Learning To Live As A Cultivator 252 Chapter Fifty Two - We make camp beside the lake

The tree's branches flared out like a large platform, almost perfectly horizontal in most directions before winding slightly down then rising upward towards the sky or simply reaching that way in the first place, thus forming a near perfect shelter. It was not surprising that this would attract a beast to nest in it at some point, but from the loose twigs and scraps of thin fur, it appeared to have been abandoned some time ago.

Leon glanced down as he wrapped his arms around one of the thick branches in order to brace himself. This area was above ground about two stories of an average house and would not be an easy climb for most ground bound beasts and above them was still quite a healthy, green canopy of leaves each twice a palm size, hiding them from flying eyes. It was a good shelter and naturally Pike decided to make the most of it.

They'd been walking for several hours and while Velana and the martial artists were not at all out of weary, same could not be said of Leon and Roman, though neither one complained about the lengthy journey and their aching limbs. Pike thought Caelus might be different, not due to his sizeable girth (there were martial artists that carried much similar bulk around and only a fool would underestimate them) but more because of a mage's reputation as a physically weak, overly spoilt powerhouse. Couldn't upset them, could only indulge them. However, Caelus had actually only broken a sweat in the past half an hour and still trudged on silently, impressing Pike to the point he reviewed his original first impressions.

The sky was still very light, as one of the two suns still shone although it was lower in the heavens than before. Troy had leapt higher into the branches to watch over the lake and those surrounding it, but had found that many of the herds had retreated into the shelter of the trees. Currently a flock of Skull Armoured Herons were fighting with a pack of Dire Wolves over the carcass of a unidentifiable herd beast; Troy could only guess that the latter had found an opportunity to bring down prey only to need then fend off the Heron who tried to scavenge the corpse away.

He watched as one Heron used the horned skull dressing its long featherless head to butt away a wolf leaping towards itself. These long, wading birds were a strange species with the long elegant bodies of their less intelligent cousins, yet with the plumage and habits of vultures. They wore the skulls of other birds upon their heads as both armour and status, one with natural weapons such as this would have a higher status than one wearing a smooth skull. But status did not equate common sense and as the bird met the leaping dire wolf mid air, the recoil from the collision forced both backwards. While the wolf regained its footing upon the ground, the Heron fell into the deepest part of the lake.

A shadow appeared beneath the bird and the previously waters rippled as two halves of a tooth filled mouth surfaced and snapped shut around the Heron. It was dead before the remnants of its exposed body sank beneath the waters. Due to this, the flock of surviving birds abandoned their bid for a meal and the pack almost cautiously dragged that meal into the forest shelter. All became eerily silent about the lake.

"Hmm," Pike hummed as Troy recounted the whole event a short while later. "I know which Isle we are on now. It's known for the dormant volcano at its centre and having this one large lake." He requested from Roman parchment and a piece of charcoal, which the other did indeed carry and he drew a rough sketch upon it. "I've only seen this in a book, I can't say how accurate it is."

The shape of the isle was not unlike a jagged edged gourd and the lake was shaped like an oval attached to part of a loosely spiralling crescent moon. The tip of this Crescent touched the volcano so Roman theorised that the lake might well be fed from either snow atop the dormant mountain or underground springs. They, themselves, were at the 'southern' edge of the deepest curve of the main oval body. 'Southern' as the Isles moved; could not necessarily be accurate to a true magnetic point on an ordinary world.

The water was deep enough inland that it need not worry about falling out of the edges of the Isle, but it was the main source of water for the Isle as well. Although, as Roman had already mentioned albeit in theory, there were a few small springs scattered here and there, the majority of the beasts living on the Isle would need to nest nearby, likely there were many territory disputes. As for what Troy had seen...

"It's been nicknamed a guardian of the lake," Pike recalled what was mentioned in the book, "but whatever type of water-beast it is, it appears that there is only one of it as no others have ever appeared in the lakes waters. Plus it only appears during the cooler times of the day and it appears to live in the deep waters of this main area. From the reaction of the Dire Wolves, likely it can come to the shallow edges when it wants to eat though."

"Even more reason to make camp now," Velana affirmed Pike's intentions and he also nodded to agree with her words.

Hearing this, Leon made himself comfortable and opened up his interspatial bag as did the others with their own. However, while they dug out some dried rations, he pulled out his portable stove, pot and kettle, before realising a problem.

"You aren't going to make Pills here?" Caelus said with a hint of his usual disdain, when in fact he was actually curious. Generally, alchemists would only create pills in locations that were safe. While there enchantments that could hide the herbal scent of their concoctions from interested foes and beasts, most students did not have the ability to obtain these.

Leon shook his head as that hadn't been his intention at all. "Wanted t-to b-boil water," he admitted.

This caused Caelus to choke slightly on his rations in surprise, while Pike chuckled behind a fist. "Wait, the water is for Pill making right?" The larger man urged him to make this fact as he tried to regain his composure only for this to be in vain as Leon shook his head while looking slightly confused over Caelus' reaction.

"Soup."

Pike laughed far more openly as Roman glanced about worriedly hoping his paper talisman-barrier was good enough to prevent the sound from escaping their small camp. It was a minor charm that he was within his abilities and could only do this as well as reduce their overall physical presence. It could not hide other factors, making him wish he had studied charms a little harder. However, he tended to focus on crystal research hence how he came to know Caelus, who was very reliable in recharging refined crystals for use in formations and arrays.  He'd also met Pike through this chance having joined an expedition to the Cliffs of the Saltwater Shallows, where an abundant vein of raw Mage crystals had been discovered.  As it happened the vein did not have as many pure, clear crystals as it first appeared, however part of Roman's personal research was regarding ways to refine cracked or cloudy crystals for use, so he was quite pleased regardless.

Caelus mumbled something about how unbelievable that an alchemist defile the purposes of his tools for something like soup, even as he summoned a ball of water just for Leon's pot.  However, he swallowed his words sometime later as the aroma of the lightly seasoned soup drifted about their small camp. 

Roman once more glanced about worriedly, fearing the scents of the soup would attract beasts to break his barrier.  He need not have worried.  The guardian of the lake had more than enough aura to act as a deterrent while it was awake.  The six students could eat and sleep quite peacefully so close to its territory until both suns rose into the sky the following day.

Chapter end