In revelry, the class had begun to eat. While most of them hadn't won the elixir, their first-ever hunt would be a memory they would carry for the rest of their lives.
Loren brought Relia to sit with Loot and the others. They found a place where the six of them could eat and chatted with her, telling Relia what Rito was like and learning from her the lifestyle of those living in Galan.
Loren was happy to see that Relia no longer seemed worried, he had an inkling of what his master went out to do, but he trusted him. He was sure that her village was safe.
But not long after the picnic began, an acrid smell spread throughout the group, alerting the kids of a large plume of smoke rising in the air.
"...What is that?" Loren uttered as he saw the smoke, many in the class asked the same question.
The smell came not too far from the group, coming in the direction they came.
"I-It's our..." Relia looked crestfallen towards the smoke. "our spice farm!"
Loren and the others turned to look at her, her complexion had turned fraught and her skin blue.
"I don't understand..." She muttered. "How could this happen, we have countermeasures to ensure a fire doesn't start. Unless... someone set fire to it on purpose."
"It's ok Relia," Carol placed her hand on Relia's shoulder. "I'm sure your farm will be ok, we need to return to the class first. Our teacher will know what to do."
The group had left further off for the picnic, rejoining the class should be their first priority. They didn't have a full understanding of what caused the fire, their teachers should have a better grasp.
Relia was silent for a moment before shaking her head. "N-no, you all head there first, I'm the only mage in our village. I can cast a water spell to save the farm."
"But you said yourself that someone started the fire," Loren tried to dissuade her. "It could be dangerous!"
"That's why you all can go back first," Relia lifted the wand hanging on her waist. "I'm in the Storage Stage already, I can protect myself."
Loren and the others bit their lips. It was clear that Relia was adamant about going to the source of the fire. She was right, Relia was a stage higher than the rest of them, and she would be able to defend herself.
Despite her words making sense, Loren shook his head. "If you have to go, at the very least I'm going with you."
"What?! Loren!" Trina looked at Loren as though has was insane.
Relia had widened her eyes as she looked at Loren. "You don't have to do that, this is my village, Loren."
"I know," Loren said. "But you're a mage. If someone truly started the fire with nefarious intentions then it would be best if a knight accompanied you. I won't run in like an idiot, I'll just try and protect her while she casts spells."
Loren knew that going with her was slightly idiotic. Her decision to go was her own, he was putting himself in danger for no reason. Hell, he'd only known her for a day. But the idea that she might die going out there put a bad taste in his mouth.
'Maybe being called a hero has gotten to my head...' He thought, mocking himself.
But his decision to follow Relia wasn't made without any forethought. He had Salrie by his side, she could give a bird's eye view of the forest so they could avoid any danger. In a situation where they had no information, a scout like her was the most valuable.
His friends were silent, not sure if they should join him in consolidation or force Loren to stay with the class.
Suddenly, Benson grabbed his shield and claymore, equipping them onto his body.
"Then I'm going too."
"What?!" Trina's jaw dropped, were all her classmates suicidal?
"Haha," Benson smiled helplessly. "I owe Loren for the elixir, can't have him go running off on his own. Plus if his idea is to be a vanguard for Relia, someone like me is more suited for the role."
Loren felt both glad his friend was joining and worried that he might bring him into danger. He patted Benson's back. "Thanks."
Benson nodded back in response.
Carol's eye was twitching. "Are you guys dumb?! We should go back to our teachers! This isn't a novel you know, there could be serious danger!"
"Actually, I'll head with them too." Loot interjected.
""You too?!"" The two girls felt dazed. What was wrong with their male friends? Were they trying to get into Relia's pants or something?!
Loot placed his hands on the back of his head, leaning backwards. "Hahaha! I'd feel left out if Loren and Benson went without me."
"You all..." Relia felt her boiling blood settle as the group offered to join her, her choice to head to the fire was entirely emotional. She knew they could die. "...You don't owe me anything."
Loren smiled towards her. "We all want to be knights, protecting the villages of Belmond's part of the job."
It was decided now, that the three men and Relia would make a makeshift party to try and put out the fire while Trina and Carol went back to class, informing the teachers of the smoke and potential danger.
Trian and Carol offered to go as well if the others were but were denied as someone needed to alert the teachers. Perhaps it was stupid since Carol was the strongest of all of them, but Loren and the others believed that her status was too important as the daughter of their mayor, she shouldn't put herself in danger.
Before they departed, Relia put out her hand, stopping the trio for a second.
"Before we go, I have to know you're really sure about joining me." She was immensely grateful they would be willing to help her but they were only in the Breath Stage, combat would be more dangerous to them than to her.
The three nodded their heads without hesitation, they wouldn't have said they were going if they planned to go back their words.
Relia sighed. "Then you should know what spells I can cast. I can currently load 5 spells, two in my mind and three in my focus."
While mages could chant the incantation of spells, the process was too tedious and long to be used in battle. The chant for even simple spells like Fireball would take an entire minute to cast, allowing too many chances for an adversary to attack.
That's why mages would imprint the formula of a spell in their minds at the start of each day, Loading said spell and allowing them to cast it at much greater speeds. This Loading would last for 24 hours, needing to be repeated every day.
The amount a mage could load depended on both their current stage and choice of focus. Relia was in the initial Storage Stage and used a wand as a focus, allowing her to prepare 5 spells that she could cast unimpeded.
A staff or grimoire would allow for more spells, but a wand was much more efficient in terms of speed and power.
The two spells prepared were the basic Magic Missle and Warding Shield spells. Favourites of most beginner mages. The three spells loaded in her wand were Create Water, Control Water and Support Plant Growth. She stated that she liked to help water her village crops, hence the reason she had such spells in her wand.
After sharing their respective abilities, the four all made their way to the farm. The location of the crops was west of the hunting grounds, they needed to take a separate path than they'd taken when coming. Relia gave the boys directions while they surrounded her in a formation, Loot and Benson at her flanks while Loren stood at the front.
Loren and Slarie gave each other silent signals as they moved, Salrie 10 meters in the air, directing Loren to the fastest and smoothest path to their destination. Relia was surprised by Loren's ability to move through the forest, he ran with such skill that she felt he was the one who lived in Galan all his life, not her.
The group made swift progress, avoiding any pitfalls or fallen trees in their path. Eventually, as they approached the giant cloud of smoke, the thick scent of burning spices became clearer. The group coughed as they covered wrapped cloths over their mouths.
Loren decided to stop running, slowing the pace of the group as they grew nearer to the fire. They continued to approach the farm slowly until Salrie yelled to Loren:
"I see some people, Loren! There are five of them. One seems to be an elementalist, he's lighting fire to the farm."
Loren held his hand out to his companions, signalling for them to halt.
"I..." He wasn't sure how to tell them. "I can hear some people in the direction of the fire."
Loot raised his eyebrow at his words. "I can't hear anyone yet."
"I-it's a Mana Art Rito taught me, it improves my hearing." Loren stuttered for a moment. "There are about five of them, they should be the ones that lit the fire."
Relia's eyes lit up with rage at his words, she was impatient to find these people. She started to move but Loren grabbed her.
"Stop. I know you want to put out the fire as soon as possible. But they might be armed with weapons and armour." Loren knew that they were, in fact, fully armed because of Salrie, but he couldn't just say that plainly.
Relia took a deep breath. "...Then what do we do."
"We keep moving slowly until we see them. Maybe we can launch an ambush before they notice us." Loren said. "If we enter earshot of the group, we might also be able to hear why they set the fire in the first place."
Loot and Benson nodded, it was as good a plan as any. Better try and sneak behind them than run out without knowing their capabilities, especially when they were outnumbered five to four. Benson put a lot of value in Loren's leadership, he had just proved himself to have a knack for formulating plans.
Relia bit down on her anger and agreed, she couldn't let her rage get the better.
Following Loren - who listened to Salrie's directions - the group sneaked around the vicinity of the crop field, using the foliage as cover. Loren and Loot used their mana to decrease their weight, a makeshift mana art Loren suggested. Benson didn't have the finesse to use mana in such a way though, and Relia had too much of a bias in her mind. But it nonetheless helped the group silence their movement.
Eventually, they could see the back of the five men who caused the fire. Except for one, they all wore leather armour. The tears and scratches on their clothes suggested they had experience. Two of the men had a short sword hanging on their waists while the unarmoured man and another were unarmed. The Elementalist held a red crystal in his hand - his elemental medium - he was spewing out fire towards the crops, he looked rather haggard from the work.
Relia clenched her palms as she saw the man light fire to her village's most precious export, the farm was the main source of income for Galan. Without it, many of its residents would starve. She was livid that someone would destroy her people's livelihoods for what seemed to be no reason.
But her outrage soon turned to shock and disbelief as she paid attention to the man wearing simple clothes made of cloth.
"T-that man," She raised her hand, pointing towards him. "...He's a resident of Galan."
It was the same man that Loren had bumped into the previous day.