Before the beast could react, Alek popped out of the bush he’d been hiding in, sprinted over to the very panicked and very confused deerkin, and straight up punched the poor thing right in its head with a magic infused arm. The creature’s head whipped violently to the side, an awful cracking noise echoing throughout the clearing as its neck snapped in two. The now corpse crumpled in a heap, as the water tentacles receded back into puddle form.

“I have to say, Caffaret, I didn’t think you’d pick up the concept of my water whip and apply it to fire so quickly,” Cira said lightly, emerging with Codrin from their hiding place. “You going to copy all of my spells from now on? Maybe I should start charging you.”

“As if. Your little water trick isn’t that impressive. It just happened to be the most efficient,” Codrin answered, nose in the air. “I still don’t understand why I couldn’t just kill it, though...”

“We don’t need you immolating the meat, idiot. You really think the professor’s just going to give us more rations if we screw this up?”

Codrin had a sour look on his face, but didn’t disagree. Aldric thought it was a bit unfair to assume he’d let them starve. He’d probably have to come up with a creative punishment, though. Maybe teach them about all the edible bugs in the forest.

They’d mildly impressed Aldric. They worked well together, even Codrin and Cira. That fire whip had been interesting as well. Seeing Codrin not defaulting to just brute forcing everything, mana costs be damned, was refreshing.

Cira was already kneeling next to the deerkin, skinning knife in hand. That was interesting. Aldric hadn’t given her one.

“What are you doing, Barclay?” Codrin asked. “I swear, if you ruin it somehow...”

“Shut your trap, Caffaret. I’ve been doing this since I was five. My family owns the forest next to our home, so we hunt there all the time. It’s how I knew that berry bush would bring in deerkin.” Cira skillfully and efficiently dressed and skinned their kill while the boys watched in morbid fascination. “Alek, you’ve done nothing like this? Don’t most villagers hunt for sustenance?”

“Not really. My village is up near the mountains, so not too much game up there. I mostly did labor and odd jobs for food or supplies. Me and my family didn’t learn about me being a mage till a few months ago, but I was always weirdly strong compared to most in the village.”

“I have to admit, the idea of you being a hard-working family man is... an odd one,” Codrin said, looking dubious. “You barely ever put forth effort here at the academy. Where did that work ethic of yours wander off to?”