Brewan still needed to wait for his mana to regenerate, and the sun would be setting before then, so the duo decided to wait until morning before venturing outside to hunt. The young mage was surprisingly agreeable to Kai's idea.

Of course it probably helped that he would be sitting back as support instead of being on the front line.

After re-wrapping Sydney’s wounds with cloth from Brewan’s robes, they decided to explore more of the building. The bottom floor was almost entirely filled with classrooms that were nearly identical to the previous two Kai had explored. Some of the writing on the blackboards differed (exciting Halia) but there weren’t actually any useful supplies.

[Kai! Kai, ask Brewan about the seventh rune on this blackboard! There weren’t any of these on the temple walls!]

Kai’s eyebrow twitched again, but he still turned and started asking Brewan about the blackboard again.

“Why are you asking so many questions all of the sudden?”

The blue-robed mage looked at his new companion skeptically. Kai didn’t give off the vibe of someone who would be interested enough to ask about every single rune they walked past.

[Oo, I see another new one! Ask him about the tenth one on the next board!]

Kai pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to suppress his emotions.

“A bunch of stupid questions are randomly popping into my mind. What does that one on the next board mean?”

It took way too long for them to finally escape from the classrooms and continue on through the building.

There were also a few smaller rooms towards the end of the hallway. However, most of them didn’t have windows which meant it was too dark for Kai to see anything and none of them had any useful items.

Brewan said that there will definitely be a clean source of water somewhere in the academy, so we shouldn’t need to worry about that. As for hunting…

The giant terror bird was fast, and strong enough to kill him in an instant. Halia claimed that she would be able to notice its mana before it got too close, but Kai was still worried. If the fight with the boar before was anything to go by, the commotion caused by the fight would likely attract more enemies.

Even if their target was a lone beast, if they failed to take it down quickly, they would still be in critical danger.

It’s probably better if Brewan doesn’t use fireball either, so I’ll probably have to fight without support. It makes enough noise to attract every monster in the entire town.

After investigating all of the smaller office rooms at the end of the hallway, Kai looked up into the dark recesses of a stairwell leading to the second floor.

“Hey Brewan, can you-”

[Wait. This place is way too dusty, and with how much the two of you have been moving around, a lot of it has been kicked up into the air. If he tries to light a fire in here, it could cause a huge explosion.]

Brewan tilted his head when Kai suddenly stopped talking.

“What’s up?”

Kai turned around and started to walk away from the stairwell.

“Nothing, let’s head back. We can explore the second floor another time.”

Brewan was a bit confused, but he still followed Kai back to the room Sydney was in, then helped Kai gather enough cushions to make two more makeshift beds. Once they were finished, both of them lay down.

[Don’t worry about setting up a night watch. I’ll start yelling if anything with mana comes close.]

Knowing Halia, she’ll probably yell to wake me up even if there isn’t something here. Urg… I still have nightmares because of the last trip I went on with her. ‘Wake up, the sun is going to rise in an hour.’ ‘The other disciples are already looking for a spot to watch the sunrise, get up!’

Kai rolled over on his pad of cushions, turning to face the dirt-stained window on the wall of the classroom. The last few rays of the evening sunset streamed through the glass, their deep red aura being stained a dirty brown by the window.

It… wasn’t so bad. Sunrise and sunset. The only times of day those four idiots weren’t getting up to trouble. The five of us together, sitting quietly…

The sunlight dimmed as the last bit of the sun fell below the horizon, and the only light left was what could be reflected off the white clouds high above.

The sunset, being together at home…

Kai raised his arm and rubbed at his eyes to make sure his vision was clear. The sleeve came away a tiny bit damp.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Hmph, I don’t miss them one bit. They were all trouble and nothing else. Besides, they’re probably running around this world causing more chaos already. Halia’s here with me-

Kai glanced down at the ruby necklace, and he reached up to feel the stone. It was cold and lifeless. It wasn’t like her at all.

She’s… here…

Kai closed his eyes and turned away from the window.

Nevermind this sappy stuff. I need to get some sleep, then be ready to hunt tomorrow. I’ll get stronger, and get a lot of mana. She’ll definitely figure out how to build herself a new body by then, and I’ll just have to supply enough mana.

Kai managed to suppress the tiny grin that threatened to grow on his face.

It’s just because I don’t want her taking up my mental space. A clouded mind is bad for cultivation, or something. That’s all.

Kai’s hand brushed against the cold necklace again, pausing for a moment.

“I’m going to sleep. Good night.”

Kai made an exaggerated stretching motion, his hand pushing the necklace above the neckline of his robes. His fingers coincidentally twitched at the same time, deftly accidentally tossing the necklace under his shirt, where it would be much warmer.

-

-

[Hey, Kai, wake up.]

[Brewan’s already awake, it’s a little after sunrise.]

Kai slowly rolled over as he opened his eyes, then got up from the cushions. The morning sun was streaming through the window, bright enough to illuminate the entire room.

This is about the time I would normally wake up… I’m surprised Halia didn’t make me get up super early.

Brewan was kneeling over Sydney to check his condition, which didn’t seem to have changed much overnight.

“I doubt he’s eaten in a few days, we need to get something for him. We should probably try to find water before we fight, too. It’ll be harder to move around outside if a battle attracts a bunch of beasts.”

According to Brewan, their prey should be decently separated. While there were plenty of beasts that liked to stick around in groups, that was a lot less common in the region they were currently in.

Deer, boars, and other wildlife Kai would expect in the northern regions back home were common here. Many of them weren’t herd animals, which would make it much easier for Kai to hunt one down without being attacked by an entire horde.

While he was asleep, one of Kai’s dreams had raised another problem.

“How are we going to cook anything? If we try to cook outside, the beasts will definitely be drawn to its smell. I don’t think it’s worth risking doing it here, either.”

Aside from potentially attracting a ton of beasts when the defensive formation may or may not still be working, Kai was also worried about the ‘dust explosion’ that Halia had mentioned the previous evening.

“It’s fine, a dispersion spell can fix that.”

Kai looked up in surprise as Brewan started speaking.

“I… really don’t understand how you’ve never heard of a dispersion spell before. It’s literally impossible to have lived in a settlement and not heard about them, and it’s impossible to survive outside without it.”

Kai could only shrug his shoulders, not sure how to respond.

“It was made to be a survival spell. Something that lets a human survive against beasts. That’s why it’s the first spell every apprentice mage learns, and it’s the only spell knights are required to learn, too.”

[An all-purpose survival spell, probably. It lets you hide your scent from beasts, and lets you cook food. It sounds like the general beast problem here is a lot worse than it was back at the sect, so it’s probably essential.]

“Sounds useful. I’m sure I’ll learn it eventually.”

Brewan just watched Kai with a dumbfounded look as the other young man stooped down to grab his sheath that’d been placed by the edge of his cushions.

“We’re going to die, aren’t we.”

Kai shrugged again as he buckled the sheath onto his belt, then walked over an open corner of the room and started doing some stretches. It was a Crescent Moon Sect habit to always stretch before an activity, a habit that’d been started by Halia.

[Your form is a bit off. Slide to the left.]

Kai followed her instructions. She was the one who came up with the stretches, after all.

[Take it back now, Kai.]

[One hop this time.]

Kai frowned. He couldn’t remember jumping as part of the stretches.

[It’s a special battle prep stretch. Right foot, stomp.]

Kai detected a bit of mischievousness in her voice, and his frown grew with his suspicions.

[Left foot let’s stomp.]

[Cha cha real smooth!]

“Oi!”

Kai threw his hands up in the air and started walking away, making Halia break out laughing.

“Um… what are you doing?”

Kai’s face started to heat up from embarrassment as Brewan looked at him questioningly.

Just when I was feeling thankful towards her for letting me sleep in, she goes and does this! I don’t even know what that was, but given how much she is still laughing, it’s probably supposed to be humiliating!

“P-preparing for battle! Let’s go!”

[Heh, you get so flustered. It’s just a dance from my hometown.]

Ignoring Halia, Kai grabbed Brewan’s sleeve and practically dragged him out of the classroom. Instead of going to the main entrance, Kai headed for one of the other classrooms further down the hallway. He wasn’t sure if the defensive formation that cut the terror bird was still active, so he opted for another way out of the building.

When they were exploring the previous day, Halia had noticed that one of the windows in another classroom had already been broken. Most of the broken glass shards had long-since been swept away by the wind and elements, and there wasn’t much visible danger to climbing through it.

At the very least, it’s probably safer than coming through the front entrance. This is probably how Sydney got in here too, judging by the spots of blood on the floor just under the windowsill.

It wasn’t hard for Kai to hop outside, and he turned around to help pull Brewan out while leaving the early recon to Halia.

[I think we’re in luck. I can sense a mana signature in the woods to the east. It’s far enough that I doubt it can sense us right now, and it’s weaker than that boar you fought before.]

Kai nodded.

“First we’ll search for a water source, then we will come back to hunt this beast. Let’s go.”