The Abysmal Territory

[26]

“Oh, yeah. I forgot I dropped my other weapons,” Teiko said.

“I’m talking about those! I’m talking about the golden wolf fang and the leaf of yggdrasil!” Saki shouted.

“I forgot about that, sorry. I’m still processing what happened and what I should improve,” Teiko said.

Teiko walked toward the golden wolf fang and carried it carefully. 

“Why does his whole fang just turn into a single tooth? Did you accidentally destroy all of his other teeth?” Teiko asked.

“No, just as I said, I controlled the explosion. The whole golden teeth of the wolf turned into a single tooth everytime you defeated the alpha wolf. It also applied to other rate items.  Isn’t God amazing for doing that. He thinks that a being should be satisfied with just a little, right?”

“Eh? Should He be more generous?” Teiko asked.

“You said that even though you’re gonna obtain two rare items on the same day and those items are also what you need,” Saki replied.

Teiko laughs. He said, “I’m just kidding.”

He also gathered his equipment and put it in his bag. As he walks towards the leaf of yggdrasil, he notices the skin of the alpha wolf scattered on the ground.

“Hey, Saki. This skin is very sturdy, can we make use of it?” Teiko asked.

“That? You can use that to make many things. From clothes to bags, you just need to learn the weaving skill and you can do that,” Saki said.

“Hmm. If I travel for a long time, then that skill would come in handy. I’ll also gather all the alpha wolf’s skin. I’ll just leave the other wolf since I cannot carry all of those,” Teiko said.

Teiko and Saki went to where the leaf of yggdrasil is located.

“I’ll just pluck it, right? I should also make sure that I’ll not damage any of it,” Teiko said.

Teiko plucks out the glowing leaf of the plant. The whole plant withered as he did that. He was mesmerized by its appearance, glowing and spreading light particles.

“Make sure you store it in a safe place. Just hide it from sunlight since if you do that, you’ll just attract a number of wild animals and beasts,” Saki said.

“Okay, I keep that in mind. And what to do next is to find the sacred emerald. I feel lucky today so we might also get it today,” Teiko said.

“No, we’re not going to that. Let’s find a safe place and rest there first,” Saki said.

“You just heal me so I don’t think we need a rest. With my current state I think we can go all day,” Teiko said.

“Not true, even though you’re not feeling any fatigue, you need your soul to have some rest. Didn’t I tell you that I couldn't get any fatigue from your mind,” Saki said.

“I did remember you saying that back then. What’s up with the soul thing?” Teiko asked.

“Your soul is like a fuel burning in your body, it’s the reason you have your will. As long as it burns up, you will have the will for living. You mortals can survive up to twenty days without food and water, but you’ll die at maximum of ten days without sleep. Other mortals even die with just three days of not sleeping. That’s because their souls die down making them not have any will to leave, they either kill themselves, stop breathing, become insane or just become like wild animals,” Saki explained.

“I see, did you also hear that the wolf was able to talk?” Teiko asked.

“Yup? I think he’s very angry at you,” Saki said then laughed.

“So the reason that the alpha wolf could talk is that he obtained the soul that is responsible to have a will to live? Didn’t wild animals have that?” Teiko asked.

“Wild animals do have the will but only to survive, unlike humans, they just rely on their instinct that they need to survive. So it’s possible that the alpha wolf did obtain that soul,” Saki said.

“Then why didn’t it talk to us at first? We could have a conversation if he did that and maybe something different may happen,” Teiko said.

“Maybe it doesn’t have enough? Maybe a little bit of power from the leaf of yggdrasil and he could really speak his mind,” Saki replied.

“Meaning, if we didn’t interrupt what they are doing, then a wild wolf could achieve a soul of a mortal and would have a sense of living? Did we just do something wrong?” Teiko said.

“Let’s just think that if really indeed got that soul, he might turn out to be an evil being. By how he leads the wolf pack, that may be the case. Well, I told you we can make him as a pet,” Saki said.

“Okay, I understand. But stop with the pet thing, that's a very dangerous way of thinking. Let’s look for a safe place to rest, maybe let’s spend two hours searching since I’m not that very far from the sanctuary,” Teiko said.

As they spent hours finding a safe place. They came to an open field near a cliff. Teiko set up a camp so he could safely rest.

“Teiko-nii, this is a good spot. No one would attempt to go here, even wild animals,” Saki said.

“Yup, I’m glad that there’s a spot like this in the middle of a forest,” Teiko replied.

As Teiko is about to go to sleep. The sound of footsteps echoes throughout the place.

“What? Someone is approaching, the step is not that heavy but since we’re in a quiet place, it’s echoing against the rock walls,” Teiko said.

“Yep, it’s like a human being. I noticed her a while ago,” Saki said.

“Then, why didn’t you say that earlier. You even said that it is a good spot,” Teiko said.

“Well, I didn’t feel any bad intention from that person so I didn’t bother saying it,” Saki said.

The footsteps still sounded being louder and louder on where Teiko set up his camp.