Chapter 50 Hunting Together

The next morning had come, and I once again went into my exercises. I also simultaneously trained my use of one element through the mana links, and multitasking skill. I wasn't able to do this training yesterday, so I did it today. I did this yesterday as well, and seemed to have gotten better results. To me, at least, it seems like if I train all these skills together, I'll get better gains on each of them. I'm not sure if that makes sense, or if it even works as I think, since I only have one sample size. However, if it does, then I will definitely start doing it this way, as it will shorten my training time, without compromising on the gains.

Once I had finished my training, I got out the brush, and some of the fur from demonic beasts that I had kept in my room. I removed the bristles made from boar fur. I then began to make bristles from the other furs I had. I think I used wolf-type demonic beast fur, but am not entirely sure, as they have been stored for a long time. Either way, I used this fur to create bristles and replaced the older bristles.

That didn't take long, and once it was done I went outside to the dining room table. Today was Ana's day to make food, so I was looking forward to it. When I got to the table, I could see Ana was still in the kitchen cooking. Astra was sitting on the table waiting, so I went over and joined her.

"I've replaced the bristles on the brush," I told her to try to start a conversation."I'm not sure what difference they will make, but tell me which one you liked better."

"Sure," Astra says excitedly. "Are you going to be brushing us today?"

"I'd like to. I'd rather get your input, and it might be biased if I don't brush you guys as soon as possible. So, I was thinking of brushing both of you after we eat." I said in reply to her question. There may have also been other reasons that I didn't mention, that isn't about them.

"Okay, I'm sure Ana is definitely going to love that," Astra said.

"Yes I will," Ana suddenly says from behind me. I didn't even notice her approach, but when I turned around, she was there. She had in her hands the food that she had cooked today. Just the aroma was incredibly appetizing. Drool was already flowing from my mouth. After expressing her agreement to Astra's statement, she began to serve us the food. Once the plate was before me, I began to eat. The food was so good that I finished it before I realized. Even though it was enough to fill me up, I still wanted seconds. The taste was just that good.

"Thank you for the food," I said once I finished eating. They were still eating, so my thanks wasn't acknowledged. It's not like that really mattered though, since we are all helping each other out. In fact, if it was acknowledged, then I'm sure they'll say that thanks isn't needed or something similar. Once the both of them had finished, Ana took all the dishes and went to go wash them.

"I'll go get the brush and comb," I say to Astra. "Tell Ana to wait for me if she comes back before me."

"I will do," Astra said in response. Trusting her, I went to my room to get the brush and comb. I took the brush, as it was where I had left it last, next to the other furs that I want to try as bristles. However, I seemed to have misplaced my comb, as I couldn't find it. I looked around carefully, and found it under the fur pile. I grabbed both of them and went to the table where Astra and Ana were waiting.

"Okay, here's the brush," I say. "I'm pretty sure that the bristles are made of wolf-type demonic beast fur, but I am not a hundred percent sure. Oh, and before you ask, the fur that was used last time was boar-type demonic beast fur."

"Are we going to continue doing this with every new demonic beast fur we get?" Ana asks once I finish talking.

"I mean, if you want," I say reluctantly. "But once we find the one you both like the best, we'll stick with that one."

"Sure." "That's fine with me."

"Okay then, come over here and I'll start brushing," I say. "Just try to compare them with the feeling from yesterday."

With that said, they both came over. It is the opposite of yesterday, where Astra lays on my right, and Ana lays on my left. I assume they talked this over while I was still looking for the comb. I don't care about their arrangements, but I kind of want to tease them, especially if they really did talk about this beforehand. As such, I start off with my left, and brush through Ana's fur. While I am doing this, I can see Astra pouting. I'll start with her tomorrow and hopefully she'll forget about this.

I finish brushing Ana's fur, and then move onto Astra's. Her fur seemed to once again glimmer, but I have gotten used to it and wasn't dazzled like before. After I finished Astra's fur, it did a similar thing. I think I'll ask them about this, but not right now. If this persists for a week then I'll ask, as I have no idea what this is. For all I know, this could be something that is normal for them. I didn't have to be very careful while brushing, since I had already untangled all their fur yesterday. However, I still was careful. After all, I was trying to compare the difference in bristles. As such, I needed to keep the experience as similar as possible so the only factor affected is the bristles.

"So which bristle type did you like more?" I asked once they started moving around.

"I feel like today's bristles were harder than yesterday's," Astra said.

"I think I like yesterday's better," Ana says a little bit later.

"Okay, if that's the case, then I'll switch to yesterday's bristles, so your memories will be refreshed on how they feel like," I say. "Afterwards, we'll switch to the next furs."

"What is the next fur?" Astra asks.

"Where is the fun in knowing?" I ask back in an attempt to cover the fact that I don't know which one I am trying next. "Well, let's move onto the comb then. It won't hurt as much since all your tangled hair is already gone."

"Okay," Ana says timidly.

"Yes," Astra replies enthusiastically.

They once again crawled up next to me. This time, I started off with Astra who was on my left side. She seemed to be ecstatic that I picked her first. I quickly went through her fur with the comb. I found some tangled parts, probably caused by her tossing and turning in her sleep. However, since they are recent, they aren't hard to take care of. I finished her, and moved onto Ana. She seemed to have no tangled spots, as the comb just effortlessly glided through her fur. I couldn't feel the slightest bit of resistance.

"Okay, I'm done," I say, a little shocked that her fur wasn't tangled. "What are we going to do now?"

"If we are preparing for winter, then we should go hunting," Astra says.

"Okay," I reply. "If we are hunting, then I think all of us should go."

"But then no one would be left behind to protect the base," Ana says.

"Diego said that he wouldn't attack until the winter months were over," I say before pausing for a second as I remembered that we didn't share the information that we had gathered yesterday. "We should first share the information that we gathered yesterday. I'll go first. The only thing I heard was that Diego planned to attack us after the winter was over. His reason was that they need to prepare for the snow, and it'll be useless if they die after we are killed. What did you guys hear?"

"I mostly heard arguments over food," Ana said. "It seems like they don't have a lot of food, and it is being rationed so that they are able to survive the winter. I didn't get anything too useful."

"The same could be said for me," Astra said. "I only got complaints. They were varied, but most of them blamed Diego. It seems like they might be forced into this by Diego."

"Well, any new information we get is useful," I say. "Since we know they need food, we can hunt in the surrounding areas, so they'll have to exert more effort to get food. However, we shouldn't push them too far so that they'll die over it. After all, that might bring the king over to us again. There also seems to be some tension between them. That could be used well if we gather more information on it."

"While our information might be useful in the future, what you got is important right now," Astra says. "As such, comparatively, the information we gathered is useless. Since we know that they won't attack us this winter, we can use the time to explore the other part of the cave."

"Sure, but we'll still have to get food to survive the winter," I say. "If we are going to explore the other part of the cave, then we'll need at least 8 weeks worth of food for the both of you. After all, I'll be taking the 7 weeks of food we have in stock. We may even want more just in case."

"Can't we just hunt during the winter?" Ana asks. "Your detection spell will help us detect demonic beasts that are hibernating. It'll also be easier to kill them, as they are hibernating."

"Sure, but I'll be exploring the other part of the cave," I say. "The both of you won't be able to rely on me for this one. Sure, if I run out of food, then we can hunt for my portion, but we'll still want to have 8 weeks worth of food for the both of you."

"It seems like we'll have to hunt for a while then," Ana says.

"We should do so in the human zone," Astra says. "Demonic beasts are more prevalent there, so we should be able to get more gains."

"Wait, why do we even need to do this?" I ask as we are finalizing our plans. "Didn't we say that the other part of the cave isn't going anywhere, so we don't need to rush."

"I have this feeling that we won't be able to explore it if we miss this chance," Astra says after thinking it over for a while. "This is just my intuition, so it may be wrong."

I sigh loudly before saying, "I'll trust your intuition. However, if we don't gather enough food by the time the snow first falls, then we aren't exploring."

"Thank you for trusting me Sylvain," Astra says upon hearing my response.

"Don't worry, we are all family here," I reply. "I also give my all to hunting."

"Thank you," Astra mumbles before loudly saying, "let's try to fill the magic bag twice a day. If we do that, then we'll definitely have enough food by the time the snow first falls."

"Okay," I say. "Let's work hard," Ana replies a moment after me.

With that, Astra goes to get the magic bag. I also go get the large leather bag that we have. It'll help us store more bodies, which is why I decided to bring it. We haven't been using it lately, since the smell of blood would have gone through the bag. As such, our whereabouts might have been discovered through this. However, right now, we don't need to care about that.

Once I get the leather bag, I remove the weights I have on me. By doing this, I would have strength that is on par with Astra and Ana's, which will help us in the hunt. In fact, I might even be stronger than them now. Once I have done all that, I head up out of the exit. Once I exited the cave, I could see Astra and Ana waiting by the tree trunk.

"Sorry I'm late," I say as I point to the bag on my back. "Thought that we might have been able to shore more with this."

"That's fine," Ana says. "We didn't wait that long," Astra said afterwards.

"If that is the case, then let's head to the human zone. O spell of wind spread with me as the center to detect my enemies." I say to them, before chanting my detection spell. I couldn't see anyone within the vicinity of the warding barrier formation, which means they are out hunting.

"I'll lead us to the human zone without running into any demonic beasts," I say to them after I process the information given to me by the detection spell. "Diego and his crew are most likely out hunting, but I'm not sure how far. As such, exercise caution, even if we are in the human zone."

"Yes." Sure." The both of them spoke nonchalantly. I'm sure that they are heeding my warning, despite their tone saying otherwise. With that, I began to lead them out of the warding barrier formation, and out of the beastmen zone. It's weird, because despite living in the beastmen zone for quite a while, I haven't seen a single beastmen. The same could be said for the human zone, and I'm not sure why that is. After all, an area rich in mana will definitely be able to produce better quality items. I can only assume that there is no village or town close to the Forest of Calamity, or not many come due to it being the largest demonic forest. Well, it's not like this matter anyways. I'd really do nothing if I was to meet another human or beastmen. I just feel that it is weird.

While I was thinking about this, we had arrived at the human zone of the Forest of Calamity. Once there, my detection spell got much more hits. It was like the beastmen zone, but on a good day. I'm guessing many have been killed to serve as nourishment, or they have gone into hiding early.

"So how do you guys want to hunt?" I ask, upon remembering that we have all of us together. While the three of us have hunted together before, it was mostly Astra and Ana attacking. I was mainly playing a supporting role in those fights. However, that wasn't us fighting together, but was instead us fighting separately.

"Like we usually do?" Ana answered, questiongly. It seemed like she hadn't thought of this problem until I had drawn attention to it.

"I feel like Sylvain should take over the role of the attacker, while we give him support," Astra says. "After all, when we usually fight all together, Sylvain is usually the support. We should learn to take over his role if we need to."

"We are not going to be fighting all together?" I ask.

"We don't have that kind of cooperation," Astra swiftly replies. "Ana and I do, because we are siblings. While we are family, we haven't fought together frequently, so we wouldn't be used to each other's moves. As such, I feel like it is better to separate our roles, than try to cooperate seamlessly."

"Okay, if that is what you guys want to do," I reply. "Just try to watch our surroundings, since I won't have the detection spell running while I'm fighting."

"Yeah," Ana replies. "Just do whatever feels natural to you."

With the conversation over, I head to the closest demonic beast. Of course, I took off my bag to give me better movement before trying to sneak up on the demonic beast. I keep the detection spell channeled, as I sneak up to the demonic beast. This way, I could kill it easily. Later, I'll straight out attack them, so they can learn to support me. However, I want to see how they'll support me in my sneak attacks. Soon, I got close to the demonic beast, literally only separated by a tree.

"O spell of wind, form from my hands a mighty blade that follows my movements to destroy my enemies."

I softly, but quickly chanted my spell sword while dispersing my detection spell. Then, I crept up to the demonic beast. When it saw me, it started to run away. Unfortunately, I also started my attack at the same time. If it did nothing, then it would be decapitated by my sword. However, it didn't notice this, and only kept running. As such, my slash cleanly decapitated it. Once my sword cleaved it's head off, I dispersed the spell.

"Okay, it's dead," I yell out as I drag it over to Astra and Ana. I'm actually glad that they did nothing, because they might have just made things worse if they tried to help. While I was thinking of this, Astra had already stored the body in the magic bag.

"So where are we heading next?"

"One sec. O spell of wind spread with me as the center to detect my enemies." I say to Astra as I chant my detection spell. With it chanted, I found a pack of demonic beasts nearby, which might have been attracted to the smell of blood. While I was able to cleanly kill the beast, blood still leaked from its wound.

"Our prey will be coming to us," I say once I realize all of this. "O spell of wind, form from my hands a mighty blade that follows my movements to destroy my enemies."

Since they were coming to us, I chanted my spell sword, and went to meet them. Astra and Ana also started forming ice and fire spears, to support me if they need to. Soon enough, the demonic beasts can be seen. They are wolf-type demonic beasts, and when they see us, they go into a frenzy. It seems like they think of us as easy prey. However, that is better for me. In fact, this has given me an idea that might make hunting easier, but right now I must concentrate on the fight at hand.

This is one of the largest packs of beasts that we have faced, as it has 8 demonic beasts in it. All 8 of them charged at us. 5 came directly at me, while 3 tried to circle around me and go for Astra and Ana. I dodged the incoming attacks from the 5, while I worked my way towards the 3. Their focus was on Astra and Ana, so they didn't notice me coming up. However, the demonic wolf at the back of the charge suddenly howled, alerting the 3. The 3 then suddenly turned around, and began to attack me. The 5 from before also attacked me with even more ferocity.

I parried their claws with my sword. I also ducked low, and guided my sword to cause a collision between the parried claws, and the other claws aiming for me. It was at this moment, when their attacks collided with each other, where Astra and Ana released their spells. They accurately hit the demonic wolves. While none of them died, this did cause chaos in their ranks. The wolf at the back howled in an attempt to regain order, but I wouldn't let go of this chance. My sword started ripping through their heads. Occasionally, a spell from Astra and Ana would come over and help me block an attack. While not entirely necessary, it did help me out. However, since they were in chaos, the fight ended quickly. Once all the demonic beasts were dead, Astra and Ana came over. Astra began to store the demonic beasts in the magic bag.

"O spell of wind spread with me as the center to detect my enemies."

While she was doing this, I chanted my detection spell, and began to see if there were any other demonic beasts moving towards us. None of them were, but I could still see hits on my detection spell. While I could see hits, they were all far away, which probably meant they weren't able to hear the battle. Otherwise, I'm sure they would definitely come over.

"Okay, let's head this way," I say as I point towards a place with the highest concentration of demonic beasts. From what I could tell, there were at least 15 demonic beasts gathered there. I'm assuming this is a fight between 3 different groups or a scuffle that happened to gather a large crowd. Either way, going there would only be beneficial to us. When we got there, most of the demonic beats had already died. There were only 3 that could still fight, despite being injured, and 5 still alive, but practically dead. In fact, I probably wouldn't have noticed they were alive if my detection spell didn't categorize them as an enemy.

We quickly swept through those that were still alive and stored them in the magic bag. We continued hunting for some time, and was able to fill up half of the magic bag. However, my stomach rumbled, reminding me that it was time for lunch.

"Should we stop for lunch?" I ask the group, as I could see no hits on my detection spell.

"Sure, I'm starting to get hungry," Astra replies.

"Fine, it's not going to be that good though," Ana says. "We don't have any seasonings, and we don't have the heating magic circle."

"What a blunder," I say. "I had created a portable heating magic circle, but I didn't bring it."

"Next time we hunt before lunch, you should bring it," Ana says. "I'll go look for some spices to try to make it better. One of you will have to dismantle a body, or else we won't have meat."

"I'll help Ana search, so you can dismantle the body Sylvain," Astra says, handing me the task.

"O spell of wind, form from my hands a sharp dagger that follows my movements to dismember my enemies." I chant my dismantling dagger, and dismantle the body that Astra has left behind. I do it quickly, but since I don't have my desk, the outcome wasn't the best. However, that is only concerning the fur. Once I finish dismantling, Astra and Ana come back with some wood and herbs. Astra lights a fire, and Ana begins to cook. A tantalizing aroma soon spreads out, and the meat is soon cooked. Some parts of it were burnt, but I quickly ate what was given to me. It was still a tasty dish, despite what she had said.

Once we had finished eating, it was like we had been motivated as we started hunting at a faster rate. We quickly filled up the remainder of the magic bag, and even the big leather bag I had brought. The sun was still pretty high in the sky by the time we finished, but it was beginning it's decent. By the time we got back to the base, the sun would be setting.

"Let's head back," I say and am replied to with nods and agreements. As such, we begin the journey back home. Of course, I kept the detection spell activated on the way back. I made sure that we wouldn't run into any demonic beats on the way back. However, despite trying my best, we still had some run-ins with demonic beasts. This is most likely because of the dead bodies we have in the leather bag. The blood from them must have attracted others. When that happened, we just ran away, and the demonic beats weren't able to catch up to us.

As I thought, we came back to our home at the same time the sun began to set. However, when we came into the warding barrier formation, my detection spell was able to find someone within our cave, or at least above our cave is located. I can only assume that this is Diego, but as to what he wants, I have no clue.