The end of the month soon had come. This meant that we would have to go out, and hunt some more food for our storage. The month had passed by calmly. Our location hadn't been found by Diego, and his crew. I'm still not entirely convinced that we are safe, but I am starting to think that we are. This past month has been very useful to me, as I began to see improvements.
I focused most of my time on training my physique, studying magic circles, and learning how to use only one element through our mana links. My physique has definitely grown stronger than what it was. I had to up the intensity of my training twice in this month already, and even that much training is still easy to me at this moment. As such, I'll be once again upping the intensity. I feel like increasing the amount of exercise will just waste my time, as it is already taking me around 3 hours to finish. So, because of this I will add weights to myself as a way to increase the intensity. I am even thinking of keeping these weights on all day, but I'll first have to make them.
Comparatively, my usage of only one element through our mana links is slow going. I was only just recently able to feel what Ana had talked to me about. It is a very weird feeling that I can't really describe. I can only compare it to pouring out water, and pouring out pure sweetwater. It is a similar process, but one is just harder. Again this is only just a comparison, and does not accurately grasp this sensation.
However, at least I have made progress with using one element through our mana links. My studying of magic circles has literally brought me nowhere. It just feels like I am wasting my time, and effort on something that is impossible, but, at the same time, it feels like if I just put in more effort, I'll reach a result. Even though this entire time I haven't been able to reach any results. I still persist in this endeavor though, as other people must have figured out the language of magic circles. Otherwise, we wouldn't have magic circles in the first place, even if they are just copies of artifacts. I just need to keep at it, and it will eventually come to me.
Speaking of magic circles, the one that I had created was well received by Ana and Astra. In fact, after the first week of use, we immediately burned all of our collected firewood, and replaced it with the magic circles. We burned it because we didn't want Diego to find our firewood, and somehow trace it back to us. They did do it with a note, so they might be able to do it with the firewood, and we didn't want to take any chances. I had to create multiple magic circles, and ended up using all of the stone from the cylinder I had taken out of my wall. This meant that we had 4 heating magic circles. 3 were placed within the kitchen while 1 was placed in the bathroom. These have made our lives much easier, and have even elevated Ana's cooking skills, something I thought impossible. Ana even said she was already working on new dishes that she couldn't create before, because she didn't have good heat control. I am really expecting a lot from her.
As for the hole in the wall that connects us to another part of the cave, nothing has happened really. Even though I am not in my room, I am still getting updates every morning from Ana and Astra. According to them, nothing has come through, in either direction. This may be because there is nothing in the other part of the cave, or because whatever is in there hasn't noticed us yet. Also, Ana and Astra have gone into the cave for a little bit of scouting. From what they have found, the cave slopes downwards, but at a small rate that it is barely noticeable. It is even less noticeable in the dark, but this explains why we haven't run into another part of the cave in our past diggings, it is below us. Well, we'll explore that later and see what we can find.
Well since this is the end of the month, we have many things to do. We need to get the results of our competition, gather food to stock in our emptying storage, and prepare to explore the new cave. Before any of that, I head to the kitchen to eat breakfast, and discuss with them. Of course I only did this after finishing my exercises. Since I don't have the weights yet, I'm just doing them like normal. That's also another thing I have to do, make wearable weight, but that's lower on the priority list. After finishing my exercise, I head out to the kitchen. Ana and Astra are already there, and Astra is cooking.
"Morning," I say to them once they notice me. Ana is the first one to notice me, and as such is the first to respond to me.
"Mornin sylvi. Are you ready for the competition?"
"Yeah." I say, confidently. "I'm not sure if I can win, but I for sure won't place last."
"I would like to know your spell then," Ana says, cheekily. "If you have that much confidence in it then it must be amazing."
Of the spells I have recently created, I feel like only two can be used for this competition. These spells are my protection spell and heating spell. The other spells I have created are simple in nature, or only useful to me. I am leaning towards my protection spell, as my heating spell has already been shown through my magic circle. Looking back on it, that was a really dumb move by me, as the magic circle now made this spell obsolete. Yeah I'll just use the protection spell.
"You can see my spell once we begin the competition," I reply to Ana. "Why don't we do the competition after we finish eating? Then after that, we can go hunt to fill up the storage area."
"Yeah that seems fine," Ana replies. "Just remember the loser has to do one thing the winner says."
"As long as it is within reason," I quickly remind her of this point, even though I'm not sure we mentioned it before. Either way, I don't want to do something crazy if I lose. Though I am not planning on losing, I want to be prepared for a worst case scenario.
"Yeah, as long as it is in reason," Astra suddenly comes behind us, her hands full, and agrees to what I have said. "Here is the food. Let's eat before it gets cold."
"Yeah," I unconsciously agree, surprised at how she sneaked up on me.
However, my mind doesn't linger on this for too long, as food is right before my eyes. I begin to eat the food, and it is very good. The heating magic circle has really elevated everyone's dishes, as we now don't have to worry about heat control. This gives us more time to focus on the dish itself, which elevates the taste. The food Astra has made is comparable to food Ana has made before she had the magic circle. It is surprising how one simple change can do so much. It didn't take me long to finish the food. Ana and Astra also finished at roughly the same time as me.
"Are you guys ready to show off your spells?" I ask once they finish eating.
"Yes," they both reply in unison.
"Okay, Astra can go first then," I say. "Ana and I will be the judge. We will give her a score between 1 and 5, and the final score will be a combination of the two. Is that okay with you two?"
"That's fine," Astra immediately says.
"As long as I go after," Ana says after Astra.
"Okay, then. Let's see your spell."
After saying that, I was expecting a spell to be chanted, but that didn't happen. I had forgotten that they were able to use spells without chanting, and was momentarily surprised because of it. After getting over that monetary shock, I became even more surprised at the spell. She had created a bird of fire, and was controlling its direction. This would allow her spell to do more damage, and allow her to control its flight, making sure it would hit the enemy. This was definitely a useful spell, as it would almost be a guaranteed hit, as long as one can control it well. I have an idea on how I can replicate it, but am not entirely sure.
"I think I'll give it a 4," I say out loud after some contemplation. It is a good spell, and is very useful in combat. However, I am not entirely sure how effective it would be. It may be better to just continuously lob fireballs, than concentrate on only one spell. This is why I gave it a 4.
"I'll give it a 3," Ana says a little after me. I'm not sure her reasoning for this, but I will not question it.
"So you have a combined total of 7. Okay Ana your next."
"Yes," she says as she begins to concentrate.
Immediately, water begins to swirl at her feet. As it swirls, it increases in height, before it completely covers her. Since it is swirling around her, I'm guessing it is a shield. It also only seems to be a shield, and while useful, only serves a singular purpose. It is quite similar to my spell, though, but at least my spell also counterattacks. I'm pretty sure this will only be able to absorb damage.
"I'll give it a 3," I say after a little bit of thinking.
"I'll give it a 4," Astra says after me.
"Okay so that means you get a score of 7 as well," I say. "Now it is my turn. O spell of wind, combine with the fire to form a barrier that surrounds myself."
I chanted my spell quickly, causing wind to swirl around myself. This happened extremely fast, and once it was done, the wind began to take on an orange hue. I wanted to do more than this, and actually show this spell's counterattack, but I couldn't do that by myself. As such, I just left it at that before canceling the spell. I waited for them to make their judgment. I luckily didn't have to wait for long.
"I'll give it a 3," Astra says.
"I'll give it a 4," Ana says almost immediately afterwards.
"That means I got 7, so we all tied for first place. How do you guys want to deal with the order? I feel like forgetting about that part, and just doing nothing. After all, there was no winner and loser." I make this suggestion, because I don't really want to listen to their commands. I'm not sure if it will be exaggerated or not, but I just don't want to take that risk. Thinking back on it, I shouldn't have made that one of the losing conditions.
"I feel like we are all technically a winner and loser," Astra immediately rebuttals me. "I think we each should be able to command one thing from each other."
"I agree with Astra," Ana instantly agrees, leaving me no chance to say anything.
"Fine, if that is how you want to do it then," I reluctantly give in. "I'll keep my commands for now. If you want me to do something, then hurry up. I want to finish this as early as possible. However, before we do any of that, let's all hunt for food. We have to restock the storage area after all. Since we can all use the hiding spell now, I feel like splitting up will be the best for us. I'll carry a leather bag, and the two of you can decide what you want to do. I'll mostly hunt on the far side of the beastmen zone, so try not to cross hunting grounds."
After I say my piece, I leave the cave as quickly as possible. I didn't forget to bring the leather bag I created, and left. Once outside the cave I chanted my reinforcement spell and hiding spell.
"O spell of wind flow through my body to reinforce myself. O spell of wind flow around my body to hide myself."
With these two spells chanted, I immediately headed to the far side of the beastmen zone. I am scared of whatever they will command me to do. So, despite wanting to get it done early, I hurriedly escaped. I hope they forget after the hunt, but something is telling me that they won't. At least I'll have some fun beforehand. Soon enough, I made it to the area in which I planned to hunt. I stopped channeling my reinforcement spell, while chanting my detection spell, and spell sword.
"O spell of wind spread with me as the center to detect my enemies. O spell of wind, form from my hands a mighty blade that follows my movements to destroy my enemies."
Three spells is still my limit for the time being. Otherwise I would have kept the reinforcement spell active. Luckily, my detection spell was able to get a couple of hits. I was still worried that I might run into David, and his crew. Because of my worries, I ended up avoiding groups of 4 demonic beasts. I also made sure to analyze my prey before going into attack. After all, it might be one of them split off from the group, or the groups could be watching, waiting for me to slip up.
I didn't want to take a chance, even if I was hidden, which caused my hunting to be slower than usual. It was mainly observing the demonic beasts that ate up my time. I would instantly kill them once I deemed it was safe to do so. I am actually very glad that I did this, as there were some times in which I found Diego and his group. This meant that Astra and Ana wouldn't run into them while they were out hunting. Even though I knew they wouldn't be in any trouble even if they did run into him, I still couldn't help, but be relaxed when I was the one facing him. After all, I have more experience with the hiding spell, and would be better at using it than them.
I had actively avoided them, while I continued my hunt. I would also make sure my hunt was also concealed. I wouldn't want them to find out that I had been there after all. I don't really do much though. I only cleaned up my tracks as carefully as I could. This was either done by actually cleaning up the mess I had made while fighting, or making it look like a fight between demonic beasts. Because of this, I was only able to finish my hunt after noon. My stomach was really rumbling, which helped me realize that I had missed lunch. However, I only needed one more body to completely fill up my leather bag. As such, I hunted one more demonic beast, before returning to the cave. I once again made sure to erase all of my tracks, and conceal myself as best as possible. I see Astra waiting for me by the entrance of the cave, so I undo my hiding spell, appearing before her.
She has a smile on her face once she sees me, but that slowly turns to a frown as I walk closer. "Where have you been?" She demanded once I was in earshot of her.
"I've been covering my tracks. I ran into Diego and his group, so I had to be extra careful while hunting. I was able to fill up the leather bag though. Is it okay if I leave the dismantling work to you?" I reply honestly, since I have nothing to hide. Also answering like this will reassure her, since I'm sure she was worried about me. Finally, at the end, I asked her a question to divert her attention.
"Why?" She asks, immediately jumping onto my question.
"I have some work I want to do," I quickly reply, trying to make sure she doesn't bring up the topic again. "It will also help you further your dismantling skills."
"Fine, I guess I'll do so," she says after a momentary hesitation, probably to gather her thoughts. "You'll tell me what you are working on though, right?"
Even though she asked that in the form of a question, it didn't feel that way to me. It felt more like she was asking it to show some basic courtesy to me, when in actuality, I didn't have a choice. I wasn't planning on hiding the reason from them either. In fact, I was planning on making weights for me, and then to use.
As such I reply. "I'll surely tell you once I have finished making them."
"Okay," she responds, obviously happy with the answer I have given. "Oh, by the way, Ana is a little mad at you, so she won't be cooking food for you when it is her turn."
It felt like my life had ended at that moment. I wouldn't be able to eat Ana's delicious food in two days. I would have to wait five whole days before I could eat her food, and this was punishment for concealing my tracks from Diego. Even though I feel incredibly heartbroken by this, I would have still made this choice.
"I understand," I say. "O spell of wind flow around my body to hide myself."
I quickly chanted my hiding spell before heading inside the cave. I definitely don't want Ana to see me at this moment. If I come across her, I'll probably beg her for food if she looks at me. I'll just quickly head to my room, before trying to create some weights to use to increase my training intensity. When I went into my room, though, I saw that Ana was already there. I was shocked, before I remembered that we had switched rooms, and that today was Astra's day to cook food. I quickly fled into Astra's room after remembering that. At least I'll soon be able to get my room back, as the cave explorations should come soon.
Now that I am in Astra's room, I begin to think on how to build my weights. I feel like the easiest thing to do, would be to carve them out of stone. Stone is heavy, and should be able to add enough weight to increase the intensity of my workouts. I'll have to make it so that it won't interfere with my daily life because, as I said before, I wish to wear them at all times. I feel like the best way to do this, would be to create bracelets for my arms and legs. However, i'll need a big piece of stone if I wish to accomplish this. I momentarily contemplate cutting a piece out of the wall again. However, I decide to not do this, because of the previous example.
If I'm not going to cut open a wall, then the next best thing would be to make the bracelets out of wood. While wood is lighter than stone, it is still pretty heavy, so it should still function as a weight. I am also more familiar with wood, as I have used it for many of my previous magic circles. It is also extremely abundant, as all I need to do to get it to go a little bit outside of the cave.
I was just about to chant my hiding spell, so I could go outside without being seen when Astra came into the room, saying, "aren't you going to eat?"
It was only when she said that, did I realize that I haven't eaten anything besides breakfast, and it was already past noon. As such, I said, "I'm sorry, I completely forgot. Is it okay if you bring the food to me?"
"Fine," Astra says, leaving to go get the food she had prepared.
"Thank you," I say to her retreating figure.
Then I wait for the Astra to come back into the room, with the food she had cooked. I needed to wait for a little bit of time, which I used to think more about the weights I would be creating. I had already told Astra that I would give her one after I finished making it. As such, i'll need to gather more wood, and make another set of weights for Astra and Ana. I'll also have to make them different from mine, since they will age to fit fox legs, since they are usually in their fox forms. It would be nice if the weights could transform as they do, but I wouldn't be able to do something like that. While I was thinking, Astra came into the room, with food on her back. She was in her fox form, and the food was carried on her back.
"Thank you," I say to her, once I have picked up the food.
She doesn't say anything in response, and just leaves the area after giving me the food. I don't really care, and just eat the food. The food was good, and I quickly finished it. Once I was finished with lunch, I continued with my goal.
"O spell of wind flow around my body to hide myself." I chanted my hiding spells before going outside. I tried my best to make no sound. When I arrived in the dining area, I was glad that I used my hiding spell, as Ana was there. I silently made my way past her, and out of the cave. Once out of the cave, I gathered some wood from a nearby tree. Once the wood was gathered, I rechanted my hiding spell, to make sure the wood was also hidden.
"O spell of wind flow around my body to hide myself."
I made sure that the hiding spell extended to the wood I had gathered. Once I was sure, I quietly went back into the cave. Ana was still there, in the dining room. I don't think she noticed me, but I don't know why she was out here. It didn't really matter to me though. I quickly left the dining room, and headed to Astra's room. I opened the doors quickly, and quietly, before heading inside. Once inside, I cancelled my hiding spell, and dropped the wood I had gathered on the ground.
"O spell of wind, form from my hands a sharp dagger that follows my movements to dismember my enemies."
I chanted my dismantling dagger, and then began to cut the wood I had gathered. First, I cleaned up the sides of the wood. Once I had made sure it was cleaned up of any jutting twigs and sticks, did I truly begin to carve. The carving process was actually pretty simple. All I needed to do, was hollow out the wood I had gathered. The hollowed out part would then be where I placed my arms. I could then split it down one side, and attach a strap to make it adjustable. I did exactly that, but it took quite a while before I was able to hollow out one piece of wood.
Once I was done with one piece, it was already time for dinner. I didn't want to go, since Ana would be there, but I knew I had to. So I decided to bite the bullet and go. It seemed like Astra hadn't finished creating dinner, so I had to sit at the table with Ana. It was awkward to say the least. We didn't speak to each other, and just waited in silence. Soon the food came, and we ate in silence. I was expecting some talking after we had finished eating, but there was no talking.
In the end, I went back to Astra's room. Once there, I once again continued my training in using mana of only one element though our mana links. Only after going through what I thought was enough training did I finally fall asleep.