Meanwhile, just a couple of minutes before Rick had arrived in this primitive world, a certain beautiful elf could be seen walking happily back to her tribe village.
She had long, dark green hair styled up in a high ponytail which swayed behind her with every step she took.
Her eyes were amber in colour and she had a smooth, lightly tanned skin as she walked through a dense forest with a huge grin on her face.
Gwen was tall and extremely hardworking as she tried her best to become the best huntress any elf had ever seen.
On her left shoulder, Gwen had a uniquely shaped tribal mark which spoke volumes about her talents and role in the tribe.
It signified the rare talents that she had, and it was a reflection of how much respect her fellow tribespeople were expected to give to her as well.
In other words, Gwen wasn't an ordinary elf in the wood clan.
She was a well-respected young elf who many believed she would one day become the future Chieftess of the Wood Clan.
On her upper arm, Gwen wore a fur-trimmed armband.
She wore one on each side of her arm and her perfectly rounded breasts was covered by a top made entirely from large, overlapping green leaves, held together by thin braided vines.
Around her waist, she was wearing a short skirt made from more layered leaves that barely reached her upper thighs but were tied by the hip with something similar to a rope that had a cute knot at the side of her waist.
Gwen's pointed ears twitched slightly as she returned back from a somewhat unsuccessful hunt with her group of four other elf members walking behind her.
Her group was made up of two gatherers and three hunters, of course with her being included as a hunter in the group.
But despite how they had returned with not a single kill due to how hunting in the woods had become harder with animals now scarcer than ever before, despite this fact, Gwen didn't really look sad because right now she was holding a lot of fruits packed and wrapped inside a large leaf she held very tightly.
It had been a week since she left home to hunt for something to eat, so she knew her adopted little brother would be dying to have something to eat.
Though their relationship right now was not as how she had hoped for them to be, due to how many elves in the tribe wanted him gone, Gwen was still prepared to do whatever it took to make him feel comfortable here.
Feeling happy and impatient, Gwen glanced at what she was holding once more, then she lifted her head to see a couple of elves gathered around in the centre of the village.
"What's going on?"
"Why is everyone gathering around?"
"Did something happen?"
Gwen's hunting members asked a female elf nearby, and she turned around to answer.
"It's the cursed elf... Zok and his friends....."
Hearing this, Gwen's heart clenched in fear and her eyes widened in surprise.
She didn't even bother to hear what the female elf had to say next before she reacted swiftly.
Of course, she was pissed that the female elf had referred to her adopted brother as the cursed elf, even though the Chieftess had warned everyone not to refer to him as such.
However, Gwen didn't wait to argue about this with the female elf.
So instead, she shifted her attention straight to her mother's cave, and with a single step forward, Gwen vanished with a gust of wind to arrive in front of the cave, but what she witnessed in front of her nearly crushed her heart.
Gwen's feet turned weak but she forced herself to remain standing, because right in front of her, Gwen could see the shaman kneeling in front of her brother who now had a pool of blood underneath him.
The blood was dark and there was too much of it spread across the cave floor, soaking into the dry ground and the sight of it made Gwen's stomach feel weird.
She could see the shaman's glowing green hands dimming down as she pulled her hands from the young elf in front of her, but Gwen's little brother was not waking up.
"Grandmother Ophelia, is he...?" Gwen asked and the shaman slowly lifted her head to look at her.
The shaman didn't say anything, but her eyes had said everything her mouth couldn't.
Refusing to believe this, Gwen looked at the young female elf standing behind the shaman, and she too had a look of sadness on her face, indicating that the shaman had done all she could to save Rick, but in the end, they were too late to save the young boy who had suffered a serious head injury and had already lost so much blood.
Reading the look on the young elf's face, Gwen couldn't hold back the anger within her anymore.
Her tears streamed down her cheeks and her mana burst out in rage, with a small crater crackling underneath her feet.
Gwen gritted her teeth and glared at the young shaman apprentice. "Where is Zok?"
Gwen's words were filled with hate and murderous intent.
Sensing this, the young female apprentice shrieked in fear and took two steps backwards.
The shaman noticed this as well and she couldn't blame Gwen for feeling what she felt right now.
The shaman sighed softly and called. "Gwen..."
However, before she could say anything, all three ladies in the cave suddenly had their hearts in their mouths when a loud gasp of air echoed through the cave.
*Ghuahh!!*
All three ladies dragged their eyes to the unconscious Rick on the floor and their eyes widened in surprise when they realised he had been the one who gasped.
"Impossible....." The shaman gasped, because she was certain the young boy had stopped breathing a full minute ago.
Meanwhile, Gwen swiftly wiped her tears and knelt in front of him, with more tears streaming down her cheeks as she continuously called Rick's name over and over again.
The shaman swiftly looked at her apprentice and ordered her to bring over some herbs.
Rick opened his eyes briefly but all he could see were blurry images in front of him.
He could feel there were more people around him but the only person he could see right now was a beautiful young girl calling his name over and over again with tears in her eyes.
He wondered why she was crying, but his vision turned completely blurry and he fell back asleep.