Another elder, was more impulsive. "Bah! Love clouds judgnt. What is this expression on your face? Do you... have you fallen for him?!"
Myra’s lips parted slightly. She did not deny it. Instead, she kept her gaze on Kael.
The elders exchanged looks. "If what you say is true,... then perhaps we should observe before acting. But know this, if he betrays us, there will be no rcy."
"We the beast will begin BEAST WAR! Aahhhhh "
"Keep quiet", a lady said.
Kael sat on a moss-covered stone, the ache in his ribs was almost gone when he was being healed.
For a boy who had been bleeding and half-conscious a day ago, the recovery was nothing short of miraculous.
"Looks like I owe you my life," he said to Myra.
"Before I forget... I never asked your na."
For a mont she said nothing and she was shy.
Then, "Myra." she said.
"Myra," Kael repeated.
"Beautiful na. Thank you... for saving ."
She glanced over her shoulder.
"You were half-dead. Anyone would have helped."
Kael managed a wry smile. "Not anyone. Especially not when the ’anyone’ is a human wandering in a beast forest."
She tilted her head towards Kael. "By the way," she began, "how did you end up at the riverside in the first place? Humans don’t usually wander this deep."
Kael rubbed the back of his neck, looking a little sheepish.
"Oh, that... well, it’s kind of embarrassing."
Myra’s lips curved into a small smile. "Embarrassing stories are the best kind. Go on."
Kael let out a short laugh. "I was having a friendly spar with my classmates. We were practicing in the outer training grounds, and... things got a little out of hand."
"A spar?" Myra’s brow lifted.
"How does a spar throw soone all the way to a riverbank? Did you... fall off a cliff or sothing?"
He chuckled.
"Not exactly. My opponent landed a blow that sent flying. I lost my footing and, well... one thing led to another. Next thing I knew, I was tumbling down a slope and straight into the river’s current. I must have been carried for miles before I blacked out."
Myra blinked in a shock.
"Holy spirits... What kind of friend sends you flying like that? Is she so kind of strong?"
"She’s not a monster," Kael said quickly, shaking his head.
"But... she is strong. Very strong."
Myra’s curiosity only deepened. "How strong?"
Kael exhaled. "She’s ranked number one among all the first-year students."
Myra’s ears twitched slightly.
"First years? You an... you’re a student?"
"Yeah," Kael nodded. "I’m from Arcadia Academy."
"Arcadia Academy... I’ve heard stories of that place. Humans say it’s where the talented gather, where swordsn and mages are trained."
"That’s the one," Kael confird with a small grin.
"It’s not as glamorous as it sounds, though. Mostly it’s endless training, bruises, and lectures that last longer than a winter night."
Myra gave a small, amused laugh.
"It still sounds far more exciting than living in the forest."
Kael tilted his head. "I don’t know... this forest isn’t exactly boring. You have dread beasts, mysterious herbs, and... well, people like you."
Her cheeks ward slightly, but she ignored the comnt and focused on his torn uniform instead.
She carefully placed one of the broad leaves across a tear near his shoulder, securing it with a thin strip of woven grass.
"There," she said after a mont, pressing the leaf gently so it stayed in place.
"This should keep the fabric from tearing any further until you can get proper clothes."
Kael looked down at the patchwork covering. "You really didn’t have to do all this."
"I couldn’t just leave you looking like a half-eaten al," Myra replied lightly. "Besides, you’d catch a chill if you walked around with open wounds and wet clothes."
Kael t her eyes and gave a grateful smile. "Thank you. Really. For the dicine... and for saving in the first place."
She hesitated for a heartbeat before nodding. "You’re welco. But you should be more careful next ti. Not every river hides soone willing to pull you out."
He chuckled softly. "I’ll keep that in mind. Maybe I should avoid sparring with rank-one students altogether."
Myra’s lips curved into a faint, teasing smile. "Or maybe learn to win next ti."
Before Myra could reply, an elder of her clan approaches.
"Myra," the elder said. "Step aside."
She obeyed reluctantly, standing between Kael and the elder like a shield until the old beast’s stern gaze forced her to move.
The elder studied Kael with eyes.
"So," he began, "a human again dares to walk among us. How curious... and how familiar."
Kael remained seated, sensing that standing might be taken as a challenge.
"I didn’t an to trespass," he said carefully.
The elder’s lips curled in a faint smile.
"There was another human once, two hundred years ago. I rember him only as a shadow in my mind. He, too, stumbled into this forest, wounded and desperate."
(two hundred years?..)Kael coughs in shock.
"And he, too, was saved by one of our kind."
The old beast stepped closer.
"That man fell in love with the daughter of another beast.
They bore a child together.
A child of two worlds, neither fully beast nor fully human.
But love does not protect against the cruelty of n."
"Hunters ca, your kind, slaughtering our kin for coins and mana stones.
The mother vanished during the chaos. We still don’t know whether she was killed or she ran far away".
"The father wandered deep into the wilderness to search for her... and was never seen again."
Myra lowered her eyes.
"That child survived. She stands before you now."
Kael’s breath caught.
His gaze darted to Myra, who remained silent.
"She is the daughter of that dood love," the elder continued.
"A bridge between two races that should never have t.
We will not allow history to repeat itself."
He leaned forward.
"Boy, you should leave."
"Go before the forest decides you are prey.
Go before the girl’s heart learns to hope.
We cannot and will not let this happen again."
The elder’s story sank into him (Who was that man? Did I forget to read the Chapter that was missing?)
He thought of the father who had vanished, the mother who had been hunted, the lonely child forced to grow up with other beasts.
(uhhh... what have I done?.. I killed those beast and they had a life too...i went with guilds and killed along with them too... )
(next ti... i should go hunting for demons)
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