As Sylvia gathers the leaves expressionlessly, the rest of us were still looking at the fleeing sight of the fleeing wolves with a slight feeling of tripedition.

Only when we saw that all the wolves were out of sight did we react.

My shoulders slump down slightly, as I let out a soft sigh of relief.

I leave my carriage to help Sylvia bury the valiant wolf pack leader.

The servants break out of their stupor too, starting to gather some leaves and branches as well, to cover the rest of the wolves.

It’s not a rare sight to get attacked by wolves, it’s almost considered a confirmed occurrence. However, we have just entered the forest not too long ago, so we should not be near the territory of any wolf pack, or animal for that matter. As such, we weren’t completely prepared for the attack.

The attacks would usually happen when we’re nearing the other end of the forest, when we’re deeper in. Since that’s when we near the territory of other animals.

“We really have bad luck.”, I mutter to myself as I pick up a branch.

Coming across a wandering pack so early on, is really just bad luck.

While I do agree the wolf leader is deserving of a proper burial, we’re doing it out of necessity.

This road is one that’s travelled by many other travellers, as such, to help the subsequent groups, there is an unspoken rule that you are supposed to bury the corpses near the road. This helps eliminate the chances of wild animals running over to populate the main road, attracted by the corpses.

Otherwise, this road would be plagued with wild animals.

As we finish up the cleaning of the aftermath, I notice that besides Sylvia and Zhe Yun, the other 2 mercenaries retreated into their caravan the moment the battle finished, unconcerned with the cleaning up.

It’s true that usually the servants are left to handle these, since the mercenaries are in charge of the fighting, but it does accentuate their aloofness.

That night, the merchant was saying that we probably came across a migrating pack of wolves. While this is bad luck, since we have displayed our strength early on, we have a lower chance of being attacked by other wild animals.

This was good news, since it would be tiring if the mercenaries had to fight everyday. Their stamina might not hold up.

We brush off this unlucky incident and continue journeying on.

I look up at the night sky, thinking about the next days in this forest. It’s expected that we’ll be spending 2 weeks here, so hopefully we’re luckier in subsequent days...

2 Days pass without anything out of the ordinary.

There were no further attacks, as the merchant speculated.

I spend the days relaxing in conversation with the merchant, or doing some simple meditation. When night falls and we set up camp, Sylvia and I then find a nice corner to chat merrily until it gets too dark outside.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

It’s peaceful, hopefully it continues this way...

“Was that a flag?”, I think to myself, raising my chin up with my hand thoughtfully, as I sit peacefully in the comfort of the merchant’s carriage. The merchant sat outside whistling, wanting to get a breath of fresh air since we’ve been stuck inside for a good half of the day.

Before long, we stop for a short break. I say to the group I’m taking a short walk, and would be back soon.The break’s usually an hour anyway.

I find a clearing near our stopsite, looking around to check my surroundings for wild animals.

Seeing none, I relax.

Taking this opportunity, I wanted to experiment with my magic again.

Not that it’s anything to hide, I just feel unsettled seeing someone stare as me as I cast some mediocre apprentice spells. It’s like the feeling you get when someone stares at you eating. It’s not that it’s something embarrassing, but if someone stares at you while you eat, it just feels weird.

I’ve been having some minor breakthroughs lately, possibly because I’ve been practicing it in a much more relaxed manner. I feel like I have more control over my mana, being able to use it more fluidly.

As for my mana capacity… let’s not talk about that.

Since I have more control over my mana now, I have an interesting idea for the compressing of mana I wanted to do earlier.

The most visible improvement was that I am now able to form clearer ‘structures’ using mana.

I breathe in calmly, letting a small amount of my mana run loosely out of my body for a while.

Then I start manipulating that mana outside like clay.

I mould two pieces of a solid-looking material, before leaving them aside to form more of them.

Eventually, I end up with 10 curved pieces of thick ‘mana plates’.

I then formed a ball of mana like I tried before. Releasing mana until the ball reached the size of a basketball, I then used the mana plates to push upon the sides of the ball, containing the ball in each direction.

The mana pieces push against the ball aggressively, as the ball tries to ‘escape’ from the confinement from the spaces in between the pieces.

“Shit.”

At this rate, the ball will leak out completely in less than 10 seconds.

Thinking quickly, I push upon the mana pieces with my utmost strength, pushing forcefully against the ball while ignoring the leak.

Sweat drops form on my forehead as I concentrate to push the plates in.

*Fsshhh*

The ball compresses into the size of a baseball, as it lets out a glaring shine.

I made the mana pieces adhere to each other, forming a structure like the Arc R*actor of Ir*n Man.

I look at the glowing compressed mana with a look of pride.

Wanting to try it out, I prepare to let the metal pieces break off.

However, before I manage to do so... the mana particles start vibrating violently!

As if wanting to shatter the binds holding it, it continues to vibrate, seemingly shaking the air.

“I don’t know what’s happening, but I don’t have a good feeling about this…”, I think, frowning.

Quickly throwing the ball in a direction away from the stopsite, I run towards the stopsite, crouching behind a large tree.

Bracing myself for impact, I cast a simple apprentice ‘Barrier’ spell.

5… 4… 3… 2… 1!

But nothing happened.

I shelved apart the barrier, trying to notice the ball’s condition.

The mana pieces constraining it are still under my control, so I can still sense them.

The ball of mana is vibrating heavily, but hasn’t erupted yet.

Curious at this development, I decide to test it anyway, letting 2 pieces on it fly out.

Almost instantly, the concentrated mana surges out with a ‘Zwip’ sound, before surging in that direction like a beam of light.

The light pierces the trucks of 2 trees before stopping at the third.

*Ssss*

The truck of the third tree sizzles as the light is finally extinguished.

I look at it in surprise.

I was intending for it to function more like a bullet, but there’s a clear lag between the time the beam is launched and the beam making impact.

It’s more like a canon than a gun.

Imagine if you shot a gun, and the bullet took a few seconds of delay to arrive at the target, instead of hitting it in a smooth motion.

The damage is very lethal however, topping every apprentice spell I know.

I don’t know any formal Mage spells, so I can’t compare them.

I laugh at my partial success, deciding to name the spell, ‘Hidden Beam’.

It’s quite literal, the beam’s hidden in a spherical structure, before it’s unleashed.

I sigh on the way back, however.

This is because I notice that more than half of my mana was consumed with this experiment.

Even factoring in the wastage since it’s my first try, more likely I wouldn’t be able to use it more than twice… and using it the second time might cause me to faint directly.

I had thought about having beams of light flash out, vanquishing my foes in dominance... but I guess that’s too far off for me…

I return to the campsite quickly, secretly glad no one noticed the small disturbance I caused.