The Spirit Wolves were known to be the Guardians of the Forest, and had lived alongside the elven race since the beginning of time. These mythical creatures are extraordinarily powerful as they could exist within both the Physical and Ethereal Realm. This peculiar ability is the reason why these creatures had survived for such a long period of time, even amidst catastrophic dangers and life-threatening occurrences.

The physical realm pertains to the natural embodiment of every living creature, which could be affected by the basic senses such as touch, smell, or sight. The Ethereal realm on the other hand, is the realm where the soul and consciousness of a creature merge, forming a mystical imagery within that could not be affected or detected by normal worldly standards.

Having the ability to switch back and forth to the physical and ethereal realms could be both an advantage and a disadvantage for the Spirit Wolves. Being in a physical form would mean that the Spirit Wolf could take advantage of its superiority as a [Mythical] beast against weaker creatures, but they would be vulnerable against physical attacks that are dealt by creatures or beings with a higher grade than them. 

Being in the spirit form would make them immune to all physical attacks, but it was in exchange for being vulnerable to any and all types of magic, even amplifying the damage of some magic. In this form, the spiritual consciousness of the Spirit Wolf could then be destroyed, which would be similar to a physical death.

Although the Spirit Wolves are [Mythical] grade creatures from birth, they do not immediately possess the ability to traverse into the Ethereal Realm. For the life cycle of these beings, they would have to pass different stages before obtaining such a heaven-defying ability. The Spirit Wolves have to attain at least their 'Adult' stage in order for them to use their spirit forms properly. Infancy and Adolescence are the first two stages before attaining Adulthood in which the Spirit Wolf could then freely be in his physical or spiritual form. An even higher stage could be achieved by the most formidable wolf within the group, the Alpha stage, in which one would have stronger physical and spiritual capability in comparison to its peers. Making them the best choice to be leaders of the pack.

Lying on the ground, the adolescent Spirit Wolf slowly recovered its consciousness as soothing light covered his body. The wounds all over his body from the whipping and kicking were slowly closing, as the blood was being wiped with a piece of ragged cloth.

"I am so sorry for what I have done little one…" 

Lady Caroline thoroughly cleaned the dirt and blood from the spirit wolf using a cloth ripped from her long skirt. Sincerity mixed with regret could be felt from her actions as she caressed the limbs and back of the spirit wolf to check whether there were further injuries. Tears rolled down Caroline's face as she chanted a few words. Light swirled around her arms as she re-applied basic healing magic to ensure the condition and safety of the wolf.

The other members of Lady Caroline's party also took the initiative to break the cages within the carriage which freed not only the spirit wolf pups but a few more strong beasts such as a pair of snow tiger cubs. These creatures, however, were not locals within this area, and had been transported from the snowy regions and other locations that are far away. They were only dragged here by Myron's party and had not been immediately sold.

Fragile and timid movements from the freed creatures were proof that they were in a very inhospitable situation as their eyes slowly scanned the surroundings. These animals did not even have enough strength to walk properly, so how could they possibly flee back to where they belong? Most of them did not even move and stayed collapsed in the cages as their siblings licked them in an attempt to wake them up.

The eyes of the adolescent spirit wolf slowly opened as it witnessed the arrows that were scattered everywhere on the ground. Although none of the members, including Lady Caroline, were injured from the attack, the adolescent wolf immediately stood back up as he scanned the area. Before losing consciousness, he remembered that there was a valiant man that had stepped up against the odds in order to help them.

This spirit wolf was mature and empathetic enough to feel that Lady Caroline's party were only forced to resort to such horrible acts. Instead of being angry at what they had done, he was thankful that she had healed all his injuries. Hostility against these people is wasted, as the true culprits were now lifeless on the ground, pierced with numerous arrows. But as for his benefactor, the wolf saw that the man was now surrounded by what seems to be a tribe of elves. The spirit wolves and the elven race have established good relationships for eons. As such, he immediately ran towards the elves that might have misunderstood the situation and accused the wrong person of wrongdoing.

...

Her pointed ears were the perfect proof that this beautiful woman was of the Elven race.

Feihren had been blankly staring at this beautiful lady whose face was already flushed red from all the shouting. The other elves, who are still pointing arrows towards Feihren, were even beginning to show some weird expressions as they observed how pissed off their leader was. They slowly appeared from their hiding places as they prepared to apprehend the culprit.

"You will suffer from all you did you bastard human!" The Elven lady was still angrily cursing towards Feihren.

"I'll have to suffer for what I've done? Woman, I have lent my strength in order to help these poor creatures and apprehend those animal poachers! Can't you see that I am the good guy here?" Feihren replied while forcing his face to remain blank as he was holding in a tiny hint of laughter. He just couldn't take this woman seriously! Although she was a beauty with a body most men would only dream of touching, she was showering him with saliva in between her words like a baby who couldn't utter her sentences properly. It's probably not that she's illiterate, but the anger she's trying to 'spit' at him with her words could only be interpreted as something hilarious to Feihren.

"A good guy huh? When we scouted, we discovered that you were one of these humans that attacked our spirit guardians! Don't you dare lie to me!" She continued to answer Feihren angrily.

"I didn't know elven scouts had such bad eyesight...Okay lady, let's just clean things up here first. You should go and help those beasts out as some of them are heavily injured. We can talk after all this has settled down, alright?" Feihren became tired with all this arguing and proposed a plan to this elven lady.

A series of barks and a loud howl interrupted the argument as a Spirit Wolf could be seen rushing towards the group of elves and Feihren. This scene has shocked everyone that was present, including Lady Caroline's party. What surprised all of them the most was that the Spirit Wolf was standing in front of Feihren as though it was defending him! It barked repeatedly towards the elves as if trying to stop them from attacking Feihren any further.

The angry elven lady that was shouting a while ago had shut her mouth as she slowly approached the Spirit Wolf. The elves had shared friendly relations with the Spirit Wolves for such a long time that they have created a method of basic communication. Young Spirit wolves do not have the ability to speak a proper language, but they could ultimately understand each other.

The elven lady slowly placed her palm on the wolf's forehead as both had stopped 'barking'. The lady's expression changed a few times as she saw everything from the wolf's perspective. By the end, her whole face was red once more, but it seems that she wasn't angry anymore. Instead, she was bowing her head deeply to avoid having eye contact with Feihren. She was playing with her fingers as she muttered with a really low and gentle voice...

"...I ... I am very sorry..." She immediately ran back behind the group of elves in the direction of the rumored village of the elven tribe.

"What's up with her?" 

Feihren guessed that she had seen everything and now knows the truth, but he was not expecting that kind of reaction... Did she just run away? Wasn't she spunky enough to yell at me with such vigor a while ago? Where did all that spunk go?

The other elves sighed and shook their head a few times as they lowered their weapons.