The chill of nightfall began to set in, as the last rays of light disappeared at the brink of horizon. Luckily for me and Veritas, we managed to stumble upon a cave on our aimless destination and settled down for the night.

"Alright, we just need to get the fire started..." I said, as I drop the bundle of timber in my arms.

"Sorry, I do not know how to use any fire elemental magic..." Veritas jutted in.

"No worries, I go this." I said, crouching beside the pile of timber. Then with one hand near and pointing at the timber, I muttered a single command word:

"Ignite."

A blue flame emerged for the palm of my hand, and slowly the ice began to melt from the wood, and a brief moment after that the wood began to catch on fire.

A small gasp escaped from Veritas as she kept her eyes on the flame, and after seeing I have finished kindling to the flames, she spoke up:

"I never seen technology like this before..."

"Yeah, I didn't know I could do this with my robotic limbs until about a week ago."

"What else can it do?" the interest in her voice piqued up.

"Uhhh...Shoot lasers and produce this world's most annoying AI?"

"Sadly I cannot fathom such objects you are saying, but they do indeed sound magnificent!"

"Wait, I can show you the AI one right now! Rin come out! I know you are there!"

A brief moment later, nothing happened. Which made me look like some crazed fool talking to the air and trying to make up for the embarrassment I called out to Rin again:

"Fine, I will buy you any Stardelight's drink if you come out of your shell." I said with pursed lips.

Almost immediately, Rin's glowing blue hologram emerged from my arm in her figurine form, with her hips arched forward and a smirk printed on her face.

"That's a promise now Kard!" Rin said playfully with her hands on her hips.

"Yes, yes..." I agreed sloppily.

"Ara ara...So this is an AI?" Veritas bent forward and took a closer examination of her.

"Yeah, she comes in really handy as a GPS, other features, well...not so much." I burst out a chuckle.

"You know I heard all of that RIGHT?" Rin gritted her teeth with agitation.

"Yes, yes..." I waved dismissively, then turned to Veritas again: "Alright, can you pass me the pigeons?"

With a slight hesitation, Veritas handed the pouch in her hands to me. And from the pouch I produced a handful of odd looking fruits and berries.

"Uhh...just making sure, are you sure they are edible?" I said looking back and forth between the fruits in my hand and her.

"You have my word for this one. All these fruit and berries are edible to both humans and elementals. This here, is the pink ample." She said, plucking a pink flower like plant from my hand.

"It's poisonous when it's still in its pink color and it must be cooked over fire. And once it has turned red, that's when you will know it's safe to eat." She said knowledgably, as she had one of the twigs hover in mid-air and stab through the flower.

"Huh...You seemed to know a lot in this area."

"That is too modest of a statement. Wynd was the one who taught me this on a trip, when we were young." She said with a hint of nostalgia in her voice, as the hovering stick held still in mid-air, just slightly above the fire.

"Wait, is Wynd the guy who accompanied you at the square at that time?"

"Correct. He's also my personal bodyguard and an anointed knight of our house."

"Oh, that explains it. To be honest, when I first saw the two of you, I thought you two were a couple." I blurred out carelessly.

There was a slight pause in the air, before Veritas replied again:

"A lot of people think so too as well. But in reality, Wynd and I just grew up together. He's like a younger brother to me, if you're asking me what I think about him."

I wasn't quite expecting such a personal and detailed response, yet at the same time, when I looked to her face, I saw nothing but a poker face smile. And just as I was about to speak up again, my stomach interrupted me with a loud complaint.

"Here," she said smiling, as she took the hovering kebab and handed it to me, "it's all red now."

***

After a filling meal, we lied our backs against the cave wall, and silently watched the snow fall outside like miniature angels.

"I am curious." I said out of the gloom.

"Yes, what is it?" Veritas turned to me.

"How can I say this...It's just your magic, it seems different from what I encountered before..."

"How is it different?"

Previous horrors of that battle began to slowly resurface; from the blood, the blades, the pain, the laugh.

"Are you not feeling well Kard?" Veritas voice snapped me out of the trance.

"No it's fine. Just a previous foe we fought..." I pursed my lips. "He was an elemental as well, and has the ability to freely turn and morph his body into steel. Except he didn't seem to need a spell cast time like you do, he just simply...attacked."

Silence.

As Veritas lowered her head and fell into thought for a moment, before lifting her head up again:

"There are two types of magic, and what you are witnessing at that time is most likely instinct magic. Spells and magic of this type can be immediately casted upon thought, without going through the process of incantation."

"Ok, I got a good idea of it now. So the magic type you are using then, is incantation magic?" I said, turning sideways to face her.

"Precisely. Incantation magic requires the user to first speak or write down the magic in order to call upon the spell or magic. Many complex magic, such as summoning magic, binding magic, also stems from this category."

"Huh..." I nodded, as I took in the information slowly.

"I am sorry, I must be boring you..." Veritas quickly said.

"No, not at all. Just a lot of information...wait I remember, earlier today that shrunken that stopped in mid-air, was that you're magic as well?"

"Indubitably. What you have witnessed at the time was a wind barrier I have created around us, that can stop fast incoming projectiles to a certain degree."

"So that means..." I sat up as my widened in realisation: "You saved my life back there."

I stared at her as I was at a loss for words.

"I guess it seems so." She said with a small bright smile.

Summoning my nerves and with a gulp, I replied:

"I know, I am not too good at showing gratitude, but...Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me, partners are supposed to help one another. I am sure you would do the same for me as well." She smiled, with little red fleeks on her cheek.

I reddened a little bit myself as well, as I barely managed to compose my own voice:

"Yeah...but you're much stronger than me, I don't see how I can help you at all." I said, as I curled up my fingers against the fire.

"That's not it. If you weren't here, I wouldn't have been able to light the fire in the first place." She said, as the fire dimmed a little.

"True..." I nodded slowly to myself.

"It's getting late now, you should get some sleep first."

As she spoke those words, I began to feel the fatigue from the day starting to wear down on me.

"Yeah, but what about you?" I countered.

"I am fine, I will stand watch for the night."

"But still-" I was cut off by my own yawn, and that kind of just defeated my own protest.

"There is no need to worry. I have set up an air illusion field at the cave opening, so people from the outside will not be able to see us."

"Huh..." I said, slumping down further against the cave wall as sleep threatened to knock me out.

"Alright, I will sleep now." I said exhaustingly. "Good night Veritas."

"Good night Kard."

I wonder how the others are doing...

Just like that, sleep knocked me out.

Q: Do you like camping?