Chapter 3

Over the next two days, Tom gradually finished carving the log he had started carving previously. The wolves hunted for more rabbits, so Tom roasted rabbits every day. After each try, his roasted meat turned out better and better; somehow, he managed to improve it. Although Tom didn't notice it, his wolves grew stronger and stronger thanks to the roasted rabbits.

"Hm... One hose is done... I think a break is due... I will go ahead and explore the forest a bit; then, I will figure out how to bring that one in!"

Said Tom, and upon hearing that, the two wolves instantly jumped up and looked at each other. Tom then walked into his house, leaving them alone in the garden.

"D-did you hear that?! That is some kind of house, and he wants to bring it here..." Whispered Lodié.

"Yes... I will escort him into the forest; you go ahead and transport the truck back here! I hope he will be delighted to see that!" Replied Doli and poked his pair with his nose.

"Great idea!" Said Lodié.

A few minutes later, Tom came out holding his usual axe with a smile. The moment the wolves noticed him, Doli rushed over to him and, as Tom walked, followed him.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" Asked Tom, and in return, the wolf jumped.

"Alright, let's go then!"

Said Tom patted the wolf, and then the two of them left the plot. Tom was walking slowly, not because of caution, but because he was enjoying the scenery and the walk itself.

"It feels great walking like this every once in a while. Living a normal leisurely life where I can do whatever I want... It is the best..." Mumbled Tom.

"It seems Master wants to live a perfectly normal life without magic... So that is why he didn't use any kind of magic spells for his work... He wants to live a mundane life; he wants to experience how it feels! I understand now!" Thought the wolf as he walked beside Tom.

Meanwhile, Lodié sneaked over to the log Tom carved out to be a house for the wolves.

"So this is meant for a house... It has such a dense magical power... I don't know who it is for, but I am sure that whoever Master will give it to will benefit greatly from it... This is one hell of a structure. It not only gives shelter, but it also collects a great amount of magical power and circulates within the carved area... A truly masterful building!"

Thought the wolf as she looked at it and walked around it.

"Oh, what a wonderful structure for me, little wolfy!" Echoed a voice in the forest; Lodié heard some cracks.

"Last time, you managed to get away, but now, you are all alone! You will die here! I don't know where you left your incompetent pair, but I will find him soon enough," Continued the voice.

"I am no mere wolfy! I am Master's pet, and my name is Lodié, you insect!"

Shouted the wolf and looked up. Above her, a large spider was hanging from her web. She suddenly jumped off right next to the wolf, who remained calm, and just looked at the spider. The spider was slightly smaller than the wolf.

"Wolfy, you seem confident now! What changed your attitude?! You accepted the fact that you will die and can't run?" Laughed the spider.

"No, I was simply blessed by a wonderful being, my Master, and now I have the means to kill you."

Said Lodié, and she started emitting a powerful blueish aura from her body. She grinned, showing her fangs.

"W-what?! That is impossible! You were but a Forostic wolf a couple of days ago... Now you have evolved into a magical beast, and not only that, you have reached the... Fostering Element fourth stage?! How? I was proud to be a magical beast and reached the Fostering Element second stage... But you... WHO IS YOUR MASTER?!" Screamed the spider and jumped back.

"You have no idea... YOu are lucky; I will not kill you. Master seems to find a use for almost anything; we will see whether you are useful or not; maybe if you are useful, he will reward you... Now SUBMIT!" Shouted Lodié

Sometime later, Tom and Doli walked quite a lot; they left the forest and walked on a road. They were walking towards a village which was visible in the distance.

"Look, Doli, I don't know how the villagers will react when they see you, but if you promise to be a good boy; and don't hurt anyone, you can come with me..." Said Tom, and the wolf licked his hand.

"I hope this is a yes..."

Mumbled Tom as they kept on walking. A few minutes later, they reached the village. They were walking on the main street of the village, which was full of stands where people were selling different sorts of items, such as fruit, vegetable cloths, weapons, armour, tools, and meat. In the centre of the road, there was a purple blade in the ground that was locked with similarly purple chains. As they were walking, the villagers all stepped back a few meters as they noticed Tom, and everyone seemed very distant. It was because Doli was grinning and showing his fangs without making a should.

"Wow... Everyone must be afraid of newcomers, right, Doli?"

Asked Tom and looked back at the wolf, who instantly stopped grinning. As they walked closer to the purple sword, suddenly, a somewhat well-dressed man approached Tom. Doli instantly raised his tail and glared at the man.

"Good sir, you seem to be new around, and as you have such a great follower, you must be quite strong... I was wondering; we have a special sword here in our humble village... We have a rule here... Whoever can pull the sword from the ground can keep it, but only outsides can try it... Would you like to give it a try, good sir?" Said the man with a shabby smile.

"Sure, I guess... Although I am not very strong, I will try it! Thanks for the heads up!" Siad Tom, and a slight grin formed on the man's face as Tom walked towards the blade.

"W-wait... T-that blade... That blade is emitting such devious cursed magical power... This is a cursed blade... A single touch is enough for the sword to strip one's sanity and magical powers... If Master touches it, he will..."

Thought the wolf, but it was too late; Tom had already touched the blade and pulled it out effortlessly. The blade started emitting a thick purple aura. Although Tom didn't see this aura, the wolf was able to see it and started shaking as it appeared. However, suddenly Tom Inhaled some of the purple aura emitted by the blade and then sneezed, and the purple mist instantly vanished.

"I think this must have been a play... It wasn't even in the ground properly... I think they just wanted to give me some kind of performance... But the sword kinda looks cool!"

Thought Tom before a large crowd of people surrounded him and started cheering for him. The wolf and the man who had approached Tom previously both cropped their jaws and their eyes widened.

"Finally, the cures have been broken! We are free," Shouted the crowd as a single entity.

"Wow, their acting is quite great... It seems it was just an act from the very beginning. They wanted to seem distant but give such a warm cheering for a jerkwater level of thing!"

Thought to himself Tom as he smiled. Meanwhile, the man who asked Tom to try pulling the blade ran away. As for Doli, he finally stopped shaking and just sat still as he watched the crowd. Although he was grinning and showing his fangs, he was quite peaceful.

"Please... It was nothing! I am sure anyone would have been able to do it... I am sorry, but I have to go now..."

Rumbled Tom quickly and managed to get away from the increasing mass of people. He quickly left the village as fast as he could, and then, when he was quite a distance away, he sat down.

"Oh... I hate being the centre of attention! I just want a calm, peaceful life!"

Mumbled Tom as he placed he looked at sword. As he glanced at it, it started glowing purple and emitted a thinner but darker mist than before. The wolf instantly raised his tail and grinned. Tom didn't notice the mist and just leaned back. The mist soon formed into a face with red eyes.

"A new and fine vessel! Finally, I can finally rid myself of these shackles! And I can destroy that village! I have been locked there for too long. Boy, do you carve for power?" Asked for the blade, but no response came.

"Boy, it seems you are acting cocky! I will teach you whom you are dealing with!"

Shouted the blade and started releasing a great amount of purple mist. Tom didn't see it, but he sighed, and at that moment, the mist that was emitted by the blade vanished.

"W-what is the meaning of this?! I was overpowered just like this?! Just who the hell are you?!" Screamed the sword.

"Master amazed me once again... He doesn't even care about this cursed sword... At first, I was worried that he would get hurt... But now I realised just how big of an idiot I was... Master and that sword... It feels almost as if a giant was holding an ant... The difference in power is unimaginable... A single breath was enough to completely disarm the cursed blade!" Thought the wolf, and he walked next to his Master as he wagged his tail.

Meanwhile, the man who ran away was running up a staircase towards a large wooden building. As soon as he reached it, he opened the door and rushed in. In the house, there were three men. Each of them was wearing a very similar dress. A light yellow robe-like outfit with slight whiteish colour around the edges of their clothes. One of the men was sitting in a well-decorated hand-carved wooden chair; one could have said that it was almost like a throne. The man had short black hair and a thin moustache just right under his nose. He glared at the intruder with his glowing green eyes. His gaze was full of anger. The other two men in the room were much older than that man. They already had whitened hair. The one on the right had large, bushie facial hair covering most of his face and even reaching his throat. The one on the other side had no facial hair at all; he was well-shaved. He only had a slight scar on his jaw.

The room was decorated with many paintings of different distant areas: mountains, plains, meadows, and oceans. The illustrations were seemingly normal, But there was one particular painting above the head of the person who sat on the chair. It depicted a golden warrior who was clashing with a shadowy figure. That painting gave away a powerful burst of energy the moment the intruder entered the room; he was even slightly pushed back by it.

The room had a large yellowish carpet laid down around the throne-like chair, and that area was slightly elevated from the rest of the room. On that elevation sat the black-haired man and stood the two elderly men right next to him. On each side of the throne-like chair, there was a small table placed, and on it, there were three cups of tea. Two of the cups were quite plain; they belonged to the elderly man. The last one was well decorated with characters written in blue colour. Although it looked more expensive, it was smaller than the other cups.

"Master! Please forgive this humble junior, for I have barged into your meeting uninvited! But I must tell you something urgently!"