The elder chuckles slightly, as if it knows what he tried to do. It turns its giant body around and starts walking back in the direction it came from. Without stopping, it bellows in a calm tone;
"Come, catalyst, we have much to discuss"
Not wanting to be left behind, Kai scurries up beside the wolf. Everything that is happening right now really seems out of a Disney movie, its almost as if Kai is a princess...
I'm definitely not a knock off Snow White... right?
Turning around to make sure Noelle, Sofia and Umbra are following, Kai nearly trips and stumbles slightly after hitting a rock, earning him a confused look from the wolf.
After walking for a few minutes in silence, the group arrive in front of an absolutely massive cave, the opening being about the same size as half a hanger door back on Earth. The wolf sauntered into the cave, expecting the four of them to follow it...
... which they do of course.
The full moon in the wolfs third eye illuminates the area around them, allowing them to see the cave walls. Kai notices some patters and colours on them, so he looks closer at the inscriptions and realises they are... murals?
Etched onto the dreary dark walls of the cave was the picture of a woman standing over a flower patch, unaware of the massive eye floating behind her, watching her.
Even just from the mural, you could tell the woman was beautiful. She had blond hair, a slim figure and it looked as if she almost radiated kindness.
The most shocking thing about this mural though, was that the sky was painted as bright blue. No trees blocking out all sources of light, just a blue sky and a bright, shining sun.
Is this before all the trees appeared? How long ago was it? The trees must have taken at least centuries to get that tall though? Or maybe magic was involved...
As they continue to follow the gray wolf deeper into the darkness, more and more murals come into view.
The second mural contains a wolf of monstrous size fighting against a humanoid figure. Only the figures skin was a deep red colour, like blood. The humanoid only had one visible eye on its head, but that eye contained the moon pupil all the beasts of the forests have, a full moon, only the moon was fully black. No brightness can be seen on the horrifying figure, it looks as it it clawed its way out of the depths of hell.
The figure had four arms, each hand holding a different type of weapon. A rapier, a claymore, a double headed axe, but there was an arm Kai can't make out due to it being completely missing from the mural. No paint or marking of any sorts is there, instead, there is a chunk missing from the wall of the cave, as if someone tried to erase any recording of the weapon.
The wolf on the other hand, is black as night and has fangs sharper than any dagger could hope to be. The wolf is flying in the air, even without a pair of wings, it's as if its stepping on air.
The two are engaged in a vicious showdown, the mural doesn't show who's winning the battle, and Kai wants to ask about it, but the full moon wolf keeps sauntering forward.
The third mural was a strange picture. On one side was a large group of humans, surrounded by groups of an even larger group of moon wolves and other various moon beasts such as stags or bears, and on the other was another group of humans surrounded by... things that resembled the abomination Kai had seen before.
The abominations this time come in all shapes and sizes, not limited to the gigantic tentacle blob which attacked Kai before. Some are smaller and are darker shades of purple, while some can take on a humanoid form, if it can be called humanoid. One of the abominations torso is out of proportions, while another one has only one arm, or how a third has dark red spikes sticking out all over it's body.
The abominations look like lesser versions of the four armed monstrosity fighting against the mega wolf. Each still looked like they would pose a threat though.
The two groups are on opposite sides of the mural, as if they are about to engage in a brutal clash. Both groups of humans are in the same purple and gray armour that Kai, Noelle and Sofia are in.
After that mural, the walls are plain for quite a while. It's only when Kai feels as if they're about to reach the end of the tunnel he spots the fourth.
Inside the fourth mural is a humanoid figure floating in front of the moon. It's unclear if the figure is man or woman, but just by the mural you could see that the person is absolutely stunning. But stunning is not all they are.
Covering their body is a set of wooden armour, a much lighter shade compared to the dark bark of the trees outside. The figure also wields a blade made out of wood, it looks like a normal wooden sword, nothing special about it in the image.
The figure has long red hair, down to their waist, at least. They have their eyes closed and their back to the moon, as if in prayer or mourning. The thing that stands out the most about the mural though, is the crown of thorns upon the person's head.
The crown may not look as exquisite as a golden one, or as pretty as a silver crown, but the green and brown crown on their head seems to radiate compassion, power and authority in an almost wild manner.
Stopping in his tracks, Kai looks up at the figure in the fourth mural. The murals all seem so surreal. The fact that Kai is in a life or death situation in a deadly forest with magical creatures still hasn't really clicked with him. But looking at the mural on the wall... it looks beautiful.
Unaware of what he's doing, Kai reaches a hand out to the mural, as if drawn to it. Just before his finger is about to touch the crown on the figures head, the gray wolf turns its head and grunts.
"Come, catalyst, we are nearly there."
After snapping out of it, Kai falls back into his place in the line and wonders to himself where 'nearly there' is, and why the wolf keeps calling him the Catalyst.
Finally, Kai spots the end of the tunnel, it's not hard to miss actually, light is shining through the hole before them.
Light...
Kai falters, which the wolf notices. The gray wolf chuckles and says;
"Don't worry, Catalyst, the light of the moon cannot reach us here. The light at the end here is only artificial."
Calming himself, he continues to follow behind the gargantuan wolf into the light. He has to lift his hand to shield his eyes from the light as he hasn't seen it properly in months, at least.
A few moments later, his eyes are adjusted and what he sees is... beautiful.
A massive dome is covering the entire area, which spans as far as the eye can see, there's even a sun up in the sky. It's all painted on though, the same paint as the murals in the tunnel.
Even though its all paint and artificial, there must be some insane magic involved as it all feels so real. The heat on his skin, the cool breeze blowing in his hair, you would think it to be Earth if not for the fact the sky curves downward.
Throughout the dome is various groups of animals all working together. Moon wolves, bears, stags, birds and much more all thrive in the area. There's lakes, trees, dens, any type of habitat the animals could need.
There's even a different type of habitat in the middle of the whole place, a house made out of logs. The cozy home sticks out like a sore thumb when compared to the dirt huts surrounding it. Kai assumes that the house belongs to the main wolf, but the house seems to small for it to even fit in.
As if reading his mind, the gray beast turns around and looks to Wa'rak, who was tailing the group the whole time.
"Wa'rak, take the two human females and the sister and show them around the Dome, I must speak with the Catalyst."
A low growl is all that comes out of the agitated wolfs snout, but he doesn't argue and grunts, starting walking away, not waiting for Noelle, Sofia and Umbra to follow.
Once the three leave, the gray wolf turns to Kai and... its form starts to shrink. After a few moments, the full moon wolf is about the same size as Umbra.
"Come, Catalyst, the founder wants to meet you."
Nervously following the now much smaller wolf, Kai approaches the door of the cabin and is about to knock, only for the door to open, as if whatever is inside knew they were coming.
The wolf trots inside with no hesitation, prompting Kai to follow. Once inside, Kai looks around and sees all the things you would expect in a cabin. Tables, chairs, closed doors, but on the far side of the cabin is a figure sitting in a chair facing the fire.
Getting closer to the figure in the chair, the wolf walks up beside the chair and sits. A hand emerges from the side and pets the wolf.
Who the hell is that person for them to be able to pet that wolf so casually, what level are they?
After a few moments in which Kai doesn't move and only watches the scene in shock, the head of the figure emerges around the side of the chair and asks:
"Are you not going to sit down, friend? I'm sure you have many questions."
Feeling his jaw drop, Kai looks on in shock at the person. It's the brown haired man he met after meeting The Ever-changing. The charismatic man continues to pet the wolf as he smiles, the same charismatic one he had shown Kai when they first met.
Feeling as if saying no would be a bad idea, Kai sits down in the other armchair beside the man, facing the fire. The feeling of the heat on his skin helps soothe his mind. All the months of repetitive exercise and the pain of fighting all seems worth it just to bask in the hear of the fire a moment longer.
Sighing contently, Kai slumps back into the comfiness of the chair, earning him a grunt from the wolf, as if to remind him where he is right now.
Attentiveness returning, Kai sits up in his seat, many questions running through his mind but he settles on the one he thinks is most important.
"What the hell is even going on?"
The brown haired man chuckles, his hand lifting from the wolfs head to his own chin.
"A question I expected, yet a question that is difficult to answer nonetheless. How about a game, my friend? We each get to ask three questions and we are allowed to lie once. If you lie more than once, Aldred here will know, he is able to sniff out lies."
Wondering to himself who Aldred is, that question is answered when the man pets the wolf again.
"Alright then." Kai agrees as he adjusts the way he is sitting and asks his first question, only its the same one which he just asked.
"What the hell is even going on?"
"Currently, majority of the population on your planet are going through tutorials, same as you. Afterwards, we'll... I don't know afterwards, I haven't exactly gotten that far either. As what will happen at the end of the tutorial, that'll cost you another question."
The man winks teasingly, causing Kai to inwardly grumble at how the man took the easy way out.
"Now then" The man starts as he leans forward in his seat, interlocking his fingers together as if trying to hold himself back.
"Have you seen anyone in your dreams lately?"