"Luna," Zaroth spoke, his head a little dizzy, "I am still drunk, so I can't really think straight. The fact that you didn't stop me makes me believe I made the correct decision."
Luna didn't hurry in her reply as she enjoyed walking through the woods. After Zaroth had reached the capital, he only summoned her in his room, so it was a pleasant change of pace.
"Whatever. If that was the correct decision, time will tell. All I can say is I don't think you got screwed in the deal you just made," she spoke firmly.
"You think so?"
"Yeah. The moment you summoned me, that girl Midnight Bloodrose understood the deal wasn't for your peace of mind but for hers, as I could have killed her easily."
"I see… I will have to de-summon you now."
Zaroth's voice displayed a hint of sadness, but there was no choice. He was getting close to his camp, and there was always the danger of his companions seeing his dragon.
Luna sighed with regret as she nodded. The next moment, Zaroth was left alone with Silverfang, who was happily walking beside him, wagging his tail.
Finally reaching their camp, Zaroth saw Zack passed out in the spot he was before, and a bit further away, Roran and Lily were sleeping while hugging each other. It seemed they were done with their deed.
Glancing at the tent, Zaroth muttered, "What was the point of carrying this thing if no one is going to use it?"
Not looking where he was walking, Zaroth tripped and collapsed on the ground. He tried to get up and enter the tent, but alas, his body was too exhausted.
The last thing he remembered was how Silverfang licked his face.
'This guy would be the one to watch the camp overnight, I guess,' he thought before drifting into sleep.
*****
The birds sang happily as the sun shone brightly.
Slowly opening his eyes, Zaroth saw the sun high up in the sky.
It seemed half of the next day was already over.
Grunting as he got up, he placed a hand on his head, cursing silently.
"Shit, the hangover is no joke. I am really never getting drunk again!"
Observing his surroundings, he saw that he was the first one to wake up.
With a sigh, he got up and approached Lily and Roran.
He placed his hands on them as he shook them gently.
"Wake up, lovebirds! We have a whole day ahead of us."
Roran muttered something about 'just a few minutes,' while Lily immediately opened her eyes.
Shifting her gaze to Zaroth's as her vision became less blurry, remembering the previous night, her face started to get red from the embarrassment.
Before she could say something, Zaroth spoke,
"I will try to forget what you did yesterday. Just wake the log you are currently hugging."
Then he got up and went to wake up Zack, muttering,
"Dammit, why am I always the first one to get up?"
*****
Some struggling later, everyone was up, and they disassembled the tent as they continued their walk deeper into the forest.
"Why am I always the one to carry the tent?" Zack muttered.
Ignoring his complaining, Zaroth turned his head toward Roran. "From now on, drinking is prohibited."
Roran scoffed but didn't say anything, while Lily was still red. Noticing this, Zack commented,
"Um, Lily, is something wrong?"
He had been knocked out at the time, so he wouldn't know what they did while he was sleeping—only Zaroth did.
Lily began stuttering, and seeing that, Zaroth spoke, "Not really."
Roran suddenly chimed in, "Yeah, last night someone seemed to not have gotten enough."
"You jerk!" Lily said, looking irritated at Roran.
"What? It's the truth! When you get drunk, you become a different type of beast!"
Zack, most likely understanding what Roran meant and not wanting to get in the way of their lovers' quarrel, didn't comment and continued walking forward.
"Wait! Do you hear that?" Zaroth spoke, which led everyone to stop in their tracks and listen.
"Is that—?" Lily's eyes narrowed.
"Water?" Roran continued.
It was a river! Quickening their steps, they followed the noise and reached a small river.
Dropping the tent, Zack proclaimed, "This is the spot where we set our camp! I am not carrying the tent anymore!"
Zaroth observed his surroundings and pointed with his finger toward a spot close to the mountain.
"Why don't we set our camp there? The cliff of the mountain would hide us well and make it so we can't be attacked from every direction at once."
Everyone agreed, so they set up their tent quickly—much faster than their first time.
Seeing that there was still time before the end of their second day, they decided to use the time wisely and go for a hunt.
They didn't meet any beasts on the way to the deeper forest for two reasons,
First, the beasts close to the edge of the forest were few and far between. Now, being deeper in the territory, it should be much easier to find something.
Second, when they saw tracks or possible signs of beasts nearby, they avoided them, as they weren't ready for battle just yet.
It didn't take long. Soon Zaroth saw something and pointed at it.
"Is that—?"
Everyone shifted their gaze to what he was pointing at.
"Bear tracks," Roran spoke.
Cracking his neck, Zack spoke with a smile, "So, we have our first prey?"
"Not so fast," Roran cut him off. Zack gave him a look as if asking why.
Seeing the confusion on his face, Lily explained,
"According to the report—which I hope you read before entering the forest—there are multiple types of bears. While some are ranked Uncommon, others are ranked Rare. If this one is ranked Rare, it could prove too much for us to handle."
Zaroth and Zack looked at each other, having a silent conversation,
'What report is she talking about?'
'I have no idea! This is the first time I've ever heard of such a thing.'
Zaroth shook his head as he spoke,
"Okay, our enemy may be Rare, but that doesn't change anything. We will still hunt it, we'll just be more cautious."
As he was the leader, his opinion held most of the weight—or maybe his friends trusted him that much?
No one complained as they quickly and quietly followed the tracks the bear had left.
Soon, they heard the sounds of bestial grunts not too far away. Nodding silently, they pushed forward.
Zaroth, being in the front, raised his hand, prompting everyone to stop in their tracks.
He was currently looking at a bear. It had brown fur, four eyes, and a gem in the middle of its forehead.
Zaroth didn't need to be an expert in aura theory or beast biology to instinctively know that the creature before him was of the Rare rank.
He unsheathed the sword from his back and summoned Silverfang. An excited grin appeared on his face as he muttered,
"Let the hunt begin."