33 A Silent Journey

As Edmond gaped at him in disbelief, Aaron continued.

There were many reasons, but he chose the one that he loved the most.

"What can be more valuable than the ability to not care about where you place your food before you eat it? I always used to wish that I could turn my hand into a bowl, so that we could steal more food than just what fit in my hands and Woof's mouth…

He wasn't kidding, at all, as he said this. In the jungle, he didn't even need to think much to remember all the instances when they had had to get away with less food than preferred because in a tight situation, they couldn't exactly use containers of any kind to steal what they wanted like the eggs of ferocious Eagles which were fully capable of gouging their eyes out if they stayed for a moment longer, or all the saved up meat of some Teras which loved to hoard their food in specially built hiding places.

Also, even after obtaining food, he would always have to look for large leaves or some other clean surface to put it on before eating, which wasn't that easy to find everywhere. Many times, he had settled for easy dirty food, too, in such circumstances.

When he had been given the meat yesterday in that plate, if it weren't for the fact that he was completely distracted by the dish, itself, he would have noticed just how amazing it was that such a large piece of food could be transported by a single person.

That was why he had noticed this later on, when he had been handing the plate back to Mrs. Ernst.

It wasn't that this idea was new – over the years, Aaron had tried multiple times to make such bowls out of all sort s of sturdy wood or stone. The problem was that stone was too heavy, and that it was almost impossible to shape it into the exact way he wanted. As for wood, even if he was lucky in finding hollowed out trees which he could use to make bowls, they would often break down in the extreme weather conditions that they constantly had to endure.

Hence, he had asked whether they had a bowl which was as light as what he was holding.

A little bit startled by the request, Ernst had made a small trip to the Hamlet's blacksmith and come back with this bowl which was apparently made by the blacksmith when he was an apprentice for a test by his master.

All this information had been disregarded by Aaron, whose entire attention has been focused on this gift which would revolutionize his life.

Of course, Edmond had begun shaking his head even then, but he hadn't said anything there.

Now, as he heard Aaron's answer, he actually realized that it did make sense.

Serious Ascenders who were constantly on journeys which took them between settlements always carried eating and cooking utensils with them, which were sold in neatly arranged backpacks in the City. Of course, these were costly, but they had high sales due to the sons and daughters of rich families who just loved to shop for any occasion.

Many times, Edmond had stared at those things through the glass showcases of the shops, but the price had always deterred him from entering.

With a sigh, he said, "Alright, fine. I guess it will be useful. But why did you ask for a string to hang it around your neck like that?"

This was a modification that Aaron had asked for after being delighted with the bowl after receiving it from the former Chief. Of course, the man had been happy to oblige with such a simple request. The blacksmith had been called, who used a special, sharp tool to add two holes on opposite sides at the top through which a string of carefully woven sturdy reeds which were apparently was passed through.

"Simple," Aaron said, before hoisting up the bowl with his hands and placing it on his head.

This made Edmond burst out laughing, as Aaron looked quite silly, yet the latter had a satisfied smile on his face.

"Against Teras which like to aim for the head for an instant kill, this will prove very useful. Usually, I have to use both of my hands to cover my head in cases like those, but now, I can use them to fight instead."

This made Edmond choke and stop laughing, while Aaron continued walking forward with that same smile.

At this moment, he was quite proud of himself, as he felt that this was a genius, masterstroke idea.

In fact, it even shielded him from the sun, too, when he kept it like this, although the weight of the bowl pressing down on his head was a tad bit uncomfortable.

Taking it off, he felt it with his hands again.

He was also pretty sure that he could use this as a weapon if required, as it was quite strong.

According to the Chief and the blacksmith who had come to drill those holes in it, this was made out of a relatively precious ore that was found at the bottom of lakes. The blacksmith hadn't been supposed to use this one, and it was because of a misunderstanding that the man had used such a precious material to make something so useless. However, it had been the tradition of his master to award the first creation of any apprentice to them, so he had apparently grudgingly decided to give it away regardless of the fact that something that could be sold for a value a hundred times more could be made out of the same amount of ore.

In other words, Aaron had lucked out, and he had thanked both the blacksmith and the former Chief a lot while etching their kindness into his heart. The former could clearly have given him something normal, but he had still given him this, which was valuable and also held sentimental value.

It wasn't exactly a round bowl – it had a round, flat bottom which ended at an edge, and then the rest of the bowl jutted out from there. In other words, instead of a rounded bottom like a regular bowl, the bottom was flat, which allowed him to rest his head there while also making sure that it wouldn't move around too much.

The blacksmith had also carved flowing patterns on the outside of the bowel, and he had asked whether Aaron wanted it painted. However, Aaron had been happy with the dull silver of the bowl, which wouldn't make it draw too much attention as it didn't reflect light.

All in all, Aaron was very, very happy with this acquisition which could be used defensively, offensively and, most importantly, for eating comfortably.

Edmond, whose laughter had been stopped abruptly because of the image of a Tera attacking one's head and making it burst open, saw Aaron's smile and decided to hold his tongue. If he looked at it from a different direction, maybe, it wasn't that silly, but he didn't know how others would judge it if when they went to proper, civilized places like Cities and Towns.

Shrugging, he decided to let it go.

Both of them were more or less casual, but Woof was vigilantly looking around while munching on the bread.

That was because it felt a strong sense of danger from this path, which was the reason why it, and, by default, Aaron had always avoided areas like these during their travels in the forest, which seemed to be the reason why the both of them hadn't trespassed on any path and found other people sooner.

Even when they had been about to embark on it, Woof had been very reluctant, and had only finally walked forward after being reassured by Aaron, who had been puzzled by this, too. Yet, knowing that it would be explained by Edmond soon, he had followed.

Now that there was silence, Edmond decided to answer the question that he had asked.

"This path was made by one of the strongest Teras in the World Government. That's all I know, all other details about the Tera are shrouded in secrecy, but those Teras were crucial to us surviving the apocalyptic age, so their power must be at a level we can't even fathom. The purpose is that the lingering presence and aura of the Tera would scare away all other Teras so that weak Ascenders like us, or, uh, me, who wouldn't survive a moment in the forest facing off against multiple ferocious predatory Teras, would have a path to travel on to get between settlements. That is why your Tera was afraid before. Come on. Let's hurry."

The explanation made sense, as he could tell that Edmond really would die in barely a moment if he went inside the jungle. It also explained how Edmond had traveled until now. As he saw the man hurry forward, Aaron followed.

On the way, he began thinking about how he was supposed to communicate the information regarding the bond to Woof. This was something he wanted to handle well, so he decided to put a lot of thought on it on their way, and tell it to Woof after the reach of this nation.

They might treat each other as equals, now, but the truth was that Aaron was alive because of Woof. As such, he was indebted to the Tera.

With that being the case, it just felt…weird to ask Woof to relent to allowing something like that, which would place it in a subservient position.

Aaron was used to loneliness, so he saw no need to fill each and every silence with useless words. Edmond's mind was also on his father, so the journey proceeded for the most part without them talking to each other.

Both of them were also carrying backpacks made of hemp which also fascinated Aaron because of their practicality. Seeing them, the thought that humans were definitely a very creative bunch had gone through his mind.

They were filled with food that would last them for days, so they weren't very worried about that part.

Three days later, as they walked out of the path, Aaron got his first glimpse of a Town.

And, at that moment, he could only stand there and stare.