Almost an hour had passed since we had left the cave and began exploring the forest. Walking through the dense forest had become comparatively easier now.
"This is really light!" exclaimed Elizabeth as she swung the Great Wolf's claw around.
"Indeed," I replied.
"But sir… Where are we even heading? Isn't it best to stay in the safe cave?" Inquired Liam.
Why did children even ask such questions? Wait, Elizabeth was good at handling children! I glared at Elizabeth, ushering her to answer Liam's question.
Elizabeth seemed a bit pissed that I pushed my responsibility onto her but still answered Liam.
"Well well, Liam… The main problem with living in a cave is the lack of food and water. We don't know how many more days we have to stay here, so it's best that we explore as much as possible," explained Elizabeth. Well, she missed a few points but got the gist of it right.
"That is true indeed," replied Liam.
We walked for around two more hours, finding nothing except trees and bushes. Finally, we decided to rest for a bit and sat beside a huge tree.
"So what are your levels?" I asked, breaking the eerie silence.
"Level 2," replied Liam.
"Level 2," replied Liam.
"Same," replied Elizabeth.
"What's yours?" asked Ignis.
I replied, "Around the same as yours."
I looked around and saw a tree with mango-shaped, blue fruits attached to it.
"Will it be poisonous?" Ignis asked as she stared at the fruit.
"Only one way to find out!" Elizabeth said as she went to pluck the food from the tree. Unfortunately, the food was too high for her to reach. She looked back at us, her cheeks were red from embarrassment.
I got up and went towards her. Staring at her eyes, I said, "This is how it is done," with a face that may have been smug.
I shook the tree with all my strength. The fruits began to fall to the ground one by one. I smiled a broad smile at Elizabeth and made a thumbs-up gesture.
She, too, made a thumbs-up gesture as she went to pick up the fruits. Liam and Ignis had also started picking the fruits up.
Without giving it a second thought, Elizabeth put the fruit into her mouth.
"This is really good!" said Elizabeth as she went for a second bite.
"Let's wait five minutes before eating it," I instructed Liam and Ignis.
Five minutes passed, and Elizabeth didn't show any signs of being poisoned.
"See… I told you it's going to be all right," said Elizabeth as she reached for her tenth fruit.
Soon, the sibling duo and I also began devouring the fruit one by one. Although not as good as the apple-shaped fruit I had consumed before, this was still very delicious.
After some more time resting our legs, we resumed our journey. For the next few hours, trees were the only things in sight.
At last, we reached a clearing. Moving forward, we discovered that we were currently on top of a hill. The clearing was massive, almost spanning a kilometre. There was one huge tree in the middle of the clearing, between the edge of the hill and the clearing.
Dusk was only about two hours away. It would be best if we didn't explore anymore.
"Let's camp around here," I said.
My team surveyed the surroundings a little, then nodded in unison.
"Ignis and Elizabeth, find a spot that would be best for camping. Liam come with me, let's go collect something to eat," I ordered the team.
"Sure," replied Elizabeth as she and Ignis went to look for an ideal camping spot.
"Where will we find food, sir?" Liam asked.
"I saw some berries and fruits in the forest. Let's eat them today," I answered.
Liam nodded and followed behind me as I walked towards the place where I had seen some edible stuff. After a ten-minute walk, we struck an unexpected treasure. A lone deer!
It was grazing near some shrubs, unaware of our presence. I had initially planned to eat fruits tonight, but it would be a waste to let this opportunity escape us.
I glanced at Liam. His eyes were fixed on the deer while his mouth was watering buckets.
I nodded at Liam, and he nodded back.
The deer was around fifty metres away from us. We were hidden behind a huge bush as well as the trees that were all around us.
Liam's eyes glowed with excitement as he readied his bow. I had seen enough of his archery skills to be confident enough in them.
I crouched, making sure to make no noise and steadying my breathing.
Whoosh! The arrow flew and hit the deer accurately between its eyes. It was an instant kill, and the deer perished in an instant, not suffering at all.
"Meat today!" Shouted Liam as he went towards the deer.
I, too, went towards the deer's corpse and examined it. This looked just like a deer from Earth! I wonder if its meat will taste the same as venison meat?
Picking the deer on my shoulders, I gestured for Liam to follow me.
Just then, a sound came from the forest.
Turning towards the sound, I saw a grey wolf standing behind a tree, almost forty metres away. Dropping the deer to the ground, I readied my claw-dagger, and Liam readied his bow.
Why was the wolf alone, though? Was it a scout? On meeting my eyes, the wolf shivered. Was this the effect of the "Wolf Slayer' title? The wolf ran back into the forest, not giving us a chance to attack it.
Should I chase it? With my current agility, catching up with the wolf will be possible. But then I would have to leave the boy behind. The sun is almost going to set too. It's too dangerous to leave a ranged attacker like Liam alone. More wolves may be lurking around.
"Let's head back," I said, picking up the deer again.
Liam and I reached the clearing without encountering any other wolves or beasts. We were greeted by Ignis, who got excited after seeing the deer.
"Meat!" she shouted.
"Meat!" Liam replied.
The two of them looked at each other and jumped with joy simultaneously.
What went on in kids' minds nowadays was impossible for me to perceive.
"Where did you set up camp?" I asked.
"There!" Ignis said, pointing to her left. A small fire was visible around a hundred metres to the right.
{Author Note: Since they faced each other, Ignis's left is Nox's right. Have a nice day.}
I walked towards the fire while Ignis and Liam ran towards it with excitement.
Besides the fire was a massive tree with what looked like a hollow trunk. Elizabeth might have thought sleeping inside the tree trunk would be the best course to take tonight.
She wasn't wrong.
Soon Elizabeth came out of the hole in the tree.
"I just finished laying grass on the ground. Wait! Is that meat!?" yelled Elizabeth as she ran towards the deer's corpse, which I had laid on the ground.
Why were all my teammates' such gluttons? Well, it's not like I can blame them. Even I got pretty excited about seeing the deer.
Without wasting a second more, Elizabeth skinned the deer, cut it into pieces, passed a stake through them, and placed it atop the fire.
Lighting a fire in the forest is one of the worst things one can do. However, it's better to do it rather than starve after travelling so much.
Although we could eat fruits that do not require fire to cook, the best option would be to eat the meat we caught since we need as much energy as possible for any unexpected challenges.
I sat across the fire, adding some mint and coriander leaves I had picked up on our journey to the venison. The four of us stared at the venison cooking with lustful eyes.
Time passed by quickly. After what seemed like almost two hours of staring at the meat, I concluded, "It's done."
My teammates looked at me and then at the meat.
"Let's do it!" said Elizabeth, not taking her eyes off the meat.
"Thank you, dear deer… Your sacrifice will satisfy our hunger," said Liam as he reached for a stake, his mouth overflowing with drool.
The rest of us also reached for the stake. As I brought the venison near my face, I saw meat juices flowing down it. The aroma it gave was of pure deliciousness. I bit into the hot meat. It was pure ecstasy!
I kept on eating the meat till there was nothing left. I looked around and saw that my team members had expended all their energy eating the venison as fast as possible.
Honestly, there was nothing more satiating than meat after working a long day.
"I can't..." said Liam.
"Move anymore," Ignis said, finishing her brother's sentence.
I felt the same as they did. Looking at the stars, it was almost around eleven p.m.
"We will probably explore tomorrow too. All of you should go and rest. I will stand guard tonight," I informed the team.
Liam and Ignis went inside the tree trunk without a word, or maybe they didn't even have the energy to say anything.
"When do you want to switch places?" Elizabeth asked.
"It's fine... I slept for two entire days. Standing guard the entire night isn't too much of a hassle," I replied.
"Well, if you say so," said Elizabeth, entering the tree trunk.
All of them must be tired after such a long journey. After all, we had walked around forty kilometres today.
Now that I think about it, we haven't encountered any other humans till now. How big was this forest anyway?
Well, since I am sitting here anyway, it would be best to do something productive.
I did acquire a skill that I haven't used till now.
Mana Manipulation!
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Mana Manipulation(A)
Become favoured by Mana.
Gain the ability to sense arcane around you and use arcane in various ways.
Proficiency: 0%
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Let's practice playing around with arcane tonight!