A Wild Man Has Entered the Academy

Chapter 55: Before the Encounter (2)

What's the most important thing if you're trying to survive in the wild? I believe it's drinking water.

The human body is fragile yet incredible, able to withstand many days of starvation, but without water, one would die rather quickly.

There's a saying, "three minutes without air, three days without water, three weeks without food." Determination might be important, but without water, it's all meaningless.

We have potions that could be used as a substitute for water, but those should be conserved as much as possible.

"It's lucky we brought water. We can take small sips and make it last."

Luckily, water was on the list of planned supplies, so there was no need for concern.

We might not have brought food, but water can be carried in a small pouch bag. Most importantly, Grace is a mage.josei

She can produce drinking water with magic. Just point to the air and say ‘water!' and it drips right out.

I don't know about other things, but when it comes to making water, it seems we're in luck. When I lived in the forest, there was also a valley near my hideout.

Still, it's best to drink sparingly just in case. Since everybody was given one bottle of water, that's what I planned to do.

"We're okay for drinking water, but… what about our food?"

Yeonhwa, having taken a sip of water, cautiously asked. Time had passed, and it was almost lunchtime.

Grace seemed to consider Yeonhwa's question before swiftly turning to look at me with an expression that suggested she wanted me to take over.

‘To be honest, it wouldn't be a problem to starve for a few days.'

The human body is optimized to survive without food, relying on stamina.

When I was in the forest, I used to survive by catching insects and small animals. However, even that was hard to sustain strength.

Eventually, when I awakened my magic powers, I was able to hunt larger animals, but using magic consumed physical energy to an extreme degree, necessitating a significant calorie intake.

"…Sivar?"

"Yep?"

"Could you possibly find us something to eat…?"

Grace asked me carefully. I paused to think upon hearing her request.

I could just toss them a few plump bugs and call it a day, but they wouldn't eat that.

That meant I had to hunt animals and cook them with fire. Emergency food supplies just wouldn't be enough.

‘There seem to be plenty of animals nearby.'

Just considering the animals detectable by sound, there were more than a few. And we were comfortably within a safe zone.

Other teams' movements were not detectable, so it was clear we were by ourselves in this vicinity.

"Yes."

"Really?"

After pausing to think, I responded, and Grace's face lit up.

Magic use is a serious drain on a mage like her. As I said before, using magic leads to physical exhaustion.

"Bugs. There are lots of them."

"…… ……"

As I talked about replacing our meal with bugs, Grace, still with a smile on her face, froze solid, while Yeonhwa's face turned ashen.

Of course, I was joking. On second thought, bugs might be fine for me, but for a person of civilization, they represent nothing less than disgust.

Cooking them might make them more palatable, but I doubted they would eat them. Still, I had to make an attempt.

I looked around and started collecting fallen branches.

Ideally, I would look for a cave-like hideout, but since we're not settling down here, it's not a concern.

"What are you doing?"

"Fire."

"Fire? You're going to build a fire?"

"Yes."

Grace seemed to realize I intended to build a fire and watched me, intrigued.

Although she just sat there, perhaps feeling out of place, Grace began gathering branches and handing them to me.

Yeonhwa, however, stood by, simply watching us, seemingly not sure what to do.

But of course, that's all an act. To protect one's reputation, one might deliberately do nothing.

Her true character would likely have taken the most active role. But for now, this is understandable.

‘I'm a bit curious when their true faces will show.'

Soon, the branches were piled up, and I added some dry leaves on top.

Now all that was left was to start the fire. I could have used Grace's magic, but it was better to save her magical power.

Snap!

So, I started the fire with a flick of my fingers, the friction generating enough heat.

It's the same principle as using flint and steel. My body being what it is, such tasks are possible.

"…Sammajinwha?"

Yeonhwa murmured as the flames began to rise from the piled branches, sounding surprised as if recalling the name of some famous martial art.

But I didn't use any martial arts – I simply employed my strong physique to ignite the fire.

"Yeonhwa? What did you just say? It sounded like a language from the east."

"Oh, nothing. I was just a bit fascinated when I saw Sivar start a fire."

"Hmm. Indeed, it's amazing. Lighting a fire with just a flick of the fingers. How many people could do that?"

Whoosh!

While they were talking, the flames burst forth from the branches where I had sparked the fire. Now all that remained was to find the ingredients.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out some emergency rations that also served as snacks – grubs from a rotten tree I found a few hours earlier.

Fortunately, they had maintained their shape and were still alive.

"You're not planning to cook those… Ugh…"

Crack-

Grace was speaking in a terrified voice when we heard something stepping on branches behind her.

The noise of the branches burning masked the sound, but my ears caught it clearly.

"?"

Yeonhwa, with her keen hearing, seemed to have noticed the sound and turned around, her face showing puzzlement.

Her reaction was too immediate to be bothered by the smoke. She was acting on instinct.

Regardless, Grace was looking at the bug in my hand, horrified.

I would have wanted to cook and eat it, but that was seeming less likely by the moment.

Pavabat!

"Kwiiik!!"

Suddenly, a wild boar began charging at us from the underbrush.

As Marlboro mentioned, along with snakes, they are among the most dangerous animals in the forest.

"Aaaah!"

"What, what's that…!"

Yeonhwa and Grace both panicked at the boar's sudden appearance.

While Yeonhwa was acting, Grace had a genuinely terrified expression, her pretty face distinctly distorted by the shock.

Her expression became even more astonishing as she retained her sharp gaze amid the chaos.

"Kwiiik! Kwiiik!"

The boar, with its distinctive squealing, charged directly at us, or rather, straight at me.

Wild boars usually don't attack first, not unless they're startled or it's a sudden encounter.

‘Is it because of me?'

Animal instincts are said to be terrifying. The boar must have perceived me as a threat and decided to strike first.

If it had been a herbivorous creature, it might have fled, but boars are vicious predators. Even other animals in the forest would think twice before provoking an enraged boar.

Kwajik!

But right now, that boar is our lunch, delivered generously right into our lap.

Whether the boar was charging or not, I threw my axe, Ragnarok, directly at its forehead. The axe lodged precisely in the middle.

There was a blazing fire between the boar and me, which needed to be safeguarded. I'd be alright, but a forest fire would be a real headache.

Thud thud-

With the axe buried in its head, the boar instantly met its demise. It continued its charge due to momentum, coming to a stop right in front of Grace's nose.

Grace looked on at the boar with a ghostly pale face, then turned back, eyes wide and lips barely moving.

She seemed to want to say something but couldn't seem to speak. It's likely the first time she's experienced something like this.

I left Grace, who was in a state of panic, and stood up.

Squeak-

I soon retrieved Ragnarok from the boar's head.

The axe did its job with minimal force, proving its exceptional quality. It would surely be of great use in the future.

"Hmm."

I examined the boar. Boars can even be as large as a house, although that's an exaggeration.

This particular boar was of a smaller size, probably in between a piglet and a fully grown boar.

Perhaps the Academy had intentionally chosen one of a smaller size for the students' safety.

"Are, are you okay…?"

"Yes, yes? Oh, yes… I'm fine…"

With Yeonhwa's help, Grace managed to get up, albeit with shaky legs. It seemed her shock was profound.

Meanwhile, I checked over the boar, then turned to face them, pointing at the boar next.

"Lunch."

"What?"

Grace looked surprised at my word, then glanced at the boar behind me.

She blinked several times, apparently still not fully comprehending the situation. I reaffirmed.

"Lunch."

"…That boar is for lunch?"

"Yes."

Grace, after hearing my concise answer, looked back at the boar. The deceased boar with its tongue hanging out.

Her violet eyes began to tremble as if shaken by an earthquake. A boar is much more palatable than bugs, but still, it was a boar.

For a civilized person, this was a meal ingredient they could not have imagined. It was disturbing enough to upset anyone's stomach.

"We, we can eat the boar. I've heard that the pigs we know were domesticated from wild boars."

As Grace seemed to grapple with the idea, Yeonhwa carefully threw in a comment. She too seemed hungry.

A boar of this size could provide enough meat not just for a meal but also to be kept as provisions. Smoked meat, for example.

"…Okay. But how do we butcher it?"

"Um… I suppose Sivar will take care of that?"

"Sivar lived in the wild, but he might not be familiar with the concept of butchering, right?"

That's a prejudice. Even though my method might be rough, I have butchered in the wild.

Upon hearing their conversation, I lifted the boar and moved to another location. Butchering here was out of the question.

Ideally, I would have crafted some tools for easier handling. However, this was not my familiar forest.

Only enough to last until 7 p.m. the next day was necessary.

Kwajik!

So, let's start with the head. I swung down with the axe at the boar's thick neck.

If I had used red magic power, I could have easily made a cut, but Rod's advice came to mind.

Show red magic power as little as possible. After hearing his explanation and realizing the potential annoyance, I decided to exert some extra effort.

Kwajik! Crunch!

In just three strikes, the boar's head was detached from its body, and warm blood began to flow out.

All I needed to do was hang it up to drain the blood. Fortunately, there was a suitable tree nearby.

‘Ah. But I don't have anything to tie it with.'

This was a bit of a problem. I considered what to do before turning around.

I needed to ask one of them if they had something that could be used to tie.

And then I witnessed a truly amusing sight.

"Ugh!!"

"Are, are you okay?"

Having exceeded her limits of revulsion, Grace was now vomiting onto the ground.

Yeonhwa patted her back, offering worried consolation. It looked like even Grace's acting and bravado were insufficient in the face of serious distress.

It was only the head of a wild boar that had been chopped off with an axe, yet she was in this state. I couldn't understand it and scratched my neck in confusion.

I had plans to start a guts party next, but if she's this frail from just this, it's too weak.

"What's the matter?"

This is why they call them civilized people.

*****

While Sivar's team was rushing headfirst into a total mess, other teams were also striving to survive, each according to their abilities.

Among them, if one had to choose the best-performing team, it could be Kara's. Her team was well-balanced.

As the princess of Tatars, Kara had a demeanor far removed from authority, and her teammates followed her orders quite obediently.

"Aren't you going to eat that? You'll be weak if you don't."

"How can I eat bugs, even if they've been roasted?"

Of course, just because their leader was unfazed, it didn't mean the food problem was resolved. Unlike Kara, the team members refused their meal.

Given that the meal's true nature was bugs, their reaction was entirely normal, yet to Kara, it was incomprehensible.

"No, this is delicious! In the east, they even roast and eat pupae. Why can't you?"

"That's a story from the east! Our culture is different, our culture!"

"That's odd."

Faced with her teammate's violent rejection, Kara put a bug in her mouth. The bugs had all their insides removed and had been roasted over the fire.

As a result, there was no disgusting taste, only a nutty flavor that filled her mouth, which was quite satisfying to Kara's palate.

Tatars is a desert region, fundamentally plagued by a shortage of food. This has led to a unique development in their food culture.

Bugs, of course, and also rats to various other creatures. Anything that can be eaten with the aid of fire is fair game.

‘Sivar would have eaten anything given to him.'

Kara moved on, dismissing the looks of disgust from her teammates.

They probably thought of her as a barbarian. Now, she could just let it be.

As long as they didn't voice it aloud. Should they call her a barbarian, she was ready to abandon the practice and everything else.

Rustle-

Just then, there was a rustling sound in the bushes in front of Kara. This caused her and her teammates to shift their attention in that direction.

While the teammates began to tense up, Kara remained indifferent, almost as if she had expected someone to come.

"Oh! Found it! Right here, here!"

Emerging from the bushes was another survivor – and it was none other than Antonio.

Kara looked puzzled as Antonio made his appearance. Antonio belonged to Luna's team.

But why had he shown up without any hostility or delight? In this exercise, anyone outside of one's own team was a competitor.

"…Sister."

While Kara was reflecting on this, Luna shyly made her presence known, looking a little hesitant.

Just as I was wondering if they were there to fight, Antonio was the first to speak.

"Princess Kara. Let me clarify that we're not here to start a fight."

"Then what is it for?"

"We've come with a proposition that might interest you."

"Hmm?"

Intrigued by the mention of a proposition, Kara raised an eyebrow and turned her gaze toward Luna.

It had to be something out of the ordinary for Luna to be convinced, even if the specifics were unclear.

Let's hear them out. Kara shouldered her curved blade, nodding for him to continue.

"What it is, well…"

Antonio started to explain, similar to how he had with Luna. The proposition was to ensure Sivar's early elimination.

Winning against him in combat was impossible, and from the very beginning, the practice itself seemed unfair.

Thus, the proposition was to join forces with other teams to eliminate Sivar.

"…That sounds pretty good to me."

"Indeed, if he's still in the game, there's nothing we can do."

Kara's teammates were apparently already persuaded by Antonio. They nodded in agreement, which was a clear sign.

However, Kara's reaction was no different than before. She seemed indifferent, unimpressed by the offer.

"An interesting proposition."

"Right?"

"Yes."

Thinking he had almost won her over, Antonio's face brightened.

Luna, concerned until now, showed a similar response. With Kara on board, they'd have a strong ally…

"There are many ways to commit suicide, but this is quite ."

"…What?"

"Sister?"

Kara's reply took a little longer but was quite straightforward.

"Wouldn't it be easier to become friends with a tiger?"

That meant rejection.