The snowing was getting worse so the elite class started walking towards the rock formations, Michael apparently had quite a bit of experience camping outdoors, so he offered himself to make an improvised map.
The snow was going to cover any traces, so Michael instead took note of certain specific things as reference later, it didn’t take them too much time to reach their destination.
Now it was Calvin’s turn, he placed his hands on the rock and checked to see if the structure of the rock was safe to dig a cave, after a moment of contemplation he nodded.
“Ladies give me some space please, my ass is freezing so I will go as fast as I can”, said Calvin as he started using terraforming to open a breach on the rock, this was just a resting point so with a shallow cave would be enough.
Yvonne laughed seeing that Calvin was actually putting some effort into finishing the cave soon.
“The next time we see Calvin being a lazy ass, we’ll just ask Liliana to turn him into a popsicle”.
While everyone laughed, Daimon called Michael.
“I saw some small trees on the way so let’s go collect branches for a campfire, I don’t want you and Leslie wasting mana, since only you two have fire affinity, Liliana you come too just in case”.
They both nodded, the others stayed behind and they went to get some materials, the floor of the tundra was treacherous and irregular, while some parts had rock below, there were hole which seemed normal due to the thick layer of snow which covered the landscape.
That’s why Daimon brought Liliana with them, she used small amounts of mana to solidify the snow as she walked to prevent an accident from happening, soon they reached a small batch of trees which were near their previous position.
*Slash*
Daimon’s nails changed into claws which he used to cut the branches of the tree, Liliana and Michael were surprised at how easily the wood was being cut, which made Daimon remember this was the first time they saw him using his “werewolf” characteristics.
Michael sighed, he instead used his dagger to remove the sharp ends of the branches and then put them on the bag along with some rocks, for easy transportation.
“Mm?”, Daimon noticed a little waving movement in the snow near Liliana, he extended his hand towards Michael who handed him his dagger, with a swift maneuver he threw the dagger and the snow was suddenly dyed in red.
Liliana’s eyes widened, she approached the dagger and saw the thing which was impaled with it, a white snake of about two meters long with a flat triangle like head.
Michael retrieved his dagger and cleaned the blood with snow and then inspected the snake, to see if it was edible.
“Its quite long and the fans aren’t hollow so its not poisonous, looks like we found our lunch, I will clean it now so there won’t be blood near the cave”.
Daimon nodded, he using the truth seeker eyes he confirmed Michael’s supposition just in case, stomach ache or food poisoning would be a lame way to fail the trial after all.
While Michael made some cuts on the body of the snake to bleed it out which prevented the meat to keep a bloody stench, Liliana gathered some mushrooms, one of the best ways to warm up the body is a good plate of soup, besides they didn’t have spices so boiling the meat along with some other ingredients will give a better result than just grilling it.
Evangeline laughed at Daimon’s assigned task, since his claws were really sharp then he carved spoons, bowls and cups using pieces of wood
“What kind of werewolf makes bowls and spoons with his claws”, she said in a playful voice.
“The kind that doesn’t like tasteless meals I guess… also in case you forgot I’m a vampire”, Daimon thought.
After nearly twenty minutes, everyone finished their tasks, Michael completely cleaned the snake now he only needed to peel the skin and cut it into cubes but that will be done in the cave for now he just placed the snake on his shoulder.
“Calvin should have finished by now, let’s go back”.
,m Daimon was happy with the results so they returned with the others, Calvin did a good job making a shallow space in the ladder of the rock formation, spacious enough to shelter them from the snow and wind.
Leslie took the bag with the branches and rocks and moved to the center of the shelter to start preparing the campfire.
Michael started peeling the snake not before giving some work to Calvin.
“It won’t be long before I finish preparing this, make a pot with a rock so everyone can eat, we will move as much as we can later, so it’s better for us to eat and rest while we can”.
Daimon already did his part so he sat down and just remained on guard, of course Liz sat down next to him to make him company, the magic beasts of this place had white skin or fur to camouflage themselves, to if you weren’t paying attention, you’ll be bitten by something.
Calvin also finished the pot, he placed the rocks around the branches to make an elevated platform on which he put the pot, Leslie lit up the fire and once it was hot enough Liliana created a piece of ice which melted in the pot.
“The water created with mana is safe to drink, Lili’s ice is clean”, said Leslie.
Aisha smiled, she, Yvonne and Loren took the meat and the mushrooms and washed them taking some water from the pot with a cup.
“Leave the rest to us”.
While the girls prepared the soup, Calvin let out a sigh of relief he sat near the campfire to warm his body and recover his mana.
Liz inspected the rough craft of the wood spoons and plates and she chuckled, as she imagined Daimon carving them.
Daimon sighed, “Next time I will condition those old men to leave us bring some things, I can’t stab someone with a spoon anyway”, he thought.
After some time, the cave was filled with a faint but appetizing smell, since Yvonne was the one that did less, she was in charge of serving the soup to everyone.
They sat around the fire and ate, it was rather simple since they didn’t have spices at their disposition, but Aisha and Loren managed to make it tasty by grinding the mushrooms and adding them to the soup.
As always Daimon earned Calvin’s admiration when he saw both Liz and Aisha personally feeding him, he turned to see Loren and coughed a couple of times.
“Ahem, I feel a bit tired of using terraforming to create the cave”.
Yvonne smirked, “What tired, terraforming consumes such a little amount of mana, stop whining and drink the soup directly from the bowl”.
Calvin gritted his teeth, “Come on I just mocked Leslie once, leave me alone already”.
Loren laughed, she hit Yvonne’s shoulder and then to everyone’s surprise she actually offered Calvin a spoon of soup, which he happily accepted.
Leslie shook her head, she swallowed her soup and then patted Loren’s shoulder.
“Ren be careful to not fall in the claws of a Calvin, coyotes are sly creatures”.
Liliana nodded, “Indeed, beasts from the desert are trickery”.
Calvin snorted, since Loren stopped feeding him, he gulped down the contents of her bowl in one go and then laid down on the floor.
“Oi, what kind of delinquent do you think I am, I the young master of the Ghrish family I’m the most chivalrous first year student”.
As always, the atmosphere of the elite class became more relaxed thanks to Calvin’s antics, just like Liliana and Yvonne predicted the weather got worse, the wind howled and the light dimmed as the sky got even more clouded than before.
It was to the point that the campfire projected their shadows in the wall of the cave as if it was night, Calvin added more branched to the campfire and then everyone laid down near it.
Daimon frowned his brows, if it kept snowing so heavily then it was going to be a pain the ass to move, also there were magic beasts which emerged when the weather was worse to hunt just in case and the campfire was easy to detect.
“We’ll take thirty minutes turns to watch the entrance, Calvin and Loren you two take the first, then Liliana and Yvonne will take over, okay?”.
Calvin gave thumbs up to Daimon and closed the distance between him and Loren, for “communication purposes” of course.
Liz saw Daimon’s serious expression and she hugged him.
“Don’t forget I’m here, besides those two old men are still supervising this whole thing, so nothing will happen”.
Aisha also clung to her son, the warmness of their bodies combined, giving them a comfortable sensation as they cuddled.
“Let’s rest a bit darling, we can’t go outside anyway, so the best thing we can do right now is wait”.
Daimon doubted for a moment but he still nodded, even with sixth sense, he didn’t feel any danger, but he had a slight uncomfortable feeling which he couldn’t explain, so he kept one hand on Gram’s hilt just in case.