Chapter 8 Helping The Foxes

I am really glad that I was able to convince them to, in essence, live with me. I was not lying when I said I was lonely and bored. Being alone for three years was tougher than I thought. It was easy when I had something to do, but harder when I got more free time.

"Well the first thing that I want to do is teach you how to control your power. This will help you in combat and make my life easier, since you won't be losing control. Also since you ate a lot of food I wouldn't really recommend going hunting."

"Okay, but how are we going to control our element?" Ana asked.

"The simplest way is with practice. Also everyone has differences to their mana so everyone has a different method of control. All you have to do is keep practicing and trust that I will help you if you lose control."

"So you won't be actually teaching and just let us figure it out by ourselves. Great teaching method."

"Well you don't have to participate if you don't want Astra."

"No no no. I want to learn how to properly control my powers."

"Well then get started."

They said yes in unison before mana began to converge on them. They once again converted that mana into their own elements and surrounded themselves in it. It was fine up until this point, but they started to lose control. I didn't help them yet since they should be able to get it back under control. Against my expectations, they both lost control of their mana and their spells began spiraling out of control. I then used my mana drain spell and dispersed their mana.

"This may be a stupid question, but why don't you chant spells?" I asked.

"Because chanting spells is inferior and wastes more mana. Why should we practice something as idiotic as that."

"Well have you ever tried chanting a spell."

"No."

"Well why don't you try it now. I'll even teach you if you don't know how, and maybe it could help. It really wouldn't hurt to try and if you keep doing the same thing you won't get different results."

"Sister I think maybe we should try it. He is able to control our own mana, so maybe this will help."

"Fine. I guess we could try chanting, but I don't know how."

"Like I said I'll teach you."

And so my impromptu magic lessons began. I taught them in the exact way as I learned. Doing exercises to feel and control the mana within my body. Learning of the spell composition and the different elements. Next is exercises to make sure only a set amount of mana flows through at any given time. Honestly they were really bad at control. It was on an abysmal level, that I could probably say a baby would have more control than them.

As such that was the main aspect I focused on control. The easiest method for training control is using a stone called luminense. This stone has a property that produces light whenever mana is put into it which is why I called it luminense. I found it in the inner edges of the beast men zone and it has really helped increase my mana control. Especially with all the influx of mana I've had. The more mana that is put into the stone the stronger the light. Of course just sitting still was boring so I created a game out of it. I would first put mana into the stone and then they would have to try to put in a similar amount of mana. Then the stone would be given back to me and I would put in the same amount of mana they put in.

Even though I could tell they were trying their best they were doing a horrible job of it. The amount of mana they put in would be higher each time. They were steadily increasing the amount. Sometimes it would just shine much brighter than what it was supposed to. There were even some times when the luminense broke from the amount of mana that they put into it. There were even some times when they lost control and I had to step in to help them. This was going to be a long and tough process.

As such a couple of weeks passed. While I can't say there has been no improvement, it certainly is miserable. The best results were obtained right after I had drained their mana. From what I could gather they just didn't have much experience controlling their massive amount of mana. If I had to compare it to something it would be like drinking water. For them, they would be drinking water from a full bucket and as such they wouldn't be able to control it and spill a lot. For me, I would be drinking water from a full cup and it would be slowly increased in size as I stayed in the forest.

Wait couldn't I do something similar with them. I could probably deal with their mana using a magic circle. The circle would just constantly decrease their mana into the air. With the total amount gone then they could train with the amount left. They would still be drinking water from the bucket, but there would be less water, and as they get comfortable more water would be added. This should work, but I would need to gather the necessary materials. This would also be a good chance to gather some food too. Winter is coming and I would need to feed three mouths this time.

As such I told them, "I'm going to be going out for a bit. Don't try to practice without me cause we don't know when you will lose control."

"Where are you going Sylvi?" Ana said. Over these three weeks we had become closer and she started to refer to me as Sylvi. Her sister on the other hand hasn't really been that accepting as me.

"I bet he's running away since he can't help us. This is why I said we should trust him." As I said she really didn't trust me. I honestly don't know what I did to offend her.

"I'm not going to leave. Trust me I felt what it was like to be hated by your tribe so I won't just straight up leave you guys. I'm only going out to secure some food."

"There is still a lot of food in the storage. You're just making excuses now that you can't help us."

"Astra, why won't you just give Sylvi a chance."

"Like your sister said, just give me a chance. Also while there is still a lot of food in the storage, winter is coming . Even if we rationed all the food in the storage we wouldn't have enough to get past winter. I don't know about you, but I don't want to die of starvation. Also I have an idea of how to help you control your mana, and I just need to gather some materials. Anyways for the next couple of days I'll be hunting so the storage can be filled for winter. Feel free to do what you want in my house, but don't mess with that block of wood over there. It's the thing keeping the demonic beasts away."

After I said my piece I grabbed the huge leather bag I made so I could store the items and left. "O spell of wind flow around my body to hide myself." I made sure that my hiding spell was on and headed towards the outer edge of the human zone. I of course made sure to pick up any edible plants along the way. However there wasn't a lot to pick up. A clear telltale sign that winter was coming. "O spell of wind, form from my hands a mighty blade that follows my movements to destroy my enemies." Once at the outer edge of the human zone I chanted my spell sword while keeping my hiding spell. I'm not here to gain battle experience and only here to gain food. Even though I said that I couldn't find many demonic beasts. They were probably getting ready for the winter themselves.

I was lucky enough to fill up my sack with the carcasses of demonic beasts after a couple hours of hunting. Since my sack was full I would say that is 10-12 dead bodies. I would surely need more to survive the winter. I would say I need anywhere between 50-60. Especially with the 2 extra guests that I would have to feed, but I wouldn't be able to carry any more even if I did hunt them.

"Guess I'll just grab the materials for the magic circle before heading home. I can always hunt more tomorrow, and I do need to dismantle these bodies. I also have to make the magic circles. I need to make sure that they drain the right amount of mana at a constant rate or else this idea won't work. Huh, I'm going to be busy today aren't I."

While talking to myself I had finished gathering the material necessary to make the magic circles. Once the materials were safely in my hands I began heading back to my home. Once I was at the entrance to the cave I could immediately tell something was wrong. The barrier that would scare off any with ill intentions was gone. When I got to the entrance of the cave there was a demonic beast there and it was a strong one. Judging solely off its aura it was one that lived at the boundary of the beast men zone and the forbidden zone. Even with my hiding spell it would most definitely be able to find me and kill me if I were to fight it.

It was also a bear type demonic beast. I couldn't help, but think back to the bear type demonic beast that had been the cause of my abandonment. I honestly wanted to run away. I didn't want to remember those memories. I tried so hard to forget them and this demonic beast just brought them all back. My feelings of powerlessness as I watched my parents sacrifice themselves to save me. But just as I was about to run away the bear turned and looked at me. It's mouth and claws were wet with blood.

It looked just like the elf who chased me down, blood dripping from its blade. But whose blood was on the bear's hands. When I thought that it was Ana and Astra anger bubbles to my surface. I promised that I would provide them shelter. That was like me promising to protect them, and yet I let them die. Anger continued to flow through me and in a fit of immense rage I attacked the demonic beast. I didn't even care if it was stronger and had more experience. I would kill that demonic beast even if I lost.

"O spell of wind, form from my hands a mighty blade that follows my movements to destroy my enemies." "O spell of wind, form from my hands a mighty blade that follows my movements to destroy my enemies." I double chanted my spell sword as I rushed the bear. A spell sword then appeared in each of my hands. "O spell of wind flow through my body to reinforce myself." I chanted my reinforcing spell and my movements sped up. Once the bear was in the reach of my spell sword I immediately slashed sideways with it.

The bear dodged to the side and struck at me with its bloodstained claws. I used my second sword to intercept while doing a diagonal slash backwards with the first sword. Once the bear had its claw blocked it immediately backed away, but I was able to graze it with my spell sword, causing blood to flow from its chest. Luckily for me this bear type demonic beast didn't have two heads and only had two arms. That limited the variables in this fight.

"O spell of wind come forth as a blade to cut down my opponents." Not letting the bear have any room I immediately fired a wind blade at it. The bear was able to dodge it even though it should have been hard to see. Luckily I was already running towards the place I thought it would dodge. My expectations were met and it dodged towards me. I once again slashed at it with my sword. However it was able to dodge it. It had actually stuck a claw in the ground and used that as a pivot point. While turning it slashed at me with its free claw. It was now my turn to back off and the bear began to push forward

As it was already close to me I wasn't able to get enough distance from the bear and it slashed with both of its claws. I used both of my swords to block, but they got blown away. "O spell of wind, form from my hands a mighty blade that follows my movements to destroy my enemies." "O spell" I tried to get my second spell sword, but the bear attacked once again forcing me to cancel my spell and focus on blocking. The spell swords chant was too long and could be easily interrupted in a close fight.

"O spell of wind come forth as a ball to blow away my opponents." I fired this spell at the ground near my feet. This allowed me to use the force of the spell to get some greater distance from the bear. "O spell of wind, form from my hands a mighty blade that follows my movements to destroy my enemies." I chanted the second spell sword and once again charged the bear. I once again attacked with my sword and the bear once again dodged and counterattacked. This time I didn't intercept with my other sword. Instead I dodged his claws and came closer to the bear.

I was going to strike with both of my spell swords and try to take one of its arms. As if the bear was waiting for this moment it grinned and an arm came from the left side of its stomach. I kept the first spell sword on its trajectory to cut the bear's arm off while the second one went to intercept the third arm of the bear. However the bear had another arm that suddenly came out of the right side of its stomach. I couldn't dodge so I resolved myself to take a hit for a hit. In that split second of time that I had though I added more mana to my reinforcement spell to help with the impact. My sword was able to cut through one of its arms while his arm punched me right in the gut.

It was a hard punch, and even though I reinforced myself it still knocked the wind out of me. The ensuing launch also blew me back a couple of trees. I luckily didn't hit one, but I slid with the ground giving me many bruises and burns. I had a momentary lapse in concentration which caused all of my spells to deactivate. "O spell of wind flow through my body to reinforce myself." Once I was able to breathe again I chanted my reinforcement spell. I was able to barely finish it before the bear came up to me once again. The two arms by its side grabbed me by the waste giving me a bear hug. Without my reinforcement spell I would have probably been crushed.

It's last arm came to my neck and began to choke me. I flailed, kicked, and punched at the bear. However the bear didn't even flinch. Even with my reinforcement spell on I wasn't able to hurt the bear without my other wind spells. Despite this I smiled. "O spell of wind gather in my hand to drain the mana of my opponent." "O spell of wind gather in my hand gather in my hand to drain the mana of my opponent." I was able to chant these two spells while the bear was crushing me. It's mana then began flowing into me. If I hadn't already done this with Ana and Astra I might have fainted from this. However their mana was much higher in amount and quality so this was easy compared to that.

Once the bear realized that I was draining its mana it let go and threw me away. "O spell of wind, form from my hand a mighty blade that follows my movements to destroy my enemies." I once again ran towards the bear while chanting this spell and attacked it. The bear also attacked me, but I knew that this was the best chance I would get. It was drained if it's mana which would allow my sword to chop off its neck. As such I once again traded a blow for a blow and I was able to cut off the bears neck. The bear was also able to hit me and it's claws created a large gash mark in my stomach before flinging me towards the entrance of the cave.

"Ana, Astra, I killed the bear," I said on the verge of passing out.

Before I was completely knocked out I could swear I heard Ana and Astra's voices saying thank you.