Attracted by the noise, the wolves in the area started to move towards its source, slowly gathering around Alz.

The first wolf to arrive saw a sobbing Alz, kneeling defencelessly on the ground. A ferocious glint lit in its eyes as it licked its lips and opened its jaw, dashing straight at Alz.

As it approached Alz, it began to envision the taste of the yummy prey before it, wetting its jaws with saliva. However, these thoughts soon became its last, as it felt a sharp pain from its forehead and darkness filled its world the next instant.

Alz had drawn his right crossbow and fired it at the wolf without looking up a single time, as he continued looking at the small pile of bones before him with tears dripping down his cheeks.

His entire series of motions were so swift and fluid that it felt surreal. It was to the point where the wolf’s mind could not even register his actions, not understanding how it died even at the end.

The second wolf also continued its charge toward Alz for half a second before recognising what had happened, belatedly stopping its charge and retreating back as fast as it could.

It had arrived slightly after the first wolf and immediately started charging after catching sight of the defenceless Alz, wanting to get some of the meat, but evidently, what happened after did not go according to its expectations.

After backing off about 20m from Alz, it revealed a look of relief as it turned back, looking towards Alz who remained at the same spot. Chills ran down its spine as it recalled the eerie scene before, as it continued to glance fearfully towards the kneeling Alz.

Its instincts that were quiet just a moment ago were now ringing at full force, warning it of the danger posed by the creature ahead.

Suddenly, it saw that Alz was beginning to stand and panicked, backing off another 10m before looking back cautiously at Alz who was now standing, its body still facing out ready to escape at any moment.

Alz started to walk, scaring the wolf to back off another 10m, adding to a total distance of 40m between them before looking back at Alz.

However, Alz showed no signs of caring about the wolves around, as though these wolves did not exist in his world.

He carefully looked around and walked over to wherever he spotted bones, gathering them in his arms and placing them before where he knelt earlier. After he couldn’t find any more bones, he then proceeded to kneel before the bones.

During this time, three other wolves had gathered but they had witnessed the interactions between the second wolf and Alz and knew that he was dangerous, so they did not carelessly approach him.

The second wolf hesitated for a moment before turning its body to face Alz again, letting out a howl that resounded through the village, calling for the rest of its comrades.

Alz’s tears started dripping faster as he looked at the pile before him. He had gathered every piece in sight but there were still many pieces missing, something he felt helpless about.

Images of the days he spent with his parents played out in his mind, images of the loving smile that silently accompanied him during the times he was researching in the library, of the figure who always happened to ‘pass by’ the training grounds, helping him out with his training, of smiles and apologies he received during the first two weeks of their reunion, and of their final moments, when they sacrificed themselves so he could escape.

As Alz looked back at his memories, a soft voice that was on the verge of breaking escaped his lips

“M-mom… d-dad, I l-lived…I-I’m al-live…I p-promise I’ll l-live pro-properly so you t-two can r-rest peacefully n-now.”

He sniffed and swallowed as he spoke, stuttering throughout the sentence as though he had just forgotten how to speak.

Alz wiped off his tears and close his eyes, taking a few deep breaths to calm his emotions. When he opened his eyes a few moments later, all that was left on his face was a calm expression.

“It might be a little late, but I’ll send them to keep you company now.” Alz uttered with a gentle smile on his face as he took one last look at the pile before moving his gaze to the six wolves that surrounded him.

He was burning inside, but he knew that now was not the time to be emotional. The first wolf was only so easily taken care of because he had been prepared and the wolf had not, but it was different this time.

His crossbows were naturally not always pre-cocked as it would damage the bow and posed a risk to himself, but he had set it up when he entered the village as he had already been expecting the wolves, allowing him to achieve the first kill with the element of surprise.

The second wolf barked and gestured repeatedly to the other wolves, warning them of the danger Alz’s crossbow posed as they circled around Alz, slowly closing in on him.

“Six…so seven in total.” Alz thought as he looked around, nodding slightly. He had estimated for there to be five to eight wolves left in the village and was prepared to escape immediately had there been more.

Thankfully, his estimates were accurate and there were only seven in total. On top of that, he had been lucky enough to take one out before this, so he only had to deal with six of them, something he had confidence in.

“Six… it’s the same.” Suddenly, he felt a sense of déjà vu as he recalled his escape five years ago.

Back then, there were also six wolves on his tail and today, there were also six wolves.

“But I’m no longer the me back then”, he thought as a smile appeared on his face, amused by the coincidence.

Meanwhile, the circle formed by the wolves was still closing in on him, with each wolf being only ten meters away from him now. He would soon enter their range where they would all attack him at once, ripping him to shreds.

Alz cocked his crossbow and stood in the middle silently, watching as the wolves approached.

When the wolves were about six meters from him, he suddenly pulled out a large, translucent pale green object from the front pocket of his shirt. The object was weirdly deformed on all sides and barely fit into its palm.

Alz’s left hand slowed down slightly when he grabbed onto the object, weighed down by the object. He revealed a tinge of unwillingness as he shot a quick look at the it but immediately threw it directly onto ground below him.

The object immediately shattered into countless shards as it smashed onto the ground, spreading across a large area on the ground. The loud and foreign shattering sound caused the wolves’ movements to slow down and back off slightly.

Making use of this window he had created, Alz immediately dashed to the right where the largest wolf of the pack was, aiming his crossbow at it.

When the wolves were closing in, he had already identified this wolf as the alpha of the pack, so he had planned on targeting it all along.

He fired his crossbow, but the alpha wolf immediately regained its senses, quickly dodging to the side and avoiding a fatal blow, but it did not escape uninjured as the arrow landed on one of its forelegs, ripping its leg off its body.

It slowly fell to the ground after dodging, letting out a long, pained howl which was filled with anxiousness.

Hearing this, the other wolves immediately barred their teeth and growled towards Alz while charging at him, trying to help their leader.

However, their movements quickly slowed down and pained whimpers escaped from their jaws as they looked down at the pale green shards that cut deeply into their paws.

Alz was silently observing his surroundings and breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed this. He quickly drew his left crossbow and aimed it at the alpha that was lying on the ground, firing the shot with ended its life.

Right as the alpha died, five pained howls filled with sadness came from behind Alz but he remained unfazed as he turned and started to finish off the five injured wolves one by one with his crossbow bolts.

As he was killing them, one of the wolves started whimpering and showed pleading looks towards Alz, but it was all met with a cold gaze as the elf silently fired his weapon, killing them all.

There was no longer any room left in his heart for sympathy towards wolves. All of that was destroyed on the day of the attack and he had already killed far too many of their kind since then for this to affect him.

Furthermore, these were wolves that were in the fourth village, these wolves were especially unforgivable for Alz even among their kind and there was no way he would even consider sparing them.

Alz walked out of the shard zone and removed the shards that were stuck on his shoe before taking out a small leather pouch from his bag and collecting them in case it ever came in handy. He sighed as he looked at the small bag of shards before tying the top and placing it in his bag.

This glass ball could be said to have been Alz’s masterpiece in glassmaking, one which he had created by fluke and failed in every attempt to recreate it. That said, he also didn’t try too hard as glassmaking required a large amount of charcoal which he needed for many other purposes.

After all, it was most effective in flat open areas was practically non-existent in the forest. He had planned on using it from the beginning but still felt that it was a pity for his masterpiece to be destroyed in this manner.

Having cleared up the glass on the floor, Alz returned back to the pile of bones.