Chapter 39 Hunting

I woke up the next day, and then immediately got into my exercises. I still don't have enough weight, so I had to do more, but since I don't have to make breakfast, I am full of time. Ana soon called me to eat, but I refused since I hadn't finished my training. It was really hard to refuse, since Ana was making breakfast, and her food is always the best. I was able to refuse by telling myself that it will taste better after I finish.

I then finished my training, and went out to eat breakfast. Astra and Ana were already on the table. Their dishes were void of food, and there was an open space at the table with a plate full of food. I went over there, and began to eat. I scarfed it down, causing me to be unable to enjoy it. However, I came in late so I had to eat quickly. Once I was done, Ana gathered the plates, and went to wash them.

While she was away, I began to think of what we would be talking about. I'm sure the other part of the cave would be talked about. We would also probably talk about our food situation. If I'm unlucky, they'll also ask about creating a magic circle based on the water spell. If that happens, I'll just think of some excuse. While I was thinking of that, Ana came back, and Astra began to talk.

"Since we are all here, let's begin. I would like to start with the other cave. We have all had some time to think over it, and I would like to know if anyone has any new ideas. If not, we can then start to talk about the tests we will be doing."

After she said that, no one talked. This meant that we had no new ideas, or at least none that we were willing to share. After that brief silence, Astra once again began to talk.

"Since we have no new ideas, let's think of the tests we will conduct. So the things we will be testing will be the light suppression, the magic bag's size increase, and any spell changes. Does anyone have any ideas on this?"

"I feel like we need to see if the cave is really circular," I say. "Our basis for these experiments is the closer we get to the center. However, we must first find out if there's a center. Only then will we be able to proceed with our experiments."

"How do you suggest we do this then?" Astra asks.

"Send me through," I immediately replied. "I'll run along the outer edge of the circle with a magic bag full of food. Of course this magic bag will be full based on the size increase caused by the cave. I should be able to last 5-7 weeks depending on how much I eat. I also keep my reinforcement spell active throughout the entire thing, so I will be at my fastest speed. With 7 weeks worth of food, I should be able to traverse the entire circle, if it is a circle."

"I don't like it," Ana says. "You still can't use one element through our mana links. This makes it highly inefficient for you to get water. I'd say either I or Astra goes since we can use one element through our links. We won't be any slower than you, and might even be faster."

"I created this spell, and can adjust it to make it stronger," I say. "This has to do with the mana flow within one's body, and while I'm sure you guys have great mana control, I'm also sure that that great mana control is only for mana outside of your body. I will be faster, and I have also made great strides with using only one element through our mana links. I'll be fine."

"Okay, you can go," Ana says after I finished confronting her. "However, you must return once you finish half of your food. You can't continue thinking you'll make it. I don't care if you can see light. You have to head back once you finish half of your food."

"Okay, I'll do so," I reply. "However, it's not like I'm leaving now. We still need to pack up 7 weeks worth of food. I'm not sure we have that much in the storage."

"The storage only has enough for around 5 weeks, so we will need to hunt," Astra says. "I guess that means Sylvain will be staying for a couple of weeks while we gather the food needed. While you are exploring, Ana and I will think of the different setups for the experiments."

"Okay, just be careful of Diego," I say to them.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine," Ana says before Astra could.

"Okay, that was the main thing for discussion," Astra says next, changing the topic. "Is there anything else anyone wants to add?"

"Oh, since there's still a couple of weeks before I have to explore, I want to ask you guys something," I say in response to Astra's questions.

"Well, what is it sylvi?" Ana asks.

"I want to know how you guys can use chantless spells," I say. "So basically what I am asking is how do you guys use spells?"

"Well, for my usual spells, I think of what I want it to do," Astra says. "Once I have that image in my mind, I send mana to it. After that, the spell manifests."

"Same for me," Ana replies.

"So I have to channel mana through my mind?" I ask, a little confused, since mana can't travel to the head. It only flows below the neck. At least, I have never heard of mana flowing into the head.

"Pretty much." "Yeah, that is the usual."

I don't even think that is possible for me. I assumed that they, as demonic beasts, have some way for mana to flow through their heads. As I've said before, I've never heard of anyone channeling mana into their head. I've also heard of no experiments in which someone has mana forcefully channeled through their head. As such, I readily give up on chantless spells. However, one thing was bugging me. Astra kept using the word usual, which means that there is something else she does.

"I don't think I can do the usual way, so can you tell me the unusual way?" I ask.

"It's not really a major difference," Astra says. "It's just that, I don't really have a reference for your spells. As such, I end up just thinking of the spell chant in my mind before channeling mana through it."

"Oh, that sucks," I reply. "I don't think I'll be able to channel mana through my head, so I think I'll never be able to use chantless spells. Well, it's not like I'm missing out on anything major. I can still make do with my chants."

"Okay, is that everything then?" Astra asks after I finished my last sentence.

"I don't have anything else to add," I replied to her.

"Just make sure you are safe when you are exploring," Ana says to me.

"Okay, since we don't have anything else to add, let's start hunting," Astra says. "After all we need seven weeks worth of food for Sylvain, and even more for us."

"Yea." "Okay."

With that, Astra goes to get the magic bag. Ana and I head to the cave entrance and wait for Astra to return with the magic bag. It doesn't take long, and we soon exit out of the cave.

"O spell of wind flow around my body to hide myself."

After grabbing each other's hands, we all used our hiding spells.

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

After we were all hidden, I chanted my detection spell. I didn't get anything, so I just picked a random direction, and walked that way. I also did my best to cover our tracks as we moved, but it was a little hard since I had to hold onto both Astra and Ana.

"Don't worry about our tracks," Astra said, "I'll cover them for us."

"Okay." I replied after she said that. I then focused my mind on using the detection and hiding spell. I didn't use the rest of my mind, as I wished to stay alert of my surroundings. However, one part of my mind was thinking about magic circles. That part was mostly reserved for magic circles, but despite that, there has been little progress. I just don't have a good enough grasp on them to make any progress. I'm sure once I get a little bit of progress, my understanding would then skyrocket. Soon, I found a demonic beast. It was by itself.

After confirming that it wasn't Diego or his crew, I said, "I'll handle this one."

After saying that, I didn't wait for a response and immediately ran towards it.

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

The part of my mind that was surveying my surroundings chanted my spell sword while I was running. Since my hiding spell was still active, the demonic beats didn't notice me. I was able to quickly run up to it, and slice it with my sword. The demonic beast became alert once I was a couple of feet from it. However, that was a little too late, especially since it still was unable to see me, or my strike. My sword strike cleaved its head straight from its body. After it's head was cleaved, both the body and head disappeared. Astra probably stored it into the magic bag.

"I'm holding up a leaf, so grab onto that," I say once the blood that had been spilled was cleaned up. I'm guessing Ana had used her water element to clean up the spilled blood. I didn't want to undo my hiding spell, but we still needed to hold each other's hands so I could lead us all. As such, we came up with this method. A floating leaf is really conspicuous, but could be easily mistaken as a falling leaf. So, while it will help us, others wouldn't think about it too much. This made it the perfect thing to use to regroup while we were using our hiding spells.

A little bit after I said that, my hands were suddenly grabbed. I let go of the leaf, causing it to fall to the ground. Then, I continued on looking for demonic beats. Of course, I had already stopped channeling mana to my spell sword, and refocused my mind. This hunting style continued on for quite a bit of time. There also seemed to be a competition between the three of us, on who would kill the demonic beasts first, since whenever I found one, we would all charge at it. Of course, only after confirming it wasn't Diego or his crew. This had caused our hunting efficiency to increase, as we would kill the demonic beasts quickly. We had hunted for so long that it was already time for lunch.

"Do you guys want to eat out today?" I asked. I felt it would be a shame if we had to travel back to the cave. That would just waste so much time, and we had all we needed to make lunch here. The only issue is we might be found out. However, we should be fine due to our spells.

"Yeah let's do it," Ana immediately says in response to my question.

"I'm good to eat in the forest." Astra takes a little bit longer to respond, but eventually does as such. This means that we have reached a unanimous decision to eat within the forest. Ana will be making lunch, while I'll be helping her cover the flame. While we should be fine with our hiding spell, I don't want to take any chances. As such, I helped her cover the smoke that came from her cooking. It might have been easier if we brought a heating magic circle. This would allow us to cook our food, without smoke. I'll have to put making a portable heating magic circle on my to-do list, right after making heavier weights.

While I was thinking this, I was still suppressing the smoke. My mind was split into thinking, suppressing the smoke, channeling my detection spell, and thinking of magic circles. Since we are cooking, I felt no need to hide myself, as the smell would attract demonic beasts over. As such, there was no need to use the hiding spell. We were pretty lucky though, as no demonic beats came. I'm not sure why that is, but I won't complain.

Ana soon finished her cooking. She was faster than usual. She probably wanted to lessen the chances of us getting found through this, which is what caused her to cook faster. However, her food is always delicious, and I'm sure her rushed job would be no different. When she gave me the food, I quickly ate it, and it was delicious. It wasn't her best work, but it was definitely better than what I could accomplish, even more so if we were given the same time limit.

I quickly ate the food that was served on leaves since we didn't have plates. All the food was finger food, since we didn't have any utensils to eat with, but that didn't lessen the deliciousness of the food. It was at that moment that I felt some reaction from the detection spell. There were 4 reactions, and they seemed to be moving in a group. This was most likely Diego and his crew. I immediately told Astra and Ana this.

Directly after telling them this, I said, "you guys clean this place up, I'll hide us with my hiding spell. Make sure they can find nothing."

They nodded their heads, and then began to clean up the place. Ana used her water element to erase stains and the like, while Astra burned anything that Ana couldn't erase. While they were doing this, I chanted my hiding spell that was modified to hide multiple people.

"O spell of wind flow around our bodies to hide ourselves."

Once I finished chanting, Astra and Ana had finished cleaning. A couple of seconds later, Diego and his crew came into view. I didn't actually know for sure if they were the reaction from my detection spell. I only knew that there were 4 reactions, and that those 4 reactions were enemies. My detection spell, while useful, can be further improved upon, but I have no idea how I could do this. While I was thinking, Diego began to speak.

"You all smelled that too, right?" He asked. It seemed like he was unsure, which is natural. After all, he had smelled something, and then when he got to the place he smelled it at, there was nothing there.

"Yes." "I did." "For sure."

Three voices resounded out to answer his question. I just hope that they move on, and think of this as a figment of their imagination. However, my hopes were unfounded.

"I'm sure the smell came from here," Diego said. "Let's search the area. Do it thoroughly so we don't miss anything."

The other three agreed with Diego, before going around to check out our campsite. We had chosen to cook in a clearing, so that the forest wouldn't be affected. However, the clearing wasn't large, and we were in the middle of it. If we didn't move, we would eventually be found, since the hiding spell only hides us. We are still there, and can be felt by others. I slowly started to make my way out of the clearing. I'm not sure what Ana and Astra are doing, but I believe they should be doing something similar. I didn't care for the footprints I made, as covering them could get me caught. I just got out of the clearing, when my footsteps were discovered.

"Diego, I found footprints," one of his crew said. "It should be Astra, Ana or Sylvain since these tracks can only be made by those who walk on two feet."

"So they are here," Diego says happily. "Good work, let's follow these tracks and see where they lead."

There was another agreement between all of them, as they began to follow my tracks. The clearing was small, and they were getting closer to me. Three options came into my mind. I could climb a tree and hide, run away, or confront them. I didn't have much time to think, so I decided to hide in a tree.

"O spell of wind come forth as a breeze to blow away my opponents."

Thinking quickly, I decided to mumble my breeze spell. This way, in case the tree shook as I climbed it, the others would just think it was the passing wind. It was better than nothing, and I knew that the tree would shake as I climbed it. With the breeze blowing, I climbed the tree. I stopped on a sturdy branch, and waited. It didn't take long for Diego and his crew to make it to the end of my trail.

"The trail ends here," the person who first found my trail says.

"Do you know why?" A feminine voice said this, making me think the person who said this was a female.

"No, it just disappeared," the person says. "They probably didn't care about this part being found out, and covered their tracks after this point. They also probably went out hunting, and covered their tracks."

"Uh, if only we could find their cave again." The other fox says, disappointment obvious in his tone.

"We found them once, we'll find them again," Diego says confidently. "They've obviously been here, and the smell shows that it has been recent. As such, they should still be in the vicinity. Let's expand our search area and keep looking."

They then began to leave, causing me to sigh in relief. They were literally right under me, and didn't notice. I wasn't really scared of a confrontation, but if I didn't have to, then that would always be better. However, there is still a serious problem. How will I find Astra and Ana? They are hidden with their hiding spells, so I wouldn't be able to find them, and since I can't find them, we can't communicate. I then remembered that I had a spell perfect for this occasion, my detection spell. I had also modified it before to locate allies.

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

I quickly chanted it, and soon got two hits on it. However, they were both separated. It appears that they separated from each other, to probably avoid Diego and his crew. I was just about to head to the one closest to me. However, I decided against that. After all, I have no idea we're Diego and his crew are. I could run into them while heading to Astra and Ana.

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

I chanted my regular detection spell, and then overlaid it with the modified one. This then caused the enemies to show up in red, while my allies showed up in blue. The reason I could tell this was because there were more red hits than blue ones. With this, I didn't have to worry about being caught by Diego and his crew, and I could go find Astra and Ana. I could also continue using my hiding spell, and cover my tracks. I would have to stop thinking about magic circles for a little bit of time.

Once I thought up the best path, I headed to the closest one to me. There were no red hits in the way, so I just went in a straight line. I didn't know who it was, but since it is blue it has to be either Astra or Ana. As I got closer, I still didn't see anyone. It took me a moment to remember that they would also have their hiding spell active.

"Ana Astra," I said in a whisper, trying to see who it was.

"Sylvi," Ana's surprised voice was heard in response to my question. It was a little loud, but it shouldn't attract Diego and his crew, since according to my detection spell, they aren't near.

"Yes it's me," I continued talking in a whisper as I grabbed a leaf. "I am holding a leaf, so come grab it. Then, we'll head to Astra."

I didn't hear anything in response. I kind of thought she would have some questions for me, but she just immediately grabbed onto my hand that was holding a leaf. I dropped that leaf to the floor, and then began to move towards Astra. The direct path to her has been blocked off, so I decided to head around. Of course, I was still covering my tracks as I walked. The only difference was to guide Ana, and also cover her tracks. This wasn't hard though.

We soon made it to Astra, but there was a problem. The female fox from Diego's group was nearby. In fact, I could see her from where I was at. This made me unable to call Astra out, and I'm sure she wouldn't notice the falling leaf if I didn't bring attention to it. Even if she is observant, she should be more focused on avoiding this fox. I relayed to Ana, and just waited. One of the two would move eventually, and either option would be beneficial to us. Soon enough, the female fox began to move away whilst Astra stayed. She had probably finished checking the area, and found nothing, so she decided to check elsewhere.

"Astra," I called out in a whisper once the female fox had left.

"Sylvain?" Astra asked.

"Yes," I replied to her. "I'll be holding a leaf. Also, Ana is with me already. Once you grab on, let's get out of here. I'll need your help to cover our tracks while I lead us out."

"Okay," Astra replies as she grabs my hand. Once she did, I let go of the leaf. I also stopped the modified detection spell. Then I allocated that part of my mind to magic circles. Once that was all done, I then decided on the route we should take.

"Do you want to continue hunting, or head home?" I ask since I'm not sure which they would rather do.

"Diego and his crew are here, so we should head home," Astra says.

"Agreed," Ana replies. "Besides, we've had a good hunt so far."

"Okay, heading home it is," I replied before thinking of the best way to get home. Once I had the best way, I then pulled Astra and Ana along. However, even though I had the best way, it still took us a very long time to get home. There were some times when Diego and his crew would come really close to us. As such, we had to stay still. Otherwise we would have been caught. We also had to avoid battles with demonic beasts, as that would attract attention to us. With all of these factors, it took us a while to head home. In fact, the sun was setting when we finally made it to our cave.

"So Ana is making dinner," I say after I stopped channeling my hiding spell.

"Yeah, I'll get on that," Ana replies tiredly, but happily.

She then heads to the kitchen to start her cooking. Astra then goes to the storage/dismantling room.

"Let's dismantle the bodies tomorrow," I quickly called out to her. If I didn't say this, she would have started dismantling today.

"Okay, I'll just put the bag on the dismantling desk," she replies to me before continuing her journey to the storage/dismantling room. I just went to my room, and decided to practice using one element through my mana links, and my multitasking skill.

"Dinner is ready," Ana called out a little while later. She had called this out once I felt I had finished my training, so I could just go to bed after eating. I soon arrived at the kitchen, and then began to eat the food. I quickly finished the food, and then went to bed directly afterwards.