48 Moving

It was late in the afternoon when Han Jin, Moxinke, and Sunier came back. "What took you so long?" Cessacioun asked worriedly.

"Sunier found two Treefolks today," Moxinke replied arrogantly and raised his thumb toward himself. "But I eventually killed both!"

"Fruitful today, isn't it?" Cessacioun laughed.

"Replace the magic crystal on your wand, Cessacioun," Han Jin said. He opened his palm and handed over a yellow magic crystal to Cessacioun. "You said you didn't want to waste it, but now we've already had four eighth-grade magic crystals; it's no use to keep them all." After the death of the Bear of Earth three months ago, the first thing Sunier and Moxinke had done was to find the young bear and kill it. This afternoon, they had killed another two eighth-grade holy animals. Thus they now have four eighth-grade magic crystals in their possession.

"I want a fire-element magic crystal anyway." Cessacioun shook his head. "Keep those for now."

Just then, a loud dry cough came from the wooden shed. "What's wrong with Keeyley?" Han Jin asked.

"She is sick," Cessacioun replied with his voice lowered.

"Sick?"

"She insisted on taking a shower, and with the weather so cold..." Cessacioun stopped and forced a smile. "When she came back, she fell ill."

"You are right, the weather is getting colder and colder..." Sunier muttered.

It was fine to live in a forest for a short time, but since they'd lived here for over four months, there were difficulties everywhere. It was getting colder, and building wooden sheds wouldn't solve that problem. They had nothing to keep them warm except the hay and animal skins. But hay needed to be dried under sunshine everyday, otherwise it would get wet and chilly. On the other hand, animal skins smelt so bad that even Han Jin couldn't bear their stink, let alone Sunier and Keeyley. What's more, animal skins attracted insects. If Han Jin didn't want to make 'magic scrolls' with them, they would have thrown all of them away.

Food was also a problem. They were growing tired of plain roasted meat after eating it almost everyday for months. They would be overjoyed if they found some eggs of holy animals. If they were even luckier and Sunier came back with some wild fruit, they would all go crazy, and even the timid Michelle and Steelberg would scramble up to fight for them. The most pathetic part was when none of them swallowed their fruit immediately. They just nibbled or licked it as if it was the most precious food in the world.

To be frank, if life in a forest was really as good as told by various poets in their works, why would so many people rather live in crowded towns or cities?

"What should we do?" Cessacioun asked in a low voice.

"Perhaps… we should find a new place and replenish our equipment," Sunier said. "I'm running out of arrows."

"But where can we move to?"

"Let's discuss that later. We should check on Keeley," Han Jin said. He walked into the wooden shed, followed by the others.

Keeyley was covered by haystack with only part of her head shown. Each time she coughed, the hay would tremble fiercely.

Han Jin came close to her, bent down, and touched her forehead with his right hand. It was hot. Keeyley opened her eyes with difficulty when she felt someone beside her.

Han Jin put his hand into the haystack and grabbed her wrist. Keeyley was astonished, her red face turning redder. "What are you doing?!" she asked weakly.

"Stay still." He took her pulse and said, "Nothing serious."

"You are also a doctor?" Sunier asked in surprise.

Han Jin gave no reply. He just cracked a smile. He was a master of miscellaneous knowledge. Though he didn't need to learn about charms to treat an illness because he would never fall sick after completing his base construction, he had still learned to make some healing charm.

A paper charm formed in the air. Han Jin flicked his index finger, and the charm immersed itself into Keeyley's forehead.

"Aggh..." Keeyley screamed. Han Jin's charm was immediately effective. A sense of refreshment quickly spread from her head to her limbs.

"It's alright! Now, let's discuss where we should go," Han Jin said.

They all looked at each other in astonishment. A question had plagued them for a long time. Han Jin could release fire magic like a magician, he was able to improve their spirit force, physical force and endurance, and just now, he had cured Keeley with one of his charms, which meant he should be a priest. He could release puppets and summon ghosts to fight for him, which meant he should be a puppet manipulator or a summoner. And, on top of all that, Moxinke had once said that he was also a prophet!

It didn't make sense for a single man to be all that at once!

"Hey, what are you thinking?" Han Jin yelled.

Cessacioun let out a loud dry cough. "Anyway, we can't go back to Radon Town. The war won't be over in such a short time, and Radon Town's just a small town; it can't fulfill our expectations. We can't go back to the West City of Beitman either, since we killed those knights last time; they won't let us go easily. There's probably a bounty on us already, and we would be attacked as soon as we showed ourselves."

"Then where should we go?" Moxinke asked impatiently.

"A place with a large market. We need to sell our spoils and buy more low grade magic crystals." Cessacioun thought for a moment and added, "Moxinke's sword needs repairs. Sunier, would you be more effective in a fight if you had magic arrows?"

Sunier nodded.

"The place must not be too far away; at least, we should be able to reach it within twenty days. It's already getting cold. Traveling in the howling north wind is never a pleasant experience," Cessacioun pondered. "And it should be an orderly place with an enforced law. None of us want to be bullied again, can we agree on that?"

Moxinke's face suddenly turned dreadfully pale. He shouted word by word, "You mean… Isolated Cliff City?"

"Yes, Isolated Cliff City."

"No! Definitely not!" Moxinke jumped up as if he had gotten an electric shock. "I'd rather die than go back there!"

"Why?" Cessacioun asked curiously.

"I fled from... None of your business! Anyway, I am not going there!"

"You have enemies there?"

"Not enemies exactly, but..." Moxinke's face turned red. He scratched his head embarrassingly, "How about we go back to the West City of Beitman? Or if you are afraid, we can go to the South City!"

"Don't be silly! Even if the four satellite cities of Beitman constantly plot against each other, none of them will welcome outlaws," Sunier said coldly.

"But they can't blame us!" Moxinke shouted. "They bullied us first."

"They won't care. The only thing they do care about is upholding their laws."

"Stop arguing!" Han Jin yelled. He looked at Cessacioun and asked, "Are you sure Isolated Cliff City is a safe place for us?"

"The safest for us at present." Cessacioun laughed. "It's just that it's a bit far. We need to walk for at least ten more days."

"Then we are going to this Isolated Cliff City."

"You... are you all just going to ignore my opinion?" Moxinke shouted angrily.

"Let's vote then. I agree that we should move to Isolated Cliff City. Everyone else??" Han Jin raised his hand.

"I second," Sunier said.

"I agree as well," said Cessacioun.

"Same here..." Keeyley, Steelberg, and Michelle all raised their hands as well.