The rest of the day went by quietly for Chuck and the group. He was still a bit paranoid of creatures leaping out of the forest at them though. The road they were on was winding up a hill. Chuck decided to call it a hill but it was really a short mountain. Now that they were above the main canopy he could see the chain of mountains running off into the distance.

Level five of sneaking had finished early that morning. Mana manipulation had completed its first level along with level four of tracking. He didn't have any time to practice with the new ability though.

The walk was tiring but he managed to keep up with the others. Everyone was quiet as they traversed a ravine. Chuck turned when he heard some rocks tumble from above. Cresting the top of the cliff was the largest bear he had ever seen. It rose on its back legs and let out a massive roar.

The sound shook the ground as the others were yelling. Spells started to fly at the creature and this time Chuck was prepared. He fired off an ice arrow. The spell slammed against the creature's thick hide and burst into chunks. Chuck took a step back, he didn't have any other spells capable of hitting the beast and he didn't want to get within melee range of that thing's massive claws.

He remembered his mana manipulation skill and decided to try that. The beast was occupied fighting off Erwin and Ricardo, the fire and rock seeming to actually harm the creature.

Chuck focused on what he was doing while the others prepared as the beast loped down the slope. He concentrated on the spell formation and thought about changing the shape of the projectile. Instead of a standard icicle, he wanted it to be shaped like an arrow. Sweat poured down his face as he concentrated on making this change. Slowly a transparent blue arrow the size of a ballista formed in front of him. He held onto the spell until the bear leaped into the air.

As soon as the bear left the ground he launched the projectile, the world went black as he collapsed to the ground, his mana spent.

Erwin cursed their group's rotten luck for running into a dire bear. They may eventually be able to wear it down but not before someone in the group was seriously wounded at best. Ricardo and he continued to fire spells at the creature as it ran towards them. Chuck had only fired the one spell, he couldn't fault the kid his spell had shattered on the beasts tough hide.

Just as the beast was about to reach the valley floor a massive blue arrow streaked towards it. The arrow entered the bear's chest and out the back, knocking the creature off its feet. Erin spared a glance towards Chuck and saw the boy unconscious on the ground. He had spent all of his mana on that one attack. He would need to ask Ricardo about this later, for now, the beast was hurt but not dead.

The others rushed in to attack as the beast was injured. The gaping hole in its chest and back slowed the creature but it was still dangerous. Bargo took a swipe across his arm from the massive paw. The blow snapped his arm and he let out a scream as he was flung away by the force of the attack.

Ricardo was using one of his spells to torch the bear's face as it howled in rage. Mellas and Erwin took this chance to stab their weapons through the already open wounds. The sharp blades tore up the creature's insides and it gave a shuddering heave as it fell to the ground, its energy spent. The creature continued to feebly kick its feet as it bled out. Everyone pulled back to let the creature die. It was safer this way.

"Mellas, go check on the kid I'll help Ricardo splint Bargo's arm."

Mellas nodded and trotted over to the kid.

When he got there he checked him, Chuck was unconscious but breathing. It was a foolish move to drain his mana all the way but Mellas couldn't complain too much. The boy had given them an opening to take down the bear. He lifted Chuck onto his shoulder and headed back towards the group.

"Any idea what the kid did?" Erwin asked as he helped bind Bargo's arm. The man was knocked unconscious from the blow. That was a good thing, setting bones was a painful affair.

"I... I'm not sure. I have spell manipulation at level four but that doesn't allow me to change the shape of a spell only hold it or change its trajectory. Whatever skill he has, has far more potential," Ricardo said, looking towards the unconscious boy."

Erwin just nodded at this. It seemed like the kid had an endless bag of surprises for them. A thought flicked through his mind. Stories of god kin that roamed the face of Halcion. He dismissed this notion. If the gods were real they sure as hell didn't help normal folk.

Bargo was the first to wake up, a hiss of pain escaping his lips, "wha- what happened?"

Mellas held the man down, "easy, your arm was broken in the fight."

"We won? Was anyone killed?"

"Yes we won, everyone survived, thanks to Chuck."

Bargo just nodded his head slightly as he relaxed.

Erwin was skinning the bear while Ricardo kept a lookout. Dire bear pelts were worth a single gold in excellent condition. Not that theirs was in excellent condition but a few holes wouldn't detract too much from its value.

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Chuck woke up with a splitting headache. Every move sent splinters of pain into his mind and body. This was way worse than the hangover.

"Try not to move," Mellas said from a few feet away.

Chuck tried to turn his head, not understanding the words but the pain intensified. Well, he wasn't dead and Mellas was still alive so it looks like they won the battle. He wondered at what cost but he would find out eventually. For now, he just closed his eyes, trying to will the pain to go away.

Turns out mana starvation was a thing. It took a particularly energetic round of charades for Chuck to understand what was happening to him. A few questions were thrown his way, the only reason he knew was the inflection at the end. He didn't understand what they were asking but he could guess.

He answered them in English since he didn't know the local translation, "mana manipulation."

Of course, they didn't understand either so it was a crapshoot. It took three hours for the symptoms to subside enough for Chuck to stand. He saw Bargo nursing a broken arm and he wanted to try and help. Ricardo held him back, shaking his head. The man produced a small flame, shook his head then used his hands to make it look like his head would explode. Then he held up ten fingers.

'Gotcha, wait at least ten hours before trying to cast magic or it will feel like my head is going to explode, or it may actually explode. Best not to find out.'

When Chuck saw Erwin lugging the massive pelt he walked over. It was time to trust these people.

Erwin saw Chuck come over and offer to carry the pelt. He smiled but shook his head. He was going to continue when Chuck held up his hand to halt him. Curious to see what the kid wanted, he watched. The kid pulled the old sachel he had off his shoulder and held it out. Erwin was confused at first until Chuck folded the sachel inside out. Inky blackness seemed to bend the very fabric of reality and just looking at it made Erwin queasy.

Chuck motioned for Erwin to touch the pelt to the blackness. Of course, Erwin was skeptical at first but eventually, he gave in, trusting the kid.

As soon as the pelt touched the darkness it vanished. The missing weight made Erwin stumble but he caught himself. He knew what the item was now, although, he had never seen one in person. He also didn't recall Chuck having it when he first arrived. It could have been tucked in his pack but that seemed superfluous. No, he must have discovered it along with his dagger after he ran from the basilisk.

A bag like this would be worth dozens of gold. It was too late to try and get Chuck to hide the item from the rest of the team. Not that he didn't trust his team but riches could make people do stupid things, things they may not do otherwise. He would keep an eye on them, he was only glad the outside appearance of the bag was so poor. Nobody would likely expect anything of value to be held in something so low quality.

Ricardo's eyes went wide when he saw the pelt disappear into Chuck's bag. He had only ever seen an item of holding once in his life. His master had one, a small one at that. It definitely wouldn't have been big enough to hold a dire bear pelt. What else was the kid hiding in that bag he wondered. He quickly looked away before Erwin glanced over. He had been thinking of leaving the group when they returned. In Ricardo's eyes, Erwin was too much of a softy and a risk-taker.

He would have been perfectly fine to adventure just outside Lionoss. He wanted to live a pampered life of a high mage, not get dragged out into the middle of nowhere to fight off beasts easily capable of cutting a man down. He made his decision.

The group moved away from the sight of the battle, the smell of blood and meat would attract other unwanted company. They moved another hour down the trail until they came to a rocky overhang. The clouds seemed to be moving in so this should protect them from the weather at least a bit.

Bargo was moved to the back to stay as dry as possible. Mellas took the first watch as the rest went to sleep.

Chuck awoke in the middle of the night, a hand covering his mouth. He didn't even have time to scream as the dagger ran across his throat. He tried to thrash about or cast his healing spell but he was pinned beneath his blanket, the pain muddling his mind. He heard a scuffle as two men seemed to roll around the ground fighting. It was too late for him though, he was bleeding out. He heard an aborted cry of pain as another body hit the ground.

Chucks eye's widened as he saw Ricardo walk up, holding a bloody dagger.

The boy looked at him questioningly, "sorry kid, nothing personal." He roughly picked the kid up and jerked the magical pack off his shoulder before he ran from the camp.

Chuck didn't even care about the bag, but when his body fell back down after Ricardo jerked the item off of him his eyes fell on the lifeless corpse of Erwin. His vision faded as the blood flowed from his body.

Chuck's eyes sprang open. He quickly glanced around. Ricardo was still sleeping and it looked like Erwin was on watch still. A cold shudder ran through his body at the realization that he had died...again. He checked the blessing to make sure.

Blessing of the Creator

Resets In: 99:56

The reset timer had tripled. He needed to be extremely careful now that he didn't have the safety line.

With Erwin still on patrol, it meant he had time. He couldn't simply go over and kill Ricardo, even though he wanted to with every fiber of his being.

Instead, he quietly took out the amulet, the skill book, the journal, both rings, and the money from the bag. He tucked them inside his pack. Then he set the sachel to his side. He also drew his dagger and kept his eyes partially open. If the man didn't just take the bag and run he would be in for a surprise.

Ricardo was awoken when Erwin kicked his feet, it was time for his watch. He stood and stretched, watching Erwin lay down and fall asleep. He would wait for half an hour. In the meantime, he did his duty and patrolled around the camp.

After he deemed enough time had gone by he quietly made his way back into the camp. He gathered up his gear, checking to make sure everyone was still sleeping. Then he made his way over to Chuck. He didn't hate the kid or anything, although he was a bit jealous of his ability to quickly rise in power. No, this wasn't about that, this was about a mountain of gold around the kid's neck.

He utilized sneaking to get closer to the kid, glad to have leveled the skill to three. It helped with hunting. The kid was fast asleep but Ricardo was in luck. Sometime during the night, the kid had removed the bag. He gave one last look around and hefted the bag onto his shoulder. Then he took off into the forest.

Chuck sat up after Ricardo ran off. The blanket slid off him, exposing the dagger held in his white-knuckled grip. He let out a shaky breath that he had been holding. Slowly he breathed in and out to calm his nerves. This had been the best outcome he could have hoped for. A bag of holding was nice but it wasn't worth a life, let alone two. He chose not to wake anyone else. Instead, he took the last watch of the night.