AN: Chapter 11, Radio. Sorry for the delay

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You have gained a new skill:

Mana manipulation

'… I see, up until now I was using the spells without really knowing how they were made, how they worked. The tricky parts were probably done unconsciously or by reflex. I made a big progress in magic today! I even gained 2 new points in wisdom. Tomorrow, once I'm done with crafting I will train my magic. But it's troublesome, while I'm taining and crafting, Sadira and Ras don't do anything.

Should I order them to support the other 3 in their hunts? I could have Sadira work on weaving her web. As for Ras, I guess he would make both a good scout and an attacker. I can have him guard th other 3. I wonder if I can asl them to hunt on their own? No, Ras intelligence is still too low to work efficiently with Sadira. And I'm afraid they'll egt in trouble with injuries without me. I'll think more about it tomorrow...'

The next day, he got surprised by what Greg said.

“We should try to climb up the cliff from where we came from.”

“What? Why?”

“Ah, we forgot to tell you yesterday, but we tried to get something out of a radio that looked functional, but didn't get anything” said Diane.

Erwin facepalmed loudly. Because there was no network available on his phone, he believed that there was no long range communication available. He forgot that even though he couldn't contact people from his side, he still could get infos from around the world by listening to the radio. When he was salvaging things, he completely disregarded them.

“... What the fucking hell... I feel really retarted right now, I want to hide...”

“We understand how you feel, we felt the same yesterday when we tried the radio. We forgot to mention it because we didn't get anything out of it. We believe it's because we're here in this magical forest that we can't get anything, that maybe the magic hinder the reception.” said David.

“I see. I think it's a reasonable idea, however I'm still worried. That cliff is very high. Besides, if the problem comes from the forest, we will probably need to get some distance away from it, and I'm worried we will cross path with those dreadfull insects once more... Well, you should continue thinking about it. Today I'll finish with the crafting, then try to have Ras gain another level so I can raise his intelligence.”

“We will try to get some climbing gears and whatever could help us climb that cliff” said Greg. “Once that's done we should probably plan for a 2 days trip, 1 to get far enough from the forest and try the radio, and another to come back.”

“Fine with me. Just tell me when you're ready. Ah, thinking about magic, yesterday I gained the magic manipulation skill.”

“Eh? Hey, when you cast a spell, doesn't that mean that you manipulate the magic?”

“What I did before, was... something like a subconscious action, using something without knowing how it worked. Well, I got some insight about magic. You see, to use magic, you must first be able to sense mana. Once your mana sense reaches level 10 or so, you should be able to sense the differents elements. And from here, you should be able to learn how to manipulate it.

Of course, I believe that the elemental affinity comes into play for sensing an element and manipulating it. I believe a minumum affinity is needed. When I gained the abilities from the flower, the system message told me that I had gained basic affinity for the elements, which is 15. I believe it's the minimum necessary. As to how to raise one's afinity toward an element, I can only guess. I don't even know if it's possible.”

“Eh, magic... I really want to learn some! I want to launch some fireballs at the monsters” said Diane.

“Magic is usually quite time consumming to learn in fantasy stories. Learning to sense and manipulate the mana must involve a fair share of meditation. If one must raise his or her affinity to an element first, it would mean even more work. A lot of time would be used before you would be able to properly cast your first, weak spell. You don't need that much time to learn to use a weapon enough to kill a weak monster. Thus you can start to earn money earlier, while the mage must have some money to sustain himself during the time he spend just learning to move mana” said Greg.

“That's one of the reasons why learning magic is more expensive than learning how to use weapons. Do you have the patience and the funds necessary? I don't think so.”

“... I can still dream right? And who knows, maybe I have talent...”

“Forget it, it's not your thing. I think it fits Erwin well, since he is more of... an indoor person.”.

“Why don't you just say that mages and nerds fit each other?” she said while smirking.

Erwin ignored them and left to work. At the beginning of the afternoon he was done with the equipment and went to hunt with his 2 pets. It was mainly for Ras. He gained a level and his intelligence was raised to 27. Erwin raised his mana sense to level 12 and mana manipulation to level 7. David, Diane and Greg explored th forest a bit more and each gained a level fighting against the scarlet wildcats.

The next day they got some equipment for rock climbing and trained a bit at the cliff. They also used that time to secure the path they would use up and down by using anchors. This way, they would have an easier time when they would leave to try and get informations through the radio. That would also raise the level of their climbing skill. That day, they secured half of the distance, and the following day the secured the other half. They also gained a few points in strenght and constitution.

However, Erwin wouldn't be able to take his 2 pets with him over the cliff. At least it would be impossible without further preparations, and since it would be a small trip there was no need to take them. Also, with their intelligence, Sadira and Ras got used to hunt together under Erwin's guidance, with Ras launching a surprise attack first and Sadira sneaking in the back to deal a critical strike. Their intelligence allowed them to learn, which in turn raised their wisdom. Erwin was sure they could survive 2 days without him.

They left the next day in the morning, climbed up the cliff, and moved away from the forest for half of the day. Then they stopped and started the radios. To be sure they wouldn't miss out on something, they took 3 radios that seemed to work. With David and Diane keeping an eye on the surroundings, Erwin and Greg trifled with the radios. They tried the news stations and the emergency frequencies, then other radio stations. The radios weren't the best quality ones, the reception was really bad but they were able to get something.

It was the chaos everywhere around the world. France was in physically in pieces, and some parts were at war with other factions from the other world. While the french government was still alive and struggling, the spanish government was no more. Germany seemed to be in a better state than France, but british were truly on the verge of collapse. Belgium lost half of its territory to dangerous monsters, but they seemed to keep to their territory. Switzerlands was ravaged by volcanic activity and earthquakes.

On the other continents, the USA were in contact with 2 differents kingdoms from the other world and were almost at war with them. China was in complete chaos along with India. The most surprising news was that Japan was almost completely gone. People estimated that 90% of the japanes population there had died. Finally, it was confirmed that there were fantasy races such as dwarves, elves, demons, beastmen, and a few others. France was curently at war with demon clans.

The 4 also got the confirmation that Toulouse still existed, but it was one of the city at the frontline of the war against the demon clans. They all had acquitances, friends and families there, so knowing that war was upon them made their hearts sink. After learning all they could, they stayed silent for the rest of the day. They didn't talk much that evening and went to sleep with their chest heavy. The next day, they had a little talk before going back to the forest.

“I though we should stay in the forest to get stronger for the travel, but I wasn't really expecting to spend a lot of time there. But since it's been confirmed that the country is at war, it means that we will most likely encounter demon soldiers on the way. They won't be just normal citizens that had to fight their way, they will be trained and experienced fighters and killers. We don't know what happens to prisoners, if they take any, nor what happens to non-fighters. I say we must conquer the forest before heading toward Toulouse. That is if you still want to go there. I still want to go there, I want to confirm wether my gardian is still there or not, he is the only family I have.”

“... I don't know. Fighting to survive in the wilderness is different from fighting in a war, because it's most likely to happen if we go there. I can't do it. I'm just a bus driver. Dealing with the little fuckers was already scary enough. But demons? I'm not going to a place where hostile demons lies. I will stay with you until we find a french town, but after that I'm leaving. Sorry about that Erwin.”

“Don't be, it's fine.”

“I'm the same as David” said Greg “After everything we went through, and everything we will have to go through, I certainly won't push my luck and go into a warring area. I will leave with David.”

“My parents live in Toulouse. Not only them, but my uncle and my godfather as well... So I guess I'll have to stick with you.”

“Yeah... Well, let's go. There is still a long way to go.”

The others nodded and they all left for the forest.

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AN: Now the title of the fiction is truly justified.