The First Night

The group travelled through the mountainous forest as the sun approached the west.

The elevation change was insignificant enough that it did not add any additional strain to them. They merely followed behind George who led the way, going through the valleys between the mountains. Some of the mountains were vary large while others were more like a hill.

The weather seemed to favor them today as there were only a moderate amount of normal clouds. Many of them would roll up against a mountain and break into tiny pieces, while others would reform to a relatively normal size.

Most of the animals and magical creatures left them alone due to their group size. Any that dared to approach were deterred by Emma releasing a little of her magical aura.

The group took a few restroom breaks here and there and a single uneventful dinner break, but nothing out of the ordinary happened. When the sun was beginning to set, the party stopped.

"We have arrived at my camping spot. We'll rest here for the night." George led the party into an area clear of foliage that showed signs of past human activity.

"Thank god~..." Hester collapsed from exhaustion while the others watched.

"Camping spot?" Abe said confusingly. He did not know this was a camping spot.

"This is the area I had prepared for use if I had to venture deep into the mountains. When I first arrived at Mountainview Spring several months ago, I spent two weeks scouting these mountains and finding the best path before finding the path I had used at another town."

"I spent the time clearing the areas I calculated I would be sleeping at assuming all my breaks last thirty-minutes and I maintain a constant walking speed. We are only a minute late which means you all made good pace." George calmly explained.

"Doesn't that, require a lot of math?" Bernice asked surprised.

"Not really. All you need to do is calculate your walking distance per hour and how much time you have in a day minus all the breaks." George explained again.

"So there are more of these?" Abe asked curiously.

"Correct, there are fourteen I developed which equates to two weeks. The rest will be once we merge onto my main path."

"That's better than nothing." Emma took off her backpack and massaged her shoulders. Bernice and Abe following along. Everyone seemed a little tired, but Hester seemed to be dying.

"I'll gather wood supplies to start a fire. Who has the animal powder repellent?"

"I do." Emma spoke up.

"You secure the area to deter animals. The rest of you set up tents. That'll be all." George turned around to leave in search of wood.

Everyone went along with his instructions and did as they were told.

Hester tiredly got up and bitterly complained in his mind. He had never been this tired in his life.

After searching the forest floor for dead dry wood, George returned half an hour later.

The sun had descended below the horizon and darkness rapidly increased.

The tents and an area designated for the campfire were already set up by the time he returned. He quickly set up the firewood and began working on a fire. The process was easy since they had a lighter.

A nice glowing fire quickly enveloped the wood and lit up the area. Everyone had foldable chairs set around to enjoy the warmth and converse. Only Hester was so exhausted he stared off into space and slowly ate into a snack.

George meanwhile went over to his backpack and began setting up his own tent. It only took ten minutes to complete. He was about to enter his tent when Bernice asked him to come over and sit with them.

With a foldable chair in hand, he walked over to the fire and sat down with indifference.

"Phew~. This has been a tiring day." Although she said that, Bernice had a smile on her face. She really seemed to be enjoying the outdoors.

The others were tired but they nodded in agreement except for Hester.

"So what did you call me over for?" George seemed to not care about the fire.

"Just relax and sit with us!" Bernice stretched and casually conversed, "I had this random thought while I was building my tent and it was about the Great Demonic War."

"So you have a question. What do you wish to know?"

With a serious expression, she looked over at him and asked, "What were you doing during the war?"

Everyone including Hester turned their head over to look at the two.

George's face turned grim while Emma's face turned serious.

'His aura is changing!'

Bernice is a high-leveled mage who is exceptionally sensitive to the natural energy fields of others compared to other classes of the same rank. Most are normally internalized for regular people, but a skill like [Aura] forcefully externalizes the energy fields of a person without the requirement of any rank. This makes it easy for her to read his emotions.

The originally static, cold, and indifferent aura of his that he passively projects turned a demonic red shortly after Bernice asked the question. This additional attribute was mixed with all kinds of feelings: sadness, grief, hatred, loneliness, chaos, and other unknown emotions.

Just as fast as it appeared, the demonic red filled with all kinds of emotions was forcefully suppressed. It seemingly vanished, leaving a cold indifference that felt even more colder than usual.

The atmosphere around the group seemingly chilled.

"I'd... rather not talk about it." George replied in a low voice. He stared into the flames.

"Oh, um, sorry..." Bernice's face turned pale from realizing she may have asked a sensitive question.

The atmosphere became slightly cold and awkward.

Even Abe and Emma did not know how to salvage this situation. They opened their mouth but nothing came out.

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Everyone went to bed quietly that night.

Bernice had trouble falling asleep. She did not know her question would affect George so greatly. She could infer that he must have been in the war and was deeply affected by it.

As a [Healer] her class allows her to feel the atmospheres of people to read their health. This ability is only slightly weaker than [Mage] but works effectively if she scans the person.

Bernice was only asking a random question that had appeared in her mind. She did not know he had involvement in the war and was clearly deeply affected by it. If she did, she would have never asked.

She was now trying to figure out a way to apologize and make amends.

"Hey, Bernice?" Emma whispered outside her tent.

Bernice opened the tent up and let her inside.

"Sorry..."

"Don't apologize to me. Apologize to George if you want tomorrow. It's not like it's entirely your fault. You just didn't know. I've asked questions before I didn't know were sensitive. It'll be fine once you apologize." Emma tried to comfort Bernice to the best of her ability.

"Really?" Bernice looked up with brighter eyes.

"Definitely." Emma smiled to reassure her.

"That's why you're my best friend!" Bernice could not help but hug Emma, causing her to blush slightly.