"Ah, I see… Good to hear that." the girl named Tatjana nodded in approval. "Andrei, you can release him now. He's no threat to us."
Emery stared at them in confusion. It was certainly odd that with just one sentence from the girl, they immediately released the binds tying up his limbs.
"You're going to release me just like that?"
The brown-haired girl nodded and grinned before she decided to help Emery get rid of the heavy chains still surrounding his body.
"Ah, well… How do I say this, Tatjana has the best sense among us, if she says you're alright, then you're alright."
While helping to release the binds, Tatjana still sniffed around him. "Emery, you smell really good. You must be a very kind person."
Emery stared at her for several seconds with mouth agape and an awkward silence followed.
"… And you gleaned all this information just from sniffing me?" Emery's expression of disbelief made all three of them laugh simultaneously, breaking the awkward silence that ensued between them before.
"Hahahaha" Brutus clutched his stomach and let out a boisterous laugh much louder than the other two. "Of course not Emery, Tatjana here only checks if you are actually under the influence of that old hag spells."
"Hey, brother Brutus! you shouldn't really talk about our honorable Grand Magus like that." Tatjana reprimanded and shook her head. "We may have a personal dislike towards her, but we shouldn't forget our manners."
"Ah, right my bad.. Though… Emery, don't be lax. Just because you're not under the influence of her spells. You could possibly be already ensnared by her traps."
So far, Emery felt that, while the three of them were a fun-loving and kind bunch, he couldn't shake the feeling of dislike forming in his heart for the way they talked about Grand Magus Zenoia. The woman had helped him twice already and seeing her being disrespected like that made him feel uncomfortable.
"What is your history with the grand magus? What's with all the contempt?"
Emery's question made the three of them turn their heads to look at him at the same time and yet again, the atmosphere became serious. Brutus looked at the other two for a second before looking back at Emery to explain. "Emery, your senses must've already told you we're all from the same wolf bloodline, right? We're all practically family here and we want what's best for us all. I strongly advise you against trusting her."
"But why?" Emery asked, expecting a serious answer. Despite what they said, nothing could change the fact they just met a little while ago and they met not under the best of circumstances. Surely, Emery could not accept such an accusation without proof or explanation.
Emery's reaction made Brutus furrow his brows in confusion and ask Tatjana. "Hey, Tanja… are you one-hundred percent sure he's not currently being affected by any spells?"
Tatjana simply gave her charming smile and shook her head.
"Well, she's from the mythical bat bloodline and that's good enough reason. No members of that bloodsucking freak can be trusted."
Emery sighed and rubbed his head. He was thinking about some possibilities of what the Grand Magus could possibly have done, but it appeared It was a classic dispute between two sides of the bloodline. Or at least, that was what he could conclude from the limited information he had.
"You really should take a bit to learn the history of what happened between our two races…" said Brutus
Emery decided he wanted no part in the dispute between them, especially with his limited information. He asked the most important question he had right now, aside from the dispute.
"Okay, that aside… what do you want with me?"
"Ah right, about that… Actually, our chief told us to pick you up and help you after you won that second game, but we kinda interrupted as you went straight to our enemies instead of finding us, your own kin."
"You were with them all the time!" Tatjana added and shook her head."
"Then, we thought.. Probably you don't need us after all"
"Yes! Me and my brother bet you will lose on the first match"
"You see it becomes troublesome when you loose badly to that dragon kid"
"Yes! we got scolded by the chief!"
"Now that you are in the final, we were made sure to reach you"
Emery currently not sure how to feel about these people, they were both amusing and annoying to him. He decided to focus on the help they implied they have.
"So, what are you going to help me with?"
"Here, the chief asked us to give you something."
Brutus took out a wooden box from his storage ring. The box had similar carvings and style as the reward he received for being the best in the apothecary institute's exam. Would it be another spirit foundation pill? Emery mused in his mind.
When he opened the box, instead of a pill he found a small blood-red vial filled with liquid of similar color. From the looks of the vial, he recognized what it actually is.
"Yeah, this is the reward from the bloodline institute for your achievement of being in the top 500."
[Legendary Blood Elixir]
"Haha Do you like it, Emery? This might be the key you need to succeed in your final match!"
When Brutus took out the vial, both Tatjana and Andrei seems to gleam with excitement.
Emery received the potion and looked at it. He was surely grateful, but while he stared at the vial, he realized something and decided to ask Brutus.
"So, wait… you were saying that you're supposed to give me this 10 days ago?"
"Hahahahaha… about that…" Brutus took a few steps back and looked at Emery with a panicked expression. "Brother, we want the best for you and if you got this from the beginning, you wouldn't put as much effort into practicing, am I right? Hahahahaha…."
For the umpteenth time that day, Emery shook his head in disbelief.
"So do I just drink this like that?"
"Yes you should."
Before drinking it, Emery was concerned about his [weakened state] if it would affect the elixir, but apparently it was normal for all the wolves bloodline to receive the drawback after transforming. The stronger the transformation, the longer the drawback will be.
"For rank three, normally the drawback will be a couple of days, its different for each of us, but don't worry this elixir will definitely help you speed up the process"
Emery stared at the small vial and all three pairs of eyes watched him in anticipation.
He drank the whole thing in one gulp.