“How long do you think she’ll be out?” I vaguely heard Oda’s voice through the black fog of my mind.

“She should be up soon,” Eurielle replied. I felt her small hand resting on my forehead and I could feel her using her mana to help regulate mine.

Groggily, I forced my eyes open and I could see Eurielle and Oda looking at me concerned while Aldric was on guard.

Oda helped me to sit up while Eurielle explained to me why I blacked out, “Your body was under a ton of strain when you did the multicast. After you get better at casting efficiently, you should be able to sustain the weight better. Normally you start out by casting a spell on two people to slowly increase your body’s tolerance but you were thrown into the deep end on having to cast it on to four people at once.” She gently smiled, “But even with that, you did a great job!”

“So how long was I out for?” I asked while I stretched out my arms and legs.

“For a day and a half. It’s morning time,” Oda replied.

I looked around and we were still in the same alcove we met the merchants at. “Sorry for the inconvenience,” I said as I stood up. Then I stretched my body to the left and right, my limbs felt so stiff.

“It’s fine! We would’ve been in major trouble if they found out we were half demons! You taking some rest is more than a fair trade!” Oda exclaimed as he watched me stretch with concern in his eyes.

Aldric came over due to our conversation, “How are you feeling Nocturne?”

“Fine. My body is a bit stiff but walking should fix that. We should start heading off to the next town to restock our supplies, they’re not going to last forever,” I replied with my arms folded against my chest.

Aldric nodded in agreement. With that, we all worked together to break down the camp. Oda hummed a tune to himself as he worked.

Once all the supplies were put away, we consulted the map and headed off on our journey to save Aldric’s old acquaintance. As we were walking Eurielle informed me that we needed to use one of the new fire crystals we bought a while back. While I was unconscious, she was pouring her mana into the old one to keep us warm. She noticed that it was about to become extremely unstable.

Luckily, the town wasn’t too far away from where we were so we made it in no time. The others hung back in the snowy woods while I went into the town to buy our supplies.

Walking into the town with an illusion cast on my eyes and my hood up, no one seemed suspicious. For whatever reason, this town didn’t have any holy knights regulating who entered and exited the town. As I walked through the town, I listened to the gossip.

Apparently, the holy knights were stationed here but they were called away for some important mission. I frowned. This could mean the holy knight general of this area called them back to Zetsubo Prison for added protection for their captive. The relief on the town folks' faces seemed to imply they were starting to get fed up with the knight patrols. From what I’ve seen, I could understand their happiness. The holy knights were such a pain in the ass.

I quickly bought more food from the vendors such as local fruits and whatever cheap meats I could get my hands on. As I was shopping, it occurred to me that it’s been awhile since I’ve stolen items in the middle of the night. It might be better to buy the things we need outright rather than stealing, not due to any new found morals or anything. Just simply it’d be much harder and more suspicious for us if we stole everything we needed to sustain our growing party.

A part of me missed the old days of being alone and easily slipping in and out grabbing what I needed and saving my money. But this new life of mine wasn’t terrible by any means. It felt so surreal walking through town and not having to fear being found out as a demon spawn.

Although we were starting to run into a predicament. We were running low on money. If we kept doing things the legal way, we’d need a way to procure money. Chuckling to myself, my mind immediately went to mugging every single holy knight patrol for their gold and silver. But unfortunately, that would cause way too many problems in the long run.

Securing all the materials we needed, I walked briskly out of the town back towards the others.

When I arrived back to the party, Eurielle inquired how I felt, “How is your body holding up to casting the illusion for so long?”

I shrugged my shoulders, “I can feel a bit of strain but I’m fine. The main problem we’re having now is low funds”.

“We could sell monster parts to various craft vendors such as the claws and hide. It should be a good source of income and maybe help us curry favor with towns,” Aldric suggested wisely.

“That’s a fantastic idea!” Oda exclaimed, waving his fist excitedly. “Should we also sell the pelts as well?” he asked sadly.

Aldric responded, “If you want me to turn our current cloaks into fur cloaks, we need to hoard them.”

“I think we can all agree we’d rather have the fur cloaks than extra money. Besides, we always end up dealing with monsters so it shouldn’t be too hard to stock up on sellable items. And maybe we can find a blacksmith who could make me a nice set of gauntlets to use,” I added. “So do you have any experience with selling monster parts?” I asked Aldric since he was the one to bring up the idea.

Aldric nodded, “A bit yes, whenever I needed extra funds for a mission I’d sell monster parts to traveling merchants. The rarer the monster, the more valuable their parts are. Though there’s nothing wrong with the more common monster parts as well.”

“So does that mean our backpacks are going to get even heavier?” Oda complained.

Aldric silently nodded. Oda groaned and then implored me, “Noct, you really need to learn how to make a bag of holding before my back gives out!”

“Again, I’ll see what I can do,” I replied noncomittedly while avoiding his hopeful gaze.

Looking towards the west, the sun was starting to descend in the sky and I told everyone we should probably continue on before it got too dark.

Walking through the snow, the soft crunch paired with the birds chirping. While we were travelling, Eurielle reminded me I should be casting an illusion on my eyes to help with my endurance. The hour or so of walking felt like forever with the strain on my body from the long cast taking its toll on me.

Aldric spotted a decent place for us to sleep by a grove of trees so we set about making camp. Exhausted, I ended the enchantment and heavily sat down on my sleeping bag with a loud thud.

Eurielle patted my shoulder, “Over time, you’ll get used to the strain”.

I sighed in resignation. This is how I’ll be travelling from now on until I can increase my endurance. And then I’d have to up my enchantment to two people. I internally groaned but I knew that doing this was important for our continued safety.

Aldric sat down on his sleeping bag and was going through his backpack. One by one, he took out all the fur pelts we’ve acquired on our journey so far and scrutinized them. “I have enough pelts to sew at least two cloaks. Who would like them first?” he asked.

Oda immediately raised his hand, “Me me me! I should get one since it was my idea!”

I rolled my eyes. Oda was such a child. I looked at Eurielle, “How are you faring with the cold Eurielle?”

“I’m fine. I’m used to this type of weather since I’ve been raised here,” she replied with a shrug. Looking at her outfit, she was already wearing some fur lined clothing.

Aldric asked, “Then Nocturne, do you want the other fur cloak?”

“I don’t mind. But I think you should make one for yourself first since it’s your labor that’s making them,” I replied.

Aldric nodded and asked Oda for his cloak.

Confused Oda asked, “You mean like take it off and give it to you?”

“Yes. How else am I supposed to sew?” Aldric slowly responded as if he was surprised by Oda’s stupid question.

Slumping his shoulder, Oda replied, “I guess that makes sense. I’ll just have to get an extra blanket or two to make up for it”. He then rummaged around his backpack and pulled out blankets. Very slowly and exaggeratedly, Oda took off his cloak and handed it over to Aldric. Then he very quickly rebundled himself in blankets.

I chuckled. He reminded me of a caterpillar in a cocoon with only his face exposed to the biting cold.

Offended, Oda retorted, “Don’t laugh at me Noct! I wasn’t built for the cold!”

The evening slowly passed as Aldric silently and meticulously sewed. Oda stayed as a cocoon while Eurielle and I cooked dinner over our new fire crystal. It was night and day how much mana I had to put into it compared to the old one.

By the time we went to bed, Aldric was about an eighth of the way done with Oda's cloak. Aldric volunteered to take the first watch so he could continue sewing which Oda was extremely happy about. Once we settled on a final watch order, we went to bed.

As I laid in my sleeping bag and covered in my blankets, I could hear the sound of Aldric quietly working. It was oddly comforting in a way. My body slowly fell asleep to the sound of the needle pulling thread and the rustle of fur.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Can't wait for the next chapter?
Become my patron for as low as $1 a month to gain exclusive sneak peeks and early access chapters! Chapters will be released early on Tuesdays and Fridays.
www.patreon.com/FaerieWarrior