While Zavier and Dahila carried back some firewood, Valerie hunted some game with her tracking magic.
Soon she was back with a couple of rabbits and a trio of pheasants. Of course, the dirty job was thrown to the only male student that Valerie had.
Zavier was responsible for gutting and skinning the rabbit while Alissa busied herself plucking the feathers off of the pheasants. Soon both the rabbits and the pheasants were ready for roasting.
Alissa had carried some spices and seasonings in that huge bag of hers. It was like she had already anticipated that they would be having barbeque along the way. She really was well prepared for an outing.
She was more than good enough to fill up the shoes of Valerie in this aspect.
She found some sticks and soon set up a barbecue stand by raking the firewood beneath the stand. The dressed carcasses of the rabbits and the pheasants were soon put on top of the stand. The rising flames caressed them and their color started to brighten into a slight golden hue.
Alissa was prepared for every change and was monitoring the sticks at all times. She would professionally rotate the sticks while skilfully sprinkling seasonings all over the barbeque sticks.
A dense mouth-watering aroma arose from the fire and aroused the hunger of all those waiting for dinner.
All of them were not only tired but also hungrier than hundred years old ghosts. Without any further wait, they let themselves gorge on their portion of the meal given to them by Alissa.
The old man James turned out to be the odd one out who refused to eat. Zavier wondered whether the old man was a ghost who could go hungry forever or he still didn't trust them enough to eat their food.
Valerie and Dahila on the other hand didn't even bother with the old man. Going by the speed with which they were stuffing themselves, they must have thought that their portion would have to be shared with the old man if they didn't finish fast enough.
Zavier didn't bother with them and heartily praised Alissa for her cooking skills.
Alissa couldn't help but blush when she heard him praise her so. She wanted to dance her heart out in happiness but they were in the middle of nowhere, and not mention that Valerie would have never let her waste her energy like that.
Dahila finished her food and wiped her mouth like a demure lady as if she didn't remember the way she had been eating previously like some beast.
She turned to Alissa who was now shyly eating her own food and started lavishing her with praise.
"Your cooking skills are so great. I wonder if I have ever eaten such delicious barbeque ever in my life. I don't know what we would have done without you."
"I am sure that Zavier would have made you something just as good even if I wasn't here."
Alissa subconsciously spoke out her thoughts that she never wanted to publicize. In her heart, Zavier could do everything that she could do.
She covered her mouth shut following the escape of the words and had to lower her face to hide the blush crawling over her face.
Zavier never noticed this transaction as he was busy contemplating the oddities of the old man that was travelling with them. He seemed very attached to the wooden box that they were supposed to escort and was holding it in his hands like it was his baby that he couldn't part with easily.
Zavier wondered what was inside the box that was forcing the old man to act in such a manner even to the limit that he had forgotten all about his hunger and other needs.
In a fit of impulse, Zavier activated his Time Space Eye and tried to peek into the box using his penetrating vision.
As expected, there was a protective barrier around the box and all he could see was darkness.
Zavier didn't try again thinking that the old man might be alerted to his peeking attempts if he interacted with the barrier again.
He figured that there would be more opportunities to find out the contents of the box.
It was already late at night when everyone was done eating. They all felt bloated and didn't want to leave even the tiniest of morsels of food remaining but Valerie insisted that they take care of their condition at all times. They had to remain alert and in peak condition just in case there was an attempt to rob the old man of the box that they were tasked to escort.
Though Valerie could be irritating, her words were quite reasonable and no one wanted to mess with her anyway, so they silently stood up went towards their resting tents.
Alissa and Dahila went to Valerie's tent to sleep. It was an all-girls tent where Zavier wasn't allowed so he headed towards the tent on the other side.
His new roommate turned out to be the freaky old man James who was so obsessed with the box that he had no time to talk to his only roommate. He was already treating Zavier like air and didn't care that Zavier was going to be sharing a tent with him.
Since there was no topic that could divert the old man's attention away from the box long enough to have a conversation, Zavier didn't make any attempts at the impossible feat and drifted off to sleep in a peaceful manner.
A silence prevailed in the surroundings that was only disturbed by the croaking noises of the frogs and the buzzing of the cicadas in the vicinity. The noise could be loud enough to awaken the heaviest of sleepers but to those who got used to the noise would feel the peace and serenity hidden behind it. This was what it felt to sleep in the lap of mother nature without the shells that humans constrained themselves in with a self-deception of comfort and protection.
At this moment, Zavier and the others were experiencing what their ancestors experienced before they thought of the unnatural ways of building houses and owning lands. Man was supposed to live on and take care of the earth that supported them. This was supposed to be the natural order. Man should have been the caretaker and the earth was supposed to be the provider. This should have been the natural order but humanity took it upon itself to re-establish those beliefs seeking more comfort and protection and in turn moved far away from nature.
The same thing had happened to Zavier's previous world. The magic that was all around them had been forgotten in that world because humanity had let go of the old ways in their search for more power and wealth and comfort; the irony.
Despite being asleep Zavier's senses were working at their peak. He could sense the tiniest of movements around him thanks to his Time Space Eye. The perception system was not something he had to operate consciously. It was a system designed to be operated through subconscious thoughts, intuition, gut feelings and instincts. The user didn't have to be awake to operate this system so that they could instantly sense danger without having to consciously search for the source of the danger.
Therefore, Zavier could sleep peacefully because the system would warn him of any danger in his vicinity.
It was very late into the night when it happened.
[*Warning* Hostile intent sensed in the vicinity of 100m from the user.]
[Source of the danger is unknown.]
A loud warning sounded in his brain as if it was trying to send him to hell instead of only jolting him awake.
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