After leaving the city, Klyde navigated through the forest.
The wind passed by, brushing Klyde's cloak as his horse moved at a moderately fast pace.
After several hours, the forest opened up into a clearing. Klyde reined in the horse, and it responded immediately, slowing to a stop.
He then dismounted, landing lightly on the ground.
"The sun is falling... this place should be good to rest for tonight. If I were to estimate, I'm only a few hours away from my destination."
Klyde first secured his horse to a nearby tree and quickly surveyed the clearing. There was enough open space and there was good visibility.
"I should also secure this place with some proximity traps to lessen the dangers of a wild beast coming to eat me, heh."
With that thought, he gathered nearby dry wood and cleared a space for the fire. To ignite it, he used his Heat Combustion spell. Typically, trap spells are activated through detection, however, Professor Cecilia had explained how a trap could be adjusted by changing the structure slightly.
Klyde adjusted the mana structure to function on a timed delay and used his chantless casting to place the trap formation down.
After three seconds, a burst of intense heat erupted from the formation, charring the pile of wood instantly.
However, the immediate area was scorched more than expected and had destroyed the entire setup.
He frowned.
Using Heat Combustion directly on the campfire incinerated the setup he had made entirely. Though the spell had only a three-meter radius, the concentrated heat output made it unsuitable for what he was trying to do.
With a sigh, he muttered, "I'll simply have to set fire to a separate pile of wood at a safe distance, then carry the burning pieces back to the fire pit."
Redoing the setup, he had used the spell a second time, but on a different pile of branches.
After that, Klyde carried the lit branches back to the cleared fire pit. Soon, a stable flame flickered in the center of the camp. Warmth radiated outward, warding off the chill that came with nightfall.
He sat cross-legged at the edge of the firelight and began warming himself up.
Grumble...
His stomach gave a low growl.
"…Right. Food," he said inwardly, and rose to his feet.
"There should be some wild animals in this forest that I can try hunting."
With that thought, Klyde left a basic proximity trap inscribed on a flat stone near the fire incase anything wandered into camp while he was gone.
Then, he vanished into the forest.
...
Night had deepened. The forest floor was damp, and the canopy above filtered only fragments of moonlight.
Klyde moved carefully, his presence kept low to avoid disturbing or giving away his position to any animal.
It wasn't long before he found fresh tracks. Judging by the spacing and depth of the prints, there were two of them.
He wasn't experienced enough to tell the creature by it, but they certainly didn't seem like something he couldn't handle, like a bear.
Kneeling beside the prints, Klyde traced the direction of their movement. They were foraging deeper in, but their path arced back toward a path not far from his position.
After following the tracks, he eventually found two boars drinking some water at a river.
"Perhaps I can create a trap that they can walk into," Klyde murmured, eyes narrowing as he scanned the nearby terrain.
He soon noticed how there were three solid trees forming a partial circle near them.
Klyde was planning to suddenly disturb the boars and lure them to a specific spot where he can kill them with his Heat Combustion spell.
The only issue with this plan was that the boars were quite large and may not be threatened enough to run away. Instead, they had a high chance of being provoked by Klyde if he were to suddenly come out of hiding.
"That would be bad..."
Klyde shook his head, Envisioning a scenario.
After some contemplation, he thought of an idea that might work.
Klyde moved silently and approached one of the trees.
He placed his hand flat against the side of the first tree as his mana flowed into it silently, inscribing the Heat Combustion spell onto it.
Unlike its typical use as a sudden trap which activates on proximity, he adjusted the activation rules — switching from contact-triggered to the same one he had used to start the fire.
Of course, there was a slight difference. Instead of a few seconds, this trap's activation timer was set to two minutes.
He did the same with the second tree.
However, on the third tree, he placed an additional trap there to make sure the boars wouldn't somehow survive. Moreover, the rules were changed for a delayed one-second proximity activation, so the boars can be fully inside the blast radius.
In the end, four traps had been established.
The only evidence of their presence was the mana lines of the trap, which weren't hidden, only detectable by a Magus.
"I've finished my preparations..."
Klyde muttered to himself.
He mused, "With all the spells I've used, my mana in my sea of consciousness had dropped below 40%..."
Of course, the mana of a Magus would recover naturally. With magic crystals, one can even boost their recovery time.
However, the latter is very difficult during a battle, or even when simply distracted, while the former takes hours!
It was why in many lectures, the professor occasionally mentioned how using mana efficiently was crucial during a battle, and to never be pushed into a corner where you would run out of it.
If such a situation were to occur, only death would await as you'd be at the mercy of your enemies!
After completing his setup, he retreated into cover behind a moss-covered boulder, which was only a dozen or so steps from the boar.
After mentally counting the time, Klyde decided it was finally time!
Klyde abruptly revealed himself to the boars which caused them to tilt their heads towards the sound.
Seeing Klyde, they both stared in vigilance, with one of them even having its eyes locked on Klyde with signs of aggression!
Klyde remained unperturbed, mumbling inwardly, "Three... Two... One..."
On his last count, the mana inscriptions glowed faintly at the first tree.
Boom!
An explosion sounded.
The air shimmered as a column of heat bursted from the tree trunk, instantly scorching and destroying the space behind Klyde.
Startled by the sudden explosion, both boars wheeled away in panic, bolting directly away from Klyde.
For Klyde, this was a fortunate outcome, as this meant the trap on the second tree wasn't needed as the boars were running towards the third tree with the two Heat Combustion spells!
However, Klyde had overlooked a small detail.
With the rules already made by the second trap, it detonated anyways, causing one of the boars to flee by crossing the river.
"Tch. Perhaps I should have set another trap on the other side of the river..." Klyde clicked his tongue slightly from his lack of experience in hunting.
But, to Klyde's relief, the other boar hadn't changed its course.
Soon, the sound of the third explosion sounded.
Boom!
The forest had turned much quieter.
After a moment, Klyde stepped forward, his movements calm and unhurried.
Approaching the location of the explosion, he surveyed the scene.
A large boar lay motionless at the base of the third, destroyed and charred tree.
Klyde had hunted his first creature!
"The heat traps had done their job thoroughly. Their effectiveness certainly met my expectations. With a better preparation, I could have even got the other one," Klyde spoke with a faint chuckle.
The boar's life had been quickly taken by the large explosion of heat.
Naturally, some parts of the boar had been thoroughly destroyed and charred due to the spell, but he can make do with what's left.
He reached down, gripping the heavy body with ease. The weight was substantial, but manageable.
Klyde carried the boar back through the dark forest toward the clearing where his campfire crackled softly.
Back at camp, he laid the boar near the fire.
Klyde began preparing the meat, arranging it carefully over the flames. The fire's warmth spread comfortingly, a stark contrast to the cool night air creeping through the forest.
As the meat cooked, he kept a wary eye on the surrounding forest.
After the meat was finished cooking, Klyde leisurely enjoyed it until he was satisfied.
Once he finished eating, deciding to get some rest, he first set several proximity traps around the perimeter of the clearing to alert him of any approaching danger during the night..
When the last trap was in place, Klyde settled down near the fire. The night's cold was kept at bay by the glowing embers.
His eyes closed briefly, and soon, he drifted to sleep.
...
Morning arrived with a soft light filtering through the trees. Klyde stirred awake, muttering, "Sleeping outside on the ground isn't pleasant at all..."
He yawned and lightly stretched before deciding to continue on with his journey.