Chapter 92

October 10th, around 4:00 PM.

We were heading towards the northern forest to search for the missing Quentin Wagman. Around 4:00 PM, we heard the church bells, but it was already quite dark due to the thick, dark rain clouds.

Inside the northern forest, it was even darker, and a mist hung in the air, making it difficult to see. We turned on the magical lanterns so Quentin could see us as we moved through the forest.

After about thirty minutes, we found traces that looked like they were made by several people a few hours earlier. However, it hadn't rained in the morning, and it was possible that some adventurers were in the forest, so we couldn't be sure if the traces belonged to Quentin. But since it was the only clue we had, we decided to follow it.

After about an hour of moving through the forest, just as we were about to turn back, we heard a distant howl, like that of a wild dog or a wolf. Listening more closely, we could faintly hear a boy's scream carried by the wind.

The three of us exchanged glances and immediately started running in that direction. Beatrice, holding her spear low, ran through the forest with the agility of a wild animal. Ridia and I followed behind, struggling to keep up with her. Beatrice seemed to have already determined our destination and ran without hesitation.

After running for two or three minutes, we saw a small figure swinging a stick about thirty meters ahead. It was Quentin, crying and swinging his cane to fend off wild dogs. His clothes were tattered, but from his movements, it seemed he wasn't seriously injured. However, five wild dogs were circling him, ready to pounce at any moment, leaving no time to waste.

Ridia and I quickly cast spells as we ran. Beatrice let out a battle cry and increased her speed. Ridia cast a whirlwind blade, and I cast a fire cannon, an improved version of the fireball I created after seeing the professor's spell.

Ridia's spell activated slightly faster, cutting through the grass and slicing the neck of a wild dog that turned to face Beatrice. My fire cannon activated immediately after, illuminating the area and flying at high speed. It hit one of the wild dogs, causing an explosion that also blew another one away. The blown-away dog hit a tree trunk and stopped moving. The spot where the fire cannon hit was now on fire, with small flames illuminating the area.

Our spells took down three of the wild dogs, and the remaining two growled, preparing to attack us. However, upon seeing Beatrice, who ran through the forest like a real tiger, they fled without resistance.

Beatrice confirmed that the three dead wild dogs in front of Quentin were indeed dead and stood guard while waiting for us.

By then, Ridia and I had finally caught up. I asked Quentin, "Mr. Wagman! Are you okay?"

After our spells blew the wild dogs away, Quentin seemed to relax, and he slumped to the ground. He weakly asked, "Mr. Rockhart?" and then, completely losing his composure, burst into tears. I checked his body, but he only had a few bruises and scrapes. I cast a healing spell on his injuries and helped him stand up.

"We're going home. Beatrice, can you carry this boy on your back?"

Beatrice said, "Boys shouldn't cry like that," but she carried Quentin anyway, as if it was the only option.

The surroundings were completely dark, but we turned off the magical lanterns to prevent monsters from being attracted to the light. Beatrice, walking behind us, said, "You can really see in the dark, huh?" and then continued talking.

"Still, what was that spell just now? Using fire magic in the forest is forbidden, you know."

"The spell I used was an improved version of the fireball. It has higher firepower and speed. I used fire magic in the forest out of necessity. Wind magic wouldn't have alerted the wild dogs to us. If I had a powerful light magic spell, I would have used it, but the fire cannon was the best I could think of at the moment. With this rain, there shouldn't be a fire, and I thought he would realize help had arrived if he saw the magic while he was barely standing on his own."

Beatrice, impressed, said, "Hmm," and then added,

"You really think things through. Indeed, using fire magic at that moment would have instantly illuminated the area. This boy didn't have a magical lantern, and he must have been anxious in the dark. Honestly, being with you is never boring."

She said this with a smile.

By the time the 6:00 PM church bells rang, we had left the forest. On the way, we were attacked by giant bats, but Ridia and I cast spells to knock them all down.

We returned home and informed the Wagman family's mansion that Quentin was safe. At the mansion, the butler, Stewart, had hired many adventurers who were about to enter the forest. When I told him that Quentin was safe, Stewart thanked me repeatedly. I told him that I needed to clean up the mess and would bring Quentin back home.

When we returned home, Quentin had calmed down a bit and was drinking soup made by Sharon. Ridia had already gathered the details and explained them to us while Quentin, still trembling, listened.

Quentin said he left home around 9:00 AM and came to my house. But since I didn't come out, he assumed I had already entered the forest and went there around 10:00 AM. When asked why he didn't check with Ridia or Sharon, he said he called out but no one answered, and he asked a neighbor. It turned out that Sharon and Ridia were on the second floor and didn't hear him because he didn't call out loudly. The neighbor, Mr. Littleford, worked at the academy and told Quentin that I had left with Beatrice around 8:00 AM. Unfortunately, Mr. Littleford only mentioned that we had left with weapons, not the direction we went. Quentin assumed we had gone to the forest.

He entered the forest around 10:00 AM and walked for about an hour. He luckily defeated a horned rabbit with one hit and got overconfident. After that, he encountered a stray wild dog, which he injured with a light arrow but couldn't finish off. The wild dog fled, and Quentin, without thinking, followed it and got lost. As it started raining in the afternoon, visibility in the forest worsened, and he couldn't tell which direction he had come from. He wandered aimlessly, becoming hungrier and colder as it got darker. Eventually, he sat under a tree. The injured wild dog then returned with a pack and attacked him. He managed to injure a few with magic, but it only made the wild dogs angrier, and he had to run. He was cornered and was swinging his cane to fend off the wild dogs when we arrived.

We found him by chance because he was circling the same area, and the multiple footprints we saw were from him walking in circles, according to Beatrice's theory.

After hearing the story, I spoke to Quentin.

"Stewart is worried. I've already informed him, but let's go home."

He shook his head and started whining, "I don't want to go home." It seemed that now that the danger had passed, he was more worried about being scolded at home.

As I tried to persuade him, Ridia said to Beatrice, "I want to rest. Can you carry him, please?"

Beatrice, sounding annoyed, said,

"Sure. He's been a bother. He didn't even thank Zack. I'm getting tired of this."

Quentin shivered and immediately stood up. While Ridia was obviously acting, Beatrice's performance was convincing to Quentin.

I said to the trembling Quentin,

"I won't ask you to thank me, but thank Beatrice. She carried you out of the forest. And she went into the rain to help you, even though she didn't have to."

Quentin finally realized he was being childish and said,

"Thank you, Miss Beatrice. Miss Ridia. Miss Jakes."

He bowed deeply and said to me, "And Mr. Rockhart, thank you so much..."

Beatrice smiled, but I was already tired, so I quickly took him to the mansion. We finally returned home around 8:00 PM and only took a quick shower. Beatrice looked so disappointed that I almost burst out laughing. Feeling bad, I told her she could come to my house the next day for Professor Raspade's class, and her face lit up like a flower. I couldn't help but laugh out loud.

October 11th.

I went to the academy for Professor Raspade's lecture. Worried about Quentin, I checked the classroom, but he wasn't there. Sharon and I then went to the professor's laboratory.

The homework from the professor was to think of a way to generate earth quickly without creating it from scratch. I had thought about it and came up with a hypothesis.

"What I thought was to use the earth from the ground, but with a twist in how it's used."

The professor nodded approvingly, "The method... yes, go on."

I nodded and continued,

"Last time, I said using the earth directly below or around the wall was the answer, and I think that's correct. My question was why the surrounding earth didn't decrease. I think it's because the earth was moved in small amounts from the surroundings or was piled up from deep underground. From my experiments, the latter seemed more efficient. I imagine the professor also used earth from deep underground."

The professor, excited, said, "Correct! I imagined lifting the earth from underground to create the wall!"

"Logically, if the earth directly below was used, the foundation would be weakened. For a temporary wall, it might be fine, but for a city wall, it would be problematic. So, the professor must have imagined the earth rising from the ground to create the wall."

The professor nodded and said, "Exactly."

"Such thinking can be applied to other areas. For example, if you imagine drawing water from a source, it's easier to create water than to generate it from scratch. The same goes for trees. Growing branches requires a lot of magic and time. But if you use branches or roots from other trees, you can rapidly extend branches and use them for binding or attacking."

I realized this when the professor mentioned the example of creating water. When filling the bathtub, I imagine pumping groundwater. While thinking about the homework, I realized I was doing the same thing. I went outside and tried creating a pillar of earth, and it grew like a bamboo shoot. The image was of a lava dome rising due to the pressure from underground magma, and it worked.

At this point, I realized that the Rock Spear spell, which creates a pointed rock pillar from the ground, was an application of this method. When I tried the Rock Spear spell, it required only a fraction of the magic power and grew several times faster. Previously, it only grew about 30 cm per second and was easily avoided, making it useful only for setting up in a pit. This time, it grew over 1 meter per second, making it a viable weapon.

The conversation then continued with a mix of casual talk and questions, as before.

At lunchtime, I returned to the classroom, but Quentin still wasn't there. I asked Elliott Wentworth, who had spoken to Quentin before.

"Mr. Wagman is taking a break. The teacher said he overexerted himself yesterday. You might know more about it?"

When I asked, "What do you mean?"

"Mr. Wagman said he was going to the forest with you. Yesterday, the Wagman family's butler came to ask where he was. He must have gone with you."

It seemed that the butler, Stewart, had told Quentin that he might have gone to the forest with me and assumed he was injured and resting.

"Can you