After the weird vision I saw, Bel came afterward to wake me up. She was surprised to see me awake earlier than expected. She was also surprised that I’m covered in sweat and my breathing is a bit fast than normal. A worried look can be seen through her face.

“Are you alright, Master? Did something happen?” Bel immediately prepared a towel for me to wipe my sweat. She also handed over some water to calm me down.

“It was nothing, just had a bad dream, that’s all.” I wiped the sweat over my forehead and drank the water. Bel’s presence helped me to calm down a bit.

“Thank you. Are the preparations ready?” I shifted the topic, I’m too uncomfortable right now to think about the dream. I need to distract my mind for now.

“Yes, we can depart any moment now. Do you need some time to get ready?” Bel is still obviously concerned. I appreciate the thought but it’s better to do something else right now.

“No, I’ll just change clothes and we can depart, this won’t take too long.”. I ordered Bel to get me some clean clothes. Her face shows that she’s still worried about what’s bothering me but she decided not to ask about it. Maybe it’s a protocol for maids or she just can read the mood well, it doesn't matter. I don’t know if these dreams are something I can talk to other people at the moment. I need to organize my thoughts first and I don’t want to talk about it either.

As I change my clothes, I noticed there was some kind of a mark on my chest area. It obviously wasn’t there before as far as I remember and I don’t remember getting some kind of tattoo recently. The shape of the mark is weird as well. It looks like a random mark. It’s better to associate it as a burn mark instead of a shape.

I touched it and I felt some kind of weird energy emitting inside it. The feeling was somehow fierce but gentle at the same time. I’m having mixed feelings about this, and I feel like this is related to the dream I had. ‘Wake up.’ As the words repeated through my mind, Bel’s voice filled the room.

“Master, are you done? We can leave anytime so you can take your time.”

“I’m almost done, wait for me outside, I’ll be right there soon.”

I wore the shirt Bel gave me and I hurried outside. This is no time to be thinking of some mysterious dream or some weird mark. It’s just that I cannot take it off my mind for some reason. I feel like something will happen later, and it’s connected to the dream I saw.

“I’m here. Let’s depart.” Immediately after going outside, I ordered the command to move out and the people around turned into some kind of a blur and disappeared. I started to move as well. I focused my mind on the shadows and it’s dark energy. I felt the aura at the surroundings and tried to form a connection to it. When it finally connected it felt like my soul left my body and physical body turned into a blur and disappeared as well.

This is a movement technique specialized for wolves. It’s called shadow travel. It utilizes shadow as a medium of transportation. Wolves can travel at high speed using this movement technique. It uses a great amount of energy to use so it is only used for short distances or quick ambushes. However, the situation changes when the full moon occurs. The sun has yet to rise and the moon gives the surroundings abundant energy that we can use. During the full moon, wolves can travel great distances without running out of energy and stamina. It’s one of the reasons why wolves are dangerous during the night the moon is full.

My soul traveled from shadow to shadow in quick succession. Even the weakest among all the wolves can still use the energy from the surroundings. In just around ten breaths, we traveled half the distance we need to cover for the day. I stopped a bit to take a breather. Traveling great distances takes a huge toll on my body since my condition is a bit special.

I looked around and I noticed we are on City L already. We passed nine cities in a short amount of time. Our target was City V, it was a very old town, far away from modern civilization. It’s the main reason why we celebrate the full moon there every month. Fewer people are present and then it has one of the biggest mountains in the whole country. It can accommodate the whole pack there for a night.

City L is an industrial area. Factories and other types of machinery can be observed throughout the area. It is relatively far away from the capital and other residential cities to reduce pollution related to sickness among the people. The good thing about CIty L though is that it handles pollution relatively well. Trees and plant forms are observed every street and I heard that they have some machines that filter out the air in the atmosphere. They are also uptight when it comes to waste management as well. When you arrive at City L expecting some kind smokey and futuristic environment, you will be greatly disappointed.

With that said, I focused once more and shadowed traveled away. I made sure nobody is around before departing. Though the possibility of someone being there in the middle of the night is close to none. Still, it never hurts to be extra careful. After a few more breaths, we arrived at our destination.

Bel and the others are already there. Bel was concerned and asked what took me so long. She was worried that I encountered some trouble somewhere along the way. I reassured her and said that I only stopped by a little bit at City L to sightsee. She’s still worried about what happened earlier but decided to not say anything about it. I’m sorry, Bel.

Since we arrived early, we still have a lot of free time before the full moon occurs. I decided to sightsee around the area first. I originally was planning to check in at the local inn and sleep in the meantime but after what I saw earlier, I just can’t bring myself to sleep once more. I need to keep my mind distracted as doing otherwise will bring me closer to insanity.

“Bel, I’m going to do some sightseeing around the town before climbing up the mountain. I’m bored and I don’t have much to do, the others had yet to arrive anyways.” I asked Bel if she wants to come or if she wants to climb the mountain and meet her family. I felt a little happy when she said she wants to accompany me for the stroll around town.

“That’s good, let’s go then.” I already had in mind a few places I wanted to visit in the little town. There was this local candy store manage by an old couple, they sell some old brand of candies that you will not commonly see in the market anymore. Sweet foods are ever changing but sometimes, you want to go back to the classics to get that feeling of nostalgia. I liked sweet food so I was planning on visiting this place for some time now.

Bel and I walked shoulder to shoulder around town. The houses around are old and broken. There are very few people in the area as well, most of them are elderlies together with some of their grandchildren. The environment is quiet and peaceful. The more I walked around, the more I get the urge to move and live here instead.

We arrived at our destination, and I was happy to see that the store is still there. Even though the sun has yet to rise up, the store was open. I also observed earlier that even though it’s still early in the morning, a lot of people are already up and doing some kinds of stuff around.

I went inside and a burst of sweet aroma filled my nostrils. I felt nostalgic as most of the candies at the shelves are the one I used to eat as a kid. In my whole childhood life, sweets are probably the only happy thing that ever happened to me. That’s why I have a deep fixation on sweet foods, even as an adult.

I saw some of my favorite candies and was genuinely happy that they are still in stock here. I tried finding some brands on City C but failed. Seeing the packaging, the color of it, the childish design and the characters, it made me feel relaxed.

I bought a whole box of the candy and continued browsing for more. Bel followed me from behind the whole time and kept quiet. So much for me escorting her the around the town.

After the candy store, we went to the center of the city. It was the town square where some of the town’s events occur or where they exchange materials every morning. It was still dark but the townspeople are already setting up their stalls and moving their materials around. It was a simple bartering mechanism where they traded materials instead of using money. The town square also serves as a park, there was a huge fountain on the center and some benches around. Bel and I sat on a nearby bench. Even though it’s still early, I started eating the sweets I bought earlier. I offered some to Bel and we ate together while silently watching the townspeople working.

“I’m sorry, Bel. Being with me must be boring and tiring. We only went to a candy shop when I’m supposed to escort you around the town.” I started the conversation.

“No worries, Master. Being with you and serving you brings me joy and happiness.”

“Still, you could’ve spent the time with your parents or siblings, I don’t think that being with me is all that fun.”

“Yes, but I will see them later anyway. Also, when I saw your smile back then at the candy shop, how your eyes brighten up when we arrived, and how happy you were when you were browsing through the shelves. Seeing all of that, I have no regrets.”. Bel smiled. It was the warmest smile I saw on Bel’s face. I was taken aback. Bel is truly a nice person.

“Thanks.” I smiled back. This trip around the town made me forget all my worries at the moment. I have to thank Bel for it. The full moon this month may not be as bad after all.