Who Needs Magic in a Fantasy World Anyway?

Chapter 58: Babysitting

"Boo!" Mary yelled out, laughing hysterically as Emily jumped for the sixth time in a row from her fake jump-scares. And while Koko felt somewhat sorry for the easily scared girl, she couldn't help but sigh in disbelief as the mage still hadn't gotten used to Mary's teasing. However, while the two in the middle seemed to at least be somewhat talkative now as Emily started scolding Mary, Wallace was completely silent up front as he tried to both look at the map as well as his surroundings at the same time. And while she'd expected for them to go slow, Koko couldn't believe how nervous everyone around her was as Mary was only teasing Emily to ease her own nerves and Wallace stopped every three minutes because he 'thought he heard something'. However, seeing as she already knew what to expect from these woods and because she thought that it would be a good experience for them, Koko never once intervened, instead preferring to take in the sights of the forest seeing as this was the first time she was seeing it when it wasn't dark.

"Alright! Everyone stop!" Koko called out later that day when the sun was going down and the sky was beginning to turn orange. "This looks like as good of a place to camp for the night as any, so let's make it here."

"Ah, I'm so tired." Emily sighed as she collapsed where she was standing, only for Koko to lift her back to her feet again immediately afterwards.

"No time to rest right now because we have to get camp set up." Koko laughed as Emily attempted to complain. "Unless you don't want either a fire or a tent to sleep in tonight, that is."

"But I'm a mage! Aren't mages supposed to be treated better than this?" Emily whined.

"Court Mages maybe, but adventurer mages? Not a chance." Koko patted Emily's shoulder once to comfort the girl. "Alright, now for camp duties! Wallace, you set up the tent. Emily, can you use your magic to refill our water supply?"

"Yes." Emily agreed immediately.

"Good! Then you do that and then see what you can do about making a fire pit while Mary and I collect firewood." Koko ordered.

"I'm not sure how much use I'll be collecting firewood." Mary commented as soon as she heard what she'd be doing.

"We're going to need a lot of small twigs and branches in order to start a fire." Koko reassured the gnome. "Just focus on gathering those and I'll get the bigger sticks and logs, alright?"

"Isn't a guy normally supposed to gather the firewood?" Emily asked curiously.

"In a sense, but whoever is out gathering firewood is more likely to come across monsters, so that why I'm going and that's also why I'm taking the healer with me." Koko replied. "Make sense?"

"I suppose so." Emily replied in a tone that sounded as if she wasn't sure about it at all.

"Don't worry, I'll protect Mary and you have a chivalrous knight here to protect you, so there's nothing to worry about." Koko continued while gesturing towards Wallace, who had chosen that point in time to trip over a root and fall to the ground while spouting a string of curses. "Well... he's a knight anyway..."

"Please be safe." Emily looked towards them in concern, and Koko couldn't help but smile as her opinion of the girl changed. While she'd thought that Emily was nothing but a nervous wreck that liked to complain a lot at first, she now know that the mage was nothing but an example of a person who had lived a sheltered life thus far suddenly being thrust out into the wilderness. And while Koko knew that the girl wouldn't change overnight, she was at least thankful that the mage cared about them somewhat.

"We'll be nearby in case anything happens, so don't worry." Koko reassured the girl before she turned and led Mary away from the camp sight. Though while Mary was busy picking up as many dried twigs and small branches on the ground that she could find, Koko walked around the woods looking for any dead trees before she finally found a small one that she thought could last them all night. And so, after walking up to it, she made sure that Mary was behind her before Koko drew back her fist and punched the base of the tree, completely splintering the weak wood and making the tree begin to sway before she caught it before it could fall.

"Alright, that should be enough." Koko turned and smiled at Mary while holding the bottom of the tree in her cupped hands. "Ready to go?"

"What did I even come out here for?" Mary asked almost to herself while looking well above their heads at all of the dead twigs and branches that were raining down nearby which were being broken off by the limbs of the other trees. And she made sure to stay ahead of the rain of usable tinder as Koko carried the tree towards the campsite before she finally stopped a ways away from it so that she could finish her task.

Breathing deeply so that he could concentrate better, Koko infused her hands with focus before she turned away from Mary again and slightly threw the tree above her. And now, as it was coming down, Koko started chopping the wood with her hand every two feet while simultaneously kicking away the separated wood beneath her. She continued this until she finally caught the rest of the tree again, making sure to end her operation right as the branches started protruding from the tree's top half.

"Seriously, what are you?" Mary asked in shock, and Koko followed her gaze towards the neatly stacked pile of firewood which seemed to have appeared in the direction that she'd been kicking the wood she'd cut.

"A soon-to-be adventurer!" Koko smirked in reply, though even she was surprised as she hadn't ment to stack it all up so neatly. However, all thoughts of her miraculous wood-stacking skills were lost as they both hears a small shout of surprise coming from the direction of their other group members. And seeing as they weren't in sight yet, both Koko and Mary started running back to their camp in case they were under attack. Though when they got back, only one of their group members seemed to be under attack as Wallace was on top of Emily and the two were blushing madly while staring into each other's eyes.

Having been wanting to punch Wallace for flirting during a field exercise at first, Koko had to restrain herself as she didn't want to be someone who punished people for what could have been an accident. And seeing as it looked like Wallace had simply fallen on Emily in a situation that would normally only create a flag, she decided against doing anything other than coughing slightly in order to draw their attention away from each other. Though even then they seemed to be lost in their own little world before Mary thankfully made her entrance.

"We're gone for five minutes and you two are already this close." Mary giggled beside Koko. "Kids these days are so bold."

"I-it's not what you think!" Emily cried from underneath Wallace.

"I just tripped over another root! Seriously!" Wallace immediately jumped up once he realized what the situation looked like. "We're not like that at all!"

"Uh-huh." Koko replied doubtingly. "Just so you guys know, couples are always the first to die in horror stories. So you'd best take that into consideration tonight when you remember that we're in a monster-infested forest."

"I'm telling you that it isn't like that!" Wallace continued to deny it as Emily tensed at Koko's words. And after looking over to see that the two didn't seem to have done anything in their absence, Koko made a mental note to separate them in the future before moving to help Wallace set up the tent. When they eventually finished and Emily ignited the fire, the first day of Koko's field exercise ended as night descended on the forest. And while they may not have seen any monsters, Koko knew that the event that they had encountered would most likely effect the rest of their time together. Though she could only hope now that her tank and ranged dps would focus on the task at hand rather than the blooming romance that had sprung up between them. After all, this exercise was supposed to be about introducing the students to the dangers of being an adventurer, and there was already more than enough 'love' back at the academy.