Chapter 3: Unfamiliar World

Asteria had already gasping for breath. She was no match at all before the strength and the speed of this wolf. It was bigger than last time, and certainly much stronger.

In no time, she found herself getting pinned to the ground. Asteria had gotten the shock from the impact as well as the sudden force that pushed her down. She felt unable to move under the wolf's paw.

Asteria winced slightly. Was she going to be the wolf's meal right now? If so, regardless of what she was doing, that meant she would die, right?

Her eyes opened tentatively. She had expected the wolf to growl and ripped her into shreds in its feral state. However, she was stunned by that pair of cold eyes staring back at her.

It was certainly a wolf, yet why did it seem to have some intelligence? Despite the cold eyes, also there was seemed to be some confusion swirling in them.

Asteria froze, not daring to move a single bit. She was completely silent as she let the wolf stare at her that it began to feel uncomfortable. However, her instinct of survival told her that she should just shut up at this moment and let the wolf stare at her as much as it wished.

The wolf eyes trained on her face, it lifted its paw that slightly touched her sprawling hair. However, the wolf suddenly paused.

Asteria was like a small mouse compared to this towering creature in front of her. She could only obey it that perhaps there was still a chance of survival. A woman should act according to the situation.

It was unimaginable to even think about it, but Asteria swore that she could almost see the wolf was frowning a moment ago as it inspected her entire body.

Its cold eyes were still on Asteria, but what surprised her that the wolf was letting go of her, as it raised its paws and leaving her sprawled on the ground to head in the other direction. It was some sort of rejection, and Asteria couldn't help but feel a slight sense of disappointment.

This thought made Asteria shook her head furiously. What the hell she thought just now. She should be grateful that she was able to keep her body intact, and not having such crazy thoughts.

Asteria dusted herself off, standing up and vigilantly checked up her surroundings. She just wanted to make sure that the wolf didn't joke with her and came back later. However, those cold eyes that almost made her felt like she was in winter and the coldest place were telling her that it simply didn't joke.

Sighing out with relief, Asteria began to march away, looking for a way to go back. She had been walking for some time now, yet it felt like she was just walking in circles.

Don't even talk about going back, the more she spent her time here, the more she realized that this place was utterly unfamiliar.

"What the hell, did I knock my head so hard that I lost my memories? This place is so unfamiliar."

Asteria was exhausted. She let out a frustrated sigh as she sank into the ground below a huge tree. She didn't know what she should do right now.

"Eh, why is there a girl in this place?" A deep voice reached Asteria's ear, startling her into vigilance.

She turned around to find that three people were staring at her, one a young man, and the two were middle-aged. They were wearing clothes made of fur, and taller than most human she had seen.

This picture made Asteria sort of out of the place. Asteria looked back at them.

"Girl, what are you doing here? This isn't a place to play around." The shortest middle-aged man frowned as he stared at Asteria, there was a reprimand in his tone.

"She doesn't look like she comes from here though. Her clothes are a bit strange." The young man put on a puzzled look.

Indeed, jeans combined with a short sleeved t-shirt would look awkward at the moment. If one looked at the three, the jungle life would be the first word coming into their head. They looked like those secluded tribes who refused modernity and chose to live deep inside the jungles.

"Sir, may I ask where is this place?" Asteria asked them, sighing in a slight relief that after she had been walking a day along she finally found true living humans.

"Girl, are you lost?" The middle-aged man looked like he had been guessed something. "There are no tribes in this area except for ours. If you want, you can come with us."

The young man looked as if he wanted to say something, but after he saw Asteria's brightened face, he just sighed and kept it to himself.

"Sure," Asteria said. She better should try to figure out her predicament. If she could go back, she planned to give some surprises to a certain someone. "Thank you."

"What's your name?" One of them asked.

Asteria considered it for a moment before deciding that she would just tell them about her real name. "I am Asteria."

The group of four, one who looked oddly out of place and three men immediately leave the place. Asteria glanced at them briefly. She just realized that the three were bringing some flesh of animals to their people.

Fresh blood slightly dotted some of their body parts. Though it was faint, the smell of blood was there. They seemed to be a group of hunters just coming back from their hunt.

The journey took slightly longer. Asteria couldn't keep up sometimes with her short legs that she had to run occasionally.

It was almost already dark that the taller middle-aged man suddenly spoke up. "In the end, we still can't arrive on time. Just be careful and look out for your surrounding, if you find something isn't right. Immediately tell the others."

Asteria was stumped hearing their words. She didn't know how many days she had spent in this forest. But, judging from how she woke up in the morning again, she had been sleeping beside that wolf throughout the night. What's different about day and night here?

However, judging from the man's words it seemed that the situation at night seemed to be a dangerous one.

The group kept on moving, accompanied by the noises of some night animal activities. What Asteria noticed was that the three's expression turned grave as soon as they heard the howl of wolves from far away.