Archery competition

 Feel the air that hits the skin, and sweeps away the sunlight that starts to heat up during the day. The leaves of the trees that fall along with the sound of the crowd spread across the green and beautiful yard.

"It's been more than 5 minutes since the archery competition started, will anyone be able to find the rare beast the Emperor hid in the forest?"

The voice of a woman in a red dress made the friend who was sitting beside her turn around.

"I think they are too young to realize it, moreover the manna possessed by the beast is very strong."

The lady nods. "You are right, Lady Mongya."

 Two women who attended the archery competition were the Duchess who represented their respective regions to attend as spectators of the competition.

"But do you realize that the representative girl from the Kingdom of Noriatte is good at catching her prey, don't you think, Madam Redva?"

The lady in the red dress watched a girl riding her horse after catching two deer and a wild boar.

Lady Redva smiled, "I'm quite interested in her."

Meanwhile, deep in the forest, two siblings who were very well known were circling every corner of the forest.

"Did you find any animals, Zavei?"

The boy who was walking with her glanced at her face, then his eyes returned to looking around them.

"Don't you feel something strange, Elie?" Zavei asked while looking at every corner of the forest.

Elie nodded slightly, "I've felt a heavy air press down on my manna."

Zavei nodded slightly while slashing his sword into the grass beside him.

"Did the Emperor deploy the animals properly?" Zavei shared his thoughts with Elie.

The girl shrugged. "I can't guess."

 Their steps traced every corner of the forest by pulling their horse ropes. They chose to get off the horse and walk because the road was quite steep and full of rocks.

 While they were concentrating on walking, suddenly they heard a sound moving from the direction of the grass not far from their view. Elie and Zavei turned their heads at the same time, seeing what was moving behind the grass.

Elie picked up her bow and arrow, her eyes darting to Zavei. "You heard that too, Zav?" She asks.

Zavei nodded while aiming his arrow. "I heard it."

The sound of moving from within the grass grew louder, even making Elie's fingers poised into an archery stance.

"If it's prey, then kill it on the spot."

 Zavei understood his sister's words, then he followed Elie's steps, who were trying to get close to the grass. When they almost arrived, Elie's body jerked when she saw a small animal jump from the grass to her face.

 Elie released her arrow, she didn't know which way the bow was pointing. All she knew now was that a springy object hit her face so that her view was obscured by the animal's soft fur.

"Elie!" Zavei shouted while catching Elie's arrow that bounced off after something hit that girl.

The gray haired girl felt warmth on her face, even she could feel something wet on her forehead.

"What is this?" Elie's fingers groped for something that had landed on her face.

 At the moment her fingers touched two long ears and a nose that quite protruded. Elie jumped in surprise so that her body immediately sat up from the position she fell.

"Rabbit?" Zavei held out Elie's bow.

Elie held the small, furry body of the rabbit that had bumped into her face, her fingers roaming every part of the rabbit's body.

"How can there be an animal this small in the forbidden forest?" Elie said as she groped the rabbit's body.

 While Elie was having fun playing with the fur and body of the rabbit. It was a different matter with Zavei who felt a different aura from the rabbit that Elie was holding.

"Did you feel something pressing down on your manna, Elie?" Zavei asked while taking out his sword.

Elie shook her head with a smile on her face. "What did you say? I don't feel it anymore."

Surprisingly, a sword was pointed near the rabbit's neck from the direction Zavei was confirmed to be.

Elie's amber eyes glanced sinisterly at Zavei's face. "What are you doing?" She asked intimidatingly.

Zavei gulped. "Let go, you will be marked by it if you stay with that rabbit." He said.

Elie's eyes turned to look at the rabbit in her hands. "Marked?"

Zavei could see the confusion on his Sister's face.

"Let it go, Elie!" He shouted.

Surprisingly from beside them, there was a growling sound that caused the ground beneath them to shake violently.

The vibes are like last night. Elie thought while tightly gripping the rabbit in her hand.

Zavei put his sword back in. "What's going on? Why is the ground moving?"

Elie got up from her seat, placing the rabbit in her arms in a safe position.

"Give me my bow, Zavei." Elie said as she placed the rabbit on her shoulder.

Following his Sister's words, Zavei took one of Elie's arrows from the girl's pouch.

"Here."

Elie received an arrow from Zavei, then she readied her bow in a forward position.

"Focus, and watch what comes out."

Zavei nodded, and he also had his bow and arrows in the proper position.

 The growling voice just now got louder and louder, made Elie and Zavei's bodies unbalanced. But Elie cleverly positioned her right foot slightly further back, and her left foot further forward.

"It looks like the beast is really big."

 Just as Elie was properly positioning her bow, from the direction of the trees in front of them a large beast stretched out over the trees.

"What is that?" Zavei pointed his arrow at the neck of the beast.

"Paraceratherium."

Elie replied while hiding her bow and arrows. "Hide your bow, Zavei." The command.

Zavei looked confused, finally, he chose to hook his bow on his shoulder. "What animal is that, Elie? I've never seen one before."

Elie picked up the rabbit that was on her shoulders, taking a moment to look at the white rabbit fur in her hands.

"Please hold this rabbit, Zavei."

Zavei's eyebrows furrowed. "Why did you give it to me?" He asked confused.

Elie glanced at Paraceratherium who was eating leaves from the trees.

"We shouldn't carelessly bring in a small animal like a rabbit, because the possibility of it attacking is quite high."

 Zavei understood and then hid the rabbit inside his cloak. While he was busy adjusting the position of the rabbit on his robe, groans could be heard coming from the beast Elie called Paraceratherium. Zavei's blue eyes glanced at where Elie was, but the girl had already stepped forward to approach the animal 7 times the size of a human.

"Elie..." Zavei whispered.

 But his sister still stepped forward to approach the Paracer carefully. Even so, Paracer didn't pay much attention to Elie because the big beast didn't sense any threat from the two humans. Meanwhile, in Elie's position, the girl could already feel the warmth from Paracer 's huge body because of the animal's skin.

𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙪𝙢. Elie thought while caressing the skin of Paracer 's legs.

 If the period is in modern life, then animals with the names 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙪𝙢 and other names 𝙄𝙣𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙪𝙢 have become extinct tens of millions of years ago. This type is also very rare in the dense forest, so there's a possibility that it ran here because something happened in the prairie where it lives.

𝘐𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦? Thought Elie.

Elie felt the texture of the Paracer 's shriveled skin. "Looks like it's quite old." She mumbled.

 But at that time, the girl with braided hair was examining the body parts of Paracer . From the opposite direction, someone launched an arrow that almost hit the front of Paracer 's neck.

"Shit, who's that?" Elie stared intently at the arrow bouncing off the ground.

But Elie realized that the arrow that bounced didn't hit Paracer 's neck. The girl's steps backed up and faced the front of the Paracer .

Riding equipment?

Hearing the loud noises from the direction they had come from, Elie could see the silhouettes of several people entering her area.

It seems they came here because they heard Paracer's voice. Elie felt uneasy.

Elie's amber eyes turned to Zavei who was watching the movement from behind him.

"Zavei." Elie called.

Zavei's face turned to the source of the sound, he could see Elie pointing at the beast's neck.

"Why?" Zavei whispered moving his lips.

Elie let out her nervousness through her breath. "We can tame this animal!" She shouted.

 Zavei gasped in surprise when he saw Elie panting. Then after that, from behind Zavei, 4 people were seen approaching them. Elie felt furious when she saw the face holding back laughter from the boy who was in the middle of the herd.

"My my, looks like we met the Crown Princess of Qavec." The voice of the boy sounded foreign to Elie.

 But Elie was taken aback by the change in Zavei's face, which looked to be holding back anger. The boy's green eyes glanced at the boy who warily stood beside the horse.

"I didn't expect that we will also meet again after that incident, Prince Zavei." His voice sounded condescending.

Whereas Zavei who was treated like that couldn't contain his anger when he looked back at the face he least wanted to see.

"It seems you did come here on purpose, Prince Tavlarik." Zavei grinned.

Meanwhile, the prince named Tavlarik gritted his teeth to vent his frustration.

"Don't get cocky, you brat."

Tavlarik's green eyes glanced at where Elie was with the huge beast behind that girl.

"I'm here to catch prey," he said while taking a glance at Elie's face.

Elie could feel Zavei's annoyance creeping up on her.

Is he one of the sources of trouble in Zavei's life? Elie thought with a sharp gaze.

Tavlarik took out his sword "Hey Princess Elie, you better get away from my prey."

Hearing that boy's voice made Elie chuckle. "Who are you to decide that this is your prey?"

Seeing Elie laugh made Tavlarik speechless until his friends beside him were confused.

"Don't take the wrong step like last time, Tavlarik." Said Prince Qavye while patting the shoulder of the boy beside him.

Tavlarik shook off Qavye's hand that was on his shoulder. "Don't meddle," he said.

Tavlarik's gaze turned back to Elie. "Don't act like you can kill him, Princess Elie."

Elie gasped. "Who would want to kill him, are you stupid?" Elie's words were mocking.

Hearing how Elie talked to him in a disdainful tone, especially Elie's amber eyes seemed to pierce his pupils.

"You want to repeat what happened back then, Princess Elie?"

Elie thought what was meant by the words of the blonde haired boy standing far from her.

"Actually, what incident were you talking about earlier?" Elie asked as she held her waist.

Seeing Elie's flat face made Tavlarik grin. "Looks like the memory of that time was erased." His green eyes glanced at Zavei.

 Zavei was furious to see the innocent face Tavlarik was making. Then Tavlarik turned his head back to Elie who was watching Zavei.

"If Zavei hadn't helped you back then, maybe you wouldn't have appeared here, Princess Elie."

 While her amber eyes were watching her brother, Elie was stunned after knowing what the blonde boy actually meant. Her head turned towards Tavlarik who was smiling innocently at her.

"I've finally found you." Said Elie with a prey look.

At the same time, the large beast that was behind Elie lowered its head slightly, Paracer's bloodshot eyes also stared at Tavlarik.

Turns out he was the one who pushed this girl into the lake? Elie thought while squeezing the hilt of her sword.

In Tavlarik's position, that boy felt intimidated by the four pairs staring at him with unbroken gazes.

"You started it first, Prince Tavlarik." Elie said while taking out her sword.

 But from another direction, an arrow shot toward Elie's face. Zavei's blue eyes immediately turned toward one of the Princes who was standing behind Tavlarik.

"Rydert?" Zavei muttered.

After his blue eyes met hazel eyes that were smiling at him.

"We meet again, Mister of the highest ranking in the academy."

 Elie rubbed the cut on her cheek that was bleeding. Seeing the blood on her thumb, made Elie's gaze heat up. But what was even more exciting, the groans of the Paracer made the ground beneath them vibrate so much that Elie's body is unbalanced.

Elie could feel the anger from the Paracer because it wouldn't get angry if nothing bothered it.

"Looks like I can almost tame it," Elie muttered.

While Elie was trying to get up from her knees, unexpectedly an arrow flew towards her without the girl knowing.

"Look out Elie!!" Zavei's screaming voice reached Elie's ears.

 But just as the girl was about to turn around, unexpectedly Elie felt the wind blowing toward her. Her eyelids closed as the wind passed by.

 The sound of a sword warding off an arrow made Elie's face turn around to see who was right behind her. Elie's face was stunned as her vision was covered by a fluttering black robe. She didn't feel the person standing behind her.

"Zavei?" Elie muttered.

"Elie!" Zavei's voice shouted from where he was.

 Elie's brow furrowed, and she stood up from her sitting position. Her body was standing behind someone taller than her, even though she was covered by the cloak of this person in front of her.

"Who?" Elie asked as she turned her face towards the front of the robed person in front of her.

The robed person's head turned in the direction where Elie had turned her face.

"Stay in place." That person said while tucking his sword in the scabbard in his belt.

 Slowly, the man's hand lowered the hood of his robe and showed his face to the people who were there. Surprisingly, Elie saw clearly what the face of the person in front of her looked like. Elie paid attention in detail to every curve of the man's face, a sharp nose, sharp eyes with dark red beads, and also thick eyebrows that added a firm impression.

Elie took a gulp. "Who are you?" She asked.

The man beside her stared at Elie with his bloodshot eyes.

"Are you okay?"

Hearing the deep voice that carried her into the depths of the voice, she almost forgot her original intention.

"I'm good," she said. Elie's amber eyes turned to the 4 men who were hiding behind the Prince named Rydert.

"I'll be waiting for you at the collection tent," Elie said with a menacing look.

After saying that, Elie's face turned to look at the man.

"Thank you for helping me, I will take this beast with me," Elie said lowering her face as a sign of respect.

While the man just kept silent while staring at Elie's gray hair which he thought was sparkling.

"No problem." He replied while putting back the hood on his head.

 Elie smiled as she saw the man's back turned towards the forest. A strange feeling surrounded Elie's mind, who was silent with eyes watching the man's broad back.

I hope to see him again. Elie inner smiled.