Being a Summoner on our Evolved Earth

Who needs humans! (17)

After rashly deciding to become a lone wanderer, Lucia summoned Vicki to her side. Vicki scanned the foreign area in a bit of excitement. Lucia had calmed down a bit during the time she took to summon Vicki and decided to climb one of the pine trees for a better view of where she should go first. She grabbed a couple fern leaves off a nearby plant and used them to keep her hands from getting covered in tree sap while she pushed through the branches. It had been years since she climbed a tree, it was a bit refreshing and scary.

She persevered until she was able to peer at the area from near the top of the tree. She saw a large swath of forest all around and a mountain range to the West. The East was rolling hills, and it looked like just forest to the North and South. Lucia sat on a branch while thinking of what she would need to survive.

She'd need water, food, shelter. Food could be gained from hunting and gathering along the way. For water, she should probably follow the river that was near the village for now. For shelter, perhaps she should try summoning a earth or plant familiar for that. Having decided on a route to travel she descended from the tree and brushed the pine needles from her clothes. "We're heading West to the river and we'll follow it from there." Lucia said and found that Vicki was just staring at her. "What?"

"You look different but sound and smell the same." Vicki voiced her confusion.

"This is my real body? Main body? The body you saw before was the other half of my soul I think? Not sure how to explain it, but this is still me." Lucia tried to explain.

"Alright." Vicki dropped the subject, not caring for further details, and started walking in a random direction.

"The river is this way Vicki." Lucia chuckled and they moved silently through the forest enjoying each other's company. Less chatter meant less chance of attracting predators and people, or scaring away potential prey. Lucia pulled her quarterstaff out of her dimensional bag and leather armor that seemed to have been placed in there. She tried putting on the leather armor but it was a tight fit and she couldn't buckle it, so she put it back in the bag.

'Looks like I still have to lose some more weight first.' Lucia smiled wryly to herself.

On the way, Lucia started to gather things to make a campfire. Stones to act as a border, dry leaves and twigs to be fuel, and a big branches broken into smaller parts. She also found a blackberry bush in early bloom. Fall was still a month away at least and everyone was still enjoying the warm weather. It was a relaxing yet tiring walk to make it to the river by sunset. Then Lucia realized that she didn't bring any kind of bowl or pot with her to boil water... Sighing Lucia sipped from her water skin and set up the campfire.

"Vicki can you make a small flame to light this pile of twigs with? I just need the leaves and twigs to start burning, but not too quickly." Lucia asked while backing away from the soon to be campfire or explosion zone. Vicki created a small flame like the one she used to light the path in the dungeon and slowly moved it to the top of the pile.

As the flame touched the pile, it was like a small grenade went off and the pile of debris; that which didn't burn to ashes instantly, was scattered a short distance. Lucia sighed as she knew she would have to get more fuel to try to make a fire with, but this was important training for Vicki to control her flames for different situations too.

"We'll keep trying. I know you can do this." Lucia walked forward to pat Vicki's back reassuringly. "Perhaps try using less mana when you make the flame." After offering advice, she went around while there was still daylight to gather more fuel to use when they got a fire started. When Lucia came back she saw that Vicki had regathered some of the remaining sticks that didn't burn to ashes and was pushing a tiny flame against them.

When Vicki heard Lucia's footsteps she turned to her and sounded distressed, "I made the weakest flame I could but it won't catch fire now..."

Lucia smiled slightly, "Not everything will catch fire easily. Some things are easily ignited, while others are not. The reason why I gather these materials is because they are dry, can be ignited, and are easily found in large amounts. Try placing the flame against this dry leaf." Lucia placed the leaf on the pile of twigs. Vicki slowly placed the flame on it and after a few seconds it attached to the leaf and started to burn. Vicki let out a gasp of pleasant surprise and with her tail swinging side to side she watched the fire grow while Lucia added more leaves and twigs slowly.

"How does fire work?" Vicki suddenly asked while still staring at the flames.

"Well before the world changed, fire was created by friction against a flammable object, usually a carbon one. Flammable objects are usually living things like plants, oils, and carbon... Not sure how to explain carbon though... I didn't study chemistry. Anyway, the higher the water content in something the less likely it is to burn, or it won't burn for long. Which is why using an explosion against creatures is usually preferable to lighting them on fire like this. However, for a stable slow burning fire to keep us warm, we need a weaker flame that will grow on its own. Fire is able to spread for miles on miles with enough fuel and wind. Besides dry fuels like plants, fire also needs air like what we breathe, and it's sparks can be carried a distance by wind. That's why we are confining this fire to this pit with not much debris for it to attach to around it. With enough of the right fuel though, a fire can even burn on water. Fire can also be easily extinguished by the earth." Lucia grabbed a stick that just caught flame and pulled it away from the fire, then she dropped a handful of dirt on the flame to show how it extinguished.

Vicki listened and watched with eyes full of curiosity. She then blew a breath of air at the fire and watched as it swayed. Lucia took the chance to try summoning Aegis while she was sitting down. Much to her pleasant surprise, the summoning circle appeared normally and soon Aegis joined them at the campfire. Aegis quickly scanned the surroundings before glancing at Lucia who had wrapped herself in a blanket as she leaned against Vicki's side ready to rest. Vicki was still fascinated by the fire and watched it with amusement.

"Please stand guard for the night Aegis." Lucia asked when she looked up at him. Aegis's soul flames flickered inside the helmet and he saluted before turning away to stare into the darkness.