Preparing for a Treasure Hunt

Roger's eyebrows shot to his hairline, which now had small bangs covering them.

'Explore the forest? That's a new one.'

Although they had been entering it to collect water, wood, and supplies, there was an unspoken rule of never straying too far. 

They had already encountered the kinds of wildlife that inhabited the trees. There was nothing to be gained by risking their lives on something as frivolous as exploration.

"Aren't you worried it is too dangerous for us to be so far from our camp? What if we get ambushed and can't make it back before night?"

Lila shrugged, an adventurous smile on her lips.

"I told you a while ago, we need to get stronger. Waiting here won't make that happen very fast, whereas we could encounter something worthwhile out there."

The growing frown revealed Roger's thoughts on the subject, so she pushed harder.

"Trust me, I know Avar better than you do. It may be dangerous, but the System loves to reward daring actions. We could find ancient treasures!"

His eyes narrowed at her words, instantly recognizing them for what they were.

'Damnit, I've been spending too much time with her! She knows exactly what it will take to get me excited about something!'

Roger knew Lila was not a very greedy person, she was more than content to work her up in a straightforward fashion, but she had a hidden intelligence to her that was terrifying.

She might have been an asshole when they first met, but Roger had come to acknowledge that as a defense mechanism. After she spent some time with him, she could read him like a book, a fact he was not ignorant of.

Her people skills were extraordinary, especially when it came to understanding motives. 

It was this reason that led to him being even more protective of his real past. He still didn't want her to know the truth, and she seemed determined to figure it out.

If Lila wanted to go treasure hunting, then there had to be another reason behind it.

"Since when were you so explorative?"

Her smile never wavered, as if she had expected the question.

"I'm not, but I know you are!"

Roger kept his gaze on her, sighing as he realized she wouldn't offer any more information without being asked.

'Of all habits why didn't she drop this one?'

"So what's in it for you?"

Lila tilted her head to the side, showing more of her perfectly white teeth.

"It's dangerous, and that means a higher chance of us ranking up. The System won't reward us for sitting here. After everything we've killed, we should've been Beta by now, but our rewards are being limited by our methods. We need to properly challenge ourselves if we want to make it to the next rank."

Roger was able to infer the rest.

'So she is still obsessed about getting out of this zone. She hasn't stopped mentioning it, but I never thought she would be so daring about accomplishing it.'

He wasn't sure if he was more upset by her cavalier attitude about risking their lives, or the fact he was willing to go along with it.

'Gods be good, I'll be lucky to make it to fifty!'

Gritting his teeth, he swallowed his fears and accepted that his desire for hidden loot was too great to ignore.

Lila, noticing his reaction, sprang to her feet without waiting for his response.

"Great! I knew you would do it! We can set off after we prepare some supplies. We will only take enough for a day, that way we feel pressure to make it back before midnight."

Roger watched her go with a mixture of disbelief and begrudging acceptance, having grown used to such actions over the past few days.

'I wonder if I could have just left the glade when I first found her and avoided this headache?'

The next hour was spent with Lila in a frenzy and Roger in awe at how worked up she became over such a simple trip.

It took him less than five minutes to pack everything he needed, simply wrapping up some food and the book on swordfighting the System had given him.

He then spent the remainder of the time watching Lila run from each end of the glade to the other a dozen times over, looking for different items to pack to prepare.

She took enough food to last a week, two other sets of fur clothing, her old cloth clothes, three of each seed type "just in case", and the pickaxe.

Lila then decided it needed to be properly organized, so she cut more furs to create a backpack out of, while Roger settled to just carry them with string made from plant fibers.

At one point she had even snapped at Roger to ask him why he wasn't helping, prompting him to try his best to help pack her items, but he wasn't "doing it right".

'Is this really what all women are like?'

He couldn't believe the situation was so dire for Lila that she would do so much to prepare.

In his mind, this was a simple outing that would take a few hours and would most likely be fruitless, but could also lead to them finding something useful.

Lila, by comparison, seemed to think this was the last time they would ever see the clearing.

Once she finished, she did calm down quite a bit, smiling excitedly as they approached the row of spikes, the large pack somehow being carried by Roger.

'Is this my life now? A pack mule for some noble lady?'

The image in his mind was probably less degrading than the reality.

Stopping at the edge, he turned back to face the camp, admiring it once more before they set off.

The large firepit in the middle was sending a small amount of grey smoke into the air, the fire having been extinguished before they left. A small pile of logs sat near it, waiting to be added as fuel.

On one side of the fire was a small hole filled with furs. Cut meat sat on top, although it would go bad quickly, so there wasn't much. A pile of animal bodies rested near it, waiting for Lila to treat them.

On the other side of the firepit were their chairs, starkly contrasting the rest of the rest of the camp. Two beds were dug into the ground, a dozen meters apart, with wood and furs lining the inside.

They were the beds they had made once they killed the wolves, and proved much more comfortable than the original dirt pits Roger had made.

He gave it a long look, feeling somewhat melancholy to be leaving, even if it was only for a day's time.

Lila gave him a strange glance but said nothing.

'Oh, so it's perfectly fine to pack like our home will be gone by morning, but it's too much to feel attached to it? Gods, please smite me now…'

His eyes widened as he sent a quick prayer, a rare action, to the shattered gods, pleading his case that it was not a serious request.

Without anything more to say, the duo set off into the forest, heading towards the river first. 

Their thought process was that they could follow it to see what they could find and turn around when the sun started to get low, following it back to their camp.

Once they reached the river edge, Lila summoned Vronti and aggressively struck the tree closest to the water.

After a few strikes, it was visibly marked, allowing them to identify it.

Roger had made sure it would be Lila doing the cutting. 

Whenever she resummoned her blade it would be as good as new, while his regular swords could sustain permanent damage, or even break.

He patted his two pommels at the thought.

'You two will never break, I'll make sure of it. We just have to keep you away from any rabbits, those demons will happily chew into your beautiful iron blades.'

Without any further conversation, Roger and Lila set off upstream, with the teenage boy seeing a small spot of blood on the otherwise clean stones.

He quickly recognized it as where he had first fought the eel almost half a month ago.

Shuddering involuntarily, he ignored it and continued walking.

'Let's hope that this trip proves to be less painful than that one…'