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Chapter 4: First Day of Adventure with Sensei
"Why didn't you kill it?"
Having left the Elf Forest behind, darkness was already settling over the landscape.
Kurtz and Serie began setting up their first campsite as traveling companions, the weight of this new arrangement settling between them.
This was their first day as partners in adventure.
In Kurtz's hands, he held a long-eared rabbit with a slender horn on its grey forehead. The creature had gone limp, no longer struggling against his grip.
With Serie's guidance and magical help, Kurtz had successfully caught his first prey since coming to this world.
The hunt had been surprisingly simple once Serie showed him the proper technique for cornering the creature.
Speaking of which, his survival so far bordered on miraculous. Every magical beast he'd met since arriving had fallen into the same category, too powerful for him to defeat, but slow enough that running away remained an option.
The rabbit in his hands, according to Serie, was called a Grayhorn Rabbit. Despite its intimidating horn, the creature had virtually no combat ability.
Its only advantage was remarkable escape speed, allowing it to flee predators rather than fight them.
It represented the absolute bottom of this world's food chain, prey for everything, predator to nothing.
"It feels weird having an elf encourage me to take a life." Kurtz pulled out a crude stone knife he'd made during his wandering days.
With efficient motions born of necessity, he killed the Grayhorn Rabbit as humanely as possible. The act still felt wrong in some way, but survival demanded practical choices.
"Do you think I'm like other elves?" Serie's lips curved into that familiar smile, amusement dancing in her golden eyes.
Compared to her forest-dwelling kin, she remained distinctly different, embracing conflict where others sought harmony, and finding excitement in chaos where others sought peace.
"I've only heard of one type of elf that enjoys warfare," Kurtz said while beginning the butchering process. "Dark Elves."
"What are those?" Serie tilted her head, confusion on her delicate features.
"They don't exist?" Kurtz muttered under his breath, realising his mistake.Â
This was Friren's world, not a typical Isekai; here, only elves existed, just elves.
The elves of this world maintained one form, ancient and immortal, largely unchanged by the passage of millennia.
"Nothing important. Think of them as... corrupted elves who've embraced darker magics."
"Completely impossible." Serie crossed her arms, refusing the very idea
She was genuinely confused.
From her perspective, elves and corruption were fundamentally incompatible concepts. Once transformed by demonic influence, beings stopped being elves entirely; they became something else, something monstrous.
"It's irrelevant since we won't encounter them anyway." Kurtz skillfully cut the rabbit meat into manageable pieces, putting them on improvised wooden spits. "Why don't you try some roasted meat? Can elves even digest animal protein?"
He worked with practised efficiency, occasionally taking small bottles and pouches from his travel pack. Various powders and dried herbs found their way onto the cooking meat, each addition releasing new scents into the evening air.
A rich, complex smell began coming from the makeshift cooking fire.
"What are those substances?" Instead of immediately answering his dietary question, Serie found herself interested in his collection of containers.
"These are my seasonings, my most precious possessions in this world." Kurtz displayed his modest collection with obvious pride.
These represented his greatest discoveries during months of solitary wandering and experimentation.
Fortunately, some plants in the world resemble familiar Earth varieties. Through careful observation and the reckless spirit of ancient herbalists willing to risk poisoning for knowledge, Kurtz identified numerous spices and flavour enhancers.
Serie took one bottle, removed the cork, and smelled it cautiously. The sharp scent immediately triggered a violent sneeze, causing her nose to wrinkle in distaste.
"Disgusting." She thrust the container back toward him with obvious displeasure.
The logic escaped her entirely. Such unpleasant substances should repel rather than attract; their scent bordered on toxic.
Yet somehow, when applied to food, they enhanced rather than destroyed flavour.
Could this represent another form of his mysterious magic?
Before long, the meat finished cooking, and Kurtz offered her a perfectly prepared skewer. The surface had achieved that ideal balance between crispy exterior and tender interior.
"Care to try?"
The elemental aura surrounding cooked meat was chaotic and artificial, completely at odds with elven sensibilities.
But Serie found herself unbothered by the discord, accepting the offering with curiosity rather than disgust.
Taking an experimental bite, she discovered flavours unlike anything from her forest home. The complexity was staggering, layers of taste that revealed themselves progressively, each more interesting than the last.
Even her habitually tense expression softened considerably as she enjoyed the experience.
"Do elves typically eat animal flesh?" Kurtz remembered that Frieren herself ate meat regularly, but wondered whether mythical era elves shared that dietary flexibility.
"Generally, no." Serie shook her head while taking another appreciative bite.
The elves of the Elf Forest traditionally avoided foods with overly complex elemental signatures, preferring the clean simplicity of fruits, nuts, and naturally occurring plant matter.
However, rumours suggested that elves in other regions occasionally chose omnivorous diets.
After all, the elven race wasn't limited to the Elf Forest's inhabitants; scattered communities existed throughout the world, each adapting to local conditions.
The forest elves simply remained closest to their ancestral, pure form.
"Very much like the legendary elves from old stories."
The single Grayhorn Rabbit provided limited meat, and both travellers finished their portions quickly. Kurtz initially considered looking for edible mushrooms to supplement their meal, but Serie's sharp warning stopped him.
"Don't wander beyond our immediate area. We've left the forest's protection entirely now."
Her implication was crystal clear: hostile magical beasts could attack without warning at any moment.
This world existed in a state of perpetual, violent chaos.
Dangerous creatures roamed freely, and from their ranks had emerged a more intelligent race capable of sophisticated magic: the Demon Race, currently locked in bitter conflict with the various elven nations.
She found herself increasingly puzzled by a growing mystery.
How had this human survived so long in such a hostile environment?
He had virtually no survival instincts, and his combat capabilities barely exceeded those of the rabbit they'd just consumed. Any random magical beast should have killed and devoured him within days of his arrival.
Yet somehow, this defenceless wanderer had not only survived but developed genuine magical talent significant enough to interest even her ancient sensibilities.
Serie didn't believe in divine intervention. Even if a goddess appeared before her tomorrow, her first instinct would be to plot assassination strategies.
But the accumulation of coincidences surrounding Kurtz's existence strained credibility beyond reasonable limits. Perhaps some higher power was indeed manipulating events behind the scenes.
"Should we establish sleeping shifts, or do you prefer sleeping at the same time?"
Kurtz gathered several torches and pieces of kindling, snapping his fingers to ignite them all at once.
He then distributed the burning brands around their campsite's perimeter, creating a rough circle of flickering light.
Individual torch flames appeared weak and uncertain, but their collective glow pushed back the darkness while providing warmth that should discourage insects and smaller scavengers.
"What are you trying to do exactly?" Serie watched his preparations.
This human made her more confused than she had ever been in her entire life.
"Using fire to deter wild predators, naturally! I've enchanted these torches with my magic, so they should burn consistently throughout the night without requiring additional fuel."
Serie observed his handiwork in silence for several long moments before speaking with deliberate care.
"I strongly suggest putting out those torches immediately. Most magical beasts in the world show no fear of fire whatsoever."
"You're just creating a beacon that sends a message, ' Look, I am here. Come and eat me, to every dangerous creature within kilometres."
Serie was lost at this little human's stupidity; where had he spent his whole life, under a rock?
The evidence continued to mount that it must be divine protection shielding this man from his own staggering incompetence.
To survive this long with such fundamentally flawed survival instincts defied all logical explanation.
Hearing Serie's urgent correction, Kurtz quickly put out every torch, plunging both back into natural darkness.
Serie then began weaving her magic, forming a complex pattern as green energy gathered before her.
A shimmering, magical circle appeared, followed by expanding ripples of detection magic that spread outward like stones dropped in still water.
"What type of spell is that?"
"Elven ward magic, a specialised early warning system. When any creature approaches our protected perimeter, the spell will trigger audible alarms to wake us."
Kurtz's eyes immediately lit up with fascination and desire. This represented exactly the kind of practical magic essential for wilderness survival.
He'd assumed Serie only knew combat-oriented spells designed for destruction, but apparently her knowledge encompassed far more utility than he'd realised.
"Please teach me, Miss Serie!" Kurtz pressed his palms together in supplication, his tone carrying genuine earnestness and respect.
Serie smiled with evident satisfaction at his enthusiasm. "Certainly, but first, you must answer something: where exactly are we travelling? What is our destination?"
"I don't have a specific destination in mind."
Kurtz's admission was painfully honest. After more than a year in this world, he'd encountered no other humans whatsoever.
Without Serie's casual mention of their existence, he might have concluded that humanity hadn't yet evolved in this era.
"Well then, perhaps we should embrace the uncertainty." His expression brightened with optimistic determination.
"Isn't true adventure about facing the unknown, going to unknown destinations and unexpected discoveries?"
Observing Kurtz's foolishly cheerful grin, Serie remained silent for several heartbeats before murmuring softly.
"What an amusing creature you are."
Despite her words, something in her tone suggested genuine fondness rather than mockery, the first crack in centuries.