The 5th Bifjordur regiment had sent a major portion of their forces to subdue the students, academics and faculty of the Velmara Magic Academy to draft them for the imminent war. No one in the regiment was ready for the sight that was before them, of dead students and slaughtered soldiers. This level of death and disaster, could only have been brought by the devil himself.
The Guard Captain rushed forward and ordered his men to search the premises, and to look at every crook or crevice for a clue on what had happened. He himself looked around at the bodies, of both students and the Findave County guard. His first assumption was that the students and the guard fought together against a strong force, but that didn't explain the presence of Findave Guard in Saureykir County nor did it explain the spears left stuck within the students. The Guard Captain was scratching his head in utter confusion, when one of his men hailed him and told him of the fate of Baron Aldric Draemont.
The Captain quickly called for his healers to get to work on the Baron while asking his magic unit to look for further clues, all while he orders his foot soldiers to secure a perimeter around the academy and look for anything else in the vicinity of the Academy. This was completely unprecedented and unexpected. The Regiment searched and found nothing, but the magic unit said that there were only traces of meagre mana which was not utilized for elemental conversion or even elemental manifestation. The Captain decided to pull out his regiment and let the Kingdom's own royal investigators take this case, for he feared more about the mountains of reports than the answering directly to the Inquisitors.

Silas awoke with a jerk, as though someone had shoved his entire body. He looked around, half-dazed still to get a bearing of his surroundings and the sun barely up. His memory of coming here was hazy, but clear before it. He took another look around before he stood up. The effects of a drained mana core were still there, especially the dizzy head. First, He quickly got up and checked his limbs to make sure no wild animal had bitten a piece of flesh, next, he started the mana influx process to get some energy for the body to expend again. This was enough preparation for now, anymore would delay his departure to Grytrand, where Tormac was till waiting for him. He started moving towards his destination all while keeping a keen eye for any onlookers. 
"Tormac would've gotten at least a room and board for the both of us by now. Let's just get there and think of the next step" Silas thought. He was worried about his next step. With no Mage Academy classification test he would have to join the adventurers guild with the lowest rank.
Grytrand was half a day's journey but through a dense forest, which was beneficial for Silas as it gave him ample cover to use and duck into nearby bush to avoid any passerby coming his way.

Silas entered the town with the academy robes insignia torn off to avoid detection. He had barely entered the town when he saw Tormac out in the market surveying goods to buy. He approached Tormac and asked for the current situation on his end.
"We have room and board but we also have the Regiment Guard's patrol from 6 in the evening, so we're good till then. Come on, I'll show you the place" Tormac said and gestured Silas to follow. The room was at a bustling inn, an ideal choice to avoid being marked as suspicious individuals in a crowd. A basic room, two beds a window showing the street, it was far more than enough, it was comfortable.
"Tormac this seems ok but how much are we spending on this? What about our finances?" Silas said peeking outside the window.
"I have about 2 Lunars with me and leftover 30 Pennar. The room costs us 40 Pennars a day" Tormac continued " The food you have with you will last us 4 days if we ration it. How much money you got?"
"I have about a Lunar and some 50 Pennar. We gotta find work quickly, man. But there's no adventurers guild here in Grytrand, we could move to Esmoendo or Utstad after today.....but then Utstad is in Findave County and we don't need anymore to deal with" Silas said letting himself be lost in thought for his next steps.
"What's our end goal man? What is our next step?" Tormac asked, a bit worried about finances too.
"Tormac we need to leave the kingdom, how far is your hometown from here?" Silas said slowly coming up with a plan
"Austrand is on the other end of Velmara's Island, connected by the sea. It is far, very far from here. We don't even have funds for the food to last so long, let alone transport till there." Tormac pointed out.
"Fine, we travel by foot, to Esmoendo and then work our way from there. This gives ample time for training and survival growth for the both of us" Silas said.
"That's a long shot you are suggesting, not passing the mage classification puts us back at the G quests and at Novice Initiates as well." Tormac reminded
"Or we could just wait here and do odd jobs for survival?" Silas retorted
They made the decision final, to Esmoendo they will go and earn a decent living as adventurers there, till they have enough to move.

The bags were packed, their stomach was filled and the innkeeper was paid, all they had to do was move at night and quietly. They rushed out of the inn from the back to avoid the patrol out front and kept moving. They left the town through the southeast road, unsure of what's to come tomorrow. The journey would take them about 2-3 days with breaks for rest and hunting. The first stretch of the journey was inventory checks and watching surroundings. Inventory check concluded enough rations for 2 more meals only, so hunting took precedence over training. There was no sleeping bag or tents, just some lousy blankets and a rug Silas grabbed on the way out from the Academy. All of it had to be improvised and through every step of the way. 
Hunting came first, while Silas had no experience in the forest life, Nate did, through scrounging and grueling in the marshes of his homeland. There was a really good covering of trees nearby and had the highest chance for any edible or regularly consumed meats. Silas and Tormac tied up their luggage to a high branch on a tree by the pathway they used to travel and covered it with leaves to hide it appropriately enough to be missed by the unaware. The pair moved to the grove in search of food. They had to avoid berries or any smaller fruits, so that they don't end up sick or poisoned.
"Maybe I should've picked a botany book when we had the chance." Tormac said
"Maybe you should've." Silas said
"We aren't exactly starving, so do we need to do the hunting now? And not in the morning when we can see better?" Tormac whined
"No, it's better at night, when their vision isn't at it's best" Silas whispered
"Yeah, but prowling wolfs or even other nocturnal predators have better eyesight at night." Tormac whispered back
"Trust me, I know what I am doing. This grove is too small and too close to a town for a predator to be nearby, anyways. See those nibbled leaves on those lower branches? And those hoofprints? That's deer. Walking venison" Silas said and smiled.
"Fine, do the spotting, I'll cast the spell" Tormac said
"Nope, you use mana as a force with your tone casting. Brute force or impacts on muscle will ruin the meat. I'll take the shot, you can learn" Silas smirked
The duo patiently waited for the herd, all prepared to strike. Rustling of leaves and an occasional bleat signaled the herds approach. Silas aimed for the vital organs, as an accurate shot would put the beast down quick and without pain. 150 meters through thicket leaves, no wind and mana compressed enough to compensate for the projectile drop and aimed. POP! The bullet pierced the ribs, a little above and right to the forelimbs, staggering the doe for a second before it dropped.
"Nice shot. No antlers though" Tormac said
"No. Antlers are for bucks, males. This is a female. We have no use for the antlers anyways" Silas explained
"We could have sold them, don't you think?" Tormac asked
"We could have, but butchers or such could just go into the woods during shedding season and pick it up for free. So, not much of a market there. Then again, we have no experience in cutting off antlers now, do we?" Silas said
Tormac just shook his head, with nothing to say he moved towards the kill to inspect it up close. Silas followed close with one of his knives in hand to finish the job if it was still alive. Luckily, it wasn't. Both of them grabbed the carcass and moved it with them, back to the luggage to set up a camp and butcher it for venison or game meat. They set down a half-decent camp and Silas got to butchering, all while teaching Tormac the methods to do so and more important hunting information about the deer.
"Keep a close eye on their ears, if they aren't looking in your direction, they might be listening instead. See the gash like marks on the feet? It was attacked by something but it survived it" Silas pointed out.
Tormac listened intently, learning as he had to be able to survive by himself if they end up straying from one another.
"I know you use mana as it is, Tormac. My way of hunting won't work for you. If you want to use blunt force trauma, stay up on a tree and whack it with decent mana force in the middle of the back of its neck." Silas said pointing to the middle of the carcass' neck.
"The middle? Not behind it's skull?" Tormac asked
"Nope, Bucks fight and have their skulls and a few vertebrae below the skull well reinforced naturally." Silas said.
The meat was cut and hung out to dry while Tormac took the first shift of rest, until dawn which was in a few hours. Silas was alright with the first watch as he needed time to clear his thoughts. The journey till Austrand would be hard but the delay, waiting and working off to earn some money would make it very difficult for them to stay in a country at war. "The royals and nobles didn't hesitate to attack students, so why would they stop there? Next could be villagers, farmers, peasants and then soon the low ranked adventurers." Silas thought. They could not travel, hunt and rest all the way to Austrand, as the journey was too long with too many dangers and mana beasts on the way for them to deal by themselves. There was not enough to time to complete his plan for faster transportation as the sun had risen. He woke Tormac up, covered the meat and tucked it into the rucksack. They had barely covered any distance, but rested and freshened, Tormac could move more than he could the night before.
The pair set out to travelling, occasionally hiding behind the bushes to avoid the passerby wagons and horseback riders. It seemed excessive but it was necessary until they could establish a proper place for themselves to stay, even if temporary. Esmoendo was only the first stop, but it wasn't easy either.