As the rustle of the bushes got louder, Zaroth held his breath.
Only for his eyes to widen in surprise the next second.
From the bushes, a lone woman with red eyes and hair appeared, looking at them with an unreadable expression.
'Wait, isn't she the one that Elysia said to keep an eye on?! I didn't meet her in the academy even once, so what's the chance of meeting her in this vast forest?' Zaroth thought.
His teammates were also lost in thought, but for a different reasons.
'She has gone so far from the camp on the first day while being alone. Is she crazy… or maybe that much more powerful?' Lily wondered.
'There is no way that they have discovered us, right?! I made sure to kill everyone that knew about our identities,' thought Roran as he grasped his sword tighter, wondering if he should go for the kill.
'Did these bastards actually do it?!' Zack cursed silently. 'I thought they weren't serious, but if they really have sent so—'
Everyone's thoughts were interrupted as Zaroth spoke in a relaxed voice, lowering his weapon.
"Hello, nice to meet you. What are the chances of encountering someone so far from the camp, huh?"
The woman silently looked at him as if assessing something.
'Zaroth,' Luna sent him a mental comment, 'Be careful around her. There is something wrong with her, but I can't pinpoint what.'
Making note of the advice, Zaroth smiled wider, trying to appear as friendly as possible.
The mysterious woman studied Zaroth's team for a moment. After what felt like an eternity, she replied,
"Nice to meet you too." Her face remained emotionless and unchanging—almost to an uncanny level.
With that, the woman seemed to have lost interest and turned her back to them, seemingly in search of something, until Zaroth's voice stopped her.
"I never got your name," he said with an awkward smile. 'If I have to keep eyes on her, that's the least I should know. Damn it, Elysia, why didn't you just tell me her name?!'
The woman studied the man for a moment before replying.
"Midnight," she replied, her voice stoic yet carrying unexplainable beauty. "Midnight Bloodrose."
Zaroth was stunned for a moment but replied quickly, "Zaroth."
The woman nodded before continuing her search.
"Wow," Zaroth muttered under his breath. Speaking to that woman was strange. He felt a pressure he was unable to explain. Almost like he was prey in the eyes of a hungry beast.
'I see now why Elysia wanted me to keep my eyes on her.'
Lily grinned before teasing, "Oh? Nice to meet you, eh? Don't tell me… did you fall for her at first sight or something?"
Zaroth felt offended at the words for a moment and quickly denied it but felt for a second that she was right to feel this way, as unknown to her, he was already in love with a mythical dragon, a chairwoman considered one of the strongest humans in existence and one of the queens of the empire.
"Well great, she saw us, so we have to camp somewhere far from here if we want to remain hidden," Zack complained, irritated by the fact that he had to carry the damned tent for longer.
*****
"Finally!" Zack said with a sigh of relief as he dropped the tent to the ground, but before relaxing, he turned his gaze to his party.
"Just so you know, you are building this thing yourself! From now on, I am not going to lift a finger!" he proclaimed as he sat on the soft ground.
No one complained, as it must have been tiring to carry the tent for so long, so they began assembling it.
But before that, Zaroth's eyes shined green, a few sparks of light appeared, and then a giant wolf materialized from nothingness.
He had summoned Silverfang.
"No matter how many times I see it, it's still amazing," Lily commented while looking at the beast.
"Isn't it risky to summon it if we are not in crisis?" Roran asked, raising his eyebrow.
"Well, we are in one," Zaroth began to explain. "We're hungry, and it's already dark, and we're all exhausted from walking so much, so I was planning to release this guy in the hope he manages to hunt something for us."
But in truth, this wasn't the only reason. He himself was familiar with hunger and didn't mind it, but he felt that this was the perfect time to see what his beast would do once given a command and far away from his master.
Rubbing the silver fur of the creature, Zaroth smiled as he spoke. He could have sent a mental command to the beast, but he didn't want to reveal all his abilities to his companions just yet.
"Catch us something to eat, alright?"
Silverfang licked the hand of its master before barking happily and disappearing into the vast darkness that had fallen on the forest.
"Will he be alright?" Zack asked, resting his back comfortably against a tree as he watched his friend build the tent he had carried for so long.
"Of course. He's an Uncommon beast, after all," Zaroth explained, part of the reason why he was so confident.
'Plus, the wolf is already dead, so what's the worst that can happen to him that hasn't happened already?' With these thoughts, he shifted his attention to the tent.
After an hour of trying to follow the goddamn instructions that didn't make much sense, they finally built the tent. Now they sat around a fire that they had lit using Lily's magic.
It was true that the fire could reveal their position, but it was surprisingly cold in the forest, plus…
"Are you sure he'll be fine?" Zack asked, not shifting his gaze from the fire. It seemed he had gotten hungry.
"Yes, just wait a bit longer," Zaroth responded with a relaxed tone.
He was quietly focusing on the weird feeling. This was the first time he had sent his beast far away, so he wasn't sure if the connection between them would remain.
But to his surprise, he was still able to vaguely feel Silverfang's emotions and state.
If he was not mistaken, his wolf should have caught a large rabbit and should reach them right about…
Now.
Hearing the rustling of the bushes, everyone turned their gaze to the sound, readying themselves for battle, while Zaroth remained relaxed.
The next moment, a giant wolf with silver fur and a rabbit in its mouth exited the bushes.
Upon looking at the beast, one would wonder how the creature was alive, as it bore multiple fatal wounds on its body. But that was just the way Silverfang was—being undead and all.
Seeing the giant rabbit in its mouth, Lily immediately stood up as she approached the wolf with a smile.
"Who's a good boy?! You!" she said as she patted the beast on its head.
Surprisingly enough, Silverfang seemed to enjoy the pats from her gentle hand, so he didn't move.
And with that, their dinner for the night had been secured.