"Hm," The first elder acknowledged them as he nodded.
"You can look up now." Ivar, along with everyone else, looked up but dared not to lock eyes with him. Ivar was surprised by how the man was smiling, showing almost all his teeth.
It wasn't the smile of naivety or joy or a foolish toothy grin for that matter. Rather, It was the smile of absolute confidence and calmness.
"Catch!" His voice which used to be calm and strong, with a deep undertone, now had a slight hint of playfulness as he threw a wooden box towards the bloodied Isshin.
Ishhin hurriedly caught the box and replied stuttering, "H-how could the first elder bring the pills here! Did the person I sent make any mistakes?"
"Hm. Your name is Isshin, right? Well, Isshin you should do checks on older pups more carefully. Turns out he was a spy from one of the central kingdoms. Those desert pests have been trying to spy on us for a while now." The first elder calmly reprimanded Isshin.
Isshin once again deeply bowed to the first elder and replied, "I am truly sorry, lord first elder!! I will do my best to catch those pests once and for all!"
The first elder smile widened as he replied, "Good. I like your confidence. If you manage to catch 100 spies, I will make you the instructor of the demonic academy that you always wanted to be."
Isshin once again happily banged his forehead on the ground, "I am thankful for the opportunity from lord first elder!"
The first elder ignored Isshin and started speaking, "Now. I was told that you caught a pup with an ability. Call him here!"
Isshin looked at the crowd, his knees still on the ground, and gestured Cohen to come.
Cohen tried to put on a brave front while walking towards the first elder but even he himself couldn't deny his shaky legs.
"Looks like you trained him nicely." The man looked at Cohen, whose head was down, for a while, and continued, "Time to train properly now."
The man touched Cohen on his shoulders as Cohen rapidly flew in the air, making a "poof" sound as a cloud-like barrier formed near Cohen and dispersed. Cohen's body, out of Cohen's control, now rapidly flew towards north northwest landing comfortably in a beautiful-looking courtyard.
A drop of sweat dripped from Cohen's forehead. The man could have killed him if he wished to! Cohen had never gone that fast but strangely the air didn't rip his skin off, instead he felt normal while he was in the air.
He couldn't see where in the first elder's territory he arrived as the speed was too fast for his eyes to keep up.
"So you are the kid teacher sent?" A strong voice spoke from behind Cohen.
***
Back on the mountain, the first elder still hadn't gone.
"Now that I think of it. Do you have any pups in the circulation stage? Those in the early stages would be better." The first elder remarked, inducing goosebumps on Ivar and Aira. Ivar was the only one in the circulation stage currently!
Isshin turned to look at Ivar, "Yes elder. We have one who is in 19th circulation. Ah no- he completed his 20th today."
The man's smile slightly widened as he said, "Whoever that is come forward!"
Ivar had already realized that he was going to be handed over to the first elder. He looked at Aira and voiced, 'We will meet again.'
He smiled at her as he waved bye and ran to the first elder before he got angry. Aira on the other hand was also in a similar situation, she was biting her cheeks to not let tears drip down her eyes.
At last, she waved to him and just smiled.
Ivar reached the first elder. As he was standing up now, he could finally get a good view of what the man looked like.
The man had shoulder-length black hair. His position in the demon sect did not reflect his appearance. His hair was unkempt. And his clothes were a mess too.
He was wearing a long flowing coat, with the buttons off. The color pattern of the coat was truly peculiar!
The edge of the sleeves to the elbow had a deep black color with the colors rapidly fading as they moved up to the shoulders. In the shoulders, the coat was in a reddish color like that of dried blood. Or maybe it was dried blood. Ivar didn't know.
Like the edge of his sleeves, the bottom part of his long flowing coat had a similar color scheme. Black till the waist which rapidly faded till it was red like dried blood when it reached the top of his shoulders.
He was wearing a black boot with black strings neatly tying the boots with his legs. The boots were coupled with loosely fitting black trousers. As for his torso, He was wearing an old-looking black tunic.
He was also wearing an old black top hat that emphasized his strong looks.
Overall, If Ivar had met this man in his village, he would have thought that he was a beggar. But currently, his very life rests in the hands of the man!
"So, You reached 20th circulation in six months? That's quite talented. What's your age?"
"I am still 15 first elder. I will turn 16 in a few months!" Ivar lightly bowed to the man as he answered.
"15 huh? Good. And what is your name?" The elder calmly asked.
"My name is Ivar, lord elder!"
"Alright Ivar, brace yourself for the speed." The man touched Ivar on his back as they both quickly floated in the sky and turned north.
Ivar could only hear the 'poof' sound. He didn't know what that sound implied, he heard it when Cohen was sent too.
Before Ivar's brain could register what happened, they had already landed on the base of an ordinary-looking mountain that looked to be bigger than the one he was on. Ivar looked around quickly, seeing nothing out of the ordinary in the area. Did the man bring him to secretly kill him?
No. If the man wanted to kill him then he could have done it whenever. No one could stop the man after all.
"Follow me." The first elder started walking near a big rock stuck on the side of the mountain. The rock was behind many trees and bushes that were around the mountain and the rock itself looked quite normal.
The elder pulled the rock out and put it to the side revealing a dark corridor leading inside the mountain.
"Come inside. No need to be afraid." Ivar didn't have any choice so he went inside the corridor and waited for the elder to close the "door".
As soon as he closed the door a shout came somewhere from the corridor.
"Lord Vectorrrr! I wash… waiting folr you." A voice that appeared to be of someone who was continuously choking on saliva sounded.
In just a few seconds, the person arrived. Well, a person would have been the wrong word to use.
The humanoid had the legs and torso of a human but what was anything but human was its face. Its face was full of big Hairy flaps of skin covering its eyes and mouth. Ivar guessed that it made it harder for the person to talk and see.
But that was not it! The person had a nose that resembled that of a dog! Of course, there was excess skin there too making it hard for the person to breathe. Saliva and snot were dripping from the person's mouth, making the person look quite disgusting.
The man also had the ears of a dog! Most of the skin all over his body was covered with numerous but tiny brown hair like that of a dog. Ivar had never seen such an… amalgamation of a human and an animal!
"This is Puggy! He has been serving me for about a thousand years. And Puggy this is a new pup I picked up, take him to lab number 45."
The first elder, who Puggy called Vector, disappeared in a flash.