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“We’re almost there.”

The gorilla showed Vloz the bodies of the two bandits who injured Netra, passing them in a heartbeat. From there, Vloz took the lead and followed the tracks that were ignorantly left behind by Oli and the bandits.

In a few minutes, the dashing leopard soon arrived at the former fight scene. As he scanned over the two fallen bandits, Vloz explained the battle to Klor, following the signs of leftover essence.

“Oli was stopped here by one of the bandits. Then, the other two attacked him together. It seems that he relied on his natural strength to push them both back, but Oli should’ve been injured as well. Both of them were human warriors, mid adept warriors wielding fire essence to be specific,” reasoned Vloz. “If he wasn’t an Iron-body Gorilla, then Oli would’ve definitely been killed by those two.”

Suddenly, Vloz squinted. The leopard started to walk around the area, keeping his focus on two bodies on opposite sides.

“Those two separated from Oli. One was stupid enough to test Oli’s strength and was blown into that tree. The other attacked a second time, but not a third...”

.....

“And it was impossible for Oli to kill them, too,” added Klor. “Those knives were what did them in.”

“But who was the one to kill them?” asked Vloz, stumping the gorilla.

“I can only guess that it was the third bandit. However, I can’t find a single trace of the third bandit’s energy. It must’ve been the one that Netra wasn’t able to sense either,” reasoned Vloz.

“Then, that bandit killed his comrades and managed to capture Oli?”

Though Vloz could sense it, he didn’t dare mention that he could also sense Oli’s dark essence present. At the last fight scene, it could be mistaken for Netra’s leftover essence, but here, there was no reason or explanation that would make sense without revealing Oli’s secret.

“Oli tried his best, but that bandit wasn’t the least bit fazed by anything that Oli threw at him. He should’ve been the strongest of the bandits.” The leopard shifted his gaze to the surrounding jungle, frowning angrily.

“You can’t find a trail either?” asked Klor.

“No... I can’t.”

“Let’s each comb the area. If we find anything that could help track them, we’ll call for the other.”

Without another word, Vloz disappeared, melding with the jungle’s natural darkness. All the while, Klor charged into the jungle anxiously.

Minutes passed. Half an hour passed.

“Vloz! You’ve got to see this!”

Hearing the call, Vloz didn’t take long to find Klor and the gorilla’s discovery with baffled eyes. With such a find, all of Vloz’s original thoughts were thrown into chaos.

*****

“How long do you think they’ll be?” murmured Netra, still shaking albeit slightly more calm.

Ania wrapped an arm around the young fox. “Calm down, Netra. They’re just being thorough and making sure not to miss anything. Even if they don’t find Oli, Vloz is an expert tracker and can trace them from the smallest inkling of a trail.”

Nodding, Netra leaned into Ania’s chest. She whimpered, “I’m sorry, Mom.”

Touched by the fox’s gentle sorrow, Ania hugged her a little tighter. “It’s okay. None of this is your fault, so relax. It’s almost been an hour, so I’m sure that–”

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

Both Netra and Ania found Vloz emerge from the surrounding undergrowth along with Klor. The two men approached the fire calmly with confused expressions on their faces. Vloz, in particular, looked to be in disbelief.

The Leopard stepped forward. “Netra, we found a few corpses. Can you help us identify them? We want to know if they were the same men that chased after Oli after he left you.”

“I can do that.”

“Good.” Vloz’s choker lit up as the first corpse was laid down in front of the fire for all to see. “Is this one of the men who chased Oil?”

“Yes! That’s definitely one of them!” stated Netra, happy to see one of the pursuers deas. A seed of hope burrowed it’s way into her heart, yearning for more evidence of Oli’s escape.

A second body plopped onto the ground, just to the side of the first. “And this one?”

“That one too! Did you find a third body?”

Vloz frowned but nodded. He retrieved a third body, just like Netra had guessed, but his neck was cut through. The head was cleanly removed and nowhere to be found.

“We tried our best, but we found no signs of his disembodied head,” stated Vloz. “But do you still recognize him?”

Netra tilted her head to the side and gave the corpse a good look. After a moment of studying the cold body, she nodded. “That should be the third person that chased after Oli. Does that mean he got away?!”

Ania was also staring at the corpse, but with a look of shock more reminiscent to Vloz’s startled face. She was about to say something, however, Vloz noticed her and didn’t let her say anything.

“We don’t know where Oli is, but I’m at least glad to know that the three who were after him are dead,” sighed Vloz, trying his best to not look frazzled. “You all should get some sleep.”

“Vloz, can I have a word with you before you head to bed?” asked Ania. She too tried to hide her surprise in order to keep Netra from getting too curious.

“Of course.”

“Me too,” added Hurdo, receiving a nod from Vloz.

As the students gathered tightly together in the tents that were salvageable and Klor and Warlon helped them, the three perennials walked out of the camp, just beyond the light of the campfire.

“Vloz, can I see that body again? Isn’t that–”

“Before we inspect that corpse more carefully, I want to make sure Rathe is present as well. Fontu should also know about this,” stated Vloz, shaking his head.

“I agree.” Hurdo lightly nodded as he looked back at the troubled Ania.

“Then, once we get back, we’ll inspect the body. For now, let’s rest and get everyone back to town safely.” Vloz turned around, making his way to camp. “Hurdo, you and Warlon will take shifts for the night watch. Everyone else needs their rest.”

“Of course, Vloz.”

Ania was soon left alone in the dark. Thinking back to that headless corpse, she couldn’t help but shiver in fear.

*****

“Weren’t you supposed to guarantee the safety of our children?!” shouted Chief Gar. “For this to happen on your first trip, I’m tempted to pull Karos for your class.”

“That’s up to you, but I think it would be best for him to stay and grow inside the academy,” reasoned Ania. “Also, I think he would fight to stay in the academy, if you would give him a chance that is.”

“After what happened, you don’t have the right to claim that you can keep my child safe. If you can’t protect your own child, then what can you do for mine!” retorted Chief Gar, growling back at Ania.

“You–”

“Enough!” shouted Vloz, releasing his essence to force the argument to a close. “Chief Gar, that’s out of line. If you don’t want to enroll your son in the academy, then so be it. But if wish to disgrace our clan, then I’ll personally run you out of the territory.”

Silent and humbled, Chief Gar looked away, keeping his curses from exiting his lips.

“You all can make your own decisions as to whether you want to keep your children enrolled, but we can assure you that this won’t be happening again. This was an incident that involved bandits from another region, arguably another prefecture. In this case, we’ll be requesting the aid of King Portro.”

Everyone remained silent, not daring to reject such a plan. If anything, they were happy to hear that the region king would be helping.

“Also, while he was gone, Rathe managed to make a friend from a nearby Thunder Predator Territory,” added Vloz, leaving Chief Gar and the others speechless. “Their territory ruler should be arriving soon to enroll a few jaguars in the academy. Some jaguars will also stay behind to help organize our armies, in exchange for some gorillas to return with them and help design a city.”

“I look forward to the Thunder Jaguars joining my daughter in the academy,” stated Puula proudly.

“And just so you know, the jaguars staying behind will also be placed in charge of our hunting efforts.”

“Hey! My clan is–”

“Not ready to fully pledge to the newly developing Iron Territory.” Vloz finished Chief Gar’s sentence for him. “If there is no more business to discuss, please allow our clan some time to discuss some internal matters.”

Each of the chiefs bowed to Vloz and the gorillas, most of them smiling as they did so. In moments, Vloz was left alone with all the perennial gorillas. He then nodded to Hurdo, who went to the wall and activated the newly installed sealing formation, cutting off their noize from the outside world.

A headless corpse was placed on the ground between them all as Vloz spoke, “This is the body that we mention to you, Rathe.”

“It’s... You weren’t kidding...”

“Now, before I open the corpse’s chest and reveal the core. Let me explain something. Human warriors have cores in the center of their torso, just barely under the rib cage. Keep that in mind, because we all know that beasts have cores to the side of their heart.”

“You mean...”

“Yes, I’m wondering if this is a beast or a human,” stated Vloz. “This will startle you, but I don’t think this is merely a perennial. I think this is a king plane beast.”

“What?!”

“You can’t be serious, you crazy cat?!”

“I am,” continued Vloz. “I know that this man was stronger than me, and based on his dense bones I think it’s a beast in human form, or in other words, a king plane beast who can take a human form.”

In a single movement of his claw, Vloz swiped open the corpse’s chest. He then opened up the ribcage, revealing the truth to everyone.

“It’s... really a beast...” mumbled Rathe. “But, why would a king personally come? That’s directly going against rules of a region?”

Vloz didn’t reply, let alone hear Rathe. He was too busy staring at the core with a mix of awe and horror.

“Vloz? What’s gotten the kitty so scared?”

“That’s... I’d bet money that this is the core of a High King!” Unable to contain himself, Vloz shouted.

The others felt their muscles stiffen up and go numb from the shock of Vloz’s statement.

“But why was such a beast here?” Then, suddenly, a thought struck Vloz’s mind like lightning. “And... how did... such a beast get killed? And... what about Oli?”

.....