More than a century ago, during the conquest of the royal family to expand the Kingdom's territory, soldiers marched towards the southern region to claim the orc's land.

It has been a bloody battle and many warriors died in the process. Eventually, the royal army managed to push back the orcs at the edge of the southern land.

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The Wailing Forest and the land further until the Eagleview Fortress was captured and made as part of the Kingdom's territory.

Although it took some time for the kingdom to recover from its losses. The economy still boomed due to the fertile land that they captured.

Hendrick tried to remember the stories, perhaps rumors, made by the soldiers who claimed this land long ago.

'It's about a bright stone that has a gentle voice and attracts anyone near it…'

When this forest was still known as the orc's forest, the soldiers said that they would always hear noises within that don't sound like from the orcs or other beasts they know.

Some soldiers disappeared after following this voice and have never returned. Those that managed to escape after following the voice said that they can't remember anything.

In the end, one of the soldiers said that it was a bright stone, similar to the stone being used to summon an Arcana.

He said that it has markings similar to an Arcane Circle but instead of summoning an Arcana, it summons some monsters from the underworld! He described them as scary creatures that don't have similarities to animals like the beasts that they were aware of! He even claimed that it was perhaps the source of evil creatures similar to an imp and others.

However, other soldiers said that it can summon an Arcana, but all of them were cursed and it resulted in the death of the first people who tried to summon them… There was even some who claimed that the stone was a heart of an evil god…

Different testimonies from different people… However, they have one thing in common, it was a bright stone within the forest.

Finally, it was concluded by the officials at that time that it was a relic of the Orcs which was left within the forest when they escaped. They were probably unable to bring it with them for some reason.

Although it was unlikely, since the orcs don't possess any affinities with the Arcane Arts, it wasn't important during that warring era.

Then, many years had passed and the passing of the story became inaccurate and it reached the point where it was treated as an Arcane Circle gifted by the gods for those chosen or talented individuals.

It was said that it will only appear if you are deemed worthy. Further stories said that it was guarded by the guardians of the forest and any unworthy people who tried to get close to it would be killed.

Their death would be horrible and will be heard throughout the land near the forest! This was the reason why this place was called the Wailing Forest of the South.

Hendrick Ricarte went silent after remembering all of this. He heard this story from his mother when he was still young and curious about the world.

"Sir Tanro… Have you heard about the rumors of this forest?" He asked the Hunter.

"Hmm… Are you referring to the story of the soldiers long ago?"

"Correct, about the mysterious bright stone."

"Well, yes… I heard about it… But isn't that just a story they used to scare the children?"

Tanro answered as he knows that this story was no longer being spread around. As a matter of fact, most people living around this area were unaware of the story behind the name of Wailing Forest.

"Correct. It's just a story that was probably made up by some soldiers. However, all these stories had something in common, the existence of that bright stone. The Beast Tamers and the Evil Cultists shouldn't be in this place, what do you think they can possibly gain by staying here? Are they targeting the new Arcane Students? Perhaps, the latter really want living sacrifices? But what if it was only part of their mission? What if their main objective lies elsewhere?"

The second part of his statements weren't questions directed to the Hunter in front of him but more of a question asking himself.

His mission was to ensure that the Three-Eyed Imp's cult was completely eliminated in this region and to ensure that this won't happen again by determining their method of transport or find the path they used to get here.

With their tattoo marks on their bodies, they were guaranteed to be unable to enter any towns or cities to hire carriages and buy food.

"Well, I'll try to resolve this one by one… Thank you for your cooperation, Sir Tanro. In the meantime, may I have the report that includes information about the Beast Tamers?"

"Of course. Here, take it. I'm sure that the village chief of Farahn has already spread this news to the others so we didn't bother spreading it further.

"That's fine… Anyway, we still have to confirm these reports. It wouldn't be good if it caused political friction now when it was found later on that it's false information."

"Mhmm... I will let you handle it."

After his meeting with the Hunter, Hendrick returned to the inn they were staying at and saw that one of the squires was feeding the horses.

"Roan, have you seen Jillian?"

"Ahh, Sir Hendrick! Yes, she just came in waiting for you to make a report."

"She didn't bring anyone with her?"

Roan paused for a moment as he tried to remember if she brought someone along…

"Eh… No, she's alone, Sir…"

"Alright…"

Hendrick then entered the inn and saw the female squire.

The whole building was reserved for the Knights and their squires so there are no other people inside excepts the chef hired by the village chief to serve them.

After Jillian saw Hendrick enter the building, she immediately stood up and greeted him.

"Sir, I was unable to find Stella, that female warrior who fought against the cultist's leaders… However, I obtained information about the weapon that she was using…"

"Ho~ Tell me about it…"

Hendrick then sat at a nearby table to listen to her report. The other Knights also came down from their rooms upstairs after hearing that Hendrick has returned.

In the end, Jillian reported the information she got from the guard and Stella's uncle to everyone. She felt relieved that she was able to become useful to these knights even by a little.

"Very well… I'm not too familiar with the Beacon Tree…"

"Me neither." One of the older Knights said.

"Well, so all of us were not familiar… In any case, no one here fought against a member of that cult, so we can't really measure their strength at this rate. Maybe they're too weak to be beaten by a young girl or perhaps the girl was just good in combat. Anyway, her concern about our presence here was not that important, I just want to see her since the village leaders were praising her swordsmanship."

"Is that so? I thought you're interested in young girls?" Misha, the only female knight in the group, teased the Knight Captain.

"Haaa~ One of them just requested to examine her weapon in case it was a Cursed Arcana… Enough of that, I have something to share with you guys. I want to hear your opinion on this..."

Hendrick then told them about the information he got from the Hunters Association.

***

Grrr!!

Stella was visibly exhausted as she breathes heavily while holding the two wooden swords.

It was supposed to be a good chance to attack but the large wolf wasn't making any rash movements… He was even acting very cautious as he circled her!

Apparently, during the couple of minutes that they've fought, Reiji realized that he was fighting against a male wolf and he has a very tough skull!

Reiji already hit the wolf's head about four times but it doesn't seem to be affected at all!

At the very least, the beast had acted very cautious and ordered the three cubs to observe from a distance…

'…Upgrading the Take Over once wasn't enough, huh… If that's the case, I have to activate Overload… Tsk… Although this would cost another 10 SP, it should be fine…'

Reiji realized that Stella's physical strength together with her Spiritual Energy was still not enough to deal massive damage on the beast.

This creature wasn't a mid-grade beast but a top-grade!

He even tried to target its eyes, as he thought that it was his weakness, but the shinai was unable to penetrate its eyelids at all!

"Hmph—"

However, as he was about to activate the skill, he noticed that the wolf approached the cub that he first killed.

He smelled it for a moment before he started walking away… It was as if the wolf was trying to confirm that it was dead, or perhaps it was a ritual for a fallen fellow wolf… Reiji was unsure.

Anyway, he saw the wolf moving away and after getting to a certain distance, he gave a cold and threatening gaze to Stella as if it was trying to etch her face in his heart.

Stella, who was watching everything from the start, felt a cold sweat on her back as the Take Over ended.