Chapter 41 Peaceful Times

I got up, and then immediately went into my training. Since I had my weights, I didn't take long to finish my exercises. This is a good thing, since today was my day to make the food for us. After I finished my exercises, I immediately went to go make us some breakfast. I didn't see Ana or Astra on my way to the storage area. My weights must have really increased my training efficiency, causing me to finish before they even woke up.

At the storage area, I first see the bodies that had their blood drained from them. I passed by them, and just grabbed some simple ingredients. I'm not in the mood to make something fancy, as Ana could just make something one hundred times better. Besides, it would take up a lot of time, which could be used for better things, like dismantling or hunting. So with that, I quickly cooked breakfast.

"Astra, Ana, breakfast is ready," I yelled after I had set the table.

They came out of their rooms and headed to the kitchen. There, they began to eat the food that I had prepared, while I also ate my food. Since we all started at the same time, I finished my food first. I grabbed my dishes, and waited for Astra and Ana to finish. They finished soon after, and I brought the dishes to be washed. Passing by the bodies once again, I washed the dishes in the river. That didn't take long, and I went back to them.

"I feel that you would drastically increase the hunting efficiency, which is why I would like you to hunt today," Astra immediately says once she sees me.

"I'm guessing that you will take over the dismantling then?" I ask for confirmation. While I don't really mind hunting or dismantling, they both do need to be done. If we just all go hunting, then the bodies would never be dismantled. Also, Astra is the only other one who has learned how to dismantle, and, as such, she is the only one who could dismantle if I go hunting.

"Yeah, I'll be dismantling the bodies here," Astra says. "I just feel that you would be able to help more with hunting than dismantling."

"Yeah, yesterday the difference was really clear," Ana pitched in. "Your detection spell is really useful."

"You both can use the spell as well," I say a little bitterly. "After all, you can use one element through your mana links."

"I don't really understand how it works," Ana immediately replies in response.

"I can't get it to work," Astra then replies.

This is weird. They should be able to use these spells, as they only need the corresponding mana. Originally, I thought a corresponding affinity was needed, but a spell only needs the corresponding mana. However, it seems like they can't change my detection spell to a chantless one. This gives me some confidence, as I could still have spells that are uniquely mine. Well, they will be uniquely mine as long as I keep the chant hidden. However, why could they not turn this spell chantless, while every other one could be. I'll have to look into this later, along with the other things on my to-do list.

"Well, no use in thinking over this," Ana says after a while of silence. "Instead, let's think about hunting."

"Oh speaking of hunting, I just realized something," I replied. "We don't need to use the leaf method to find each other."

"Huh." "What do you mean?" Both of them were confused by my statement.

"We can use our mana links," I replied to answer their confusion. "Our mana links will give us a general location of each other. I'm sure that we can use it to find ourselves while we are invisible. This is also less conspicuous than the leaf method."

It took a little bit of time for them to say anything. I'm guessing they were trying to find my location through our mana links. I'm not sure they even noticed this feature when we had our mana linked.

"You're right." "We can do this." They say in unison.

"This will seriously help us find each other if we ever get separated. However, it will only give the general location."

"I can tell where you are, Sylvi," Ana says.

"Yeah, I don't get just a general location," Astra also backs up Ana's claim.

"Huh?" It is now my turn to be confused. From what they are saying, they aren't getting a general location. They seem to be getting my exact location. However, I'm only getting a general location. The only thing I can think of, is that since they have a better control over the mana links, they are able to get more information from it. This is just a guess, but it feels right. After all, in regards to our mana links, they only have a better control over it than me. Everything else is practically the same.

"I think that your better control over our mana links is probably the cause of this," I say, voicing my thoughts out loud.

"Yeah that does seem to be the most likely reason," Astra says, agreeing with my conjecture.

"Well, we can test this out when I gain better control over our mana links," I reply. "Right now, it is only a guess. However, this will be extremely useful, as the both of you would be able to find me when hidden. That is really all we really need."

"Okay, I guess I'll head to the dismantling room," Astra says, ending the conversation, and getting us focused on the work ahead.

"I'll follow you down there to get the magic bag," Ana says afterwards. With that, the both of them then head to the storage/dismantling room.

"I'll wait by the exit of the cave," I yell at Astra and Ana as they're leaving.

It took a little bit of time, but eventually Ana came with the magic bag. She then grabs my hand, and activates her hiding spell.

"O spell of wind flow around my body to hide myself," I chanted my hiding spell, and with it active we immediately went out of the cave. I didn't use the detection spell, as no demonic beasts come near the cave. As such, it is just a waste to chant it right now. However, I did spend effort to erase our tracks as we walked. Usually Astra would do that, but she was back at the cave dismantling, so this task once again fell on my hands. We walked for a little while, before I decided to chant the detection spell.

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

With the detection spell chanted, I was able to find a lot of hits. There were 5 that seemed to be in a group, as they stuck close to one another. Diego and his crew only have 4 so this can't be them.

"I found a group with 5 in them," I say. "Just to be safe, let's check to see first. Afterwards, we'll kill them."

"Okay," was the reply that I heard.

With her permission given, I began to lead her to the group of five. Of course, we were both being very careful to keep ourselves hidden. We soon saw the group of 5, which turned out to be wolf type demonic beats. I was already expecting this, since wolf type demonic beasts are usually the ones that like to be in packs.

Once Ana saw them, she immediately rushed in to attack. Water lances were forming around her as she rushed in. When the wolves noticed her, she shot the 5 lances that she had created. They each hit a wolf, stunning it for a little bit of time. While they were stunned, she attacked with her claws and teeth. This caused all of them to become severely injured.

I wanted to go in to help her, but she was killing them too quickly and easily. There would be nothing for me to do, especially since I need time to get my spell sword active. By the time I chanted my spell sword, she would have already killed all the wolves. The only thing I could do is watch the surroundings and make sure we are not attacked. From my detection spell, we were pretty safe, with no enemies in our immediate vicinity. When I had confirmed this, Ana had already finished killing all of the demonic beasts. She even put them all in the magic bag.

"Done," she said cheerfully.

"You couldn't leave any for me," I reply in a slightly aggrieved tone to tease her.

"You were just too slow," she responds curtly, not taking my teasing to heart.

"You were actually too fast," I said, seeing that she didn't realize her mistake. "We hadn't even surveyed the area properly. Diego and his crew might have been nearby. They could have also been observing this pack of demonic beasts, hoping to run into us. Luckily, neither is the case this time, but that doesn't mean it will always be like that. We have to be careful."

"I don't feel like we need to be careful," Ana replies flippantly. "After all, it is only Diego. We have the strength to defeat him easily."

"Is that how you remember the battles," I reply. "I seem to remember having to save the both of you from Diego. I also seem to remember that it is usually me who has to fight these battles."

Ana doesn't say anything in response. I look over at her, and she seems to be thinking about what I said. I hope she was thinking about the being careful part. I can only hope, but I believe that is highly unlikely. After all, she only started thinking after I was talking about our fights. Well, it's not like I can do anything about it now.

"Let's clean this place up first," I say to try to distract her from her thoughts. "We still have more hunting that we need to do."

"Yes, yes," Ana mumbles, agreeing with me. Even though she agrees, she really doesn't do anything to help. In the end, I have to clean up the majority of the battlefield. However, the battlefield is cleaned up, making it seem like nothing had happened. I'm sure if someone looked closely, they would find something. However, they would first have to find this place.l, which on the surface looks no different than any other place.

"Okay, I've cleaned up the battlefield," I say to Ana, keeping my grievances in my heart. "Let's head out to find some new prey."

"Yeah, yeah," Ana mumbles, still thinking about what I've said.

We continue hunting demonic beasts. However, Ana has been of no real help. She was still thinking about what I've said, causing me to fight most of the battles. There were even some times when she was attacked, and I had to protect. It wasn't really that hard for me to do, but it was really annoying. Even more so when she had the strength to easily kill these demonic beasts. I thought that she would stop and help me, but she didn't. Eventually, I couldn't take it any longer, and decided to head back to the cave. Besides, lunch was closing in. With that decided, and Ana too busy thinking to object, I led us back to the cave.

"Huh, why are we here?" Ana asks once she finds herself at the cave entrance. It seems like she has finally stopped thinking about what I've said. However, we are already at the cave, so we shouldn't go out to hunt.

"It's almost lunch," I responded to her. "I decided it would be best if we came back. You also weren't in the best position to fight."

"Sorry," Ana says with embarrassment. It seems like she was conscious of her actions while she was still thinking over what I said.

"It's fine," I reply. "I hope you found the answer to what you were thinking of."

"Yes, I have," she replies immediately.

"Okay, that's nice," I replied. "Head inside and talk it over with Astra if you want. I'll go prepare lunch for us, and also Astra if she hasn't already eaten."

"Okay, and thanks for protecting me," she mumbles in the later part.

However, I could still hear her saying thanks so I responded with "you're welcome."

With that, she leaves to go find Astra. I'm sure she'll also tell her why we are here, so I don't have to. I went to the dismantling/storage room, so I can get the ingredients for lunch. I decided to make my meat buns for lunch. I also wanted to try something different with these meat buns. I got all the ingredients I would need for this, and brought them to the kitchen.

I first set the grains to be crushed. Once I did that, I began to cut up the meat into thinly sliced pieces. Once I had finished cutting, I used the heating magic circle to cook them over a pan. Once they were done, I put it aside. I then brought out the potatoes and began to skin them. Once I had finished skinning them, I put some water in a big pot, and placed the skinned plates inside. I also added some salt into the water, since I wanted the potatoes to have a salty taste, and then, I used the heating magic circle to boil the potatoes.

Once the potatoes had finished boiling, I cut them up like the meat. Once that was done, I set them alongside the meat. By this time, the grains had long been crushed, so I took out the crushed grains. I then added some water and turned it into dough. I kneaded the dough thoroughly, before rolling it out on the table. With it rolled out, I placed the sliced potatoes onto the dough. I then began to knead the potatoes into the dough. Finally, I added the meat and kneaded it all really well. Once it was all kneaded well, I began to cook up the dough. Of course, I separated the dough before cooking them.

With that, my new meat buns had been created. Even though adding potatoes might not be that big, I feel like that will change the taste of the meat buns. I'm not sure how, but I'm sure it will be in a positive way. After all, meat and potatoes go well together, so I'm sure this will also go well together. It'll be up to Astra and Ana though.

"Astra, Ana, lunch is ready," I yell out to them. Of course I only called out to them once the meat buns had finished cooking, and after I had set the table. It didn't take long before Astra and Ana came out. Once they had come out, they began to dig into the meat buns. I didn't eat, and chose to watch them first. Ana took one bite, stopped, and looked over the meat bun. After a little bit of time, Ana continued to eat the meat bun. Astra just ate ravenously, showing how hungry she was.

"So how is it?" After they had both eaten one meat bun, I decided to bite the bullet and ask them their opinions on it.

"It was very good," Ana responded first. "I could tell that you added potatoes, but their taste was obscured by the meat and bread. While it does enhance the flavor, it can barely be tasted. However, it is a good idea."

"I couldn't even tell there were potatoes added," Astra genuinely says.

"I guess I'll leave the cooking stuff to Ana," I sigh dejectedly.

"You don't have to," Ana says encouragingly. "Your ideas are unique, and things that I might never think of. You should continue to try out your ideas. I'm always here for help if you need it."

"Thanks, but I'll just tell you my ideas from now on," I say. "After all, you are the better cook. My ideas can be different than yours, but will only become spectacular in your hands."

"Let's move on from this topic," Astra then says, interrupting Ana's response. "Anyone have anything important to discuss? Or maybe anyone has any suggestions for what we could use the rest of the day on?"

"Assuming that all the demonic beasts hunted yesterday are dismantled, we can prepare the ones hunted today." I say. "With that, we can see how much more we will need to hunt. I have some things I want to work on, so I'd rather not hunt."

"I have no opinions," Astra says after I stop talking.

"I'm fine staying," Ana says a little while after Astra. It seems she is still thinking about the new addition I had added to the meat buns. I don't know what else she could possibly be thinking of.

"Well, look like we'll be staying here," Astra says. "Sylvain, come help me with the demonic beasts.

"Yeah, I'm coming," I say, following Astra to the dismantling/storage room. The magic bag was already on the desk, but the bodies were still inside of it. I'm guessing that Ana just came down, and dropped it off.

"I'll take out the bodies, while you drain their blood?" Astra asks.

"Yeah, let's go with that," was the response I gave. With that, Astra went to the magic bag, and began taking the bodies out of it. She would then hand them to me, and I would position them so that their blood would flow from their bodies. Tomorrow, their blood will be drained. The amount of beasts that we have hunted has come together to form a significant amount. Including today's hunt, we should have enough food to last us 5 weeks. However, we'll need more, since I need 7 weeks worth of food to start the journey. Astra and Ana also need at least 2 weeks worth of food to live off of while I'm gone. They would also be able to hunt, so they will be fine. While thinking of this, Astra had emptied the magic bag.

"We are done," she says curtly before she leaves.

"Wait," I call out to her before she leaves my sight completely.

"Yes?" She asks.

"I finished my little project," I said.

"Huh?" She is first confused, but she soon remembers after a little bit of time.

"Do you want to see it?" I ask since she hasn't said anything afterwards.

"Sure, I don't really have anything better to do right now," she replies.

"Okay, they are in my room," I reply. "Let's head over there."

We then walked over to my room. I went inside, and found the extra weights on the floor. I didn't really have any place to put them, and didn't move them from where I left them.

"So is this what you were working on?" Astra asks as she looks over the weights. She plays with the latch, opening and closing it. While she is playing with them, she seems to be a little disappointed. However, I don't know the reason why she is disappointed.

After playing with it for a bit of time she asks, "So what does it do?"

"Well, I use it to help increase my training intensity," I say as I show her the weights that I have on my limbs. "They help increase my weight, which makes it harder to do simple tasks."

"Can I try them on?" Astra asks, clearly showing her interest.

"I made them with the human form in mind," I say. "So you won't be able to wear them in your fox form. You can wear them in your human form though. Of course, if you give me a little bit of time, I could make weights that fit your fox form."

"I like my fox form more, so let's go with that last option," Astra replies after some deliberation.

"Okay, yet another thing to add to my to-do list," I sigh as I reply.

"What else do you have to do?" Astra asks curiously.

"Not much," I replied. "I just need to create a portable heating magic circle, create a brush, do some research on different topics, and now make weights that fit your fox form."

"What is the brush for?" Astra asks.

"It's to brush your tails of course," I reply. "We did say I was going to do that, right?"

"Yes we did," Astra replied. "I never thought you would go through with it."

"If you guys don't want it, then I won't do it, but it is a real hassle for you guys, so of course I'll lend a helping hand," I say.

"Well, I'll have to thank you in advance," Astra says as she leaves.

"Your welcome," I say to her retreating figure as I go back into my room. In my room, I wanted to start my work on the portable magic circle. However, I first decided to look outside. This way, I could see how much time was spent, and how much time I had. When I checked, the sun was pretty low in the sky, meaning it is almost dinner time. I guess that we spent too much time in the dismantling/storage room. Seeing how late it was, I quickly changed directions, and began to cook dinner. I didn't make anything fancy, as that would take up too much time. It didn't take long for me to finish, but once I did my stomach rumbled which indicated that I finished cooking right at dinner time.

I set the table before yelling, "Astra, Ana, dinner is ready."

Once I yelled that, both Ana and Astra came and sat down. They then began to eat the food that I had prepared. No one talked, and we just ate our food in silence. After we finished eating, we didn't talk about anything, since no one had anything to talk about. I went back to my room, and they began to train my multitasking skill, and my use of only one element through our mana links. I was determined to work until I felt an improvement in either of them. However, I passed out before I could feel either one of them improve.