“Y-Ya, is it dead?” Elicia staggered forward.
“Not quite, but would you like to poke it with a stick to check?” Urie's tension had somehow lessened enough that he could tease her but it wasn't the same for Elicia as she had actually picked up a stick to follow through.
“Ah, I was just kidding! We should get out of here before...”
Shadow wolves hunt in packs—Urie was about to say, but a chilling howl echoed in the distance and interrupted. Starting with one, more soon followed; resonating as each howl got closer to their position.
Leaping onto Celeste's arm, Elicia trembled with fear, “Wha—What should we do?”
Celeste was silent, but her furrowed expression made it seem like she was trying her best to keep herself composed.
“Let's head for the central pillar, the headmaster did say we were supposed to go there.” There was no time to lament their brief respite. Urie quickly urged the two to move ahead, in case another shadow wolf attacked from behind.
Hearing the increasing rustle behind him and the approaching beastly grunts, an unfamiliar sensation began to pulsate along with the rapid beating of his heart. Urie's previous fatigue had alleviated, and mysterious invigoration spread throughout his limbs.
As if instructing him to welcome the fight—his mana seed appeared to be recovering his strength.
—No! Even if we held our ground here, just fending off one shadow wolf already had our work cut out for us. A whole pack of them? Not a chance.
There was an unknown number of shadow wolves behind and the dangerous central area in front. Urie decided to stay on the path of the latter.
“Let's go, quickly!” They continued towards the direction of the central pillar. As they emerged from the greenery and entered the area of barren land, Urie was thankful that in their haste, nobody had misfortunately stumbled.
At the edge of the forest, he glanced at the arrival of sleek black fur, multiplying worryingly under the shade of the foliage. An individual placed its paw forward seemingly to chase after them, but was stopped by a similar figure well over two meters.
—There isn't any glow in its eyes...
From this distance, Urie noticed the absence of a mana beasts' status. Checking the others, it appeared that only the one that had attacked them initially had been affected.
The shadow wolves hadn't taken a step out of the forest in pursuit. Urie's wariness only increased as he surmised that they were avoiding the central area.
“Be careful,” Urie cautioned. They were still in hot water. The two girls nodded and kept a close eye on the surroundings for any hint of peril. Everyone was tense.
—Were older brothers ever in situations like this? How did they handle it? How do we make it through the forest and get back home?
With the shadow wolves barring their return, they couldn't even walk back the way they came. If they took a different route, they might even come across other magic creatures. And since there was already one, then surely there would be more mana beasts in the forest.
Urie tried looking around for the headmaster or for anything that could be of help. In the end, all he could see were numerous rock formations and a few tumbling weeds. The only thing of note was the huge stone pillar visible from afar.
“Ya, Urie?” Elicia spoke. Behind him, Celeste gripped onto the hem of his shirt. His silence had made his companions uneasy.
“Ah, sorry,” Urie felt apologetic. Here he was worrying by himself when he hadn't even asked about their well-being.
“Let's take a break shall we?” He led the way towards a rock formation that could provide them cover. After finding spots to sit, he took out some water as well as provisions from his bag, and passed them along to Celeste and Elicia.
“Here. Try to keep an eye out for the headmaster, he might be lurking in one of the rocks somewhere around here,” Urie stated, trying to use humor to ease a bit of the tension.
“Ya, that old man must be watching us with a creepy smile on his face,” Elicia spoke while angrily biting into a bread roll.
Celeste, who had been quiet the entire time, uttered a gasp, “Y-You're bleeding!”
“Ah, I must've gotten it from the shadow wolf. We were so busy running away that I didn't notice.”
Only when Celeste pointed it out did Urie start to feel the sting of a small gash on his arm. Surprisingly, it looked worse than it hurt. The heat from his mana seed had already started soothing most of the pain.
“Ya, give me your arm,” Elicia took out a roll of bandages from her rucksack. It seemed like she was well prepared. Urie was curious, seeing how natural Elicia started dressing his arm—how did she know how to clean and dress up a wound?
Urie asked, gesturing towards the bandages wrapping his arm, “When did you learn to do this?”
The dressing wasn't wound too tight and his arm still felt comfortable; it didn't look like it would easily unravel either. If someone asked him if it was done by a professional, Urie wouldn't deny it. He was that impressed.
“Aunt Merea taught me. She said a basic knowledge of first aid is a necessary skill when fighting on the wall. I originally didn't want to but I'm glad she insisted I learn it,” Elicia puffed up her chest in her usual clumsy manner and spoke with pride.
Her countenance was pale earlier, but having something to do appeared to have helped the color return to her face.
Urie glanced over at his other companion. Celeste held a bread roll to her mouth while she was watching Elicia dress up his wound. With only a single bite taken from it so far and her mouth still unmoving, Urie wondered how she was doing.
“Are you alright, Celeste?” he asked.
Celeste shook her head and indicated she was fine before she chomped down on the piece of bread she had in her mouth.
Elicia, having finished wrapping the bandage, stood up and clenched her fist determinedly, “Ya, don't worry. Once we get out of here, I'm gonna ask aunt Merea to give that old man a beating.”
Urie, and even Celeste, felt their spirits uplifted as they chuckled at her words.
—The headmaster beaten up?
Somehow, Urie was looking forward to the sight.
