Chereads / The struggles of a half elf / Chapter 58 - Chapter 58 Spell Wall

Chapter 58 - Chapter 58 Spell Wall

It was the next day, and I woke up early. I first checked to see if I still had my restrictive spell running. Fortunately, it seems like I can still keep a spell channeled, even in my sleep. Once I confirmed this, I then continued to put on my 4 stone weights, one for each limb. With both my weights and the restrictive spell in play, it took a lot of effort to move. However, I am sure that I can walk and pretend to be normal in front of both Astra and Ana. Putting that thought aside for the moment, I began to do my exercises, to see if the spell was viable to use. This time it was significantly harder for me to exercise, and I was only able to do 3 sets of 5 different exercises. This meant I only had to do 300 individual exercises. While it still is a lot to do, I had significantly reduced the amount that needed, without sacrificing anything.

Once I had confirmed my restrictive spell effects, I left my room and headed towards the storage area. Today was my day to make food, which is another reason why I woke up early. I wanted to make sure I had enough time to finish my exercises, and cook food. Once I was downstairs, I was able to see the recently dismantled items. I could also see the remaining blood that hadn't been fully cleaned off the floor. I definitely want to do something about that, but I'll save it for later. More specifically, I'll save it for when we carve my spells into the walls. I didn't want to think too hard on what I was going to create, so I just got three dismantled rabbits, some leafy, green vegetables, and some fruits. With the ingredients gathered, I went up to the kitchen and began preparing them.

"O spell of water flow from my hands as a jet to fill my container."

I chanted my water jet spell to fill up two separate pots. I salted the water in both of the pots, before throwing the ingredients into each one. The rabbits went into the larger pot, while the leafy, green vegetables went into the smaller one. For the fruits, I let the water wash over them and left them on the tabletop to dry. I then placed the larger pot atop the heating magic circle, and began to channel mana through it. While that was happening, I washed the vegetables in the smaller pot. Once they were thoroughly washed, I strained the water from the smaller bowl. After I finished straining the water, I took the fruits from the counter.

"O spell of wind, form from my hands a sharp dagger that follows my movements to dismember my enemies."

I chanted my dismantling dagger before I went to cut up the fruits. First, I skinned them if the skins were inedible, or unpalatable. After that, I took out any seeds, if they were big enough to warrant that. If they were small, I just left them in to add a different texture to the fruit salad I planned on making. Finally, I cut up the seedless and skinned fruits, before placing them into the smaller bowl with the leafy, green vegetables. I am surprised at how well I was able to do all of this with one hand, but I did it. Once everything was in the smaller bowl, I mixed it all thoroughly and placed it on the counter. I then focused my attention on the boiling rabbits, of course remembering to stop channeling my dismantling dagger. I waited a while, before the water started to boil. Even after the water started to boil, I waited some more time to make sure everything was thoroughly cooked.

Once I was sure everything was cooked, I stopped channeling mana into the heating magic circle. I strained the boiling water from the pot, leaving over the rabbit meat. Since I had cooked it by boiling it, it still retained its original color, and while it was edible, it did not look that appetizing. To fix this, I once again channeled mana through the heating magic circle, and cooked the rabbit meat on a pan over it. This way, the meat could change color from the heat of the pan, and look more appetizing. It didn't take long for this to happen, mostly because it had already been cooked in water.

"O spell of wind, form from my hands a sharp dagger that follows my movements to dismember my enemies."

Once this was done, I chanted my dismantling dagger once again, and cut the rabbit meat into bite sized chunks. While I was doing this, I also separated the meat from the bones, something I hadn't done when dismantling because I was too lazy. It didn't take long for all of the rabbit meat to be cut into bite sized chunks. I also made sure that the meat was separated when I cut it, so I wouldn't have to guess the portion amounts for everyone. I then brought out some plates and began to finish the meal. The fruit salad went on the edges of the plate, forming an empty space in the middle. That space was filled up with rabbit meat, and any excess rabbit meat was spilled on top of the salad.

The end product looked really appetizing if I did say so myself. Not wanting to mess up the meal, I carried them over one at a time, and placed them on the dining room table. It occured to me that I should have finished making them here, so I wouldn't have to move it over, which is definitely something I would do next time. Once that was all done, I sat down at my spot, and waited for Astra and Ana. It didn't take too long for them to come, since I was able to finish making the food in time for breakfast.

"It looks really good," Ana commented once she saw the food. I am sure she is complimenting the arrangement of the ingredients, rather than their individual looks, but I will still take the compliment.

"Thanks. We better eat it while it is hot."

"Okay Sylvi."

After Ana spoke, we all began to eat our food. Like always, we ate our food in a comfortable silence, enjoying the meal to its fullest. I honestly don't know why, but the meat tasted way more flavorful than usual. I think this might just be my imagination though, since the vegetables and fruits taste the same as before. It didn't take long for all of us to finish our respective plates, and I began to gather them up so I could go wash them.

"What did you do to the meat?" Ana asked before I could leave the table.

"I didn't do anything special though," I said in response.

"But it was more flavorful than anything else we have had," Astra said before Ana could reply.

"I honestly don't know what to tell you guys," I said. "I didn't do anything different to the meat. Maybe it tastes different because it is rabbit meat."

"Maybe," Ana agrees, "but can you tell us what you did to it first?"

"Sure," I reply. "I first boiled it in water. I of course salted the water first. I let the water boil for some time before I drained the water. Then, I cooked the rabbit meat over a pan to change its color. Finally, I cut the meat into bite-sized pieces."

"I guess it has to be something with the rabbit meat then," Astra says, "since we have done that same thing to other demonic beast meat."

"Unless you did something to the vegetables, or the fruit," Ana says expectantly.

"I honestly did nothing to them either," I reply. "I washed the vegetables in salted water, before draining the water away. As for the fruit, I only washed them in regular water, before cutting them up with a dismantling dagger. I didn't add anything to them, nor did I use any fancy techniques."

"I guess it really is just a characteristic of rabbit meat then," Ana reluctantly accepts.

"Well, if that is it, then I'll just go wash the dishes," I say, seeing Ana accept my explanations.

"Yeah." "See ya." They both say as they get up from their seats and head to their rooms. I had already gathered their dishes, so I just went to the kitchen once again. I grabbed the bowls I used to house the water, and prepared to wash them all.

"O spell of water flow from my hands as a jet to fill my container."

After I finished rinsing everything off with water, I grabbed a rag by the side of the kitchen. I then began to scrub clean every part of the dishes and bowls. It took quite some time to make sure it was all washed properly. Once I had made sure everything was washed properly, I gave it another final rinse, before placing them on the counter to dry. With that all done, I went back to my room. Once there, I began to occupy one part of my brain to keep track of time, so I could go prepare lunch when it was time.

There honestly wasn't much for me to do in the meantime. I had already done my exercises for the day, so I didn't have that to do anymore. I could always work on my to do list, but I knew for a fact that I wasn't going to get anything on it done. As such, I tried to think of anything else I could do, otherwise I would be extremely bored. It then occurred to me that I could do two things. I could go brush Astra and Ana, since we haven't been doing that recently. I had also promised them that I would change the bristles, but so much stuff has gotten in the way of that. The other thing I could do was carve the spells I currently had onto the walls of the storage room.

I decided that I would do one of these things. As such, I went to see if Astra and Ana were free to be brushed. However, when I went into their rooms, they were still doing that practice. I honestly have no idea what they are trying to achieve by doing this, but it seems like something has been achieved. There are much more demonic beasts than I remember, and they are also much clearer in detail. Before I could see each fur, which was already very impressive, but now everything was much smaller. Because of that, it was more impressive how I could still see each and every detail of the demonic beasts.

After seeing this scene, I quietly left the room, so as to not be a disturbance to them. I didn't need to brush them right this instant, and could instead brush them after lunch. Besides, carving all my spells onto the wall of the storage area is much more useful to me at the moment. As such, I went down into the storage area. Seeing the blood stained floor again, I decided to first clean that up before carving out the walls.

"O spell of water come forth as a jet to pierce my opponents."

Chanting my offensive water jet spell, I aimed it at the spots most stained with blood. I didn't really need to do much, as the fast moving water quickly removed the blood stained on the ground, carrying it to the underground river. With that done, I quickly moved on to my next step, deciding where to carve all of my spells. After all, while I would walk down here on a daily basis, I won't see every part of the wall. As such, certain spells would need to have priority. I first decided to group up all of my spells, that way, I could find them based on a specific category. It would definitely be easier than randomly walking through the entire storage area to find a specific spell.

With that decided, I split my spells into two main categories, which I kind of already had. They were the practical spells, and the combat spells. I decided to put the practical spells at the back. This is because they would be used more than combat spells, and as such, would have a higher chance of being remembered. Once I decided the main categories, I began to subdivide those categories further. For the combat spells, I subdivided them into attack, defense, healing, and support. This would just make it easier to find my spells. As for the practical spells, I didn't really have any good ideas on how to subdivide them. As such, I just decided to divide them based on their elements, because I assumed that they would have much more elemental variety. As such, the categories there were wind, fire, and water.

"O spell of wind, form from my hands a mighty blade that follows my movements to destroy my enemies."

With that decided I chanted my spell sword and began to separate sections of the wall. I cut horizontal lines on the front and back walls. At the absolute top of the walls, I made sure to carve combat and practical. I then also boxed it, so others wouldn't think it was a spell. I honestly don't know why I am going through all this work, since I am the only one who would read it. With that done, the back wall had 2 horizontal lines, while the front one had 4. I decided to make it into a horizontal section to accommodate the expansion of the storage area.

Once the lines were finished, I began to recall the spells I had created, or the spells I had known and placed them in appropriate positions. The problem with doing this, was I had to write down every part of the spell. It was a lot for me to write down, and the worst thing is that I don't know how much I need to write down. I can only sit down here and try to remember all the spells I have. Then hope that I didn't leave any out. I was actually able to write out 5 spells before I decided to stop and make lunch.

I didn't feel like making anything extravagant for lunch, because I was extremely tired. I had to keep 2 spells active, and they were both continuous spells. I am not sure, but I think I was able to use 2 continuous spells to balance out my mana recovery, but now I could use both of them without feeling a burden on my mana. I guess I never really tested out my recovery abilities after I got better, but they seemed to have gotten better. However, despite that, carving for such a long time was tiring, even if I didn't lose any mana. I still had to use my own strength to carve the wall. While my spell sword did do a lot of the work, I still had to put in my fair share, and I was being weakened by my restrictive spell and weights. If I didn't feel tired after all that, I just don't know.

As such, I just made some simple sandwiches for lunch, so I wouldn't overexert myself. When I go back to carving the walls, I'll either stop using my restrictive spell, or take off my weights. Doing one of those would make my work a whole lot easier. Because I was making simple sandwiches, it didn't take long for me to finish making lunch. The only real struggle was cooking the bread, but even that wasn't too serious of an issue.

"Astra, Ana, lunch is ready," I yelled after I had put everything onto a plate and moved them to the dining room table. I waited for some time, but I didn't hear an answer from them, and they didn't come out either. I just thought that they were still practicing in their room. As such, I just waited for them to get hungry on their own and subsequently, come to the dining room table. It actually took a little bit of waiting for them to come to the table. I think they were so engrossed in their work that they didn't even realize they were hungry. Something I have done many times.

"Why didn't you call us out if lunch was already made?" Ana poutingly asked.

"I did, but you guys didn't respond," reply. "I thought you were working on something important, so I didn't want to interrupt you."

"It honestly isn't all that important," Ana says, not at all hearing my sarcastic tone.

"I guess you were working on something extremely important then," Astra replied, picking up on my sarcasm.

"No not at all," I said, deciding to end my messed up joke. I then said "Anyways, let's eat," as an attempt to change the topic.

"Sure," Astra says, showing that she too was also messing around.

"Okay?" Ana says confusedly, picking up on, but not understanding the hidden conversation between Astra and I. However, she didn't question it and began to eat as I had suggested. Because she started eating, both Astra and I began to eat. Since they were simple sandwiches, it didn't take long for them to be finished.

"So anything you guys want to talk about?" I asked once we had finished eating.

"I don't really have anything important to discuss," Ana responds to me.

"I would like to ask where we are going in case we need to leave the Forest of Calamity," Astra says calmly.

"I haven't really thought of a place to go," I honestly admit. "I always thought of it as a last resort, and that we can figure it out when we need to. If anything, I was thinking of going to another demonic forest, if both of you are okay with that."

"Well, I don't really know anything about the outside," Ana says. "I would really like to wander around a couple of villages. Of course, we don't have to do that."

"Thanks for that," I say.

"Well I guess any other demonic forest will be as good as any place to settle down," Astra says.

"I'm guessing that is all you guys wanted to talk about?" I ask after realizing Astra has gotten her answer.

"Kind of." "Yeah."

"Okay," I say. "I guess we can all go back to doing our own things."

They didn't respond to that as they had already left and went to their rooms. Seeing that they had left, I also left for the storage room. There, I first took off my 4 weights, so I wouldn't get as tired as before. I also realized that I forgot to keep track of time, so I started doing it now. With that, I would know when it was time to go make lunch.

"O spell of wind, form from my hands a mighty blade that follows my movements to destroy my enemies."

Then, I chanted my spell sword and once again began to carve out my spells into the wall. I continued to remember the spells that I had created, and then categorized them by the criteria I had determined earlier. After that, I would carve them into their appropriate position, which took the most time. I had to go slow, to make sure that my writing was actually legible. I am also now realizing that all of this might turn out to be a waste of effort. After all, we might have to leave this place in the future, which will then make all of this work useless. Well, since I had already started on it, I decided to finish it all the way through.

It took quite some time, but I was eventually able to finish carving all of my spells onto the wall. Well, I think I was able to do so. I don't really know for sure, since I might have forgotten some of them. Well, if I ever remember it later, I can, hopefully, put it onto the wall as well. In total, I had 21 spells. I had 16 combat spells and 5 practical spells. I had 1 healing spell, 10 attack spells, 1 barrier spell, and 4 support spells. As for the practical spells, I had 2 wind spells, 2 fire spells, and 1 water spell. I hope that I got every spell down, and didn't mess up. I also wanted to count Astra and Ana's spells, but I didn't know how to do that.

Once I had finished carving all the spells, and double checking to make sure everything was fine, I stopped channeling mana to my spell sword. I also put on my weights again. Carving out the walls caused a lot of dust to gather around the ground.

"O spell of wind come forth as a breeze to blow away my opponents."

To quickly clean up my mess, I used my breeze spell to gather all of the dust, before throwing it into the underground river. With that, cleaning up was extremely easy. Checking the time internally, I realized that I had much more of it than I thought. I guess carving the spells was strenuous, but it wasn't that time consuming. Although I thought for sure that it was time for me to prepare dinner. Since I had already finished carving, I decided to work on the things in my to do list. It would be something that could occupy the rest of my time. I was not expecting to make any progress though. Like I thought, I didn't make any progress even though I was working so hard on it. However, it was a great time spent, leading me right to dinner.

Since I was already in the storage, I just got the ingredients I would use from there and moved to the kitchen. I had decided to make a soup, to save on ingredients. It also wouldn't take much effort. I'm sure that one rabbit would provide enough meat for all of us. I also grabbed some vegetables, and flour to thicken the broth. I didn't grab a lot though, a sI didn't want to make extra that couldn't be finished. After guessing the amount that all of us could eat, I began to make the soup. I was lazy today, so I just placed all my ingredients, after washing them, into a big pot with water, and let it boil.

By the time it had begun to boil, Astra and Ana came out of their room. I let it sit for some more time, before I began to serve them some of the soup. After they were served, we began to eat in a comfortable silence like normal. It didn't take long for all of us to finish our food. Luckily, I made enough for each of us to get 2 servings. After pouring them another bowl, we all began to eat once more.

"Good night," I said to them after they had finished their food and went to their rooms.

"Good night," they replied to me.

While they were leaving, I gathered all the dishes. I then began to wash them in the underground river. I know I could have just used my water jet spell, but I wanted to go to the storage room and see the fruits of my labor. Once I had finished washing the dishes, I left them on the river bank to dry before going back to my room to sleep.