Breakfast was just as good as the stew. Even the vacuum-packed tortillas for the breakfast wraps tasted fresh. It was enough to get everyone but Curtis past the weariness left over from their first night in the wilderness.
“I think we should be nicer to him. I can’t imagine how panicked I would be if I were out here with only a sword and no magic to defend myself.” Parker told the others as they packed up camp.
“I didn’t sleep a wink the entire first mission last year. It was just five of us from the regular class and a second year who had failed her midterm.” Noor added.
“Now that takes bravery. I think he’s just cold. Maybe you should warm him up tonight?” Wolfe suggested.
Curtis shot him a warning look, but Noor looked intrigued.
“Since we don’t have a big warm Familiar of our own, that’s not a bad idea. Tonight, Curtis is with us, but there is one rule. Underwear stays on.” Noor agreed while Parker reprimanded her Imp for making lewd gestures.
“We might as well get going. If we have good luck, we can get the wands and find another spot early. We’re allowed to be outside the Academy for a week, even if we don’t need it, so we might as well enjoy our time.” Wolfe informed the group with a smile.
With their gear packed and the area swept clean of traces of their camp, a recommendation of the Adventurers Handbook, they set off into the forest, looking for Black Elder trees.
“What was the point of that anyway?” Mary asked, referring to their cleanup effort.
“If something, or someone, is following us, cleaning the area and using Earth Magic to absorb the fire ashes back into the ground means that they can’t tell how long or how long ago we were there. It could have been all night or just a lunch break.” Wolfe explained, parroting back the words of the book.
“It is not a bad idea. Plus, it looks better. We can’t be leaving a mess everywhere we go.” Parker agreed.
A few hours later, they found their first black Elder tree and realized what a task they had ahead of them. Natural branches were rarely perfectly straight, at least not when 15cm long and without any offshoot branches that would cause knots and break the grain that it needed to be suitable for a wand.
“Why don’t you just cheat?” Wolfe asked, wiggling his fingers at the tree.
“What do you mean?” Cassie asked.
“Focus on a branch and grow it straight out. The same thing I did with the Spirit Grass.” He explained.
“It is a black Elder tree. They’re very hard to alter with magic. That’s why we use them for wands.” Parker reminded him.
“Not modify, grow. Trees love to grow. Just give it a try.” He suggested.
Cassie focused on a short but straight branch and began to channel. The vast majority of the energy went to the dormant tree, in a state akin to hibernation for the winter, but the branch still slowly grew until, after ten minutes of intensive channelling, they had one single wand-quality branch.
“I need a breather. That is insane. Looking for the branches would be quicker and easier. Then we can grow the ones that are close to the right size.” She wheezed, exhausted from the effort.
“Maybe not my best idea ever, but you’ll get lots of practice with your innate Witch Magic.” Wolfe sighed.
A few minutes after the first, they found a second tree with a promising branch, very close to the right size. Noor found this one, and after half an hour of sweating and cursing, it had only grown 2cm.
“I guess plant Manipulation isn’t your strongest Affinity.” Reiko laughed.
“You think it’s easy? There’s another one on this tree. Give it a try.” Noor smirked.
The tall blonde sauntered over to the tree, taking time to admire it in its entirety before going to the short, straight branch. With a gentle caress, it grew in her hand, then detached, leaving her with a perfect wand in under a minute.
“I have always been good with plants. I could grow them even before my aura was active.” Reiko explained.
“We’ve found our official wand picker. Since you’re so good, Make it sixteen in total, and we can make the healing wands with the same branches.” Parker cheered.
With Reiko doing the picking and growing, even the smallest branches were viable, which was a blessing to the group since most of the trees were little more than shrubs.
They even gathered a bunch of extras in case some were unsuitable.
“Alright, we need one more zombie heart, and if we can find some fresh magical beast blood, it will make stronger wands than the stuff from the store,” Noor announced as she took out the map.
Four heads immediately turned to Wolfe, who could only resign himself to being cut again.
“Not a Demon. It wouldn’t work for a healing wand. A fast-growing magical creature is best.” She clarified.
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“Let’s try the lake. We can likely find both near the water.” Wolfe suggested.
“I am more worried about how many we find than whether we find them,” Curtis muttered, taking up his spot at the back of the line to guard against rear attacks.
Noor patted him on the shoulder. “Extra components earn valuable school store credits. Finding extras is a good thing. Plus, you’re wearing top-grade magical armour, and I’m right here to enchant your weapon and cast you a physical skills charm.”
Curtis seemed to be much more assured after that, and Wolfe wondered if he honestly thought Reiko might leave him to die for convenience’s sake.
It might solve a few problems for her, but Reiko was too kind for that. But if he wasn’t hesitating because he was afraid of being left to die, his concerns might also be because of those kind and agreeable personality traits. She was a good person with very limited combat experience.
[Detect Hidden] alerted Wolfe to the presence of more humans hiding in a steep ravine, so he signalled for the others to stop while he looked more closely.
Adjustments to the spell let him get a good look at the matted hair, rotted skin and vacant eyes. They were definitely the undead and seemed to have been very poor in life, going by the patched remains of their clothing.
The perfect targets to finish their mission.
