In the Midgard, Eugene asked, "So what do we do now? Where should we go? Our town is destroyed."
"First, we need to look for a place where we can find training opportunities," Rei said. "Do you have any suggestions, Eugene?"
"Nothing comes to mind," Eugene replied.
"I too don't know a place," Bart added.
Rei unfurled the map and asked, "What do you think, Tenko? Which place do you want to go?" Tenko jumped from Rei's shoulder onto the map and pointed at a forest area. "We should work in this forest area?" Rei asked. Tenko nodded.
"Maybe he is right," Bart said. "We've been getting too adjusted to fighting in the town that we never considered fighting in a forest area."
"Sure then, we will now go to the forest area," Rei decided. Tenko again jumped onto Rei's shoulder. Rei went to the Midgard and used the whirlwind spell to rotate the main gear. As the Midgard started moving, Rei steered it out of the town. Once outside, they went straight ahead, and after reaching a forest area, Rei changed course, going deeper into the forest until he stopped at an open space.
"This will do first," Rei declared. "Okay, here are the rules: everyone will acquire their food on their own, they will gather materials for making their own shelter, and they would even find water for themselves. And all of these without magic or sorcery. Take any weapon you want from this pile, however, no one would help each other, okay? And no using Midgard till we are done with our training."
Bart and Eugene said in unison, "Sure." Tenko barked in agreement too.
"Let's start," Rei announced. Rei took out a sword, Bart took a sword too, and Eugene took multiple weapons. As for Tenko, he didn't take anything. Then everyone went to different parts of the forest.
Because Rei's body was strong—a prerequisite for using spirit arts—he used his sword and easily cut a nearby tree. Similarly, Bart too easily cut a tree. As for Eugene, being a magician, he was having a hard time cutting the trees. Tenko just collected branches and leaves.
Rei and Bart took their logs, along with Tenko taking his collected branches, to the open space, while Eugene was still struggling to cut logs. Rei cut his log into small pillars of wood and then created a pointy part on one side. Bart was just cutting his log in half and putting it side by side. Eugene, tired of cutting the tree, gave up and just collected leaves, vines, and branches. Tenko simply put the small branches and leaves on the ground below a huge tree and rested on it to try it out.
Rei continued his work until he thought he had made enough pointy pillars. Bart was stacking the logs one on top of another while also pinning them together so they wouldn't fall. Eugene was tying some branches with vines and putting leaves on them. Eugene's shelter, which looked like a tent, was ready. Rei then, with the pointy pillars ready, put the pointy part into the ground and used his fist to firmly pin the pillar to the ground. He kept doing the same with the other pointy pillars and put some logs on the top as a roof, and finally, a house was prepared. Bart was pinning the logs, and his house would be ready in an hour.
Rei then went to work creating accessories. He cut another tree and cut a small part from its corner, a log the size of a bucket. Rei hollowed out its inside to create it like a bucket and then went and collected water in it.
Eugene, on his side, used a bow and shot a boar with an arrow. While the arrow hit the boar, it did not strike any of its vital parts, and the boar started running. However, Eugene didn't stop and attacked again, this time killing the boar once and for all. Rei collected some water from a riverside he found, then took out a crossbow and went into the forest. He finally spotted a bear. With just one shot from the crossbow, Rei hit the bear's head and killed it. Rei took the bear with him.
After Rei returned, Bart finished making his house and drank some water from a nearby river before going hunting. He hunted only with his sword and found a deer. Bart climbed a tree, slowly crawled above the deer, and jumped on it. As he landed, the deer panicked, but Bart quickly killed it. With his hunt complete, Bart returned. As for Tenko, he went and killed a wolf with his claws and brought it back to his spot.
Bart used some leaves and stitched them together with some wood remains to create a makeshift vessel and collected some water from the river. The sun was going down, so Rei, Eugene, and Bart collected some firewood and started making their own fires. Bart succeeded in starting his fire first, then Eugene easily created his fire. However, Rei was having difficulty, but after a few minutes, he too created a fire. Tenko didn't need fire; he just munched on his food.
Rei, Bart, and Eugene started eating. "Today was very easy, except for the fire," Rei remarked.
"That's because you are good at making things," Bart said. "It took me way more time and energy to make a suitable place to live."
"At least you two have super strength," Eugene added. "With me as a magician, I was having a more difficult time with all the physical work."
"No one is created equally, at least we can see that in this camp," Rei mused.
"If I had to say, it's because of experience," Eugene suggested.
"Yeah, your experience in these situations is way more," Bart agreed.
"This is my first time too," Rei clarified. "I think it's because I am stronger than the rest of you."
"We still have much to learn," Bart concluded. While they were enjoying their meal, smoke clouds from their firewood rose. In the distance, some men looked at the smoke, wondering who might be there.