Incredibly, several days had passed since Rada fell asleep.
The date of the test was getting closer and closer, but the boy had not yet awakened from his sleep.
In his office room, the Elder stared outwardly with a thoughtful expression. The pupil's long sleep, literally took him by surprise, he had no idea what was going on, this caused him to sigh in frustration.
In the village, there were many young warriors who aspired to be pupils of the Elder, some of them even had remarkable talents, however the Elder refused them all.
Until Rada arrived, a mysterious and incredible beyond belief. The elder didn't care about his personality, he immediately noticed that she was a sincere person. But even if he had discovered the darkest sides of him, it still wouldn't have made a difference.
Rada on his part, was immediately available, however, apart from the story in the Forest of the Howling, little was known about him. In this regard, the old man did not fail to think of the puppy he was carrying, he must surely be part of a noble clan of beasts.
Sitting in front of the window of his study, the Elder released small clouds of smoke from his long pipe. Multiple situations presented themselves in his mind, situations where the cub and the boy were the protagonists.
Miles away from the village:
"Boss their tracks end right here!" said one of Scarn's henchmen.
They were near the foot of the waterfall, where Kiba and Rada previously jumped.
"There must be some trail, follow the river to the end! Should you even find yourself at the end of the world!" the tone in which Scarn spoke, sounded like a roar.
Everyone present did not hesitate to disappear from his sight, in a desperate search for a trail to follow. His life was at stake, so he left no room for error or negligence on the part of his people. He would have razed anything to the ground to bring back what he had been ordered to do.
A few days later, the frantic search bore fruit. "Boss we found something" excitedly shouted one of the henchmen.
"Yeah I can smell it too!" replied Scarn, his eyes turning blood red with excitement.
"There seems to be the smell of other humans as well."
Of course, their senses were much more developed by any creatures, although it was faint, the smell there brought them to the meeting place of Rada and the Bran brothers.
"Well, well!" murderous intent reflected in Scarn's eyes.
"Keep following the trail, there must be a village nearby!"
He didn't dare to go too deep into human territory, although his powers were lethal to most of them, there could always be an experienced carrier or cultivator, who could cause him trouble.
He let his henchmen, who were far inferior to him, take care of it. But thanks to that they went unnoticed in the human territories, being mistaken for normal wolves most of the time.
Some time later, "We're boss! We found a village not far from here, the trail is getting stronger!" said one of the henchmen, returning from his search.
"Well, what did you find out about this village? Are there any experienced fighters that can give us trouble?" asked Scarn, by now he felt he had the two brats in his claws.
"The village isn't particularly large, their combat level isn't great either, however, there seem to be experts hidden among them.
In particular, Rattan has heard of families that seem to be in control of the village, and an elder," one of the henchmen said in a serious tone.
"Grr, things seem to be more complicated than expected."
Scarn loved to tear his prey apart, however he was no fool, he knew when to act cautiously, especially on a mission, he tried to be as cautious as possible.
"There's news boss!" spoke another of the henchmen who had just returned.
"Speak up!"
"There seems to be a rehearsal in a few weeks, where they're going to send all the young men in the village out to hunt."
"What should I care about a bunch of brats going hunting!" roared Scarn.
"Boss, one of the brats who will be participating seems to be bringing a puppy with him," said the terrified henchman.
"What?! Well! Well!" the henchman's words, were music to Scarn's pointy ears.
"P-possibly boss, it seems that this boy has become a pupil of the elder" said the henchman intimidated by the aura emanating from the boss.
The small group of henchmen were not particularly strong, but thanks to their great natural talents they were unparalleled in gathering information. It didn't take them long to find out what there was to know about Bran's village.
"You said that once the ordeal starts only the kids will go hunting, is that right?" asked Scarn.
"Yes boss!" replied the henchman without hesitation.
"Well then, it will mean that we will wait for the start of this trial, we will infiltrate their hunting territory, we will be able to act undisturbed!" the Scarn's eyes became full of murderous intent again.
The small group following Scarn, already knew what their boss had in mind, this was not their first mission, they were used to the carnage that the big wolf created when he arrived.
But this was not a problem for them, on the contrary, it made them even more excited, killing and raiding was their favorite pastime. So the group of wolves led by Scarn, waited for news of the test that would be held in the village.
In the meantime Rada, was still immersed in his dreams, with little Kiba sleeping on top of him. The two gave an air of tranquility and peace to look at, but for the two Bran brothers it was not so.
Rei and Cody were in Rada's room. Brother and sister had a worried look on their faces, this hinted at how important he was becoming to the duo.
"Sis, you'll see that everything will be fine, there's bound to be a reason for what's happening to big brother."
Cody tried to reassure his sister, despite the fact that he too didn't know what was going on. He grabbed his sister's shirt from the side with a trembling hand, but not from fear, but from tension.
"That's not what worries me Cody, I know very well that there must be a good reason. But the problem is that it's not long now before the test starts and he hasn't finished his training yet, how do you think he'll survive there?"
Rei shook her head slightly and let out a long sigh.
Cody remained silent at his sister's answer.
"Eventually he'll have to fend for himself, I'll be able to do very little for him!"
Rei clenched her fists, letting her hands turn white from the pressure applied. Inside she felt great frustration, for all she wanted was to be able to return the kindnesses she received from the boy. Yet that didn't seem possible at the moment. She wasn't worried, that Rada would find himself unprepared for what lay ahead, but for the simple fact, that she wouldn't be able to help him.