Desolate World

After passing some buildings in the front, Cloud and Geo arrived at a ranch-like area. Many of the monsters were loitering while eating the foods that had been prepared. 

There were horses that were eating their feedings in their stable. Some rhinoceroses that were grazing on an iron-fenced small pasture, dogs and cats that were sunbathing under the warm ray of the morning sun or just enjoying their meal, dozens of little birds that were flying around birdhouses that were built on top of the stable. 

For some reason after many trees around the town were cut down, the mist around the town wasn't too bad anymore. Many people speculated that the mist was created by the forest. They could see the sun in the noon and the stars in the night every day.

Cloud was always amazed at how efficient the town guards and the monster tamers worked. For a note, all of these monsters had been caught and then domesticated in three weeks.

"Good morning Mrs. Cloud, Geo. I expected you to come today," A familiar woman's voice then was heard from above them. 

Cloud was surprised that someone just appeared above them without she had realized. She and Geo then looked above. 

At first, it was just a dot, high in the sky. The dazzling sunlight made it harder for Cloud to look at it clearly. Then it lowered its high. The dot became bigger and bigger. And finally, they could see it clearly. It was a turtle, a big flying turtle.

"Captain!" Geo then shouted.

She was the captain of the monster tamers unit and the manager of this barrack, Aprilia. She was also someone that succeeded in evolving his pet, green turtle into a flying turtle, an elite monster. 

"Captain Aprilia, I'm sorry for coming without any notice. Geo insisted on coming here after knowing from Tifa and Tira that some wolves were captured yesterday," Cloud said.

"Don't be too polite, Mrs. It was I who asked the two girls to tell Geo. He has said that he wants to have a wolf pet some time ago," Aprilia said after jumping from the back of the big turtle.

"Captain, can I see them now?" Geo asked enthusiastically.

"Of course! Please follow me!" She said. She then looked back to the big turtle and said, "Top, you can go back to your nest. I will see you later."

The turtle nodded and then flew to the East.

"He was cute, but my Red and Blue are cuter," Geo commented as he saw the turtle flying away.

Aprilia then smiled. She then said, "I heard that, brat! but I must admit that Blue is faster than him. Let's go!" 

Aprilia then led the two to go in the South direction. They met some elves along the way. Two of them were monster tamers. They were busy with their own matters.

After walking for 5 minutes, they arrived in front of a big warehouse-like building. Cloud could hear the howl of a wolf from inside it.

"It seems we come at the right time. It looks like they started trying to domesticate them," Aprilia said.

She then stood in front of a door handle and pulled it to open one of the heavy big doors. 

"Let's go in!" She said and then entered the building with Cloud and Geo following her.

As they went in, they saw around 15 wolves in the iron cages inside the building. The building itself had multiple floors, so Cloud guessed that there were more caged wolves upstairs.

The wolves looked to be in a state of weakness. As many of them were just lying inside of the cages weakly. They must still be influenced by the drugs.

Cloud saw 3 elves surrounding a cage. She, Aprilia, and Geo then walked to them.

"Is he still stubborn?" Aprilia then asked the elves.

One of the elves then looked at her and nodded. He said, "Captain, he is being stubborn. He even said, he prefers to die than to serve us. He also doesn't want to eat and drink."

Aprilia then nodded and said, "Don't worry. It is just the second day. I don't believe I can't make him honest."

Aprilia then approached the gate. Cloud and Geo followed her. Cloud and Geo then saw the appearance of the wolf. It was bigger than the other wolves. Its fur was silvery white. And a silver horn was on its head. 

"He was so graceful!" Geo exclaimed.

Cloud couldn't help but nod. It was the most beautiful wolf she had ever seen. Since entering the forest, she had seen many packs of wolves. Some of them attacked his family and then were killed as a consequence of their choice. Some of them were intimidated by Geo's pets, so they ran away. However, she had never seen such an elegant wolf.

[Horned Wolf, (Alpha) Level 16]

The wolf seemed to realize their presence. He then glared at them fiercely.

"Let me try to subdue him. If I fail, it is then your turn. How's that?" Aprilia said with a commanding voice.

"Uh… Okay," Geo said submissively.

Cloud wasn't angry as the elf treated her son in that kind of manner, as she understood why she did that. She had been acquainted with her for three weeks, so she knew what kind of opinion she had for her grandson. She even guessed the reason she tasked the twins Tifa and Tira to tell Geo about the wolves.

Aprilia then approached the wolf while taking a slice of meat from her inventory. Wordlessly she tried to communicate with the wolf. It was a monster tamer's ability. They didn't have to speak loudly to talk with the monsters. Only by staring at each other, she could convey her intention to the wolf.

And from her gesture, she wanted to 'bribe' it with a slice of premium-looking meat.

The wolf then looked away and closed her eyes. Cloud guessed the wolf had disdained the slice of meat. Or maybe it didn't want to talk with Aprilia.

However, she didn't give up, she then took another slice of meat to attract the wolf's attention. He just glanced at it and then snorted and came back to close his eyes. But, it was also another failure.

She tried many attempts to get the silver wolf, but she failed every time.

***