The next day, they continued along the road, coming closer to the forest.
They still didn't meet anyone.
Being in the Dark Forest traumatized him a bit.
'Will it be the same? Will there be monsters? Or will it be just an ordinary forest with animals?' These were the thoughts running through Scias's mind.
Vel flew closer to the trees, scanning for potential enemies.
When Scias got to the edge of the forest, Vel told him that he found nothing dangerous.
This put his mind to ease.
Regardless, he kept his senses stretched out for potential threats. He continuously honed this skill through their travel and he noticed an improvement.
He didn't do it to increase the range of his senses. Instead, he did it to be able to sense danger subconsciously.
He figured that the distance where he could sense danger would improve as he grew stronger.
Having the distance increase just by practicing was a bonus.
Scias entered the forest and the atmosphere changed. Not the way he dreaded, but rather the way he hoped for.
It seemed like a normal forest. Birds chirping, cicadas buzzing and wind rustling through leaves.
Most of all, the temperature noticeably decreased.
'Finally, a shade,' he sighed with relief and relaxed a bit.
Vel flew above him, staying close.
After a while of walking and not feeling any danger, Scias veered of the main road in search of some fruits.
Eating only meat was getting irritating. He wanted a change and hoped at least for some berries.
Seeing squirrels frolicking around and hares munching on grass made Scias smile.
The hunter in him almost made him kill the hares, but he stopped himself. He wasn't on a hunt, he was here to gather.
It didn't take long and he stumbled upon blueberry shrubs. The berries weren't fully ripe, but still tasted good.
Vel dove down to eat some as well.
Scias ate his fill and started to gather them in his bag for a later snack.
Feeling satisfied, he headed back to the main road. On the way, he came across some strawberries which he picked up, elated.
Vel took back to the sky and Scias walk on the main road. The rest of the way through the forest was uneventful.
Stepping outside of the cool forest, Scias looked up at the sky. The sun was already beyond its zenith.
In his mind, he lamented about the heat. He was getting sick of the sun. Nothing but sun.
Suddenly an idea popped inside his head.
'Why not use magic to make my life easier?'
He recalled the Nightwind they fought inside Dark Forest.
'If the cat can create a protective wind barrier around itself, can I do something similar?' he pondered.
He tested it and after a few attempts he felt currents of wind moving around him.
'It is so much easier ever since I got a class,' he thought with a smile on his face.
Having only a wind barrier didn't do much about the heat.
'Now for the temperature.'
He focused on cooling the winds until a cool breeze was all around him, cooling him down.
He let out a satisfied sigh.
Now that this was taken care of, he could finally put the nice clothes on.
With already one leg in the pants, he stopped.
'Do I even need the wind barrier around me? Can't I just cool the already existing wind?'
He finished dressing and tested his theory.
He kept on walking and, as much as he tried, he saw no noticeable effect.
Yes, the spell worked just fine, but the wind was constantly moving. Each time the wind cooled down, it moved away.
He tested something different.
What he needed to do was to cool the air around him, not the wind.
With this changed approach, he saw results. Soon, he was no longer cooking on the sun.
He created a cooling aura around him.
'Perfect. Just what I wanted.'
This was slightly less mana demanding than having wind barrier with temperature control. Most of all, it was easier to maintain.
Focusing on one spell at a time is simpler than having focus split on two spells.
Not far away, there was a crossroad. Vel sent him this information, adding that there were no people in sight.
Scias began to doubt if he chose the right direction to follow. It seemed like there was no civilization is sight.
He hoped that choosing the correct road on the upcoming crossroad would quickly lead them to a town.
It took him around thirty more minutes to get to that crossroad.
This time, there were no signs nor road blocks. Just regular dirt roads in all directions.
They could continue forward, on the same road. Or, they could go east or west.
It seemed that the road from east to west was more frequented than the other one.
Scias decided to switch the road. The only question was, east or west?
Scias picked west.
Unbeknownst to him, this decision was very important.
Had he chosen to go east, he would eventually leave the country and end up in Brawana, the most discriminating country of all.
***
The cooling aura had proven to be too difficult to maintain at all times at his current strength.
He could have it active, but then if situation demanded it, he wouldn't be able to fight at full strength.
He thought that suffering through some discomfort was better than the possibility of death. However unlikely that could be.
He decided to compromise and use it only when the heat was getting unbearable.
Like this, he continued walking for several more hours until the sun set.
Vel found them a good camping place and their dinner was the blueberries and strawberries he'd picked up.
'Having some berries for a change was good,' Scias thought.
'But eating it for lunch and dinner is too much. I shouldn't have picked them. Meat would be better right about now.'
"Let's get some meat for breakfast."
"It took only two meals and you already miss meat?" Vel said mockingly.
"I didn't think I would miss it. But its better than having only berries."
After a while, he asked. "You like having only this as a meal?"
As a response, Vel sent him several images of him being young and eating similar fruits for a meal. Other images had him even as all grown up eating only berries.
Obviously, he didn't see Vel in the images. But from what Vel projected, he could feel and sense it.
Scias lay on his back, starring at the starlit sky.
He wanted to say that now that they are safe they should learn more about each other, but he was tired from the day and quickly fell asleep.
At midmorning, they set off after a hearty breakfast.
'Where are all the towns? How big is this country?' after several hours of non-stop walking he groaned in his mind.
They covered so many leagues since they left the village and yet, they saw no one.
"Do you see anything up there?"
Vel sent him images of fork in the road ahead. One way continued straight and the other lead to a distant forest.
'A forest? Again? How many forests are there?'
"Can you check the forest?"
"Give me twenty minutes," Vel replied.
"Sure, you can take your time."
Scias kept on walking, the fork in the road in sight. He stopped at the fork, waiting for Vel.
A moment later, he conveyed what he learned.
There were monsters in the forest, but much weaker compared to Dark Forest.
What interested Scias more was the other information Vel sent.
People. Two groups, heading toward each other.
Scias was overjoyed but also a bit worried.
From what he saw, one group was travelling with a carriage drawn by two horses along the main road, presumably merchants.
He saw coachman and some other person in the box seat, chatting.
The other group was bigger, armed and heading toward the first group.
There appeared to be around twelve people, all armed with bows or swords. Some of them wore armor.
Some had shields, some had helmets or bracers. No one was fully armed.
'Hmm. Maybe bandits?'
Then another image came. From a different side, two people were harassing some stronger monsters. Stronger for this forest.
From the distance, Vel couldn't tell, but the arrows leading the monsters were imbued with magic. That is why the monsters were avoiding them.
The monsters looked like bigger and sturdier wolves with brown fur.
The monsters, five of them, were headed toward the merchants.
'First people I meet and they are bandits? Not if I can help it. I better hurry.'
Scias had nothing but disdain toward such people.
Bandits. They rob and kill and plunder and do other nefarious things.
He had plenty experience with exterminating bandits from his old life.
Even though bandits here were likely stronger, so was he. He wouldn't shy away from killing them.
"Can you tell how strong are the people?" Scias asked.
"No. I can't even tell how strong you are," came Vel's negative answer, dampening Scias's hopes.
"Keep watching them. But remain hidden and out of reach."
"Alright. Don't worry about me," Vel replied.
The carriage was still around an hour and a half away if he walked at the same speed. However, he switched to a run and should get there much quicker.
The aerial view Vel provided was very convenient.
The merchants seemed oblivious to their situation. Five more minutes and the monsters would be on them.
The group of bandits stopped ahead of the merchants, hiding alongside the road behind trees and bushes.
Two more minutes and the monsters would charge at the carriage.
Now, the carriage stopped. Seemingly noticing something was wrong, three people left the carriage, scanning their surroundings.
'Escort? The three of you won't be enough. I hope there are more people inside.'
One of them looked like archer, another one like a warrior. From what he saw, he couldn't tell what the last person was.
After a minute, no one else got out of the carriage, diminishing Scias's hopes.
The horses began to be restless, neighing and moving around.
At this point, the three guards positioned themselves, two at one side side of the carriage and one, the warrior, at the other side.
Scias was almost at the forest, but still far from the fight that was about to take place.
He started formulating a plan if the worst came to fruition.