Chapter 36 Exploration Preparation

The rest of the day proceeded like normal. Ana and Astra went into the storage room to sort out their gains, while I went into my room to continue my work. I continued working on my weights, so I could increase my training intensity. I was already accustomed to the weights I made earlier, so I needed heavier ones. After I finished 4 more, I immediately put them on. Again, I felt a difference, but it was something that I was able to handle, and was barely an inconvenience. I needed to create more.

However, I had to cook dinner, so I stopped working, and went to cook our dinner. I used the fresh game that Ana and Astra hunted earlier. I also wanted to use some of the new ingredients Ana had gathered, but decided against that. I didn't want to make more apology cookies after all. In the end, I kept it simple, and only seasoned the meat with some salt. I didn't feel like creating anything else, so I just left it with the meat.

Ana and Astra soon came into the kitchen, their stomachs rumbling. I'm not sure what they did to get so hungry, but I didn't ask them. They should be allowed to have their own secrets. We ate our food in silence, but it was a happy silence. A kind of silence that one can only get from close relatives. The kind of silence that had no need for words.

I finished my food first, so I asked, "when are we going into the other part of the cave? I would like to get my room back."

"What do you think of tomorrow?" Astra asks once she is finished eating.

"I'm fine with any day," I responded casually. "I just want to know if we are prepared. After all, we don't know what is in there. We also don't know how long we will be exploring there. It is pretty deep, so we should prepare for at least a month, and the reason I say a month, is that is our maximum storage in the magic bag. If not, I would have said half a year."

"I don't think we need to prepare for half a year," Ana says. "Even if the cave is big, it is a cave. It won't be that big, and we will always be able to return. I even think a month is a bit of an overstatement. Why don't we prepare for a week."

"To compromise, we'll prepare enough food for 2 weeks," Astra says in a commanding voice. "When we run out of 1 weeks worth of food, we begin to head back. It doesn't matter how much we have explored. We follow the underwater river, as I have a feeling it connects to the other part of the cave. We will bring our own water in case it doesn't though. We should be able to prepare everything in 2 days if we go about things right. We'll start preparing tomorrow."

"Okay," Ana and I replied.

With that, dinner was over. I went back into my room. Once there, I began to work on using mana through our mana links. There has been some improvement, as I am now able to do it. However, I must have an abysmally low amount of mana in me. Otherwise, I would fail. This, while on the right track, is horrible in a battle situation, as you don't want to have that little mana in you.

Once I had finished my daily practice, I then went to sleep. Before falling asleep, I began to think about my new practical spell. It soon came to me that if I created it, we wouldn't have to worry about water while exploring the cave. We could just have Ana use the spell, and get fresh drinking water. However, I'll think of it on my own time, and just get some shut eye tonight, but I have new motivation for this spell.

The next day soon came. I woke up, and immediately went into my exercises. The weights weren't really doing much, so I had to increase the amount. This made my exercises take longer than usual. I really want to make the weights out of stone, so I don't have to waste my time. That will be for another day. Once I am done, I head to the kitchen, where Ana has already prepared food. I was going to get some, but remembered that I couldn't. After remembering this, I went to the storage room, and began to prepare my own breakfast. I would also have to do this for lunch and dinner, but I don't want to think of that now. When we had all finished breakfast, we then went outside.

"O spell of wind flow around my body to hide myself."

I chanted my hiding spell while I was still in the cave. Astra and Ana also turned invisible, after activating the spell without chanting. It was then that I remembered that I forgot to ask them to teach me chantless spells. I was going to ask, but instead began to work on practical magic once I had the idea. I'm not complaining about the practical magic, but I still need to ask them. Right now, I'll focus on the cave exploration. After that, I'll ask them.

"So how are we going to hunt?" I ask the empty air in front of me. I'm not sure if anybody is in front of me, but I'm sure that they are nearby. Sure enough, I heard an answer soon, meaning that they were close enough to hear me.

"We should work as a group," Ana's voice says from my left side. "Diego and his crew should still be after us, so it would be safer to work as a group."

"Our efficiency will be down, but it won't be by much," Astra also agrees with Ana. Her voice is coming from behind me.

"Okay, but how are we going to cooperate when we can't see each other?" I ask genuinely curious.

"Just like before," Ana immediately replies, "we hold each other's hands so we know where each other is."

"Okay," I say, before immediately reaching out to grab their hands from where I heard their voices. It took a couple of minutes of aimlessly grabbing at air, before I finally found their hands.

Once I grabbed their hands, I said, "okay we are connected. Who will be leading us?"

"I can't use two spells at once, so I won't be able to guide us to demonic beasts," Ana says in a low, sad tone.

"I can use two spells at once, but I am not very proficient with it," Astra says afterwards. "And if I do do that, I won't be able to pay attention to anything else, so I won't be able to fight. I think you should do it, Sylvain. After all, you have done so before."

"Okay. O spell of wind spread with me as the center to detect my enemies." I agreed to their request and chanted my detection spell. I didn't get any hits with it in the immediate vicinity. I relayed this information back to them, and began to guide us through the forest. It didn't take long before we found our first prey. It was an elk-type demonic beast.

"I'll leave this to you, and offer support if you need it," I say in a whisper. I felt like Ana and Astra nodded to my words, before letting go of my hands. I could hear their footsteps on the ground, but it was because I was paying attention to them. If I wasn't paying attention, I probably wouldn't hear them. They'll definitely be able to sneak up, and kill the elk without being noticed. I wouldn't need to interfere, and could instead just watch. This would help me see their improvement, especially after they started acting alone.

This fight didn't give me much information though. The elk wasn't able to see them, since they had the hiding spell on. Once they got close enough, they attacked with their claws. The only reason I knew this was because I could see the result of the attack on the elk. Sure, at the last moment it seemed to react, but by then, it couldn't do anything, and claw marks appeared on its body. They also targeted fatal points, but since the elk moved, the attacks failed to end it in one strike. However, the elk couldn't resist anymore, and was killed. If they are already this good with the hiding spell, just how good are they at the others. Their combat prowess is definitely above mine, but it shouldn't be too far. While I was in my thoughts, I felt my hands being grabbed again.

"Okay, I'll look for groups that are high in number. If they have 4 or less, we'll first look over them before attacking. We don't know if Diego and his group are here after all." I say once they grabbed my hands.

"Okay." "That's fine."

I heard answers from my left and right respectively. With that, I then began to focus on my detection spell. I got hits from all around us. A lot of those hits were close together, in groups of twos and threes. As said before, whenever we found a group, we would first check to see if it was Diego or his crew. If it wasn't, then we would immediately attack. If the group was two or less, Astra and Ana would take them. If it was three or higher, I would join in, but I really didn't need to. Even when we faced a group with six, there was no need for me to actually help. Ana and Astra could do it by themselves, but it was definitely easier with me in the mix.

Whenever I went into a battle, I would chant my spell sword. I really need to focus more on my multitasking skill. I'm close to performing 4 tasks at once, but I still need time. Also, I only want to stop at nine. That way, I could be prepared in case I have to do something like the king's tests again. It will also help me with my research, as I would be able to look at a problem from 9 different angles, all at once. This will definitely cut down the time needed for research and spell creation. I still need to increase my multitasking skill though. I'll try to train it in my daily life, so it won't affect my already set schedule. I already like the pattern I have right now.

Despite only using three spells, my combat prowess was no lower than Ana and Astra's. After all, thanks to my daily training, my physique has become greater than theirs. I don't really need to use my reinforcement spell any more. There are not many things with physiques similar to Astra and Ana's. After all, they are foxes from the rainbow fox clan, which controls the forbidden zone of the largest demonic forest. Their physique has to be extraordinary, and it is a blessing that I can reach their level through training. In fact, I think there's more to it than simple training, but I have no evidence. Even so, if Astra and Ana began to train, their physiques would definitely improve.

In the end, thanks to our efficiency in finding and killing demonic beasts, we were able to fill up the magic bag before lunch. We even had enough demonic beasts to fill up one of the leather bags we had brought. The other leather bag was only half full, but that was because it was exclusively for edible plants. Nothing else would go into it, and Ana controlled that one. Because of that, it took us until lunch before we were able to head back to the cave. We should be more than prepared to enter the other part of the cave.

We still have a day before we head in though. We also need to dismantle the bodies of these demonic beasts, and preserve the meat and edible plants as best as we can. After all, we don't know if it will rot while we are down in the other cave. I also want to work on my practical spell, since it would lighten our load if we can produce our own drinking water.

As such when we entered the dismantling room I asked Astra. "Is it okay if I leave the dismantling to you?"

"I don't mind, but why?" Astra asks after a momentary pause.

"I have a new spell idea," I quickly responded, prepared for her question. "If it works, we'll be able to create our own drinking water through magic, and won't have to carry our own water. It is only an idea, so I need time to create it, but if it works, we won't have to bring our own water. I would still make preparations though, since I might not be able to finish the spell in time."

"Why don't you make it into a magic circle?" Astra asks after telling me to work on this spell.

"If I do that, I wouldn't be able to create it in time for our trip," I say calmly. "Also, I am not at the point where I can freely create magic circles."

"Okay, I wish you the best of luck."

"Thank you."

The conversation ended after that. I went up to the kitchen, where I saw Ana cooking lunch. I remembered I had to make my own lunch today as punishment, so I went back down to get ingredients to make lunch.

"It's fine Sylvi," Ana said to me once she saw me heading down the stairs. "You can eat my lunch. Just don't make us worry again, or else you'll be in for a punishment a lot worse than missing my breakfast."

"Yes ma'am, thank you for your kindness ma'am," I reply to her with all the sincerity I can muster. I then quickly left the kitchen after saying that, as I was afraid she would change her mind, so I went straight to my room, and began to think of my new practical spell. I would usually start by basing the practical spell off of an already existing spell. I would then modify the original spell to be less violent, and then the practical spell would be created.

"Sylvi, lunch is ready." While I was thinking, Ana called me for lunch. She made it pretty quickly, which isn't really surprising since she was cooking since we got back. I had spent some time talking with Astra, so it isn't a stretch to say she could cook a good meal in that amount of time. Even more so if you consider we now have heating magic circles, which speed up the cooking process.

"Coming," I said while these thoughts were running through my head. However, once I got seated I could only think of the food that would be served to me. Ana is after all, the best chef we have here, and her food is always amazingly good. Even when compared to the village, I could only say that she loses in terms of ingredients. If she had the same ingredients as the village folk, then she would be able to make something even better than them.

Her food didn't disappoint, and I ate it with relish. This meal also seemed to be even better than the previous times she had cooked. I could only think that it was this way because I wasn't able to get breakfast from her. I am not entirely confident in this conjecture, but I have no better one at the moment. Either way, I ate quickly, and soon all the food on my plate was gone. I let out a satisfied burp, before heading back to my room.

Now, back to the practical spell. For water, the best spell to use as a base would have to be "o spell of water, come forth as a ball to douse my opponents." I don't really like this spell though, since even if I modified it to be less violent, it would still form a water ball, which wouldn't be very good to drink from, nor contain. I would have to create a whole new water spell, which would then have to be modified to be less violent.

I feel like the best thing to do would be to make a jet of water. This attack would just spray a jet of water at high speeds, causing tremendous force. Since it will be like a jet, the spell would pierce through the opponent. Also, the shape of the spell would be a jet. Combining these together the chant should become "o spell of water come forth as a jet to pierce my opponent."

It took a while to create this spell. The main reason for this was the fact that I couldn't test out my spell. After all, I still can't use one element through our mana links, though I am close. Because of this, I couldn't test out my spell, and had to make sure that everything was perfect. This obviously took more time, as I had to account for a lot more, when usually, I would test out my spells, and modify them after every test. That being said, the spell still needs to be tested, but I am pretty confident it will work. Since I am confident it will work, I need to work on making it less deadly.

To do this, I would have to change "pierce." I thought of using "flow to," but felt like it wouldn't work with the spell. The words just didn't go together well. Well, I won't know for sure unless I ask Ana to try them out, so I'll note it down just in case. Along with "flow to" I also thought of "spring towards," and "fill up." I'm not sure which one of them will work, if any of them at all. However, this is the most I can do right now, as after I finished Ana called me for dinner. I didn't realize how late it had gotten, probably because I was too absorbed in my spell creation. Well, I still have time to work out the spell, one day to be exact. I should be able to finish my spell in one day.

After thinking of this, I head out to the kitchen, and sit down at the table. The food was already there, so I quickly began to dig in. It didn't take long for me to finish my portion, as it was so good, so I just waited for Ana and Astra to finish as well. They didn't take that long either, and finished just a little while after me.

"So how is the dismantling going?" I asked Astra after she had finished eating. Ana had gone to wash the dishes, so I couldn't ask her to test out my spells.

"I should be able to finish by the end of the day," Astra replies. "Then we'll have the other day to prepare everything we might need. How is your spell going?"

"It's going pretty well," I say. "I have the base down, and I need some testing before I continue onto the next stage."

"Why didn't you just test it out yourselves?" Astra asks, confusion evident in her tone.

"The spell I created is focused on one element," I reply. "If I use it, then it will have a secondary effect. Of course, I could always try to control the secondary effect, but then it'll be harder to create. In fact, if I do that, then the spell probably won't be ready in two day. Also, I haven't mastered the use of one element through our mana links. Sure, I can use one element, but that is only when I am low on mana, and I kind of don't want to exhaust my mana to confirm if this spell works. Especially since it is just simpler to let Ana try out the spell."

"Oh what spell?" Ana asks, joining us after she has finished washing the dishes.

"Oh, right we didn't tell you," I say after some thinking. "Well, I'm working on a new spell which should make us less dependent on river water. It will also be perfect for cave exploration, as we will be able to create our own water. This will free up space, while still allowing us to carry all the essentials. I've made some progress, and was wondering if you could try it out. I can't use this spell as it is focused on the water element."

"That's fine," Ana replies immediately. "Just give me the spell, and I'll use it while alone. I'll give you the feedback tomorrow, after breakfast."

"Okay, that'll be fine. I wasn't planning on working on this spell anymore today anyways." I said that last part in a mumble, so I am unsure if they heard it or not. It's not like anything bad will happen if they did hear it though.

With this short conversation over, I told her the chant. I also gave her the modified versions, and told her to only try them if the original version worked. I also told her to be careful, as I don't know the power of this spell. However, it shouldn't be much, as water is known for creation, the antithesis of destruction. While we were talking, Astra had already gone back to my room. After Ana and I finished talking, Ana also went into my room, while I headed to Astra's. They still don't trust me to pay attention to my surroundings while I'm immersed in my own work. Luckily, I was able to go to my room today because Ana was busy cooking, while Astra was busy dismantling.

I didn't really care though, as I would be getting my room back in a couple of days, maybe weeks, time. I then began to practice my use of only one element though our mana links. While I was at it, I decided to also practice my multitasking skill. I would do these at the same time by using multiple fire spells. I technically have 5 fire spells at the moment. However, of the 5 only three can be used to help my train. After all, one of them was a spell that was used against the king, and caused me to pass out before I could even properly use it. The other was a tornado, which would mess up this room. In the end, I could only use my arrow spell, fireball spell, and heating spell. While it doesn't help me improve, it does help me strengthen what I already know. Only once I felt satisfied, did I go to sleep.