Chapter 2: The Wolf of Beast-Scourge

The wolf came out from behind the tree and stared at Zane. Backing away from the wolf, Zane quickly dropped the rabbit from his hand and climbed the tree behind him. The wolf came forward and kept staring at him. Zane sat on a branch of the tree using it as support.

Opening his bag, he took out the rope. He then proceeded to tie the rope on the handle of his hunting knife. The wolf kept watching what Zane was doing with his intelligent eyes.

Making sure that the knot was tight, Zane looked down at what the wolf was doing. He saw that the wolf was still not moving and just watching him. 'What the fuck kind of wolf is this... Why is it just watching me.. Never-mind, I'll just kill it in one swift motion.' Zane readied his makeshift weapon and threw it towards the wolf with all his might. Just as the rope-tied knife was about to reach the wolf, it quickly side-stepped and dodged it.

'What kind of movement was that!?!' The wolf looked at Zane and smirked. 'The fuck, is the wolf mocking me?' The wolf then picked up the rabbit that Zane dropped and disappeared into the forest. A moment later, Zane could faintly hear a sound like a hyenas laughter, from deep within the forest.

Dumbstruck, Zane slowly climbed down the tree and headed towards the town.

As he was heading home thinking back on his encounter, Zane was greeted by a friendly woman's voice, "Hey Zane boy! Aren't you a little late from your hunt?"

Zane looked at the ruby haired middle-aged woman and answered, "Oh.. Mrs. Callie.. Yes, I encountered with some problem on the way back."

"Oh dear boy! Rodger told me that you had left for your hunt quite early. I'm sure Valentina is worried sick! You better hurry home."

"Yes Mrs. Callie, I'll be on my way." Zane quickly dashed towards his home.

Mrs. Callie looked back at the running Zane, "My, that boy is still too cold to everyone except his sister."

After returning home, Zane slowly opened the door and went inside.

"Brother are you home?" Valentina came running. "Why are you so late?"

"Val... I encountered a wolf on my way back. It took away the rabbit that I hunted."

"What?!? Are you okay??" Valentina looked at Zane with a worrisome expression.

"Yes I'm fine... The wolf was really strange, I swear it smirked at me."

After saying that, the expression on Valentina's face changed from worrisome to someone who was looking at an idiot. "What the hell are you talking about. Come let me make you some bone broth. You can eat it with the leftover bread."

"Haha, Never-mind. Thank you Val, I'm really hungry."

Val immediately got to cooking. She tossed the leftover bones into the cauldron and poured in some water. Then she tossed in some herbs and a bit of salt into the cauldron. After cooking the broth, she poured it into a bowl and brought it to Zane with some leftover bread.

Zane dipped the bread into the broth, put it in his mouth and started chewing. He looked over to his sister, only to find her staring intensely at him. "Wow, the broth you made is really delicious Val."

Valentina pouted and hit Zane on his arms. "Don't joke around while you're eating. It's bad etiquette."

"Haha, who cares about etiquette in this world. Except those lofty nobles inside their cozy mansions."

Valentina looked at Zane with solemn eyes. "Brother, don't you think about what it would be like to be a noble inside those mansions?"

Zane put his hand on her head and ruffled her silver hair, which was set neatly with a hairpin. "With your genius talent and looks more beautiful than the nobles, I'm sure you'll live in a big mansion one day haha."

Her cheeks red, Valentina grabbed her brothers hand, pulled it down from her head and bit it with her sharp teeth. "Ow ow ow! That hurts Val!"

Valentina stopped biting, looked at Zane and asked, "I'm serious brother. Don't you want to see the world beyond this crappy town? I'm talking about dreams."

"I do Val. But for people like us, surviving the day is dream enough. Who knows, maybe one day we can travel the world free of any worries." Zane smiled at his sister.

Valentina made a sad expression, then after a few seconds, she lit up. "Then let's make a promise! We'll travel the world together. Without any worries!"

Zane was stunned for a second. Then he smiled and patted his sister's head. "Sure Val, I promise. We'll go travel the world."

"Hehe. Okay, if you're done eating, give me the bowl and go to sleep. And no need to go hunt tomorrow, we're going to harvest the crops at the farm tomorrow."

"Sure Val.. Thanks." Zane handed the bowl back to Valentina and went to his room. He took off his shirt, tossed it away and jumped on his bed. He looked out the window towards the violet crescent moon. 'What a crazy kind of wolf. Why wasn't it aggressive?' Thinking back to his encounter, he slowly fell asleep.

---

In the morning, Zane and Valentina got ready and got out of the house. After looking at Valentina for a second, Zane said, "Val, you go ahead and go to the farm, I'm going to visit the blacksmith. My hunting knife is becoming dull."

Valentina rolled her eyes, "Don't you just want to avoid going to the farm where all the townspeople will gather today."

Zane hit her in the head lightly. "Don't be a smart-ass. Go."

"Ow! Fine Fine. I'm going." Valentina put both her hands on her head and ran towards the farm.

As Zane strolled around the quiet town, he suddenly heard a sound. *Thud*. "Squinty eyed bastard! What are you always doing with a book in your hand." Zane went towards the sound. There, he saw a ruby haired kid being beaten by three other children.

The one who seemed like the leader of the three, a black haired kid with a few teeth missing, kicked the ruby haired kid. "That's what you get for being a freak! My father always said your family was full of freaks!"

After hearing for a while, Zane went towards them. The two sidekicks saw Zane approaching and went stiff. Zane reached behind the black haired kid and grabbed his head. Shuddering, the kid slowly turned his head towards Zane. "Z-Zane? What are you doing here?" Without saying anything, Zane smacked the back of the kid hard and let go of his hand.

Eyes full of tears, the kids ran away. "I'm going to tell about this to my father once he returns Zane!"

Zane turned his head and looked at the ruby haired kid. "Cadell."

"Thank you brother Zane." Cadell picked his book and got up. Cadell was the son of Mr. Rodger and Mrs. Callie. He was around 10, the same age as Valentina.

"Clean yourself up and go to the farm to your parents."

Cadell dusted off himself. He squinted his eyes and looked at Zane. "Sure. Um.. Is Valentina there?"

Zane just kept on staring at Cadell. Feeling the atmosphere wasn't right, Cadell scratched his neck, "Haha...Then I'll be going brother Zane." and he ran towards the farm.

Shaking his head, Zane headed towards the blacksmith.

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