Encounter

Roran slowly turned the hare. There was a stick running straight through it, and it was already being beautifully cooked on a makeshift spit. It was made out of some dried sticks, and was lit by Sylvian, who was very glad to show his skill.

"I wa-want meat," Sylvian stuttered.

"Wait. It'll be better, even though your fire had already cooked it a little bit." Roran replied, amused at the beast's impatience to devour its prey.

Soon, the hare was done. Roran took out his sword, and then swung down, cutting the hare cleanly in half.

"Here, take it."

Sylvian whimpered. He thought it was too little.

Roran pushed his share of the rabbit to Sylvian. He could manage with other foods. He still had a large store of crackers, bread, and even some cheese. Roran took out two pieces of bread, stuffed a generous amount of cheese inside, and then started wolfing it down. Sylvian, seeing that Roran had already started eating, couldn't wait and with a few bites, dealt with the hare.

Roran, seeing the scene, saw that Sylvian was clearly not full. However, he had ran out of meat, "Sylvian, you must go hunt for yourself, you know. Tomorrow start doing that. Or else we'll go hungry."

Roran finished eating, and then using his remaining Mana, built up another camp.

Sylvian opted to keep watch for the night. He would fall asleep at day, and then when Roran was long gone, he would sprint all the way back to Roran's side. The first few times, Roran was a bit preoccupied, but then he saw that Sylvian would always return. He let Sylvian be. Because of all this, Sylvian had enough sleep, and thus Roran let him keep watch.

The next morning Roran woke up refreshed. Sylvian was drooling on the ground. Roran smiled. He let Sylvian be, and then went to see if he could do more elemental manipulation. He already has a small hint of how to manipulate Earth, but he is limited to only making walls. Today he is aiming for maybe spikes, so he could also hunt, and provide food.

Roran started by injecting a bit of Mana into the earth around him. He made sure to leave a small thread, so he has control over the Mana injected. Then he spread it out completely, creating a web. This will allow the earth to stick together and become extremely compact, even if it was loose soil. Roran slowly lifted the earth into the air, and then he attempted to shape it into a spike. Then Sylvian woke up. He growled lightly, and that completely broke Roran's concentration. The thread of Mana snapped, and then all the Mana dissipated into the air. The bundle of soil fell to the ground like sand.

"Damn it!" Roran cursed.

Sylvian had seen this, "S-sorry."

"It's fine," Roran sighed. He'll have to try later, "We have to start to get moving. I am expecting for us to reach the Royal academy in maybe another two days or so."

Sylvian was slightly reluctant, but he still started shuffling.

It was high noon and they had travelled a long way.

"We should rest and then eat. You can go hunting if you want. Just be careful."

Sylvian's eyes were glued to something else again. Roran followed the direction of his gaze.

"There's nothing there, Sylvian," There was no answer. Sylvian started to walk forwards, sniffling around with his nose.

"M-master, there's a band of S-Spartoi," Sylvian frightfully responded.

"How many?"

"F-five."

Roran raised his eyebrows. This is quite a few. He would re-route and then stay clear from those monsters. However, he really wanted to absorb some more Hellfire.

After a minute of silence, he had made the decision. He would fight.