There are still some things that Zeke and Allesiah did before leaving the town. One of them is going back to old man Felroy and repaying him for his kindness. The man didn't want to accept the payment but, with Zeke insisting, Felroy had no choice but to accept the payment. The old man then gave a letter to Zeke, one with a lion's insignia on it.
"Use that when you reach the next town. It'll tell you where Hark and Sylvia are." Felroy said, knowing that Zeke still has some unfinished business with the couple.
After this, they went to the guild and reported all that happened on their expedition. The receptionist got shocked again of course but, this time Zeke covered her mouth, making her unable to scream like she did the other day.
There is enough reason to get shocked after all. It isn't just one encampment that they destroyed but two. Adding to this is the fact that they even destroyed the main headquarters of the Viper Bandits, a feat that none of the adventurers' group inside the guild have been able to do. What's even more amazing is that all of this was accomplished in a single day. And to top this all of is the fact that there are only two of them which is not exactly true.
They had the help of Sylph and the male elf. Plus, there are the [Conjured] monsters who dealt with a lot of the bandits on the main headquarters. The two got paid handsomely and, Allesiah immediately got her share. Zeke placed his own cut inside a bag he bought, he did this becuas,e he didn't want to open the System inventory in public.
Zeke didn't want to reveal the system to any other person. Having Allesiah see it is enough.
After they've dealt with all of this, they went to Boulder's house. Zeke officially said that he doesn't need his share in the loot anymore and Boulder just sighed; knowing that it would eventually come to this.
"What are the two of you planning now?" He asked, worried about the two young adventurers. He couldn't; see Allesiah's contract mark because it is now hidden by a choker that she bought. Slavery is, after all, forbidden in Elysium.
"We'll be going to the next town." Zeke replied with a smile on his face.
"You guys better not get yourself into any greater trouble." Boulder said. This made Allesiah laugh nervously, remembering how Zeke made him fight a whole encampment of bandits all by herself. Adding to the fact that they are about to head back to the forest to meet up with her warmongering sister.
"Of course we'll be safe!" Zeke replied, laughing normally. This gave Allesiah even more shivers down her spine, knowing that this meant more torturous training for her in the near future.
They waved Boulder goodbye and went on their way. Allesiah tidied her house up before leaving, thinking how she actually got attached to the place.
After all this, the two proceeded inside the forest. Allesiah isn't aware on the whereabouts of the [Wood Scouts] base but, she knows that her sister would probably be out looking for her by now.
"How are you so sure?" Zeke asked.
"Because that's just how she is." Allesiah replied as they finally reached the midpoint of the forest. On the other side of the forest is another town, the one nearest to the city and also, the place where Zeke can make use of old man Felroy's letter.
There have been a bunch of [Sub Quests] that have been added to Zeke's missions. It didn't feel like the missions controlled him because, they are either aligned to what he is about to do or is a part of an assistance to finish the [Main Quest].
The two rested for a while and, as they did, Zeke decided to train Allesiah for a little bit. There is a concept that he wanted to try out, one that, if Allesiah is able to perform, would greatly increase he spellcasting prowess.
"I want you to gather mana from all around you without using the staff." Zeke said, leaving Allesiah in a state of confusion.
"Think of it this way. Mana is basically energy right? And the use of elements is nothing more than the manipulation of mana all around you." Zeke isn't actually sure of the things he is talking about, he just wanted to test out a theory.
The [Gamer's System] prevents the normal skill learning rules of Mythos to apply to him. He simply needs to have enough skill points and bam! He'll get the desired skill he wishes. If he wanted to learn something as powerful as an [Energy Ball], all it takes is the right number of points.
Dwellers of this world do not have it that easy though. They need to undergo various trainings just to be able to learn a new spell and, as they grow old, some even lose the capacity to learn new spells altogether. Hence, Zeke wanted Allesiah to focus on generating more mana and controlling it.
"If this can be done, then she can simply manipulate a spell to any form she wishes – creating a brand new spell without going through rigorous training." He thought to himself. Of course she can rely on the staff but, she's not going to use that weapon forever. Meaning, she needs to learn mana manipulation all on her own.
"I don't even get what you're trying to pull here." Allesiah said.
"Okay, let's start with this. Do you have any wind spell you can use? Try to imagine the feeling of how it is produced out of thin air and then, try adding more into it using the air around us."
"That's a really vague concept. Did you even go to the magic academy? Do you know how we rely on formulas in order to produce spells?" Allesiah replied.
"Just try it out." Zeke said, wanting to see if his method could work.
Soon enough, Allesiah performed what Zeke has instructed her to. She formed a small wind orb on the palm of her hands and tried concentrating air into it.
"Think of it like breathing, inhale more air into the spell and contain it there." Zeke continued.
At this, there is a significant amount of air that seemed to blow stronger at the spot where Zeke and Allesiah are. But then, the air dispersed, pushing back Allesiah with Zeke catching her.
"It actually worked!" Allesiah shouted, feeling the amount of mana flowing from the previous spell actually getting stronger.
"See?" Zeke replied.
"I'll leave you there for now. Keep on practicing that, I'll just hunt for dinner." He said, opening the minimap and looking for the area where the monsters are located.
To ensure that no harm will come to Allesiah, Zeke also left his nameless Bladebow monster to guard her. The monster stayed on top of a tall tree that allowed it to see the whole perimeter. He also left a bunch of goblins on the area, alerting Allesiah if an enemy comes into range.
With this, Zeke started hunting for food using his other goblins. He wanted to test out their current capacity. He brought out the goblin shaman and three normal goblin warriors. The target of Zeke's little experiment is also a group of goblins but, there are 20 of these while Zeke only used 3.
"You're free to use any method you know of." He told the goblins, making them run towards the enemies in front of them.
It must be the first time for the wild goblins to encounter blue ones because, there was first shock in their eyes before they started moving. They were, however, able to block the first blow of both conjured goblins. This made the Shaman use a power up spell on the two, increasing their strength and making them able to swing the wild goblins into a nearby tree.
"They're actually handling this pretty well." Zeke thought as he watched on top of a nearby tree.
This much is to be expected of course. With the buffs that Zeke has been passively giving out to them, they are stronger than any average goblin. But this isn't why he chose wild goblins to be the opponent. The actual reason is that, he wanted to know if these goblins can win with sheer force even if they are surrounded by enemies of a lower rank.
Four wild goblins jumped up to attack. The other goblins still surrounded them, making escape difficult. Thus, the conjured goblins took the attack head on, shouting some goblin sounding words.
The shaman then used another spell. This time, it's the speed of the conjured goblins that increased. The two immediately attacked the enemies that came close but, just as they struck, the ones surrounding them came in close. This resulted in the goblin shaman being vulnerable to an attack. Sure enough, a wild goblin found its way to hit the shaman's head with its club. The shaman got stunned, halting the speed up spell and putting the conjured goblins at a disadvantage.
With this, Zeke saw a tragic end for his three conjured monsters.
"So the rank doesn't make up for the lack of tactics." He thought to himself, finishing off the monsters himself and hunting down a couple of birds that he and Allesiah would eat for dinner.
At the camp, he found Allesiah still practicing and, while she did this, he decided to prepare the meal – seeing as it took all of Allesiah's effort to perform the training he thought of. Then, night finally came.
The two of them still stayed in the forest as they are looking for Sylph. The only problem is that, she hasn't showed up the whole day.
But Zeke has a hunch. He felt eyes looking at them since noon and, his guard has been kept up ever since. The only problem is that, he hasn't caught the enemies in action and this is bad because, it would mean that if there really are enemies lurking around…
…they'd be ones that can conceal their presence.