The two days Masa stayed in Malaysia passed in the blink of an eye, and my parents had reluctantly granted their approval, so we were "leaving" for Japan today. We stood in front of the porch and I hugged my mum as Masa shook hands with my dad and thanked my parents for their hospitality. I told them I would be spending a week there before coming home. Well, Masa estimated that it would take eight hours (or two days in Shyi'eld) for us to reach the portal in Kagawa and eight more hours to make it back here, so I would be spending only about five full days in Japan though. That was good enough for me! A free trip was a free trip after all.

We bid my parents farewell and Muhammad drove us away in the old Mercedes Benz again. Once the mansion was out of sight, however, he turned into a hidden side road and we waited for my parents' car to drive past. We didn't have to wait long, and once the sound of their car faded into the distance, he started the engine again and we retraced our steps to my home. Muhammad escorted us to the enclosed garden, luggage and all, and Masa thanked him and shook his hand before we entered the hut.

Once we were in Shyi'eld proper, I breathed in deeply and attempted to store my entire luggage bag into my Void. Unfortunately, it didn't work. It was a little difficult to visualise putting such a large bag into another bag, after all. I had no choice but to unpack and put the items in separately. That left me with the luggage bag itself, but I had more or less expected this and used a foldable one. It was a bit troublesome, but better than carrying the luggage all the way. Masa was looking at me rather enviously, so I offered to help him store some of his items too. He was hesitant at first, but I convinced him by saying that I wanted to test my limits as well.

I managed to store his water bottle, Syv, some of the food supplies he brought, which consisted mainly of CalorieMate, and a couple of spare clothes. He kept Roku tucked into his belt in case of emergencies and shouldered his now far lighter (and emptier) backpack. I somehow felt that I could still fit stuff inside my Void, but perhaps we could experiment more next time. I was also curious about Masa's magical abilities, but hadn't had the chance to ask him to demonstrate them yet. Maybe I could ask when we camped out tonight.

It was early afternoon here in Shyi'eld, so we decided to set off right away. Masa led the way at a fast walk, and I did my best to keep up. After all the exercise I had killing monsters here, I was much fitter than before, but still no match for an outdoorsy young man like him. Fortunately, he killed any monsters we met so I didn't have to lift a finger. I had mixed feelings about that since I wanted to level up too, but right now I was too busy catching my breath to argue.

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Evening gradually came and we stopped to make camp not too far from a small stream. I gathered what firewood I could find while Masa dug a shallow pit. To be more precise, he somehow created a depression with his Elemental magic. I wasn't there to see it happen, but since he had no tools for digging, I accepted his word for it. We then arranged the firewood I brought and I waited expectantly for him to work his magic again. He glanced at me and scratched his head sheepishly, then muttered, "Spark," as he snapped his fingers.

To my gratification, a spark flickered to life in the middle of the pile of wood, slowly growing to become a respectable fire as he continued to gesture. I couldn't resist applauding and giving him a big grin. Taking out my kettle, I offered it to him and he took several deep breaths before concentrating and saying, "Fill."

The kettle became heavier in my hands and I nodded once at him once there was enough water in it. As I set it near the fire to boil, I told Masa, "You don't have to speak to cast magic, you know?"

He shrugged and said, "My magic isn't good enough for attacks anyway, and it helps me to concentrate."

"Ah, I see what you mean," I nodded. Apart from taking my weapons out and Shield, my magic wasn't suitable for battling either. I found that just forming the word in my mind was enough to cast Shield by now, so I seldom ever spoke when casting.

As we waited for the water to boil, I took out several cup noodles and two pairs of chopsticks from my Void. "Your Conjuration magic seems much more useful," remarked Masa as he accepted the noodles and chopsticks from me. "Maybe I haven't practiced enough, but I only seem capable of small feats like what you just saw. To be honest, I didn't want to show it to you at all."

I chuckled and shook my head. "Nah, I can't even do those small feats, and they are certainly useful for camping out! I'm sure you'll get much better with practice, since you only have the one affinity."

He tilted his head in confusion. "Shouldn't having more affinities be better?"

His question reminded me that he didn't have a proper "guide" when he first came here. Oh boy, did I have a lot of explaining to do. I poured the boiled water into the cups and began my explanation as we waited for them to be done.