It wasn't exactly a mystery as to why Roxy was so angry, if Ren had been slightly more vigilant towards the end of the fight, he wouldn't need to be saved by her just then. If this was a real fight instead of an assessment then Ren would most likely have been killed, or at least severely injured by the Blood Wolf's attack.
Ren looked down at the ground with a downcast expression. In truth, he was more frustrated at himself then Roxy was. His improvements over the last week had made him reckless, leading to him underestimating his foe. He may have someone by his side to protect him but the beast did not, it should have been a given that the Blood Wolf would do everything it could to survive.
"It won't happen again, Master."
Ren said weakly but there was an audible disappointment in his voice, directed towards nobody but himself. Roxy sighed and walked up to him and shoved a small green pill into his mouth, it was the very same pill she had given Ren after the fight with the Scaled Rhino.
"Tsk, it better not brat, otherwise your family will be the least of your problems."
Roxy said while spitting on to the ground. Ren swallowed the pill, he could tell that this wasn't an idle threat but despite knowing that, he wasn't concerned. After all, there was no way he would let himself make such a simple mistake again.
Ren started to feel the effects of the pill even though he had just swallowed it. There was a comfortable warmth spreading across his whole body as the energy he depleted during battle slowly returned to him. This was an entirely new experience for him since he had been unconscious the last time Roxy fed him the pill. Ren used his replenished strength to stand up and looked his master in the eyes.
"Thank you for saving me."
Ren said sincerely, this made Roxy shake her head, she could tell Ren was not taking what happened for granted.
"How can I let my disciple die, who the fuck do you take me for."
Roxy sighed, letting go of her anger. She opened her mouth and was about to say something but in that very moment her ears perked up and she raised a brow.
"Looks like mamma wolf decided to show up. I guess I can show you something interesting."
Ren was confused by her words, mamma wolf… what mamma wolf. Ren looked around and tried to figure out what she was talking about, which is exactly when he laid eyes on a massive and furry figure slowly creeping towards them, when he realised what he was looking at, Ren immediately froze.
Standing a short distance away from them was a massive Blood Wolf, slightly bigger than the scaled rhino he had fought previously. It looked like a scaled-up version of the Wolf cub he had just fought but its size wasn't the reason behind his lack of movement. Just like how he was staring at the beast, the beast was also staring back at him.
Ren felt a suffocating pressure making it hard for him to breathe. Those black and soulless eyes seemed to emit a bloody and murderous aura that made Ren's instincts scream at him to roll over, play dead and pray.
Ren had no idea how this huge beast had come so close without him even noticing it. He tried to move his body but he was scared stiff and could only tremble as the strength in his legs faded and he dropped to the ground.
"Where are your fucking manners you mutt."
Roxy glared at the adult Blood Wolf, the beast immediately slumped down onto its rear and whimpered softly. Ren felt the terrifying pressure that was restricting his movements, slowly vanish.
"Good mutt."
Roxy said while grinning at the now submissive wolf. Ren blankly stared at the beast with wide eyes, his exhausted mind struggled to process the events that been unfolding before his very eyes
"W-What?"
Ren asked, his voice shaking. The blood wolf remained still, he could even see something that resembled fear in its empty black eyes.
"Just shut up and listen."
Roxy said, ignoring Ren's stupor. She materialised a wooden javelin out of thin air, the javelin had streaks of pink running across it shaft with its sharp tip covered in dried blood that was beginning to flake off.
"You remember why someone as great as myself was staying in this shitty village in the first place, right?"
Ren nodded his head, Roxy had told him that she was investigating why the demonic beasts didn't attack the village despite their overly aggressive nature. She had recently made a breakthrough and discovered that the rosewood in the fences was what deterred the beasts.
"I failed to mention that this was part of bigger goal… finding out why these demonic beasts exist in the first place."
Ren was wondering why his master was trying to find the answer to such an obvious question, Demonic beasts came from… actually where did they come from. The more Ren thought about it, the more he realised that he had no idea why they existed, he had never seen any information regarding their origins.
"Demonic beasts aren't something born from nature, that much is obvious since their bodies don't contain a single trace of Aether which is in every other living creature."
Roxy said while gripping the wooden javelin tightly, she swung her arm back and threw it towards the beast, the javelin flickered out of sight only to reappear deep inside the wolfs front leg an instant later. The Wolf howled out in pain, its loud cries rattled Ren's eardrums but despite being in agony, mamma Wolf didn't move an inch.
"This javelin is made from that pink tree in the middle of the village, I already told you that it deters demonic beast's but when it enters their body… it's a different story."
Roxy said pointing her finger towards the beast. Ren looked over at the Blood Wolf but didn't notice anything different about it apart from its pain-induced howling being reduced to pitiful high-pitched whimpers, a few more seconds passed and Ren still couldn't understand what his master was talking about. He continued to observe silently, since Roxy had said something would happen, then something would definitely happen.
After taking a closer look, Ren realised that the wolf's crimson fur had begun to darken, slowly shifting towards a sinister matte black. This wasn't all, the yellow spikes on its trade mark mace-like tail seemed to shrink, completely retracting into the bushy tail. Curious about these changes, Ren looked up at his master for an explanation.
"Where I'm from, such beasts don't exist, instead we have beings of the Abyss, the Chaos Beasts. They are intelligent, not very aggressive and more importantly, they can use magic."
Roxy reluctantly explained using borrowed patience but this explanation only served to confuse him more. This was the first time he had heard the term Chaos Beasts. Even if he put the foreign terminology aside, Roxy had just said her homeland didn't have demonic beasts, as far as he knew this whole continent was infested with them.
Ren was already suspicious of Roxy's origins before but now she had basically confirmed she was not from this continent. Sensing that Ren was getting his thoughts muddled, Roxy brought him back to the topic at hand.
"Focus brat, shoot a fire bolt at the beast"
Roxy said, Ren was still confused but decided to do as he was told he made the hand sign and chanted the spell, a measly candle sized flame jumped a few inches forward before fizzling out completely. Ren looked up at his master innocently.
"Uhm… I ran out of fuel."
Ren said timidly, the previous scuffle with the wolf cub had left him completely drained of Aether. Roxy face palmed.
"Why did I have to take in such a fucking useless disciple."
Roxy said while keeping her face buried in her palm. Without even looking up, she lifted her free hand towards the beast and a small ball of orange fire that was far from what she was capable of began to take shape on her palm.
WHOOSH.
The chantless Firebolt spell raced towards the Blood Wolf at speeds Ren was nowhere near capable of. Surprisingly, the Blood Wolf didn't make any attempt to avoid the spell. When faced with Roxy's less than half-assed spell, it simply opened its mouth wide, revealing a row of sharp white teeth.
Rays of Green light began to gather in the Wolf's mouth forming a ball of bright emerald light. The ball of light burst into a huge spiralling gust of wind that collided with the streak of fire head on, easily snuffing out the flames. The gust of wind soon reached Ren, its power was enough to knock him down onto his rear and mess up his hair but not cause him any harm.
Ren quickly scrambled back to his feet, not even trying to mask his surprise. If this was a feat of physical strength, then Ren would not have been as surprised but he clearly sensed something magical about that attack just now.
"t-that was wind magic, that's impossible demonic beasts can't use magic."
Ren exclaimed, his shock was understandable, it felt like everything he knew had been turned on its head.
"Use your damn head you dumbass disciple. I already said that Chaos Beasts can use magic"
Roxy's insults made Ren calm down and gather his thought, it seems the wolf lying in front of him was no longer a Demonic Beast but a Chaos Beast instead.
By now, the Blood Wolf had completed its transformation. While keeping the same proportions, it had now gained a new coat of thick black fur and its fangs had grown to twice its previous size, remaining visible despite its jaw being closed. The Blood Wolf's black eyes had changed to a dazzling emerald green and the yellow spikes had disappeared from its tail, replaced by black ones that ran down its spine instead.
"So, does rosewood turns demonic beasts into Chaos ones?"
Ren asked curiously, this was the only conclusion he could come to, based on what he had just seen. Roxy shook her head and let him know that he was wrong.
"As expected of my dumbass disciple. The demonic beasts aren't being turned into to Chaos Beasts they're changing back. Something corrupted the Chaos beasts in this continent and I'm gonna find out who or what is responsible."
Ren took a moment to process what his master was saying, he understood what she was getting at but he quickly realised something.
"Does that mean we are leaving the village for good."
It seemed like Roxy had achieved her goal in the village, there was no reason to remain since she already found out the reason why the beasts were not attacking the village.
"We would be if that damn harlot responded… but since she didn't, we can only pay her a visit first."
Roxy said grumpily. Ren had no idea who his master was talking about but Roxy's change of mood made him guess that this person was the reason behind Roxy's bad temper today.
…
By the time Roxy had healed Ren's injuries it was approaching mid-day, unfortunately her magic didn't extend to his clothing which had been torn to shreds during his fight with the wolf cub. The two of them had blinked out of the forest to the door of their residence, where they were greeted by the ever-cheerful Olivia.
"Welcome back you two… Huh, Ren, look at the state of your clothes. You know it's not easy fix-"
"Shut your trap girl. Did you do what I asked you to?"
Olivia chirped but her nagging was rudely interrupted by Roxy. Olivia didn't mind Roxy changing the topic because it was something, she was pretty excited about.
"I'm nearly finished packing everything…. when are we leaving?"
Olivia asked, her eyes were full of anticipation. Her use of pronouns made Ren get a bad feeling, he looked up at Roxy but she didn't seem to share in his surprise.
"Wait a sec, we… as in you, me and master?"
Ren asked hesitantly, as far as he knew only him and his master where meant to go to visit his master associate, why was Olivia acting as if she was coming along to you.
"Yes, we… as in me, you and Roxy. Aren't you excited, it's our first trip together."
Olivia replied happily, confirming Ren's fears, he looked at Roxy for an explanation, clearly, she was the one behind all of this.
"Don't look at me like that brat, I don't have time for your shit right now. I'm leaving in ten minutes with or without you two."
Both Olivia and Ren gasped at the same time, filled with urgency Ren ran inside to gather his belongings.
"That soon, you haven't even told me where we're going."
Olivia said frantically. It was only now that Roxy realised that she had never actually mentioned their destination.
"Oh right, The kingdom of wind, Ventus."
Roxy replied, when Olivia heard their destination, all that excitement she had built up vanished without a trace. Roxy's answer had immediately demolished all the enthusiasm Olivia had built up for the trip.
"Oh, lucky us, we're going to die. Actually, I think I can already see the light, God is that you."
Olivia said looking up in to the sky with a blank expression, although she lived in an isolated village in the middle of nowhere, she had still heard the nasty rumours concerning the Ventus kingdom.
"Quit crying, the rumours are all exaggerated… I think."
Roxy had said the last part quietly but Olivia still managed to pick up on it.
"y-you think."
"look, if you don't want to go, you don't have to. I guess me and the brat will enjoy the scenery by ourselves."
Roxy said casually, trying to bait Olivia into tagging along. In truth, she was hoping that Olivia would tag along because among the three of them, she was the best cook.
Olivia was feeling slightly hesitant, she wanted to spend more time with Ren while he was still around, she already knew that soon he would be leaving the village for good and honestly, she didn't want to see him go.
"Wait a sec, I didn't say that I wouldn't go, it's just tha-"
Seeing that Olivia had taken the bait, Roxy sealed the deal.
"If you're scared, I should let you know I'm really strong."
That casual boast from Roxy, may have been something that anybody with functioning vocal cords could say but when Roxy said it, Olivia couldn't help but believe them.
"dammit… I'll go."
Olivia said, nervously stressing each word. Born and raised in the village, she had never once seen the outside world, it was too good of an opportunity to pass up.
***
Close to ten minutes later.
"Do you really need that much stuff?"
Ren asked sceptically, genuinely shocked by the sheer volume of things Olivia had packed. Ren never had many belongings and that number had only dropped since he ran away from home, so seeing Olivia working hard to drag two large leather bags that were both stuffed to the point that they were easily as big as him, was quite stunning.
"It's always better to be prepared."
Olivia said while wiping the sweat off her brow, she didn't know how they were travelling but even by horse, the journey would take at least a week.
"Its alright brat, storage isn't a problem."
Roxy said, taking the bags off Olivia. As soon as she touched them, there was a flash of purple light and the bags vanished without a trace. Olivia was taken aback by this development, amidst all of the excitement surrounding the trip, she had forgotten, Roxy and Ren were both Breakers.
To Olivia, Breakers were people to be looked up to, they were a source of pride for their kingdoms, guarding them from outside threats. People like her could go their whole lives without ever meeting one. Olivia couldn't help but feel the gap between her and Ren was wider than ever.
"Times up."
Roxy said while holding up her hand, a bright purple glow formed at the tip of her index finger. Roxy used that finger to draw out a large and circular purple line in the air, big enough for two people to pass through at the same time. The centre of the circle began to dim, quickly turning pitch black. The black circle made a low frequency hum and Ren could feel the vibrations in his chest.
Ren and Olivia both had misgivings, they didn't want to enter a sketchy looking black circle which they couldn't even see in to.
"Miss Olivia, I was taught that ladies enter first."
Ren said innocently, very politely gesturing towards the portal. Olivia shook her head before pointing at Ren.
"I think in this situation, maybe the Breaker should be the one to go first."
Roxy who's patience was already running thin, decided to take matters into her own hands… quite literally.
"You can argue all you want on the other side."
Roxy picked the both of them up, one in each hand, promptly tossing them into the portal. Ren didn't even react before his vision faded into black, he felt like he was constantly being tossed around by an invisible force that he was powerless to stop, he continued to get dizzier until finally passing out.