Infinite Evolution: Return of the Talentless Mage-Chapter 31 - 0. A friend in need is a friend indeed

The cub moved closer to him, barking loudly with intensity while he was busy searching for possible ways to generate a flame with all that he was provided. He casually turned to the agile cub, landing it a brief stare.

He placed a hand on his chin out of habit, and as he stared at the cub, an idea suddenly struck him. It was a brilliant idea, at least to a sixteen-year-old kid who was left alone to survive in the wild with no parental guidance.

’It could work, only if someone is willing to help me out..’ he turned to the cub with a grin on his face.

He hovered his hand over the chest region of the cub once more. The heat was still there but not as intense as it was earlier. Meaning it was somehow cooling down, and he needed to grab and utilise the opportunity he was given before it was taken away from him.

Something he learnt after everything that happened at the clan before his banishment. He didn’t let the thought linger. He quickly set the idea into action, glancing around him in a quick swoop.

He made a 360 turn and found all he needed for the experiment to occur. It wasn’t long before he got everything ready and set down the fireplace in the proper order, then led the cub toward a small rock, still close to the fireplace he constructed.

"Alright bud, don’t fail me now. Give me that heat I felt minutes ago, don’t hold back, I’ve got you!"

The cub stared at him, slightly confused with its head tilted to the left, then to the right before barking at him. "Don’t look at me like that. Give me the exact temperature of the heat that burnt my hand earlier."

He kept his hand hovering above its chest region until he felt it, the same heat intensity as the last one. He immediately took the opportunity and placed the two brittle sticks he picked up for the experiment above it.

Then, he slowly moved it closer to its chest, patiently waiting for it to ignite. ’Now, we wait.’

The wait had passed the amount of time he expected for it to work, but the stick hadn’t caught the flame yet. Though it was hot, it still hadn’t ignited.

’Why isn’t it working? Isn’t it hot enough to ignite a flame on a brittle stick?!!’ He questioned his actions, an annoyed expression appearing on his face.

He became emotionally and mentally disturbed as to why it wasn’t working. He thought hard, his hand already starting to feel tired from keeping the stick hovering above the cub’s chest region.

’What am I missing here? Everything seems in place, so what I’m I not doing right in this?’ He thought hard, his brows furrowing hard.

The silence of the forest crept around him, and the cub had grown quiet with confusion. It slightly didn’t understand what the strange human was up to keeping a stick hovering above its chest region with no progress.

’What am I missing? What am I missing..’ he continued the chant in his head, trying to figure out how to get past his current situation.

When he raised his head, a new idea had struck him, and he took the two heated sticks and rubbed them against the small rock with aggression until embers escaped the motion.

’It’s working...!!’ He felt happy after so many tries and, finally, a breakthrough in his situation.

He heated the sticks again, then rubbed them against the rock to create friction, and eventually, he made fire.

"Yess!!!" He jubilated with all the energy he had left, jumping up from his squatting position and setting the burning sticks on the fireplace.

The flame ignited, and soon, he had a campfire to prepare his breakfast with. "New knowledge unlocked, right buddy?" He turned to the cub.

The cub circled him, jumping and barking at him with a wagging tail and a smile on its face. It showed happiness whenever he was happy or jubilant and remained confused whenever he wasn’t. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

’You seem to respond to only one emotion, I wonder why.’ He thought within. "Well, that’s for later, for now. We feast!!"

He picked up the fishes from where he dropped them and stacked them through sticks, as many as he could until there were no sticks left, then he roasted them.

After some time, they had both eaten till their satisfaction, and they lay there, waiting for the food to digest.

’We actually finished it all..’ he chuckled slightly, ’mostly because he ate it all, haha’

"Anyway, I’ve got to continue my journey. I’ve spent too much time trying to make fire and each time it keeps eating most of my time!. Tsk, I should soon find a way to generate fire at ease, it’s getting really irritating now."

He rose to his feet, his stomach still slightly filled, but he ignored it and stood upright. The cub seemed like it had just finished digesting its own food already.

He felt envious of it at the moment because he needed to travel faster, but there was no way he could do that with a full stomach holding him back.

He put out the fire without much thought, picked up his bag, and left the scene. The cub followed behind, though he didn’t mind its presence around.

’At least now I have something to talk to, so I don’t go insane along the way..’ he giggled at his own words, realising what he thought was slowly coming to pass.

The rest of the journey was a lot less boring with the cub around to keep him company, at least from running mad and other reasons.

It provided help in a lot of situations, like providing food during morning and evening times. It also acted as a sensor for him, because for some reason it could sense danger, and protect him from it.

He eventually went across the river during a low tide, climbed hills and camped inside caves during the journey. The more days passed, the closer he got to the city and the closer winter drifted to him, until the day he awaited arrived.

’I made it!!, I finally made it before winter arrived!!’ He jubilated with joy, noticing the distant sign meters from where he stood.