The hems of the tent swayed in the soft winds, causing Spencer to frown before his face lit up in realization.
"Right, how silly of me!"
He stomped again, and a few seconds later, the edges of the tent were pinned down to the ground. Mikhail also noticed how rock was raised from underground to fill in the holes left behind by the scaffolding.
"There we go, one square tent, far enough away to offer you some privacy from the {Spirit Sense} of the people nearby."
"The what?"
"One of the features of your Spirit. It allows you to perceive a certain amount of the world around you depending on the level of your Cerebral Core."
"So… Spirit Sense."
"Yeah, you say it just like that."
Mikhail nodded. And then he looked around his small little tent. The ground was still grassy, and there wasn't a spot for him to enter and exit…
"Uh… You wouldn't happen to be willing to clear the ground and make an entrance to the tent for me, would you?"
Spencer shook his head.
"Not really. Unless you can do me a favor, anyway."
Mikhail looked at him suspiciously.
"What kind of favor?"
"I don't know. I don't really need anything right this second. Consider it an 'I owe you' if I do this for you."
Mikhail hummed inquisitively and then shrugged.
"Alright, deal."
Spencer nodded, and suddenly the dirt and grass began to rise from the ground, gathering into a large ball. With his attention focused on the dirt ball, he failed to notice how the eastern side of the tent, the one facing the tribe, began unstitching itself towards the middle and then restitching itself to turn that wall into a curtain.
Some of the thread was also turned into ropes, meant to tie the opening shut.
The dirt was then flung out of through that new opening, leaving behind an uneven and pointy surface of pale-yellow rock behind…
"I'll flatten this out as well, actually. On the house."
Mikhail felt his body become weightless, causing a bit of shock, while Spencer walked over to the entrance and stood at the side. And then, the uneven ground began shining with a pale-yellow light, with sparkles rising into the air.
The surface of the ground had been completely covered in that glow, and then it rose to where the grass had once been growing. At that point, the glowing cover of light began dissipating, rising off the surface of the ground and becoming sparkles before completely dissipating.
"Alrighty, your tent is up and ready. If I ever need a favor done, I'll let you know, Mikhail."
"See you later!"
Spencer left the tent, while letting Mikhail drop down to his feet.
He stumbled a little, not ready to be dropped like that.
"Prankster bastard… I'll get him back one of these days" he said to himself in English.
Mikhail then eyed the ropes hanging from the mid-section of the tent flaps, before deciding to tie it shut. And after he did so, he unrolled his red sleeping mat and grabbed the book on Manakel. And after laying down on his side, he inspected the cover.
On it was a depiction of Grand Elder Maya's profile.
He didn't delay and opened it to the first page.
There were twenty-six different letters depicted on the page.
'Just like English… Neat.'
He then flipped to the next page, seeing that it was styled pretty similarly to the one Yagnar had written. You know, depicting a human mouth and the movements needed to produce the letter's sound.
Time passed as he studied the Manakel alphabet.
More time passed as he began practicing simple words.
Even more time passed as he began practicing sentence structure.
Time passed until the sun began dipping below the horizon.
Mikhail had completely and utterly lost himself in the study of Manakel, failing to notice how the light of the sun was no longer pouring into his tent.
"Mikhail?"
A familiar voice called out to him, snapping him out of his focused state.
"...Mog?"
No response came, causing Mikhail to huff and set the book face down to save his spot.
He got up and then untied the entrance to the tent, walking out to find the short orc waiting with crossed arms.
He looked at Mikhail with a sour expression… And Mikhail noticed how his eyes were glossy.
"Uh… Yo? Mog?"
"You damn fool!"
Mog tackled Mikhail, knocking him over onto his ass.
"We were all worried about you, damn it! Why the fuck didn't you come see us!?"
Mikhail scratched the back of his head as he watched Mog cry a little, failing to stifle his tears.
"I didn't even think you guys were still here. I figured you would've dropped off the goods and then continued on your way…"
"You really are a damn fool, ya' fool!"
Mog got up and dusted his knees off, before turning away and wiping his tears away.
"We just got here! There's no way we're going back into the wilds without relaxing for a little while. Yagnar said we'd be here for about two weeks…"
"Nice. So, are we going to go meet up with everyone?"
He nodded, and beckoned him to follow after wiping away some more tears.
"Damn it man…" he said to himself, before leading Mikhail through a random alleyway.
"We've all been fucking worried about you, and this is the first time we've talked face to face in like three months! Like, what the hell, fool?! Were you on a date with your hand all day?"
Mikhail rolled his eyes instinctively, but Mog didn't see it since he kept walking forward.
"I was studying Manakel, jackass… Are you guys planning on doing the same?"
Mog scoffed.
"As much as we can in two weeks. The rest of us aren't freaks like you are, y'know?!"
"Laying down the love thick today, are we?"
Mog finally turned around with a glare.
"Shut the hell up, fool!"
Mikhail let out a light chuckle, and the two continued onwards, before stepping onto the North Path.