp, avoiding deep details.

The rest of the journey passed almost without problems. The forest beasts had almost entirely recognized Alex as part of the forest, and as long as he didn't challenge their territories, there was no hostility. However, this grace didn't extend to the others, so they had to be in Alex's company at all times, creating quite awkward situations.

All these situations helped the gnolls become familiar with Alex. There was a strange closeness in his presence that worked both ways. For the gnolls, the strange human was a strange guide, producing a difficult-to-explain feeling, and the majority could only explain it with a strange analogy in which their matriarchs were the ship captains fighting to get their expedition out of the storm, and Alex was the lighthouse indicating that they had finally arrived.

Alex, on his part, had a strange connection with them. Over time and the battles at his side, he had grown strangely familiar with their presence. He truly felt that the gnolls were his people. It was as if in his eyes, gnolls and humans were the same thing, so familiar to him that even when he thought back to the distant memories of his time in school, he remembered it with gnolls.

"Alex, you should know that matriarchs are adept at using energy and have a certain sensitivity when it comes to sensing it in the environment," suddenly the matriarch spoke to Alex.

"Oh! I didn't know that was a skill in all matriarchs," Alex responded.

"There's a long list of requirements and milestones for a young aspirant to become a matriarch, kid. We're not just decoration," the matriarch replied proudly. "What really intrigues me is what happens between your amulets. Why do you allow them to consume your energy in that way? It's obvious that having both with you creates tension within your body, hindering your recovery and consuming your resources."

"What!? I didn't know that was the reason I took so long to recover. I still feel tired after so much time, and it's hard for me to circulate my energy," Alex responded, taking both the collar and the pin in his hands and looking at them with apparent confusion.

Incredibly, for the matriarch's sight, both objects stopped being in conflict with each other when Alex took them in his hands and looked at them inquisitively. It was as if they had a life of their own, and this was a terrible sign for the matriarch.

Objects with a "life of their own" existed in this world, and more often than not, they were called cursed objects because they always took advantage of their user to gain a small benefit or achieve some kind of goal at the expense of the owner. However, what was problematic for the matriarch was that, while she could feel that both objects were powerful without being able to probe the entirety of their power, they only took Alex's energy without draining him. Between both, they didn't take more than he produced, so they only slowed down his recovery rather than being an obstacle to it.

Even more surprising to the matriarch was how both objects even stopped fighting each other like scolded children when Alex warned them to be put in a drawer if they continued bothering him. Of course, Alex didn't know he didn't have this option, as both objects were linked to his soul and therefore were almost like an extension of his body. They could never leave him without drastic measures being taken.

The group continued marching south for days without more incidents than the ones that usually occurred when Thorel tried to sneak into Alex's bed, often successfully, creating a commotion the next day.

The dynamic between the human and the elf puzzled most of the gnolls. However, the matriarch was smarter than her peers and knew that there was no real relationship between them; rather, Torel enjoyed bothering the human.

This created a strange situation where most beings around Alex didn't take him too seriously on a day-to-day basis. Still, they never lacked respect for him. That was because there was another side to the human—a side that everyone knew—and that was his warrior and natural leader aspect. Every time he entered a battlefield, he was ready to give his utmost and always aimed for victory, however it was defined at that moment.

Unfortunately, these situations couldn't last forever, much to Thorel's regret.

"Alex, pick up the pace; they're besieging the camp," Thorel suddenly said, looking ahead while sensing the wind.

There was a strange smell in the air, a smell of burning oil, perhaps something worse.