Sobbing, Fuyuko murmured, "I wish I could feel your touch one more time and see your emotions one more time."

She stopped briefly and stroked Satoshi's chin before continuing with, "I wish I could have burned all your emotions into my brain. I will try to be for Hideka what we both failed to be," she quietly sobbed.

"I will try to be a real mother. I will do my best, but I hope you will do your job as fast as possible and return," she whispered before kissing Satoshi's forehead. A kiss on the lips is quite difficult if you don't even have lips.

"Thank you, and don't worry. I will do my best and hurry back," Satoshi whispered to her.

The two stood silent, and Az just scratched his head as he watched the two. The rest of Az's Minions just watched in silence. It didn't take long for the couple to say their goodbyes.

Meanwhile, the blood-red sun seemed to be setting on the horizon.

"And are you ready now?" asked Az, who felt a stone fall from his heart.

'Yes, I am,' replied Satoshi, with a nod.

'Finally, one problem less. I was worried that we might have to kill his wife. Fortunately, she acted wiser than Satoshi. Well, now I finally have a potential magic teacher. Finally, I can plan to diversify my magic disciplines."

"Why are you smiling," Simaev asked as the group followed the sunset.

"I'm smiling because I have one less problem on my mind now," Az replied.

Simaev just nodded at his answer. Az looked at Satoshi and saw him talking to Ogron and Otaz about certain things. After a few minutes of listening, Az's head hurt. 'They're talking about some history stuff. But I didn't expect Ogron to be so talkative, let alone Satoshi not being depressed for the first few days.'

After several hours of walking in the forest, the group stopped to set up camp here. Only a small tent was set up for Az. The remaining four didn't require sleep or a tent. They planned to stay awake most of the time anyway.

Simaev gathered wood, and Satoshi used magic to light a campfire with a quick flick.

"Satoshi, why don't you have to utter the spells to summon a spell?" asked Az.

"Oh, that's something only mages of intermediate level and higher can do. Don't worry, when you reach that level I will teach you the methods," Satoshi told him before continuing with, "But I think it's time I give you something to read."

He handed Az a book on the water element.

"This should be the easiest element for you to start. I'll help you with your practice tomorrow. But for today, you should at least read through a few chapters," Satoshi replied before standing up.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Az began reading the book by the campfire while holding a lamp in front of him. But it didn't take long for him to fall asleep.

"psst Az, wake up," whispered Otaz, who slowly nudged Az with the handle of his scythe.

"Give me a moment. I want to keep sleeping," Az mumbled as he turned.

"No. Get up, young man," Otaz whispered as he continued to poke Az's belly with it.

"Alright, alright," Az replied and climbed out of the tent.

But what awaited him shocked him. In front of him lay a pile of dead animals. It looks like Ogron and the rest killed a pack of wolves and some deer, which came too close to the tent at night.

"Looks like you'll be wearing wolf pelts soon," laughed Ogron as he let a light gray coat dry in the morning sun. Simaev and Satoshi, on the other hand, were standing in front of a campfire grilling wolf and deer meat. Most of it was smoked to be used as later rations.

Az's stomach growled at the smell of grilled meat. Only now did he realize that he was starving like an animal.

Simaev just smiled at Az and handed him a skewer of meat. "Here, take it," she told him.

Az took it with a nod and ate it quietly. Unfortunately, the meat was not seasoned, but what can you do. You can't have everything in life. The main thing is to have something edible. That's the only thing that counts. Only a satisfied person can worry about the taste of their food.

It did not take long until he finished and reached for the other skewer. 'Deer meat tastes better than wolf meat when you eat it unseasoned.'

After Az had eaten, Satoshi called after him. "It's time to start your first magic lesson," he announced with a smile as he stood in front of him in a cloak, exposing his skull. "If you've read through it, then you should understand the simplest water spell. But I will show you the basics again," Satoshi told him with a smile.

Satoshi just mumbled:"[Water]" and a mass of water accumulated in front of him. He forced the mass of water into several shapes and commented regularly on his actions.

"There are two ways mages use spells," Satoshi mentioned, turning the mass of water into a spear and throwing it against the ground. After that, he muttered, "[Water Spear]," and a spear made of water materialized in his hand, which he threw to the same place.

"As you have just seen, I have conjured the same thing in two different ways. The first way is to transform a mass of water in your head the way you want it and then throw it. This method has the advantage that you can use it without knowing the spell. At the same time, you can change what you want to summon," Satoshi explained while a water spear was formed in his hand, which then transformed into a water hammer.

Az tried to imitate him, but in his case, the summoned water mass did not stay in the air for long before falling to the ground.

"With a little practice, you'll get it," commented Satoshi, who continued to play with his water mass. The mass of water turned into a ball that flew at a rapid speed towards Az only to stop a few centimeters in front of him. The water that formed the ball moved rapidly before slowing down and losing the shape of a ball in the end.

"Before you try to transform the mass of water into other shapes, you better try to keep the mass in the air. The most important thing for you right now is control. The rest comes after," Satoshi told Az who just nodded.

Az summoned a mass of water again and held it upright in the air while trying to listen to Satoshi.

"Now, where was I? Ah yes. The first method is more versatile but has a big problem for young and inexperienced mages. In battle, you have to use a spell quickly and don't have time to form the spell properly first. At the same time, the first method consumes more mana," Satoshi explained, pausing for a moment.

Az water mass remained in the air during his speech.

Satoshi continued, "The second method is to use a mage spell that summons the element in the form. [Fire Lance], [Water Lance], [Lightning Lance], [Rotting Lance] are well-known examples here."

Several lances of different elements appeared above Satoshi, and he shot them into the air.

"However, with this method, you need to memorize and master more spells," Satoshi told Az before stating: "That's enough information you should know. Please continue with manipulating the shapes of your water spell."