292 Empty School
They did not attack Arthur, or did anything at all. The same youth who was saying those bad words to them said, “I will remember you face.” Then left.
Arthur was not concerned with it at all. Even though he was pretending to be someone weaker, there was no chance he would lose to these people who barely had any actual combat in their lives.
He got his water and then returned to the remote place they built their temporary shelter. There, Lucas had returned with a few rabbits.
“I’ll return to get a bigger one.” Lucas said.
Anyone could tell it had been tiring for him to hunt in that area, as it had many magical beasts.
“Don’t. I will get a few more for us, just rest near the campfire.” Arthur said.
Lucas nodded and did as he was told. Liz had already made a fire for them, so he wanted to get some rest, but did not want to say it aloud. Arthur dropped the basket with water near them and left.
Getting a few animals to eat was an easy one. Lucas may have been taught by his father, but Arthur had hunt since the first week he went to that world.
He got a few more rabbits, and a deer for them as well. All of that in ten minutes! Well, Arthur got them earlier, but waited some time to not look suspicious.
“Oh! Nice work Arthur!”
A few praises after he returned, and then the three of them were around the fire, eating the recently sliced deer meat, and chatting.
“Will we be in danger next month?” Liz said.
She heard from Arthur about the one peaceful month they would have, and that worried her. Lucas felt the same.
Arthur was chugging a piece of meat and then he said, “all we can do is get stronger. There is no other way around this.”
“You’re right! Let’s help each other build a temporary shelter and then start our meditation practice!”
Lucas cheered them up, and after their dinner of meat, the three of them helped each other to build a shelter. It was basically a small cabin made of long branches from the trees and leaves.
Not the safest place, neither the prettiest, but it was a start, and would get them through the night just fine. They build two of them. One slightly bigger, as it would be the place where Lucas and Arthur would be, and one smaller just for Liz.
They did not want her to feel uncomfortable, so that was what they did to make things easier for her. Then, it was time for the practice!
Arthur analyzed the meditation technique he got from the school, and it was not special at all. Sure, it would absorb mana faster for them, as well as increasing their shadow essence, but that was it.
He did not see any benefit of practicing it over the Void Dragon Meditation Nefion gave him. The void meditation was better at all aspects, so he opted to train in that one instead.
No one in the school would notice it either, as it first train the shadow essence just like the other techniques. For them, it would look like the same from the outside, but Arthur knew how much better Nefion’s technique was.
Lucas and Arthur started their training inside the little hut, and Liz did the same in her hut as well. The meditation technique of both took effect, gathering the mana from the atmosphere, putting it inside their mana core!
Not only that, but it turned a small fraction of it into shadow essence, slowly increasing it as they meditate. It was a slow process, but it was happening, and training with this type of technique since the start would prove very helpful in the future!
“Ah! I feel like I can reach the 2nd circle this week.” Lucas said, laying on a bunch of leaves, looking at the stars through a tiny hole in their roof.
“Just keep at it, and-” Arthur could not finish his sentence, as Lucas’s roaring echoed inside the little hut.
“Of course he is tired.”
Different from him, Arthur was not feeling like sleeping, and practice the entire night. The void meditation was way better than the one the school gave them, but Arthur also discovered something else.
It was easier to meditate during nighttime, and the effects were way better. He was sure that would be the case for the meditation technique from the school as well, but few of the students knew about it, as no one told them.
“Good morning.”
“What? You are already up? Are you even human?”
Lucas stretched himself after waking up, and was surprised to see Arthur already awake. If he remembered it correctly, he had been the first to sleep, and yet woke up after.
He felt like he was slacking off with his training, and a burst of energy entered his body.
“I will not let my bro Arthur get stronger than me!”
“What are you even saying, Lucas? Also, there is something I want to share with you and Liz.”
They went outside to meet with Liz, who was already awake too, and did the breakfast for them. Arthur then explained he noticed the meditation technique being better at night time!
“Really? Well, it makes sense since it is a meditation of the shadow element, but are we supposed to turn into vampires? Sleep during the day and train during the night.” Liz said.
“Look around.”
“Huh?”
When they scanned their surroundings, there was almost no one. Only a few of the newcomers were walking through the school, but everyone who was an older student was not around. It looked like a desert school.
“So that is why there were lots of people last night, and now this place is deserted. Everyone here usually sleeps during the day, and train during the night!”
Realization stroke them. Arthur understood the part where they wanted to max out their training speed, but living like that wouldn’t harm them?
Well, for him, that was not a problem, since his body could work just fine with no sleep.
“Should we go back to sleep, then?”
“After lunch, maybe.”
The three of them lived their morning normally, and then take a nap after lunch to save more energy to train during the night.
It would take them some time to readjust, but if they never started it, then it would never happen. They finished their breakfast and went to a nearby river to take a bathe.
After doing all of that, there wasn’t much they could do. Arthur told them he would leave for some time, and so he did.
He needed to explore the school, and what better time than during the day when most of the students were sleeping?
There was nothing that especially, only a few houses built by the students themselves, but those houses had a secret!
“I cannot sense anyone inside these houses. There is no breathing at all!” Arthur thought.
Then, he chose one house that had a weak magical formation around it, and broke it with ease. Once inside, he did not see anyone, but after a quick search, he noticed a small trapdoor.