Ancient Ironbark Timberland.

As the name would suggest, the forest we traveled through was an old one, full of massive trees that stretched out for as far as anyone could see. From the little I knew of this place, my rough guess was at about a million square kilometers. In short, the area it covered was massive!

The Myriad Beast Sect alone controlled about half of that, possibly more. That meant that, no matter how diligent the hunters were, there was simply no way in hell to keep the dense jungle of trees, bushes, shrubs, and vines completely clear of powerful monsters. While the immediate vicinity of the Sect could somehow be managed, the wilderness was still mostly an unknown and constantly changing danger for the young new Disciples.

Which was what we were. Young, and weak.

Birds and crickets were chirping and singling in tune with one another and the rest of the forest’s chorus of animal sounds. We were too, chatting and joking with each other as we left the Sect in high spirits, but as the main road changed into a dirt forest path, and that one narrowed to a trail through the woods, we, unlike the rest of the forest, quieted down.

Our steps were hasty, at least at the beginning, and then, more than two hours later, the distance to the Sect became considerable. There was no turning back.

“Oh!” Ban exclaimed suddenly. “Mind if we take a little break?”

“Why, what’s going on?” Chity questioned.

“There!” Ban pointed and ran a few steps off the path, crouched down, and began picking berries off a small bush. There were barely any, but he diligently stored them in a small cloth sack. I noticed there were many such bushes around us, and most of them had some tiny red fruits on them. “It’s the Crimson Cluster, I’m pretty sure.”

He quickly took out a small booklet to confirm and scrolled through it. He nodded. “It is!”

Chity considered it for a moment. “Well… Alright then, gather what you can. Ten minutes.” He then also took out a small cloth sack and began picking. As did the rest, me included, though I didn’t know why.

“Alright!”

[Are you an Alchemist or something? What are these things?]

“Nope, and no idea.” Ban looked at my clear display of confusion and smiled. “I did some research and found out a few things we were likely to find on this expedition. Some alchemical ingredients and such things, so that we won’t go back empty-handed even if we catch nothing.”

[Clever. Wish I thought of that.] I was actually on watch for various alchemical ingredients myself, only those were the ones I used for potions in my previous life. Couldn’t find a single plant I recognized here though. And that annoyed me. Especially since I really wanted to make more Mana Elixirs.

“Haha, thanks!”

We continued picking the crimson berries and they were all gone before the ten minutes were over. It was time to go.

“Alright, onward!” Chity announced and off we went.

We haven't seen any animals during our travel, but Ban kept his eyes peeled and as such noticed many interesting alchemical ingredients. A few clusters of medicinal moss here, a bit of lichen there, together with a mushroom or two, we quickly gathered enough to fill many cloth sacks over. And they could each store a modern watermelon, so the gain was considerable.

Despite our loot being on the cheap side, there was still a need for it. One sack was worth 10 SSS at least, maybe more. In less than half a day we have gathered enough so even if we found nothing else, this trip wouldn’t have been a loss.

Of course, we weren’t satisfied yet. We all bought things to prepare and if we went back now it would have been a tragedy. There were so many things left for us to discover, and we had plenty of time on our side.

It was barely noon.

The forest floor was shaded and still quite damp. That’s why we were able to discover some fresh-looking tracks of a hooved animal. It was not easy to follow, far from it, but it was the only thing we had to go on for the entire day, so we decided to check it out.

We all quieted down and followed the trail through the underbrush. Our progress was slow and difficult and we had to often exchange places as the one up front had to carve a path through the bushes and thorny vines.

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We found many more ingredients that way, so it wasn’t all bad. I began to think one expedition like this every week would be enough to live comfortably. Enough money for food and a bit to keep aside In case of emergency.

There were still clothes and tools as well as weapons that would have to be bought over time, but for now, this seemed sufficient.

As I was thinking, we eventually came upon a fresh patch of forest that had been devastated. Bushes were uprooted, grasses were trampled, and anything that could be eaten, was.

An animal or a group of them recently came through, that much was clear.

Chity gestured for everyone to be quiet and we spread out in a line and slowly made our way forward. Sounds were coming from the front not far away, and I could instantly recognize them. Wild boars. A delicious meal no matter how you prepared them.

I started salivating just at the thought of it.

We all retracted our Auras as best we could, and luckily the wind was on our side, blowing toward us. Ban and Chity took their bows and nocked the arrows in advance as they slowly moved forward in complete silence.

We soon saw them. A small herd of wild boars. They were cheerfully digging through the soil and munching on the roots and tubers of various plants. If they found an insect while doing that, that was just a bonus. They dug into the soft ground with long tusks, intensely sniffing while they were at it.

We were still a dozen meters away when Chity gave the sign. He lifted a bow and so did Ban. I focused on Ban as I didn’t know his capabilities yet. He seemed competent enough, but I was curious.

He pulled back the string and brought his hand under his right eye. He took a breath and steadied his hand for a short second, aimed, and released.

I was pretty confident I knew which one he was aiming for, so I immediately knew he would miss it as soon as he released the string. But he didn’t. That was odd.

I blinked rapidly a few times, making sure my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me. I could have sworn I saw the arrow change direction mid-flight. Telekinesis? It was possible, but I didn’t detect any magic. Not that I was paying attention, but still…

In any case, two arrows flew, and two found their mark, sinking deep into the flesh of those wild boars. The loud squeals they released immediately sent every one of them into a panic and disappeared from our view before we could even blink. Including the two wounded ones. They ran the fastest. In opposite directions.

“I got him, I got him!” Ban exclaimed, shaking from excitement and adrenaline pumping through his veins.

“Heck yeah!” He and his brother high-fived and began to laugh.

I heard Chity breathe out a sigh of relief and then laugh as well. “That was a big one! We are eating good tonight!”

We were all excited, and after a minute of short celebration, we split up and followed the blood trail. Chity went with Blade and Shi, while I followed the rest.

We did not hurry, instead going slower than usual, giving the animals time to breathe their last. There was no chance of them running away, especially after all the blood we saw on the leaves and soil. And indeed, not even a hundred meters away, we found our hog.

The animal collapsed beneath a bush, the arrow having pierced its heart and lungs. A pool of blood already began gathering beneath it, saving us time from having to drain it manually.

Ban came slower and clapped his hands together, before bowing to the dead beast and saying a quick word. Whether it was in thanks or prayer, I couldn’t tell for I did not hear it. He then crouched down, leveraging the broadhead arrow out of the wound. A nasty way to go.

It made me think of my own body and how weak it currently was. A well-placed sneak attack with one of these and I might just be dead in a similar way.

“Can you give me a hand?”

“Sure.”

Pero and Ken each grabbed a hind leg of the boar and lifted it up. Ban then slit the beast’s throat, letting the rest of the blood drain out. They held it like that for a minute or two and then dropped it on the ground when the dripping nearly stopped.

[It was a nice shot. Good job.]

“Thank you. Just doing my best.” Ban replied.

[Did I see things or did your arrow shift mid-flight?]

Ban laughed. “Oh, so you saw that, huh? It was a trick my father taught me. I’m a terrible shot with a bow, but up to a dozen meters, nothing can escape me.” He rubbed the back of his head, clearly embarrassed.

“Dude what?! You can move arrows mid-flight?” Ken exclaimed. He didn’t have time to ready his crossbow so he didn’t have a chance to shoot or we would probably have enough for a feast. Well, we probably still did.

Ban nodded modestly. “It’s just a small trick, nothing special.”

“Dude… You have to teach me, you hear me? You have no idea how many times I missed my target up close. This thing is too bulky and makes too much noise for short-range hunting.”

“Okay, sure. I can do that.”

Well, Ban got himself a handful. Teaching a Brother Telekinesis for shooting arrows… It was a good idea, but I preferred straight-up magic attacks. Less hassle. And since we already were on the topic of weapons…

[What about you? You good with that thing?] I asked Pero with that long pike of his. He didn’t appear too confident wielding it.

“Eh… I think I might have made a mistake… It’s a pain to move it around this jungle. I just keep getting snagged on vines and branches.” He complained. “How do you do it? I didn’t see you having problems like that.”

[My glaive? Practice, I guess. Perhaps you should try something more streamlined. A spear maybe?]

“Hmm… Maybe. I’ll have to think about it.”

[No pressure.]

We returned back the way we came and soon bumped into the other group who also came back with their catch.

“Hoho! What do you say we set up camp here boys?” Chity exclaimed in high spirits as he began tying his trophy to a branch with the intent of skinning it. “This is going to take a while anyway.”

“Cool.”

“I’m good with it.”

We all agreed and began preparing a campsite as Ban and Chity began cleaning the meat. Blade began cutting the bushes while Shi gathered stones for the campfire.

Pero and Ken heard the sound of a stream nearby and went to get some fresh water while I was cleaning up the place.

I used my Telekinesis to shift some big rocks around when I noticed it. The Formation… There wasn’t any! I could use Earth Magic! Finally!

My eyes opened wide accompanied by a grin, and I stuck my hands into the ground, my Qi boiling in excitement. I released it all at once. There came an earthquake.