I woke up the next morning, and immediately went into my exercises. I haven't had the time to make new weights, so I just did them without the weights. I would have liked to do more, so I could continue growing stronger, yet today was my day to cook. As such, I had to settle with performing the same amount as yesterday. It didn't take long before I finished my training, so I went to the kitchen.
When I arrived at the kitchen, I saw Astra and Ana were already there. They must have woken up earlier than me. I can't see what they are doing in the kitchen, and it doesn't really matter. I just pass right by them, and head to the dismantling/storage area. Once there, I take out the ingredients needed for a simple breakfast, mainly meat and vegetables. I took less than what I would normally, since we are trying to save resources.
With the ingredients gathered, I head back to the kitchen. Once I am in the kitchen, I lay out the ingredients I gathered so I can prepare them. Before I could prepare them, Astra and Ana came over and looked over the ingredients I gathered. After they looked over them, they nodded in satisfaction before heading over to the dining table. I have an idea why they performed these actions. However, I'll still ask them, just to make sure.
Putting that thought in the back of my mind, I begin to prepare the ingredients. It wasn't all that difficult. I just washed and peeled the vegetables, before boiling them. The meat had already been dismantled, but I cut it into strips. This way it would be easier and faster to cook. I also made sure to put salt and seasoning on the meat. Ana has made a variety of seasonings for us to use from the plants she has gathered. Some of them were based on what I had remembered from the village, but most of them were her own personal creation, since the herbs and spices were different.
The meat was done cooking at the same time the vegetables finished boiling. I split the meat and vegetables into equal thirds, before placing them on separate plates. I brought the plates over to the table, and placed them before Astra and Ana. With that, breakfast was served, and we all began to dig in. I felt like I might have botched up the seasoning, since I wasn't used to them yet, but other than that everything seemed fine. Astra and Ana didn't comment on anything, so while I may have botched the seasoning, it didn't ruin the whole dish.
We had finished eating, so I grabbed all the plates and went to the underground river. There I washed the plates, and left them on the side to dry. Once that was done, I went back to the dining table, where Astra and Ana were still there. I didn't think they would stay, since we usually only stay back to talk about important things. However, there shouldn't be anything too important to discuss.
As such, I assumed the worst, and asked, "what's the problem?"
"There is no problem," Astra says.
"Then what do we need to discuss," I say, cutting off what Astra was going to say next.
"I just wanted to know what we were gonna do about the other part of the cave," Astra said.
"We are gonna have to explore it at a later date," I say. "We don't really have the leeway to explore it now."
"I think that we might be able to explore it now, which is why I wanted my sister to bring it up," Ana timidly says, her voice going lower the longer she talks.
"What makes you think we have the leeway?" I ask, thinking that I might have overlooked something.
"Well, we already know that time flows differently in there," Ana says, regaining her confidence. "So we should be fine exploring for at least 2 weeks."
"Of course the 2 weeks is referring to inside the cave," Astra supplements.
"We are gonna have to test if the mana links work," I say. "That way we can call each other if Diego and his crew attack while someone is in the other cave. Other than that, we'll have to go hunting, since I assume we will be following the original plan of following the wall to see the shape."
"Yes, we'll have to do that, but the problem is who will go," Astra says.
"I feel like I should go hunting," I say. "My detection spell will make it extremely easy to locate and kill demonic beasts. However, I'd rather keep the hiding spells secret, so for now, let's not use them. After all, Diego and his crew should still be preparing a base, and shouldn't have the leeway to attack us. Someone should still stay at the base though, just in case."
"Then I should stay," Astra says.
"Are the both of you okay with that?" I ask since Astra seems to be a little disappointed.
"Yes, because this is the best option," she says.
"I'd love to go hunting with sylvi," Ana says energetically.
"Well, I guess this has been decided then," I say. " I kind of feel a little bad, so I'll let you order me around once."
"I hope this isn't the command I won from the spell competition," Astra says.
"Of course it isn't," I reply. "However, speaking of those, when will both of you use them? Hasn't it been a bit of time since the competition?"
"I don't know what I want to use mine for, but I got 2 now."
"I'm waiting until you use yours," Ana says. "That way I can decide what I should do."
"So basically, don't do anything too drastic," I reply. "Got it. I'll use mine once we get past the ordeal we are in."
"Fair enough." "Okay."
That was the end of our conversation. Astra seemed to be happy at getting another chance to command me. I hope that she won't do anything particularly horrible with that, but it is impossible to know. I am starting to regret this, but it's already too late. I'll just focus my mind on hunting to forget about all of this.
"O spell of wind spread with me as the center to detect my enemies."
I chant my detection spell, and am able to see 4 hits. They are definitely Diego and his crew, as they are in the same place as yesterday. I lead Ana in the opposite direction of them. After all, we aren't using our hiding spell, so they should be able to see us. If they do see us, they will most likely initiate a fight.
We soon make it out of the influence of the warding barrier formation, and my detection spell gets a hit. We don't have to worry about it, since we know it has to be a demonic beast, so I told Ana about it, prompting her to rush towards it. The demonic beast realizes she is charging towards it, and promptly dodges. I give it a glance, and realize it is a demonic beast we haven't seen before. It might have just recently come into the Forest of Calamity. I can't really describe its appearance, so I'm not gonna try.
"O spell of wind, form from my hands a mighty blade that follows my movements to destroy my enemies."
While Ana had engaged the demonic beast, I chanted my spell sword. The demonic beast looked at me once I finished chanting. It must be sensitive to changes in mana, otherwise, it wouldn't look at me. It was probably expecting a ranged attack from me, but I rushed in. It was able to dodge my attack, but that was only a feint to lure it towards Ana's attack. It wasn't able to dodge, and was blown away. However, it was able to survive.
"I'll engage it," I say to Ana. "Support me with magic. It seems to be sensitive to changes in mana, so try to hide your mana fluctuations when you cast a spell."
My short talk with Ana gave the demonic beast a chance to recover. It kept looking around, as if to find a way to flee. Because of this, I expected it to flee once I attacked, yet it didn't do that. This shows that it has enough intelligence to overcome its base instincts. This might have been a tough battle alone, but since Ana was here it wouldn't be.
I attacked with my spell sword, and it would dodge or parry my attacks. Whenever it parried, my sword was able to form some wounds on it. However, it only parried attacks that it couldn't dodge, so there aren't many wounds on it. I attacked, and it parried it once again. I was able to force its claws into the ground, before I jumped over it. After I jumped over it, a water spell came at it from my back. It didn't sense the mana fluctuations, and the spell came from my back, so there was no way it could dodge this unexpected attack. It's claws had also been knocked to the ground, so it wouldn't be able to parry it. The water spell pierced through its stomach leaving a hole, yet it didn't die.
Once I landed on the ground, I did a backwards slash. It must have been frozen in place from the pain, because it didn't do anything, which allowed my blade to cleave through its head, killing it. I passed the remains of the body to Ana, who then stored it inside the magic bag.
"Let me do the sneak attacks from now on," I say to Ana. "Without the hiding spell, you will be noticed quickly. If you get noticed, then it will be harder to kill it."
"And you can land a sneak attack successfully without the hiding spell?" Ana asks, sceptically.
"Not always," I admit, "but I should be able to do it most of the time."
"Okay, sure," Ana says, clearly not believing me. I don't care about that. She'll know the truth when I perform it before her eyes.
"O spell of wind spread with me as the center to detect my enemies."
I rechanted my detection spell. I had stopped channeling it when I chanted my spell word, in a bid to save mana. I wasn't able to get any hits. That demonic beast was the only one in the area. With its strength, and intelligence, I could see why. Either way, we continued walking to find more demonic beasts. Soon, I got three hits from the detection spell. They were grouped together. We walked towards them, and soon came upon a clearing. In the clearing, I could see elk type demonic beasts grazing on the grass.
They were at the edge of the clearing, close to the tree. That would be a good place for them normally, since they could run and lose their enemies in the trees. However, I could use the trees as cover to sneak up to them without them noticing.
"Stay here and watch," I say as I stop channeling my detection spell. "I'll definitely be able to land a successful sneak attack."
"Sure," she replies. "I'll be here to kill them with magic when you fail."
"O spell of wind, form from my hands a mighty blade that follows my movements to destroy my enemies." I pretend to not hear her comment while I chant my spell sword.
Once it is chanted, I circle the clearing while under the cover of the trees. I remember having to do this a lot in the past. Back then, my mana couldn't handle an extended usage of my hiding spell. Especially when I needed it to sneak up on unsuspecting prey. As such, I had to rely on my skills and intuition to sneak attack them. Recently, I haven't needed to do that, since my mana regeneration is able to cover the usage of a continuous spell. That doesn't mean that I have forgotten how to sneak on an unsuspecting prey.
Soon I arrived at the trees that they were close to. I had to stop occasionally and stand still, as my intuition told me that they were getting agitated. Even then, I was able to get close faster than the last fight. I picked up a rock from the ground, and threw it into the clearing. It made a noise, causing the elks to lift their heads up, and look for the source of the noise. Once their gazes converged on the place the rock landed, I attacked with my spell sword. It was able to cleave through 2 of the demonic beasts. However, the third one was able to notice something was amiss, and fled in the opposite direction. That was a mistake though, since Ana was there with her spell ready. She fired it off, and hit the elk who was too focused on escaping to notice
"Told you I could do it," I said smugly. "It's a shame I only killed 2 though."
"I am still plenty surprised with that result," Ana honestly admits.
"Okay, that's enough talking," I say as I stop channeling my spell sword. "Let's get back to hunting. O spell of wind spread with me as the center to detect my enemies."
"Yes," Ana enthusiastically agrees while I'm chanting my detection spell. She also placed the bodies of the demonic beasts into the magic bag. I finished chanting the detection spell at the same time she finished storing the bodies. The detection spell actually had a hit once it was chanted, which meant a demonic beast came while we were fighting. I looked in its direction, but my view was obstructed by the trees.
"There are demonic beats over there," I tell Ana. "I can't see it, so I won't be able to sneak up to it, so I'll leave it to you."
"Okay," Ana replies before heading to kill the demonic beasts.
That was how we spent the day. Whenever we were able to see the demonic beasts, I would kill them with a sneak attack. Of course, some of them were able to notice me and escape, but Ana was there to kill them. When we couldn't see the demonic beasts, Ana would attack, while I would provide support. With this, we were able to fill up the magic bag before lunch, so we decided to head back to the cave. I kept the detection spell up, and led us on a route where we wouldn't run into any enemies.
As such, we were able to get to the cave without any confrontation. Of course, while we had the chance, I went to look over the progress of Diego and his crew. I had really set them back with the fire tornado, as they only had the clearing. I didn't even see a place to store food, which they would need for winter. I would have felt bad if I messed up their progress again, so I didn't. Ana however used her water spells to wet their clearing floor. While this would make it easier to dig, it would make it hard for them to build anything. Of course, that is only while the water is there, but it should still impede their work for at least an hour.
"Let's go back," I said to Ana while feeling a bit of sympathy for Diego and his crew.
"Yes," Ana says cheerfully, obviously thinking she did a good job. I don't even bother correcting her, and just head to the cave. It was lunch time, so I was expecting Astra to be at the dining room table, eating her lunch. However, contrary to my expectations, she wasn't there.
"Why don't you make us some lunch," I say to Ana. "I'll go look for Astra."
"It's your turn to make food," Ana replies. "So you make the food. I can go look for Astra by myself. She'll most likely be in her room or the dismantling/storage room."
"I'll check the dismantling/storage area then, since I'm heading down there anyway, to get the ingredients," I replied to Ana. It sucks that she won't be cooking, but I tried to get her too. While thinking this, I head down to the dismantling/storage area, and take a quick glance around. Unfortunately, Astra isn't here. I honestly wasn't expecting her to be here either, since she would have nothing to do. Sure she could expand the tunnel, but she wouldn't do that. After all, she wouldn't be able to sense if Diego and his crew were nearby, and might expose the tunnel. This means that she is most likely in her room, trying to find some way to pass the time.
Well, either way, it doesn't matter to me at the moment. Instead, I should be focusing on what I am making for lunch. I kind of felt tired after the hunting trip, so I didn't want to make anything fancy. However, I still wanted to put in some effort. As such, the only thing that came to mind was soup. It is an easy food to make that will taste good. As such, I readily grabbed all the ingredients I would need for my soup, and brought them to the kitchen.
"O spell of water flow from my hands as a jet to fill my container."
I haven't been able to use this spell since its inception. The water jet spell did get a lot more use, since it was a quick and powerful spell. However, this spell didn't really get much use, since we had the underground river to supply us with our water. Maybe Ana has used it, but I can't be too sure of that. However, this was helpful, since I didn't have to carry a heavy pot of water to create the soup.
After I finished filling the pot with water, I moved some of the water to another pot. This way, I could wash the vegetables before throwing them into the soup. Once the vegetables were washed, I cut them up, and then threw them into the soup. I also put in some seasoning and mixed it all together. While I was mixing, I poured mana through the heating magic circle. After a bit of waiting, the water in the pot was boiling, meaning my soup was done. I let it cool down, while I searched for Astra and Ana, as I haven't seen them. I assumed they were in their own rooms, so that is where I went. They couldn't have been anywhere else, as I would have sensed them if they walked through the kitchen.
"Lunch is ready," I called out to them once I found them where expected them to be, Astra's room.
"Okay." "We'll come out in a bit."
It seemed like they were discussing something important. I didn't want to interfere, so I let them be. I went back to the kitchen, and moved the pot of soup to the center of the table. I also set the table with bowls and spoons. I didn't know how long they would take, so I didn't serve anyone, as the soup would cool down quickly if it was moved. After a little bit, they came out of the room, and sat at the table. I quickly served them the soup I had made, before digging into it myself. The hunt had made me hungry, so I ate my food quicker than normal. I waited for them to finish, before I also took their bowls, and went down to the underground river. I washed the dishes their, along with the soup pot, because I apparently made the perfect amount.
I finished washing the dishes, and left them out to dry. Then I made my way back to the dining room table. I wanted to talk with Astra and Ana about what I had stumbled in on. However, by the time I made it back, they were gone. I decided to not think much about it, since if it was something serious, they would discuss it with me. This could probably be something that is embarrassing to talk about, which is why they wouldn't want me there. Thinking this, I went down to the tunnel to continue expanding it.
"O spell of wind spread with me as the center to detect my enemies."
I chanted my detection spell to make sure that Diego and his crew wouldn't uncover this secret exit. I really wanted to make the secret exit. However, we don't know where they will patrol, and it would be horrible if the exit was created along their patrol route. From the detection spell, I could tell that Diego and his crew were still in the place they chose to be their base.
"O spell of wind, form from my hands a mighty blade that follows my movements to destroy my enemies."
Because they were still working on their base, I began to dig out the tunnel using my spell sword. The tunnel was going in the opposite direction of their base, so they wouldn't be able to notice it's creation. The spell sword was brought out once I knew that I could dig for a long period of time. With the detection spell and spell sword active, my mana began to drain from me. Of course, I tried to use as little mana as possible for both spells, but my natural regeneration just couldn't handle it. Well, I could just take a break when I ran out of mana, so it wasn't the end of the world.
I just continued to dig the tunnel longer. There are times when the debris clogged up the tunnel. At those times, I had to stop digging and move the debris. The good thing about this was that I could regenerate my mana from it. However, it was still a pain to do, and it just wasted a lot of time. After a while, my mana was fully depleted. I went outside to check the time, and realized that it was dinner time.
I quickly washed myself in the underground river. I was full of dust and dirt from mining, and that wouldn't be good in the ingredients. Since it was already dinner time, I decided to make some quick, which was just grilled meat, with a side of salad. These items were delicious, and didn't require much preparation. With the menu decided I grabbed the ingredients, and went to the kitchen.
"O spell of water flow from my hands as a jet to fill my container."
While I was chanting the spell to rinse off the vegetables for the salad, I was also channeling my mana through the heating magic circle. I'm glad I could multitask because otherwise, this would have been way harder to do. Once the heat had accumulated, I threw the meat onto a pan, and started cooking. Even though I could do multiple things at once, I only had one pair of hands, so I could only cook the meat.
Once the meat was done, I focused on the vegetables. This wasn't that hard, as all I had to do was chop them up, and place them in a bowl. Then I mixed the vegetables in the bowl. Once that was done, I separated it into three portions, and placed them onto different plates. I then placed the plates on the dining room table.
"Dinner is ready," I yell aloud to Astra and Ana. After my yell, they quickly came to the table. It seems like they had gotten over whatever it is they were going through. Once they were at the table, they began to eat the food, at a very fast pace. They finished before me, and just left afterwards. I was a little surprised that they finished first, but continued eating. Once I finished eating, I washed the dishes before going to bed. Of course, I did my multitasking training and mana link training before actually sleeping.