Alan sat up at the rumble of the explosion. Pushing away his bangs, Alan felt the scar on his forehead, which had crusted over. It's just the pain in the back of my head, but it's lessened a lot. Alan cleaned off the bacteria that had stuck to his body in recent days and took out what little food and fresh water he had left. No one had thought so much of the journey as they entered the McCaber. The three days journey was expected to be completed, and the supplies of dry food and fresh water were in full supply, with only five or six days' worth of provisions to be made. The quick march with the family had already used up most of their supplies, and Alan had only two or three days' worth of food and water when his companions died. Food has bottomed out.
Fortunately, I don't think I'm too lost so far, but hopefully, this little bit of food and water will get me back to West Virginia.
Alan thought to himself, and, against the discomfort of his hunger, packed up the rest of the food, which was his way out of the forest, and could not be wasted. With the pursuers out of sight and the family out of sight, Alan finally had time to think about his next move.
Originally, he was out on an adventure, but because of various accidents, he was far beyond his forces carried along with the tide. Now the force had taken over, and Alan had regained control of his own choices. According to his original plan, he had gone to Levitzk to see the unique desert terrain of the archipelago in the south, but instead of the desert, he had seen the tundra to the north of the archipelago. The place where the Bacterials lived was not only magical, but dangerous for human beings, and it was not cold, but too hot.
"Somehow, get away from McCabe," Alan said to himself, pulling a few scraps of cloth from the already broken Arcane robes and briefly treating the wound on the back of his head.
Distant explosions came and went, big and small. When Alan had fastened the bandage and looked at the watch that Wood had given him for his son, he realized how much the experience of these days had affected his state of mind.
When he set out a few months ago, Alan would never have handled his wounds so calmly or maintained his composure after losing so many comrades and friends. No one wants to go to the brink of death, but those who do come back have improved mental health. Fierce battles, team infighting, and hovering between life and death all make the young man grow up quickly. Numb to life and death, with countless enemies and teammates dying at his feet, Alan seems to have adapted to the brutality of the war, even in the end, Alan can not even kill the mercenary guard of his guilt.
"It's just troubled times. People die every day. You have to get used to death."
"Today it's the sellsword. Tomorrow it could be me, Wood. It could even be you."
"A rising tide can eat people!"
The words Wood had told him a few days before were still ringing in his ears. Alan had gradually learned to adapt, but Wood's words proved prophetic. Alan did not see the end of his life, but Luan and the other traitors could not have kept him alive, and Wood's body would have sunk into a bed of germs. In a few weeks, it'll be eaten away, and there'll be nothing left.
"The fungus mud gurgling, you see his forest as usual." Alan crooned the strange ballad he had heard before he went up into the mountains, translated by Sovid, the Historical boy, and by now he and Reggie must be on their way back north. The song, which had frightened him to death, was now Alan's only gift to the dark, mysterious forest. Who knew that when the strange tune was combined with the curse of Windblade, it could be used to make a knife out of the liquid fungus?
Alan did not use any arcane energy, but he seemed to feel under the sheet of fungus he was sitting on, that it was listening to its call, quivering and turning into a sharp and deadly weapon, just waiting for the word to help Alan clear his way. But Alan knew very well that this was his fantasy, that he had no such power, and that survival was his goal.
A flame lit in the palm of the right hand, pure gold, still like a fairy general, with the tiny air flow flickering, seems a little tired, but still spiritual. A golden glow lit up the back of Alan's fleshy hand, which had been eaten away by the bacteria. It was only because Alan's injured hand had slowly grown new flesh that it did not look so terrible. Alan's hand turned and whirled, and the flame fairy danced up and down, and when Alan finally made a fist with all four fingers and raised only one index finger, the flame Fairy also dropped gently and stood firmly on the tip of his finger. With a little salute, it disappeared into a plume of smoke, and the forest swallowed all its glory, leaving Alan in the darkness again.
Sixteen syllables.
This was very close to the limit of the shortest syllables of the Fireball spell, which Alan had never been able to pronounce effectively before, and which had even made him wonder if he was wrong, but this time he succeeded. Alan's Arcane skills were not directly enhanced, but he had a sharper sense of energy and was therefore better able to control the rhythm of spells.
Putting away Wood's no longer working pocket watch with his storage bracelet, Alan stood up and tried to leave the Arcane place. Perhaps Alan's arcane control will be more accurate once suppression is removed. Now he had a lot of good stuff hidden in his bracelet. Abel had given him a few precious diamonds for this lamp, and he had gained a lot more when he was raiding mercenaries for the lamp. Alan had seven crystal diamonds alone, all with a ten-pound head. If we can get out of here alive, we'll be rich selling any piece of Alan, not to mention some moon crystals and other minerals.
The distant explosions began again. Alan felt the cloth around the wound to make sure that he would not lose any time soon and wanted to make haste to start. The repeated explosions were so loud that Alan thought it must have something to do with Secowebo, or else there would be no peace in the inner workings of the fungus as soon as the Great Diamond was discovered. With this in mind, it was also convenient for Alan to determine a general direction: traveling all the way east, they had never found anything that could have caused a large explosion, so the source of the explosion had to be deep in the forest, which was further east. By reversing the direction of the explosion, Alan should have found the exit, or at least a little closer to West Virginia.
On the whole, Alan had the right idea. But only because Rodel hadn't seen the map Shin grabbed, the actual veins the Tumens controlled were deep in the forest, and judging the direction by the sound of explosions alone would have been far from accurate. Plus, in the absence of anything to point the way, once the explosion pauses, it's easy for humans in the dark to start going in circles, walking for a long time without actually going much further. Or with multiple explosions going off at the same time, Allen would be too distracted to know where he was going.
Walking so carefully, and occasionally saying the wind magic spell to speed it up, makes the wind boots slightly less energy-consuming. After three days of practice, Alan could simply use the wind. Abel's scrolls contained very detailed instructions, and there was no attempt to conceal his techniques from Alan.
Alan did not know how long he had been walking, but his test had come.