I woke up before the sun rose, maybe because I'm not used to sleeping on a hard surface, which is the floor of the carriage. Even though it was covered with a layer of blankets, I still don't feel that comfortable.
I stood up and didn't see Father at the door of the carriage, where he was supposed to sleep. I head outside the carriage and look for Father, and I see him at the bonfire that we used yesterday night, cooking a soup. After that, he noticed me.
"Will, you're up early," he said.
"You're up earlier than me though; did you get any sleep at all?" I asked.
"Yeah, I did sleep." "I should take a proper rest, or I won't be at my strongest if something bad happens." He answered.
"Can you wake Chris up?" "The soup is already cooked, so we should eat it while it's hot," he said.
"Okay," I replied.
After that, I head inside the carriage and wake up Chris, and then after I wake her up, the three of us take our breakfast together, which is soup and bread.
After we finished our breakfast, we decided to continue our journey. The carriage started to move, and as usual, Chris and I started training magic inside the carriage.
Time flies in an instant, and lunchtime came. Father stopped the carriage near a river.
"We'll have fish for lunch," Father said before getting his fishing rod inside the carriage.
"Are you good at fishing?" I asked.
"Of course, watch and learn," he answered smugly.
If he's that confident in his fishing skills, then maybe he's really good at it. While I'm thinking that he started to go fishing,
After a while, I got really surprised—where did his confidence come from when he's this bad at fishing? He hasn't caught any fish at all since he started.
"Father, let's just eat our supplies and forget about fishing, or we'll be delayed on our schedule."
"No, I'll do it; I'll catch it," he said.
"Magnificent spirits of ice, Oh imperial frozen prince in heaven, strike them down with your majestic sword of ice." He started casting a spell.
"Icicle break!" He shouted, and then five ice bolts that are the same size as water arrows appeared and were launched towards the river.
After a minute of waiting, five fish float up from the river, and that serves as our lunch. I've been wondering since earlier why he's so obsessed with catching fish, but maybe the real reason is just that he wants to show it off to me—his son.
"Father, thank you for catching this fish; it was delicious." I thanked him for doing his best.
"That was nothing to thank me for, but sure," he said, acting like he was not happy at all, but it clearly shows in his smiling face that he's nothing but happy about getting thanked by me.
After we ate our lunch, we continued our journey. Chris and I, as usual, are training magic. Chris improved a lot; she no longer fails in casting her spells, maybe because she got used to it after doing nothing but training spells for a whole day or because of Father's advice. It doesn't matter as long as she's improving. After a while, I can see a forest ahead of us.
"That's the Dakiya forest, also known as the rectangular forest because of its rectangular shape." "We're going inside it so we can go to Craud faster."
"Why not just follow the road, uncle?" Chris asked.
"If we followed the road, we're going to take a week just getting to Craud City because this forest stretches so far." He explained.
"Isn't it dangerous, father?" "Going inside?" I asked.
"No, it's not—there's no monster here that I can't defeat in just one spell; that's why don't worry," he answered.
"Okay, if you say so," I replied.
After that, we enter the Dakiya forest and continue our journey. As soon as the carriage stepped inside, we could hear different noises that came from monsters.
Soon after that, a wild boar that was heading towards us appeared. I took my stance and was ready to cast my spell when suddenly the boar fell to the ground. I was surprised, then looked at Father.
"You're still slow, Will," he said, smiling at me.
After that, all of the monsters that came attacking us were shot down with a single spell from Father. I didn't know that my father, whom I think is weak because of his frail build, could be this reliable other than by teaching magic. I respect him now more than before, from the bottom of my heart.