Kynos groggily shook his head and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. The other sleeping bag was empty, and the hum of familiar magic nearby showed him that Elise was up and about. He heard the crackle of a flame as he grabbed his cloak and opened the tent flap.

The pale predawn light showed Elise walking in a large circle around the camp area, constantly casting magic. While the stink potions kept out monsters and beasts, it was much less effective on bugs. The lack of insects in their vicinity had been because Elise's undead bugs had fought a long and attritious war with living ones, swarming into the area attracted by warm bodies and food refuse. The amount of bodies the insect civil war had left behind surprised even Kynos.

Otto was tending to a small fire, boiling water, and Erwin was already at his potions, popping out corrosive vials like they were going out of style. Erwin the chatterbox was strangely silent and absorbed, so the large warrior nodded a greeting at Kynos. Elise walked over.

“g-good morning Kynos...”

“Good morning Elise.”

Her mother had once told her that it was necessary for party members to always greet each other and maintain a good relationship, and Elise went out of her way to greet each person. It left everyone with a rather favorable impression of her, especially since she was obviously shy and pushing herself.

Kynos was rather curious about what Elise had been doing, as the usual buzzing magic he felt around her was now intensified by a good amount. Eliza had taught him that he needed to make a habit of asking questions if he wanted to get better, something he took to heart.

“What spell were you casting just now?”

“t-that...it was my usual...”

“But why can I feel so much magic around?”

“b-because all of the little ones, is..is it bad?”

Kynos considered it for a moment. Having such a large amount of magic presence dulled his detection, which he needed if any dangerous magical beasts came attacking.

“It makes it harder for me to sense dangerous magical beasts. Can you tone it down?”

Elise nodded reluctantly, and a massive swarm of bugs rose into the air and began consuming each other. Otto was incredibly alarmed, but Kynos motioned for him to calm down. It was Elise's special trait of creature evolution, where her undead could consume each other to gain additional abilities. Erwin stopped brewing for a moment to look with interest, then, like the sun that was slowly growing brighter, his eyes shined with an idea.

“THAT'S IT!!”

Elise was surprised and instinctively hid behind Kynos, who was about to turn his ears off again. It was the unnecessary skill that he had begun to master. Otto kept making breakfast, no reaction showing on his face. Erwin dangerously dropped a vial of acid and sprang up, pointing at Elise.

“If we make those bugs drink my potions, and then have them bite and inject it into various creatures, we could test so many things!”

Elise cringed and even the undead insects, whose feeding frenzy had subsided, seemed to hover in hesitation.

“Please, this is....this is for SCIENCE!”

Kynos prepared himself to fend off the rapidly approaching frenzied Erwin as Elise clung tighter to his robe. Before Erwin made it to them, Otto heaved a sigh and intercepted his friend, picking him up by the back of the coat collar. Erwin's feet dangled in the air as he continued to reach towards Elise, hands desperately outstretched.

Once the alchemist had calmed down, the four sat around the campfire to eat breakfast. All four were drinking tea, made from powder they had brought along. The food was a single starch biscuit for each person, simple coarse flour heated with water, along with a piece of jerky. Elise spoke hesitantly.

“if...if it's just a few of them...a-and the potion doesn't melt them...”

Erwin pumped his fist in victory, almost spilling his hot tea all over himself. Otto somehow looked visibly disapproving even though not a single muscle moved on his face. Kynos thought that he was starting to figure the big guy out.

The four began their second day as Erwin spoke animatedly to Elise about the various ways in which he would subject her undead insects to serve, causing the timid girl to almost change her mind.