Those gazes that were filled with a murderous aura and seemed to be cornered were capable of making Vir tremble. But he still maintained his alertness.
Dying in battle was better than dying as a coward, he thought.
And just as he was getting ready to fight to the death with the giant wolves, suddenly, the wolves surrounding Vir fell silent.
A subtle voice that only the wolves could hear had confused them. It was as if it was whispering in their heads to immediately move away from the man with a black dagger.
In the next second, the Ghost Wolves moved away from Vir and disappeared quickly among the dead trees on the left side.
Vir frowned and was quite confused by what had just happened. This was out of the ordinary for these beasts, he thought.
"What happened?" he muttered.
Vir looked in various directions to make sure that no wolf was currently stalking him.
Although he couldn't hear that ethereal voice earlier, and didn't know why the Ghost Wolves had left him right when he was surrounded, at least, Vir felt grateful that he was still safe this time.
So, without waiting any longer, he immediately pulled his cart, and got away from the area as soon as possible, before the sun disappeared.
As soon as Vir passed, the mysterious figure resumed her steps, following Vir who passed to the northeast.
Just when the sky on the western horizon looked so magnificent with its golden orange color, Vir finally arrived at an oasis that he had deliberately aimed for. He would rest there for the night. And then tomorrow morning he would continue his journey.
The area was not very large, there were only about seventeen large trees of different types growing around. Then a large pond. On one side of the pond, there was a set of steps that led to the bottom of the pond, in the middle.
Vir didn't know the reason why this particular oasis had never been visited by beasts, or by dragons.
But rumor had it that it might be because it was once an area sacred to the extinct natives.
This oasis was the former ruins of the temple of the Southeast Kingdom.
Vir thought there might be some truth to that. The wide row of steps that seemed to touch the bottom of the large pond was proof. Although, it was not valid proof.
There would be no one who could tell about it since the major and minor tribes that once lived peacefully in this land had died out.
As far as the eye could see, there was only drought. Except, around that large pond alone with seventeen different trees, then the surrounding weeds, and the remnants of buildings poking out between the mounds of sand and soil.
"The Sacred Oasis, huh?" Vir grinned. At least, that was the name that the wild hunters knew by word of mouth.
He looked around. It seemed that this time there was only him alone in the oasis area.
"Yeah, this is better," he muttered.
Vir, who felt sultry, took off his clothes until he was naked. He placed his clothes on the top step that was not touched by the pond water, put his leather shoes there, and also put his black dagger on top of his clothes.
After that, the man descended into the pool by stepping on the wide steps, one by one, until the water was as deep as his chest.
Even though it was in the middle of the desert and the surrounding dead area, and had been heated by the sun all day long, the oasis was able to provide cool and refreshing water.
Sometimes, Vir marveled at the large pond.
The poachers had been using the pond water for the past decade. For various purposes, just like Vir was doing now. Miraculously, the water was always clear and clean. It was never cloudy, nor did it run dry.
Vir couldn't think of an answer to this unique phenomenon.
But at least, this was a boon the addthe emptiness, aridity, and suffering of the creatures that still survived in this dead land.
After all, this oasis was the only place for people like Vir and the poachers to unwind, as well as to refill their water supplies.
Just as the man in the center of the pond was diving in fully, someone appeared out of nowhere and approached the edge of the pond, right where Vir had left his clothes.
The person then grabbed Vir's unique black dagger and examined the dagger in such a way, even trying to sniff the blade, as if to find out about the authenticity of the dagger.
When Vir surfaced again, he was slightly alarmed to find someone holding his unique dagger.
"Hey!" he said with a sharp look at the figure. "Damn, you little brat! Didn't I tell you not to follow me again? Why are you so stubborn, huh?"
The figure, which was none other than a nine-year-old girl with a large bundle on her back, ignored Vir's words.
"So it's true, huh?" said the little girl as she stared at the shiny black dagger in her hand.
Vir climbed the ladder in the water until the water level reached his waist, and he sat on one of the rungs until he was submerged to shoulder level.
He only did that because he didn't want the little girl to see anything in his crotch because, at this point, Vir was completely naked.
"What do you want?" asked Vir as he rubbed his hands together.
He didn't feel any bad intentions from the little girl who he regarded as a beggar before, even though the little girl was holding his dagger.
"This dagger," the little girl glanced at Vir.
"What's wrong with that dagger?" Vir said indifferently as he continued to rub his body. "It's just an ordinary dagger."
"This dagger is made of solid dracael bone."
Vir glanced at the little girl, then grinned in amazement at the little girl's eyesight who knew the basic material for making the black dagger.
"Black Dracael!"
"OK, fine," Vir said. "You know the original material of the dagger well. Now, put that dagger down before you get hurt."
The little girl pouted, shrugged her shoulders a little, and then put the dagger back in its proper place.
Then she stepped closer to the cart to rummage around inside.
And all that time, Vir just watched the little girl without trying to stop her.
"Do you still have flavirum?"
"Why do you even ask?" asked Vir, splashing water on his head and face. "You don't like the taste of that fruit before."
"I'm hungry."
"Damn it!" Vir snorted. "You think I'm a storehouse of food for you, huh? Bloody girl!"
The man then finished his bath, he climbed higher, approaching his clothes. The little girl turned and looked at him.
"Fool!" said Vir, immediately turning around. "Don't look at me, you stupid girl!"
"Why?"
"Why, you asked?" the man shook his head. "Is it too hard for you to realize that I'm naked, huh?"
"So?"