"Give me the magic bag," I say once we get back to the base. "I'll cover up the snow again, before I put away the magic bag. You can go get the Astra."
"Yes," Ana says as she gives me the magic bag, and enters the cave. I also enter the cave after her, and chant my breeze spell.
"O spell of wind come forth as a breeze to blow away my opponents." With the spell chanted, the snow above the cave entrance, moved around, and covered the entrance. It may not look normal, but I don't really care about that. With that done, I went down to the storage area, and placed the magic bag on one of the shelves. I then went to the dining room table, where Astra and Ana were already seated.
"So, what is the problem?" Astra asked once we were all seated.
"Diego and his crew are no longer at their base," I say, before telling her what we had seen when we passed by. After catching her up to speed I asked, "what do you think?"
"I am not sure," she says. "We don't have enough information to make any guesses yet. We should continue talking and try to figure out something."
"Okay, but do you think this is a good thing or a bad thing?"
"It should be a good thing right?" Ana says. "We don't have to worry about Diego and his crew anymore. Right?"
"We just can't be sure."
"Okay, let's get back on track," I say. "At the moment the only information that we are certain of is that Diego and his crew have left their base at the moment. We don't know why they have done this, so I feel like we should first think of their motive."
"Isn't that an easy thing?" Ana asks. "Obviously they couldn't survive the winter, so they were forced to head back to the clan."
"We can't be sure of that though," Astra says. "They could have just retreated to make us lower our guard."
"Both good points, so we have to narrow them down," I say. "Ana how confident are you to say that they couldn't last the winter."
"Well, going by experience," she begins. "It was extremely hard for Astra and I to survive. We didn't have the experience to fight other demonic beasts, and had survived mostly on the food our mom had stored in the magic bag. Of course that was until we met you, but going by that, they would have had a hard time surviving as well. Especially when they were trying to search for someone else. They definitely had it easier than us, most likely due to their higher numbers. However, as they didn't have a proper shelter for the winter, I severely doubt that they could survive."
"Okay, I can understand that," I say. "Now it just comes down to a single question. Would they be willing to go back to the rainbow fox clan?"
"What do you mean by that?" Ana asked.
"Well, I kind of get the feeling that Diego is full of pride," I say. "His fighting style and speech is just loaded with arrogance. Going by that, it is hard for me to believe that he would just leave without accomplishing his objective, which if I remember correctly, was to kill both of you."
"True," Ana says.
"Well, if you can't think of anything, then let's get back to you." I say. "Astra, how confident are you that they are just waiting for us to lower our guard?"
"I am honestly not extremely confident in this," she says. "After all, they would be waiting in the cold snow, observing us to see when they would make a move. However, if we are able to check the surrounding areas we should be able to confirm or deny this. They should be close to us, to make sure that they can observe us. If we just patrol our surroundings for a little bit, and see if we can find anything, then we will know if they are still here or not."
"Okay, you are right with that," I say. "How large of an area do you think we should search?"
"We should search based on your detection spell," Astra immediately answers. "Go the max distance that you can, while still locating the base. Then walk around the base in a circle of that radius. I doubt that they would have a greater search area than your detection spell, so if you don't find them in that radius, then they are probably not searching for us."
"If we are doing that, then there are two problems I can think of," I say. "First off, I can't find the base using my detection spell. Second off, my detection spell doesn't differentiate enemies, so demonic beasts would also be included."
"Can't you modify your detection spell to only search for a specific person?" Astra asks. "If not, then we'll just have to search every demonic beast that your detection spell hits. Luckily, since it is winter, we should have an easier time with this. Also, for your other point, one of us can just stay behind. Then you can use our mana links to grasp their location."
"Okay, I guess that is what we will be doing for now," I say. "Ana you stay here and continue thinking on your idea. Astra, you and I will head out to see if we can find Diego and his crew with my detection spell. I will use my detection spell, and point in the direction of the demonic beasts that I see. You will use your hiding spell to sneak up and see if they are Diego or any member of his crew. If it is, report back using our mana links. If it isn't, come back and tug my hand."
"Okay." "I'm good with that."
With that, Astra and I head to the cave entrance. Since I had blocked it when we came back in, Astra used her fire spells to melt a way out for us. Since it was already loose, it was much easier than the first time. Also her fire spells were very useful in melting our way through the snow. Once we were outside, Astra disappeared from my view, yet I could still feel her at my feet.
"O spell of wind spread with me as the center to detect my enemies."
I honestly didn't really check the limits of this spell when I had used it earlier to hunt demonic beasts, so I did it now. With it being used to its limit, I could tell that the range was 1.5 times bigger than normal. I'm guessing that my mana quality was then improved by 1.5 times as well. My detection spell was now able to cover the entire area covered by the magic barrier, which is actually insane. That is because, this means that my spells are equivalent to magic circles. Usually, magic circles are much more powerful, since they can store mana much more mana than any person can. I'm sure that this is not the end of my growth, but we have bigger problems to face at the moment, so I throw this to the back of my mind.
I then begin to walk in a straight line. I now no longer needed to use our mana links to determine the distance. I just needed to go to the edge of the barrier, and walk around its perimeter. The problem with doing that, is that my detection spell would get a lot more hits, so it would take us longer to finish this task. However it is better to be safe than sorry. As such, I began to walk around the perimeter of the barrier. Almost every step I took, I would have to point in a direction so Astra could go see if they were actually demonic beasts. I also had to keep track of all the demonic beasts that we had already checked, which was honestly the biggest pain. It took quite a bit of time, even becoming night, but we had eventually finished, and couldn't find Diego or his crew. I am not sure what to think at this moment, but we should go back and see if Ana had thought of anything.
"We have found nothing," I say to Astra. "Let's head back and see if Ana has come up with anything."
"Sure," Astra says, tiredly. I don't blame her, since she has been sprinting back and forth to check every demonic beast that we had passed by. It was also late at night, and she hadn't eaten dinner yet, so it was no shock that she was tired.
"You want me to carry you home?" I ask a couple of seconds after we start walking.
"Sure," she says. I bent down to pick her up, and she laid tiredly within my arms. I then proceed to go home. When I made it to the cave entrance, I laid her on the floor. She shivered once she was on the cold floor, but I soothingly stroked her fur.
"O spell of wind come forth as a breeze to blow away my opponents."
While I was stroking her fur, I also chanted the breeze spell, to once again cover up the hole in the cave. Although it would probably do nothing, it at least gave me some peace of mind. Once the entrance was covered with snow, I picked up Astra and went down into the dining room. There I saw that Ana was also sleeping on the table. It seemed that she had also stubbornly waited for me. I shifted Astra in my arms, and picked up Ana as well, before bringing each one of them to their rooms, and placing them on their beds. Once that was done, I went back to the kitchen, where I made some sandwiches.
I placed them on a shelf in an obvious spot, so that when they came down tomorrow, they would see them and hopefully eat them. I also wanted to go to bed after I had finished that, but I saw the magic bag that I had left on the ground. I reluctantly picked it up, and began to sort through all the items within it. I first separated everything into two piles, demonic beasts, and others. I worked with the other pile first, and placed them on their correct shelves. Most of the other pile was nuts, but there were some herbs. I just placed them where I thought they belonged. By this time I was yawning with droopy eyes, but I decided to continue.
"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 began to cut off the heads of the demonic beasts that were placed in the demonic beast pile. After the heads were cut off, I placed the bodies and the heads next to the river so their blood would drain into the river. Once the last demonic beast was placed by the river, I knocked out, obviously too tired to continue. I woke up, cold with an aching back. Sleeping on the floor was really uncomfortable. I was still tired, most likely because I didn't get a good sleep. I was also really hungry because I wasn't able to eat dinner yesterday.
I quickly got up, and stretched to try to cure my aching back. After that was done, I went and grabbed the sandwiches I had made last night. I ate some of them, before moving them to the dining room table. I'm sure once Ana and Astra saw them, they would eat them up. I didn't want to wake them up, because I am sure they are still tired, so I just went back to the storage area. Once there, I went to check the demonic beasts that I had placed to let their blood drain. While the blood did seem to be fully drained, they weren't in the best of shape. I am sure that my tiredness made my cuts horrendous. I can only do my best dismantling them so that this little mistake doesn't waste a lot of the materials.
"O spell of wind, form from my hands a sharp dagger that follows my movements to dismember my enemies."
I quickly chanted my dismantling dagger, and went to work dismantling the demonic beasts. I started with the smaller, rabbit-type ones, since they would take the least amount of time. I made sure to carefully skin the fur, which was surprisingly soft to the touch. This would definitely make better bedding than what we had now, but the only problem with it is that it is too small. With all the rabbits we have hunted, we would probably only have enough to make one blanket. Well, we can always go hunting for more, if we do chose to replace our beddings.
I didn't feel like separating the bones from the meat, so I just cut along the joints, to separate the rabbit for easier storage. I continued to work with the rabbits, and was able to skin a large amount of them, almost ¾ of the ones we had. Canceling my dismantling dager, I decided to take a quick break here, and go store the materials, because I was running out of space. It didn't take long, since I just put them on an open shelf. I didn't feel like continuing, so I decided to go and see if Ana and Astra were awake yet.
Going up to the dining room table, I could see that the sandwiches hadn't been eaten yet. This means that they were probably still asleep. I quickly went to their rooms, and peeked in to see if they still were. Unsurprisingly enough, they were still asleep, sleeping soundly in their fox forms. I quietly left the room, so as to not disturb them in their sleep. I went back to the storage area, and chanted my dismantling dagger, so I could continue to dismantle the rabbits.
"O spell of wind, form from my hands a sharp dagger that follows my movements to dismember my enemies."
There weren't a lot of them left, so I was able to quickly finish them. Once they were done, I canceled my dismantling dagger and went to store them with the others. I really didn't want to work on the other demonic beasts, because they were much bigger, and would take a longer amount of time. As such, I decided to just do my exercise routine, until I felt tired. I was surprised that I was able to complete 20 sets of 5 different exercises before I felt tired. That meant I was able to complete 2,000 individual workouts. If I were to put on my weights, that number would definitely drop, but it was still impressive, showing the qualitative increase in my strength.
Completing all those exercises took a lot of time, so I decided to go and check on Astra and Ana. I went upstairs and saw that the sandwiches still hadn't been eaten yet. I didn't have anything else to do, so I went to their rooms to see if they were okay. When I opened the door, I could still see Astra sleeping on her bed. I went over to check on Ana and she was also sleeping. I didn't think they would be that tired, but it seems that they were. I again didn't have anything to do, so I just waited for them to wake up. I also began to think of the things on my to do list, so I wouldn't just be waiting there.
However, while I was thinking of this, both of them began to stir. Realizing they were about to wake up, I left their rooms and headed to the dining room. They should have time for themselves to prepare. Besides, I wouldn't like it if someone were to see me waking up, so I doubt they would. Since I had nothing to do, I began to warm up their sandwiches. While sandwiches are fine cold, I feel that they are better warm. Once I finished warming up the sandwiches, Ana and Astra came into the dining room.
"Morning," I say to them cheerfully.
"Good morning," the both of them said while they tried to stifle a yawn.
"I made sandwiches for breakfast today, since I didn't have time to make dinner yesterday," I say. "However, it seems to be way past breakfast time."
"I was tired from all the running around yesterday," Astra said.
"Same here," Ana added.
"Yeah, I understand," I say to the both of them who still seem really tired. "Anyways, let's just eat ofr now. We can talk everything through after we are well rested."
"Yes." "Yeah."
With that, the both of them sit down, while I pass out the sandwiches. We finished quickly, and the both of them seemed much more energized afterwards.
"Okay, let's talk some more then," I say. "First off, we can safely assume that Diego and his crew are nowhere near us.. We checked almost every demonic beast within range, and found no trace of them. This coupled with the inattendance of their last base can only mean one thing, they left us. So now we move on to the next question. Is this a good thing for us?"
"Wait, before we go on, can I add onto my idea from yesterday?" Ana asks.
"The one where you believed they went back to the rainbow fox clan?" I ask just to clarify. She nods her head in response to my question so I continue. "Sure you can."
"Okay, so Sylvi, I agree with what you said. Diego is extremely arrogant and wouldn't just head back until he finished his task. So we can think of it in another way then, his task has already been accomplished."
"Yes that does make sense, but then we are still stuck at the same problem. We do not know what it is he wanted to do. After all, the only thing we know for sure is that he wanted to kill the both of you."
"Wait Sylvain," Astra suddenly jumps into the conversation. "I don't think killing us was the real goal. Remember, the real goal was the succession ceremony."
"Right," Ana suddenly exclaims. "They needed to lure the king away from the rainbow fox clan, so they could kill off the other competitors in the succession ceremony. Both the king and queen had just recently left. This means that they completed their job."
"So that also means that they won't be bothering us." Ana and Astra both claim excitedly.
"I don't think that is the case," I say. "The only reason the both of you are still alive is due to the current king having leniency on you. The crowning of Diego as king could lead to a hunt for our heads. Also, foxes like you are both killed outright at birth correct? So there must have been much dissatisfaction among the other foxes, but was suppressed by the king. If he changes, we will have to face all of that dissatisfaction ourselves."
"I'm sure things won't get that bad," Ana says.
"But this can be the case," I say. "We should prepare for if this every does become a reality, and the only thing I can really think of is moving out of the Forest of Calamity."
"I don't want that," Ana says. "Despite all that has happened, this place is our home."
"I don't want it to happen either," I say. "We just have to prepare in case my thoughts ever do become a reality. So how can we prepare?"
"We should take all of the items we wish to keep nearby at all times," Astra says. "That way, we will always be prepared to run. We should also develop a warning system through our mana links, so that the others can be told if we are running."
"Sure, but let's keep thinking of other things."
And that's how the rest of the day went for us. We sat there, and discussed our escape plan, in case we ever needed to use it. Ana left at lunch and dinner time to go and make us some food, but in general, we just continued talking. We did this so we could find flaws in each other's plans, and see if there were any ways to fix them.
"I think this is the best plan we can come up with at the moment," I say after we had finished talking, and nighttime was already coming upon us. "Of course, there is no such thing as a perfect plan, so we'll just have to adapt when the time comes. Let us hope that we never have to do this."
"Yeah, let us hope that," the both of them agreed.
"Good night to the both of you," I say as I head off to my room.
"Good night," I heard echoing back.