Chapter 104: Chapter 104

The fight was over, leaving behind an unsettling quiet.

As the adrenaline drained from Sokram's veins, his limbs turned to lead, and each muscle became heavy.

Only then did he remember his body was still young.

His mind shifted to the moment Leona’s voice kept resounding.

Sokram chuckled, ‘Who would've guessed this would happen again, even though she's alive this time around? Perhaps it was the stress? The adrenaline? Whatever…’

Suddenly, he winced and looked at his left forearm, which was bent at an unnatural angle.

He shook his head, very disappointed at himself, ‘I guess a few years of happiness have gotten me some bad habits. Underestimating a mage like that… Sigh… If Nhiria is watching, at least I won’t look too monstrous... Not that she’d care. She never minded having a monster by her side anyway, haha.’

Sokram knelt, retrieving a splint and bandages.

Gritting his teeth, he channeled Force and, with a single, sharp yank, snapped his broken arm back into place.

Sweat rolled down his forehead, tracing paths down his temples as he expertly immobilized and bandaged his throbbing left arm.

Then, using a spell, he meticulously set the small fragments of his bones back in place.

With the gruesome task complete, Sokram’s hand trembled slightly as he reached for a small vial.

He uncorked it, the bitter scent of the concocted painkiller assaulting his nostrils, and swallowed the potent liquid in a single gulp, waiting for the pain to go away.

After tending to his injury, he collected the bodies of the Steelheart brothers and their guards.

He swiftly looted their spatial rings and pouches, storing anything of value into his Void Glove.

Sokram didn’t dispose of their bodies because he could prove he acted in self-defense, especially with all the evidence he gathered after all their hate speech and confessions.

He also found more evidence inside their rings, placing those rings in a leather pouch and tucked into his right sleeve.

In his left, bandaged arm, Sokram replaced the crushed runestone with a new one.

He couldn’t let his guard down as he would need to make his journey back home on foot.

Then he realized that the two brothers and their men wouldn’t have walked all the way there, and set out to look for their mounts.

While Sokram looked for their tracks toward their mounts, Hannah and Sayuri remained perched on their rocky vantage point on a nearby tall mountain.

A tension that had held Sayuri rigid now visibly eased, a soft exhalation escaping her lips.

Hannah, too, seemed to relax, the taut line of her shoulders softening.

On several occasions, Sayuri nearly rushed to Sokram’s aid, only to be stopped by Hannah.

When Sokram’s arm was broken, it was Sayuri who had to stop her.

She had seen Sokram's expression, which made it clear that he had sacrificed his arm to create the opening to kill Aaron.

Sayuri shivered, pulling her cloak tighter even though the air was mild. “That smile of his…” Sayuri finally whispered, her voice barely audible after the long silence. “It’s terrifying.”

“Yes, it is. Though that kitten and Brunhild are always happy to see that he is becoming as much of a battle junkie as they are.”

Hannah glanced at Sayuri briefly, noticing she was getting used to Sayuri’s presence.

“It’s usually very lonely when I come to stalk Sokram , having someone who is old enough to be taken seriously there to talk to is a pleasant change.”

Hearing Hannah’s words, Sayuri's gaze met hers, completely caught off guard by the sudden burst of sincerity.

“When you finish converting your core, will you move here?”

Despite the lack of shyness or embarrassment, Hannah’s voice showed that she wasn’t used to opening conversations like those, and she was trying to keep the tone neutral.

Sayuri's brows arched, a curious glint in her eyes as she studied Hannah.

There was a subtle shift in Hannah's posture, a faint tremor in her voice, betraying a hesitation she rarely showed.

“Not right away, I need a good replacement to leave at the royal city. But after finding someone, I don’t see why not. Will you miss me while I’m gone?”

A mischievous glint sparkled in Sayuri's eyes as she flashed Hannah a teasing grin, expecting a similar parry.

Yet, Hannah’s direct, unwavering gaze and her blunt "Yes" caught Sayuri completely off guard.

Her own smile faltering for a beat as Hannah added, “I have enjoyed your company, especially while stalking him.”

Stolen novel; please report.

“You aren’t coming on to me, are you?” Sayuri asked, trying to tease Hannah again.

This time, Hannah teased her back, flashing a grin that disarmed Sayuri completely, “You have never been part of a draconic harem, have you?”

Knowing what Hannah was referring to, Sayuri raised her hands in surrender, “Alright, I’ll stop teasing. You won.”

Then Sayuri’s gaze shifted back to Sokram, “He is an amazing warrior. Fighting ten Tier 10 foes while still being a Tier 9, even with Chaos Energy and Dragon Lungs, that is impressive.”

Hannah, now also looking at Sokram, nodded, “Yes, remind me to thank that kitten later. She truly deserves some praise for training him so well.”

A few minutes later, Sokram found a few Great Wolves.

He searched the rings for binding contracts or tokens of ownership.

He found a few tokens in one of Aaron’s rings, where he also found a recording crystal.

When Sokram activated it, he saw Aaron and his brother receiving the tokens with the Silverfang sigils.

Kazzah was the one providing the token for the wolves, and their conversation clearly showed they were planning to kill Sokram.

He could see Timothy and Adrian in the room as well, intently listening to Aaron, who seemed to love the sound of his own voice.

He stored the crystal back, thinking Aaron would use it to either pressure Kazzah into a slavery contract or hold this recording over his head.

Maybe even aid Kazzah to reclaim his position as the Alpha Silverfang’s successor, and then blackmail him.

There were many scenarios Sokram came up with, and now he had another piece of evidence in his defense.

Sokram, holding all ten tokens in his hand, called the wolves over, "Come on, boys... and girls. Time to go home, yeah?"

The wolves seemed to understand him and wagged their tails as Sokram mounted the strongest among them and started heading back home.

While riding, he thought about what he had done to his team and how to apologize to them, but decided to show them his recordings first; this way, they would understand.

Maybe even find motivation to train and cultivate more avidly.

After hours of riding, stopping only to let the wolves rest and drink water, he finally reached Eversnow.

He wasn’t even close to the gates when he saw his teammates alongside his two mothers, his sister, his grandmother Brunhild, and even his master riding in his direction.

Once they came close, Miralyn had the Life Stone in her hand, which, although it had lost its healthy green shine, wasn’t completely yellow yet.

As soon as they saw him, they rushed their mounts forward.

Sokram dismounted the wolf he was riding, bracing himself.

The first ones who reached him were Lucy and Amber, who threw themselves at him, crying in relief.

Savannah was also rushing alongside them, and the closer she got, the bigger her frown.

Once he managed to calm Lucy and Amber down, he approached her.

“Hey…” His words were cut short by the slap he easily saw coming.

‘This is going to sting…’ Yet, he didn’t dodge it.

The sharp clap resounded, yet he barely felt any pain, a clear sign she held back.

When he looked back at her, she was still frowning, but tears started to fall as her breath became ragged.

Sokram didn’t say anything; he hugged her and let her cry over his shoulders.

His other teammates were just as emotional, and the disappointment in their eyes felt heavier.

Still, no one said a word.

When it came to his family, Brunhild released a relieved sigh.

Miralyn and Alain didn't seem very worried.

Hilda and Astrid, though, were struggling to hold back from scolding him, especially after they saw his broken arm.

When he approached them, he flashed them a sheepish grin and joked, “All of this because I arrived late for dinner?”

The only one who laughed was Leona, “Haha, see, I told you he would be fine, my disciple is amazing!”

Hilda walked toward him.

He thought she was going to reach for his ears, but instead, she only pulled him into a hug, “You must be hungry, right? Let’s go home.”

And as she released him, she gave him a lasting forehead kiss and got back on her mount.

Astrid wasn’t so lenient and reached for his ear, “Self-sacrifice is a stupid way to die!”

Sokram said nothing but couldn’t help but think, ‘If she only knew the irony those words carry, but that is in an erased past…’

Then, Sayuri and Hannah appeared in a flash.

When Hilda and Miralyn saw them, they looked embarrassed.

All Hannah said was, “You have to stop breaking your promises. That stone is not even close to reaching orange.”

Her tone was reprimanding and harsh.

“It’s alright, Nana. It’s good you’re all here. Though, where is Nana Marg? I think we will need her as well.” Sokram was very surprised that Margiory wasn’t there as well.

The truth was that the message Hannah sent through the communication crystal reached Margiory too late.

Sokram’s team's journey back home had been mentally draining.

They had reached the city only half an hour ahead of Sokram because the runestone he'd planted on their mounts kept the beasts moving, only allowing them to stop when Periklis did, which only happened once.

And the other mounts just weren’t injured because the bird was smart enough to run at a pace they could keep up.

The runestones, which had locked them to their saddles, only deactivated once they passed through another hidden runestone, one Sokram sneakily dropped on the road when they departed for their mission.

Since they would need to swap mounts to reach Sokram faster, they split, and some of them went to alert his family.

It was Savannah who explained to Hilda what happened, telling her that neither she nor any of the ferals had even sensed any threat near them when Sokram sent them away.

What truly worried Hilda and Miralyn was when Savannah, amidst sobs and tears, said that although they didn’t know who or how many enemies there were, she had never seen Sokram so worried; he even looked scared.

Savannah explained Sokram’s suspicions of Kazzah and the Steelhearts and retold how Sokram had forced them to leave him behind.

No one in their house, not even Leona, could stay idle.

Even though the Life Stone hadn’t even come close to turning orange, they thought Sokram might have been kidnapped.

And as no one knew that Hannah and Sayuri were stalking Sokram, they decided to act.

The only reason Margiory wasn’t with them was that she had gone to gather the whole Androny guard.

It was then that Margiory received Hannah’s message through the communication crystal and sent her guards back.

The rest of the family and Alain, whom Margiory sent ahead, were already outside the city’s gates when that happened. ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by novel✦fire.net

“She must be home, let’s go. I want to hear what happened in detail.” Hannah started walking back home, but then Sokram stopped her.

“We need to go straight to the City Lord's Palace to report this incident to Great Uncle Licarus. Can someone have her meet us there?” The urgency in his tone made even Leona get worried.

Sokram turned back to Kan and Kiana, an apologetic look on his face. “I know I have a lot to explain, but please take those wolves back to your family stables. They belong to the Silverfangs, but the tokens are also part of the evidence.”

Understanding the urgency of the matter, they didn’t even consider arguing.

Hannah glanced at him, trying to pretend not to know what he was talking about, and then she looked at Leona. “Can you clear the way for us?”

Leona nodded, dismounting her wolf, “Let’s go!”

Brunhild also jumped from her mount, rushing to join them, “I’m going too.”

Hannah only nodded, then soared into the air, using Force to lift Leona, Brunhild, and Sokram with her.

Once they were far, Hilda turned to Sayuri, pulling her aside, “We looked for the two of you everywhere. Since you two arrived here together, it means you were stalking him, right? What happened back there?”

“It’s not my place to tell, but next time, trust your son. He is strong, Hilda. Very strong.” Saying that, Sayuri disappeared into the shadows.

Hilda sighed, shaking her head.

Miralyn hugged her waist, kissing her cheek, “Our son is fine, let’s go back home.”

Hilda and the others went back home to call Margiory, trusting the Sokram’s teammates to return their mounts.

Yet, an uneasiness continued to occupy Hilda’s heart.

She knew there was a storm brewing on the horizon, and it would reach them very soon.