Merlin always told him, "Always study your environment. It will bring you advantages on the battlefield." So that's what he did. His first priority was to know his surroundings, so when the sun came up, he took off, leaving Elizabeth by herself. He could tell she was scared to stay alone, but he didn't know the area well enough to take her with him yet. It was too risky. So he gave her a task. He told her to cook the leftover rabbits, since she knew how to produce fire—and that made her feel slightly better.
On Day 1, he walked east, toward the direction he came from—toward the mountain, where the sun rises. As he walked, he started counting seconds, and once he got out of the forest into the open field where he hunted the rabbits, it took him about an hour to get there. Then he estimated the distance from the cave to the field to be around three miles, if he walked one mile every twenty minutes.
Like he did previously, he killed a few rabbits. Before heading back, he wanted to figure out how much time had passed. He looked up at the sky, extended his arm, and lined up his fingers. He continued stacking them between the sun and the ground. Each finger measured about fifteen minutes, and a full hand meant an hour. Judging by the space, it had been about four hours since the sun rose. Therefore, it was around nine or ten in the morning.
When the sun was directly above his head, it was most likely noon. As it started going down toward the west, it meant the afternoon was ending and the sun was about to set.
He made his way back toward the cave, and once he got there, he handed her the rabbits he killed.
Then he went straight up north to see what else was there. While walking, he found one of the checkpoints, about a mile away from the cave. He kept moving and could hear the sound of a waterfall, so he followed the sound—and about half a mile later, he found a clearing with a small spring and a small waterfall in the middle of the forest. He drank as much as he could, then he unsheathed his sword—the one he got from the school—and filled it up with water for Elizabeth.
Before heading back, he made sure to take as much clay as he could find next to the spring.
By the time he made it back, the sun had started to set. Elizabeth cooked all the meat while Sylas used the clay he collected to make pots to store water. It wasn't perfect, but it was good enough.
When the sun set, he extinguished the fire so no one would know their location—something he forgot the night before. She slept next to the warm burned wood, while he slept next to the opening, keeping an eye out. The cave stayed warm at night; the walls were surprisingly good at trapping heat.
He slept peacefully until he was woken up by the massive monster from earlier, but luckily, it never walked toward the cave. After it left, he went back to sleep.
When the sun came up on Day 3, he walked toward west. There was nothing but trees. He saw a few other people but tried not to get their attention. They looked tired and exhausted, like they hadn't been eating for a while.
After about two miles of walking, he found another checkpoint. He made sure to leave markings with his sword near the checkpoint, making it easier to find it later.
The next two days passed much the same—hunting rabbits, marking checkpoints, and watching the skies darken earlier each night.
He saw a few boars and wolves. He wanted to hunt them, but it was too risky—there were other people nearby. So he picked up more rabbits and used the pots he made to store water.
Day 4 was different. Since he knew everything he needed to know about his surroundings, he took Elizabeth with him this time. She looked slightly worried but seemed happy to be out of the cave. With her around, he could hunt a boar.
They couldn't kill a boar head-on. They were too big, and their tusks were too dangerous. First, he helped Elizabeth climb up one of the trees, then he climbed up another tree and waited.
When one of the boars came into view, he leapt down from the tree, aiming his blade above its head—and in an instant, it died.
Skinning was the easy part. He cut the ankles first and blew into one of the cuts as hard as he could. The pressure made the skin lift from the flesh. From there, it was just a matter of peeling it off down the belly.
The smell was horrible, especially when removing the guts. Elizabeth almost threw up. The meat was still warm. Sylas was covered in blood, and he needed to get himself clean, so they walked toward the spring.
While walking, he realized they were being followed, but he ignored it. He couldn't go back to the cave now. The better option was to lead them to the spring.
He cleaned himself up, leaving behind only his boxers. His body was still damp from the water. Elizabeth immediately turned her head away. Her face burned bright red, too flustered to even glance in his direction again. She just stood there, frozen.
He burst out laughing.
"Fine, I'll wear my pants."
Just then, the people who had been following them showed up. There were five of them. They came out of the forest with swords in hand. The leader stepped forward.
"Hand over the meat."
Sylas looked down, covering his private parts.
"No, you can't have that. I need that for the future."
Elizabeth laughed.
"Shut up, I meant the food."
They looked exhausted and pale, like they hadn't eaten in days. In normal cases, Sylas would have defended, but this was different.
He cut one of the boar legs for himself and Elizabeth.
"We'll take this. You all share that."
He tossed it over to them.
As they were about to leave, Sylas asked,
"How many of you are there?"
The leader turned.
"Twenty-five of us."
Sylas smirked.
"Is Luis one of them?"
He nodded, as if Luis was making them hunt food for him. Sylas looked at them.
"Okay, let's get you more boar."
Within two hours, he got them two more boars and cleaned them up. Elizabeth didn't trust them, so she stayed close to him.
Once it was done, they all left.
At night, it was different. There was more stomping—like more than one monster. It looked like they were searching for something… or someone.
Day 5 was worse. After helping those five again, at night the noise became even worse. Something was tearing down trees. The sound of bones grinding and the deep grunting grew louder.
Elizabeth couldn't sleep at night. She stayed next to Sylas to the point he had to cover her ears.
On Day 6, they didn't move from the cave. They had enough food and water to last a day, but the clearing around the cave got worse. Now the moonlight was visible.
Day 7 was when he regretted helping those ungrateful scums. One of them must have followed him. They had found where he had been staying.
At night, a familiar voice spoke out:
"Come out, bastard."