Emery awoke to the joyous chirping of birds as well as the giggling of children who seemed to be running outside his tent. He sat up, moaned as he stretched his stiff bones, making solid cracking noises on his sore limbs. His gaze fell on his right arm, which felt so natural as if he had neverlost it in the first place. He then walked out of his tent and enjoyed the gentle warm touch of the morning light, stroking his face. Breathing in, the refreshing cool breeze of the air filled his lungs. He then picked up a long twig and started practicing his itching right arm.
After an hour of practice, he realized he could use both left and right arms with the same level of expertise. An idea then came up in his mind, what if he used two swords on both arms, would that be a good idea? He had never heard of any knights or any warriors using two swords, doing so might be good. Hence, he decided to check that out once he returned to the Magus Academy.
Finishing his practice, a red haired girl approached him from the front. It was Morgana, the person whom he had fought last night in the form of a wolf. Emery laid down the long twig beside his tent and said, "Good morning, Morgana, right?"
She was silent again and only gave a gesture to follow her, making him think she was still mad for losing to him last night. No matter, Emery followed her as requested and arrived at the largest tent he had seen in this village so far. Morgana walked straight to the large table that at least ten people could dine on.
"Seat," said Morgana, watching him.
As Emery stood confused in the entrance, a girl with brown hair tied into two halves approached the table, looked at him from top to toe and said to Morgana, "Is that him?"
Morgana nodded.
The girl with the brown hair then walked up to Emery and said, "Hello, my name is Tyra, the eldest of my sisters. I'm glad you could join us for breakfast."
Tyra then pointed at the table where three other girls were already sitting. Emery recognized one of the girls, a girl with white hair from last night's ceremony who had hugged Morgana after everyone had left.
As he made his way to seat, the girl with the white hair got up from her chair and started sniffing him.
"You smell nice, mister," said the girl with white hair, starling Emery.
"Glita, don't be rude," exclaimed Morgana to the girl with white hair. She then turned to Emery and said, "Please don't mind her."
She then gestured to the two other girls seated and said, "These are Lilith and Leilith. They're twins."
Emery was quite surprised that Morgana was taking the initiative to talk. He had tried to get her to speak last night and earlier, barely getting any responses, but when the topic was about her sisters, she was different.
"Go ahead and take a seat, I'll serve breakfast in a bit," said Tyra, walking away.
The moment Emery took a seat, Morgana also quietly sat next to him. Morgana had her eyes closed, except for the other three girls who were all staring at him looking as if they had a mountain of questions to ask.
"Don't flatter yourself, they are curious about you. After all, you're the first male able to transform," said Morgana with her arms crossed.
"Wait, so all of you can?" Emery said with eyes widened in disbelief.
"Brother Emery, can you show us your transformation?" exclaimed Glita, her hands clasped together.
"Who are you calling, brother?" said Morgana, she had her brows furrowed.
"Well… The Lady of the Lake told us we are sort of related. I hope I haven't offended brother Emery, have I?" Glita answered looking at Emery with a worried expression.
Emery shook his head and said, "Okay, later I'll show you."
Tyra set down the food on the table. They were mostly cooked meat and some were boiled vegetables. The rest of the young girls started eating with their bare hands, making Emery feel awkward. Then he realized, although it was a bit late, that there weren't any utensils, it'd be weird now to ask for any of the sort since they probably didn't have any specialized craftsman or it wasn't at the top of the list of priorities.
Anyway, Emery decided to try it with bare hands and as he ate, he wasn't sure if it was him or the people chatting beside him happily or eating with just hands made the food exceptionally tasty despite the meal looking so plain and simple. Truth to be told, he wasn't feeling hungry this morning because as his spirit force and battle power increased, it made him less dependent on resting and eating. He was getting a bit of sustenance from the elements albeit minute. But of course there were multitude other reasons why a person would eat food other than filling the stomach.
Glita suddenly said, "Brother Emery! Do you like the food? Sister Tyra is our best cook here. Don't you think she's the best candidate as a mate?"
Emery nodded. He said, "Indeed her food is great… wait… did you say mate?"
"Glita! You are not supposed to say that!" said Tyra, her cheeks turning as red as the meat.
Glita, however, ignored her older sister's remark and continued, "Brother Emery, what are you looking for in a mate? We have eldest sister Tyra, a great cook; sister Morgana, the strongest; Lilith and Leilith are the fastest; and me, the prettiest?"
Emery started laughing nervously when Morgana's chair suddenly groaned as she stood up. She grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the tent.
"T-thanks," said Emery. He breathed out, feeling she had just saved him from such awkward and sudden questioning from Glita.
Morgan had her back facing against him and said, "What do you wish to do today? The High Priestess told me to accompany you wherever you want to go."
"Oh, you don't have to. I can—"
"No, the High Priestess has given me her command, so I have to fulfill it," Morgana interjected adamantly.
Emery could tell from her tonality that no amount of arguing would work. So, he said, "Okay. Then, I'd like to take a walk around the forest. To the east, perhaps."
"That's not fair, sister Morgana. You want to keep brother Emery only to yourself," said Glita, exiting the tent with a grin. She added, "We want to join too."
"It's better to go in a pack than alone," said Tyra. The two twins nodded in silence.
Emery looked first at Morgana who still had her face away from him before looking at the other four and saying, "Alright."
The five girls went back inside the tent and when they came out, they were already in their Fey form. Five giant wolves twice the size of a normal man. They walked out of the village with all eyes on them but not a single villager had a look of fear in their eyes, instead it was admiration.
They started heading east of the village and once they had found a small clearing, Emery tapped into his bloodline and transformed into a half-beast, half-human. He had wolf-like ears, small fangs, hairs on his face, chest, arms and a bit on the legs. The black wave-like markings, similar to the Chrutin warriors, were all over his whole body.
The white wolf, Glita, once again sniffed him. He backed away when her voice suddenly resounded in his mind.
"Brother Emery, you really smell just like us!" said Glita in her wolf form, her tail wagging.
"Let's go," said a stern voice that was clearly Morgana's.
In that afternoon, they ran together around the Forbidden Forest. The wolves were on all four while he ran on two feet. Despite running with only two limbs like a human, Emery was still able to keep up with Morgana, Tyra and Glita except against the twin sisters, Lilith and Leilith whose speed looked like a blur.
Emery couldn't help but feel joy rising from his heart. He was bonding with people whom he shared his bloodline with. And as more time passed, the sense of being able to feel their presence even when they were far away and spoke telepathically grew stronger. Eventually, he was picking up some of their habits and an information popped in his mind.
[Fey Bloodline Innate Skill learned]
[Wild Hunt]
[Increases the sense of hearing and smelling in tracking a prey]
This ability was shared among the pack, which strengthened the success rate whenever they hunted. It could be used when alone or in a pack.
They went further east of the forbidden forest until they finally stopped before a hill where there were gigantic stones arranged in a circle on the ground. Some of the stones were on top of two stones, making Emery wonder how could such a thing have been built. And it was at that moment when Killgragah's voice sounded in his mind.
"This is the place, kid!"