Tree Spotting?

"So what's the plan?" Bailey asked, after a hard night of sleeping rough it was early morning, the trio was sat around a small fire created with Bella's Fire Elementa, this sort of fire only generated heat and not smoke, it was perfect for their current situation.

Bailey hadn't been surprised when Bella had told them she could use Elementa, he'd already predicted this from the moment she disappeared.

Of course in typical fashion, she had to detail how she'd accomplished this feat before actually lighting the fire, much to their annoyance.

Although Bailey did glance at Lewis during this event, he knew the Keilan Clan mainly utilized Chaos – so far Lewis had revealed his ability to use Dark Elementa and Light, not an uncommon combination.

If he didn't want to reveal his ability to use other types of Elementa it was no use in forcing him, it was even more dangerous for Bailey to reveal this fact because he had no idea how the Prince would react to it despite their budding friendship.

Bella was already starting her story by the time he pushed his thoughts to the back of his mind, it would truly be an amazing show of trust if Lewis revealed his families secret to a person he'd only met a week ago.

In fact, if he did so Bailey would end up thinking he had ulterior motives by doing so, it was the foundation of his family after all.

"So I barged into his tent one night after pummelling the militia who tried to stop me and demanded he teach me how to use Elementa, he told me all this crap about it being a secret of his family and he was told to never divulge it to another person without permission from his elders… So I kicked his ass." Bella said matter-of-factly as she smiled proudly as if it was a glorious achievement.

Bailey and Lewis stared at her, Lewis especially he couldn't imagine such a delicate looking woman being so violent and although Bailey was long used to this side of her he didn't think she'd be able to beat a family secret out of someone that easily.

"Any family who has a technique to use Elementa are nobles of the Empire, aren't you scared of his retaliation?" Lewis stared at her with confusion in his eyes, was it really that easy to beat up a noble of the Empire?

"Oh that, he spouted the same type of crap right after the first time I beat him – so I beat him again, and again, and again. Until he finally submit and decided to teach me." She said with a grin on her face, finally at the end of her story she had decided to start the fire.

Lewis could only gape in shock with a hint of respect in the depths of his eyes, if anyone had told him that she was as harmless as a flower he would've believed them, but now? Even he was slightly scared of the consequences of offending such a woman.

Bailey could only sigh as she finished her story as he imagined the expression of that Captain the moment he realised his bad luck charm had disappeared.

Anyway, this brings us back to the present as the trio sat comfortably around that small fire – Bailey and Bella looked at Lewis as he stared off into the distant forest behind them.

After a while, he turned back to them silently and they both had a bad feeling seeing the sheepish expression on his face, "I.. I don't really know haha."

"Are you kidding me?!" Bella screamed at him, fire beginning to spark from her fingertips. She wasn't quite on Level Two however she could still inflict some damage with those fire-starting fingers of hers.

"H-hold on!" He said quickly seeing that she was about to strike, after hearing her story he really didn't want to be on the receiving end of her rage which was why he'd taken so long to answer only to still have nothing in mind.

"We should move deeper into the words, I read that when Adventurer was a profession throughout the continents they used to create outposts in the trees during their stay – if we can find one it might still be usable, anything made to stay in this forest was built to last." Bailey said interrupting the two, he couldn't just sit back and watch the Prince be scarred could he now?

"The further we get into the forest the more common they should be, but some were created on the outskirts where we are now – from previous Beast Waves we know that the Beasts usually retreat to the depths of the forest so the outskirts should be relatively safe for the time being so we should only have to deal with a few stragglers." He continued, it felt weirdly satisfying to apply the things he'd read of in books to the real world, it was a feeling he hadn't felt before.

Pride, maybe?

"I've heard of them, Grandfather used to tell me that some adventurers used to live in them for several months at a time – it'll be safer than sleeping on the floor of the forest during the night that's for sure, we wouldn't need someone to stay up as sentry either." Lewis said as he nodded his head, agreeing with the idea Bailey had proposed.

Bella simply nodded begrudgingly although she did glare at Bailey, it seems she'd really had her heart on beating the Prince, of course, it'd be up to Lewis to avoid angering her from now on or he may not be able to save him every time.

'Sometimes a beating can be good for learning,' He thought as he looked between the two grinning at the thought.

"So what do we need to look for Mr. Bookworm?" Bella asked, Bailey, ignored the remark and simply pointed up towards the trees.

"We need to look at the trees, most of the outposts were made of steel and should be pretty easy to spot from the ground – none of the normal beasts that usually live in the outskirts of the forest can climb or fly so they were made to be obvious in case someone got lost." Bailey said as he scanned the treetops of the forest, although the outposts were huge and usually spanned over several trees the foliage from some lower branches obscured their view considerably.

"Put out the fire, we'll walk and look – remember, be alert in case any beasts decided not to retreat into the depths of the forest, we don't want to ambushed after all." Bailey said as Lewis used his foot to stamp out the fire, both of them nodded at his words as they began to stroll through the wilderness.

Minutes passed then hours and then eventually the first signs of dusk appeared as the sun began to disappear, Bella was exhausted from all the walking and although they both had Light Elementa to heal their fatigue Bailey and Lewis were feeling the strain on their Elementa, especially Lewis.

Bailey still had abundant reserves although it was becoming annoying to keep restricting himself around Lewis to prevent him from collapsing in pain.

"We should stop and set down camp." Lewis said suddenly, both Bailey and Bella agreed with him as they set down – Bella had hunted a few small rabbits during their journey to pass the time, it was one of the main sources of food for the beasts although it was surprising they hadn't gone extinct.

They roasted it before going to sleep, Bella insisted on having her sentry duty first although Bailey was confused because she was the most exhausted one Lewis happily collapsed onto the floor and got as comfortable as one can on the floor of a forest.

Bailey gave Bella one last look before settling down and falling to sleep, he trusted nothing would happen to him with Bella looking over them.

"Bailey! Wake up!" Lewis was woken up by Bella shouting in his ear albeit quiet enough to not wake up Lewis it still sounded like thunder in his mind, "What is it?" He shot up and looked around – spotting nothing he lowered his guard and looked at her waiting for a response.

"You know that outpost thingy we're looking for?" She asked with a grin on her face as she looked at him, "Yes?" He replied still slightly confused since he'd just woken up.

"Look up there!" She said pointing diagonally upwards, "I didn't notice it until I accidentally fell down – it's only visible from this angle but isn't it what we're looking for?"