It was a cloudy day, the main camp was fairly quiet and there was little to no animal activity in the area.
Near the centre of the camp, Vin, in a slightly dirty navy blue uniform of the Ellaris Guardship, was adjusting some glass equipment as he stood next to a table.
The Qi Chip recording him and the camp around him was placed half a dozen meters away but although it was focused on Vin's equipment it could see a large portion of the camp and its surroundings.
Vin was using the Qi Chip to record any reactions that took place while he was experimenting with alchemy. It was always prudent to do so, so that one could confirm their observations and collect evidence if ever needed in the future.
Vin was just about to place a strange blue coloured root in a beaker of clean liquid when a loud wolf howl was heard from barely 200m away.
"AWOO!!" The howl was deep and powerful, much more so than any creature that should reside in this wilderness.
Instantly the camp was set on alert, a barrier array activated as the various guards that had been loitering around grabbed their weapons and observed their surroundings as they waited for orders.
From the larger commanders tent an Elemental in the form of a large-belleid Pig-like man stepped out, he instantly started shouting orders at the guards while he himself started to fly into the air releasing formidable waves of Qi energy as he did.
However just as the Elemental Commander flew to the height of 100m from the ground a large shadowy figure appeared from the forest in the direction where the loud wolf howl had originated.
The large shadow dashed over the camp, ignoring its existence but swiping its paw arrogantly at the Elemental Commander who was hovering in the air, trying to observe the situation.
The Elemental Commander was completely shocked by the shadowy figure, recognising its cultivation and barely managing to form a thick white barrier of Qi energy between him and the wolf's paw in time to save himself.
Even from far away one could see the dread and fierce resolution in the Commanders face as he defended himself. However when the giant paw collided with the white barrier, the resulting force smashed the Elemental Commander downwards, shooting him into a section of forest a 100m away like a cannonball.
Meanwhile in the main camp, a sharp whistle was heard from the forest, the guards recognised it as a danger signal from a a scout on patrol near the camp. However the whistle was quickly cut off in a strange manner, followed moments later by a rumbling sound mixed with a variety of sharp hissing noises.
Before the Elemental Commander could even recover from the Shadow Wolf's attack, a small group of silver shuttles that resembled rowing boats passed over the camp chasing the Shadow Wolf. Just afterwards a horde of Giant Black Viper's broke through the tree-line recklessly.
The flying boats were manned by cloaked figure who had disguised their appearance however they completely ignored the camp as they continued to chase after the Shadow Wolf. The Black Viper's however weren't able to fly though the air and their limited intelligence prevented them from logically circling the main camp to follow their target.
The Black Viper's only paused for a moment, looking at the strange camp ahead of them before they barrelled towards it without restraint. It was fortunate that the barrier array the camp had set up was able to block them, however that wouldn't last for long.
The group of Black Viper's were separated into two types, the smaller 10m long variety which Casmir had fought against and a much large 30m long variety. The 30m long variety had strange jagged crown like structures on their heads, formed by their own scales which made them look like 'Kings' of the Black Viper's.
If the horde only contained the smaller 10m long variety of Black Viper, the barrier array may have held out long enough for the guards to react and form a defensive line. However the 'King' Black Viper's bodies were incredible formidable, the ground literally cracked and quaked under their strength.
The barrier array only held up for three breaths under their assault, after which the horde of Black Viper's simply rampaged through the camps meagre physical defences.
The wooden fence collapsed, tents were trampled under the lightest of touches by the massive bodies of the Black Viper's and a few of the more aggravated Black Viper's even sprayed their acidic Venom through the air, soaking the ground in the toxic substance.
It was unfortunately for the Guards that it appeared the Black Viper's scales were impervious to their own acid, their kin took no damage from their companions acid that ravaged the camp.
Despite the guards disadvantageous state, they fought back valiantly, throwing spears and other Qi energy projectiles into the eyes of the Black Viper's, blinding them before striking at their soft underbellies.
There were at least two dozen Qi Grade 3 guards in the camp with another 2 Guard Captains at Qi Grade 4. Each and everyone of them, including Vin, were capable of taking down one of the smaller Black Viper's using similar tactics.
However the King Black Viper's also existed, their bodies were too formidable for any one cultivator to handle unprepared. One of the Guard Captain's attempted to pierce a King Black Viper's hide with a strange flaming sword but his attack only left a shallow wound on the thick hide of the King.
Moments later that King Black Viper whipped its tail around, smashing the Guard Captains body against the ground before sinking its teeth into his body and swallowing him whole. Not only were the King's bodies formidable but their speed was nothing to scoff at either.
Some of the guards saw the situation degrading and attempted to retreat or flee but this was when the final nail in their coffins arrived.
The small group of silver shuttles that passed over the camp just before the Black Viper's arrived had given up on their pursuit of the Shadow Wolf and returned to the main camp.
A couple dozen cloaked figures leapt off the boats before splitting up into two teams, one to deal with the Elemental Commander who was a Low Qi Grade 5 level cultivator, the other to clean up the lower level guards who had still survived.
It was at this point that the Guards confirmed the cloaked figures were controlling the Black Viper's, the Black Viper's never once attacked the cloaked figures, sometimes even lowering their heads towards them in fear as they passed by.
At the same time, Vin, whose body had forcefully broken out of its clothing and expanded to a large size allowing him to whip his glowing vines at the enemies, chose this moment to break off from fighting.
One of his vines wrapped around the Qi Chip that was still recording before he shrunk his body to a normal size, unfortunately he was then suddenly struck by a King Black Viper's tail as it fought with the last remaining Guard Captain.
This unintended attack broke apart Vin's Qi energy core, knocking him unconscious and stopping the Qi Chips recording.
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As Casmir watched the recording, Vin explained some of the details the Qi chip had failed to record such as the Elemental Commanders situation and the cultivation levels of their enemies.
Vin even gave some suggestions as to the identity of the Shadow Wolf, he could confirm that it was a Qi Grade 6 ferocious beast but the exact race or breed of animal was unclear.
Using this information and comparing it to the actions of the two cloaked figures he had encountered, Casmir started to piece together the series of event that had wiped out this camp and placed him and Zaya in mortal danger.
It was highly likely that the group of cloaked figures had laid a trap for the Shadow Wolf, perhaps using an array of some form and the Black Viper's as cannon fodder to inhibit it while they attacked.
However somehow the Shadow Wolf had escaped.
They had tried to chase it down with their shuttles but the Shadow Wolf was fast and more importantly lucky, nearby to the point it was ambushed was a small camp of cultivators. The Shadow wolf hoped that these two groups were from different factions of the Intelligent races and that their meeting would cause conflict.
Sure enough, the Shadow Wolf's suspicions were correct. The group of cloaked figures were from one faction of the Intelligent races while the camp was from another.
As they passed by each other, the Black Viper's with their shallow intelligence attacked the camp. The group of cloaked figures could still chase after the Shadow Wolf on their shuttles, however without their cannon fodder following after them they wouldn't be able to contain the Shadow Wolf properly.
With a belly full of anger at their failure, the group of cloaked figures returned to the camp and wiped out anything that could trace back to them, with the fortunate exception of Vin.
Unfortunately during the chase and subsequent battle in the Ellaris Guard camp, many Black Viper's were separated from the group, whether from willingly escaping or accidently loosing their way.
This would later result in Casmir's groups confrontation with a lost Black Viper after the now free Shadow Wolf drew the attention of Instructor Redfire.
Seeing everything laid out before them both Casmir and Vin were tainted with anger towards the Shadow Wolf but their hate was directed solely towards the group of cloaked figures.
"How did they find out about the Shadow Wolf being here anyway..? In fact.. why was a Shadow Wolf ever come here?" Casmir asked in confusion.
Redfire had told Casmir and the rest of his friends that this area could never contain an beast above Grade 3 because of its regular surveillance, often done by the main camp which Vin was a part of.
Vin thought about Casmir's question seriously for a moment before taking a guess.
"The Deep Blue River isn't far from here.. that massive river runs all the way through the country and passes through a few Ferocious beast Domains... In the past there have been incidents where high-level Ferocious beasts were caught using it as a highway through the country.." Vin explained.
"It's one of the reasons our camp was stationed here.. However I don't understand why the Shadow Wolf would come here specifically.. maybe a natural resource we've failed to discover?.. I'm not sure.." Vin mumbled.
Casmir's brows furrowed in thought for a moment before they crumbled in frustration as Casmir let out a long sigh..
'What's the point in thinking about it.. at my level there's no point in me knowing. I can't do anything about it...' Casmir thought, lamenting his powerlessness.
The scene of the main camp being slaughtered was shocking, disgusting and enraging to Casmir. He couldn't help but feel hollow at the thought of bringing those dead men to justice, after all, even if the group of cloaked figures were all killed, it wouldn't change a thing.
In Casmir's eyes this whole incident was a complete waste of life.
He and Vin stayed silent for some time, resting as they steeped in their own thoughts until suddenly a low humming sound crept up on them from outside the tent.
The humming sound slowly grew louder yet it still seemed faint and obscured.
Vin seemed to recognize the sound but wasn't confident in his deduction, he looked at Casmir and quietly said.
"Stay quiet.. check outside.. keep my badge on you and don't reveal yourself.." He said.
Casmir looked back at him questioningly prompting Vin to explain himself vaguely.
"Either we're screwed.. or we're saved.." He said quietly.