Chapter 35: Chapter Thirty-Five: A Simple Plan
Wandering around the forest without any clues or knowledge of what he is exactly looking for is nothing but an aimless and fruitless effort. But does he really have any other choice other than doing the searching manually, considering his current level of magic?
Well, this idea of his is not that great or anything groundbreaking, but with his current level, this might be the only other way. This could challenge his limitations and also practice the new classification level he's trying to break through right now too.
…
That's just Kai trying to convince himself that this is the best option for him right now, of course, other than asking Helix for actual help in searching for this demon beast.
Even with his cold-resistance-enhanced clothes, the cold still seeped through the fabrics of his boots, numbing his feet. In addition, walking across this thick and deep pile of snow requires strength in each step he takes. Kai might've sworn once that he would train his body to be much more fit and athletic compared to his already physically fit body in his original world, but he just recently came back from the capital! He spent the previous days studying what Seth had taught him, and he also took care of the small garden as well, he was a busy person, you see!
But as a result of his carelessness, here he is, suffering from tiredness and bone-chilling coldness as he walks at the very edge of the White Forest.
His initial plan was to create a very large, certain detection formation around his territory. When this formation is formed, searching for the demon beast would be an easy task… That is if Kai succeeds in creating the formation. If not, then… All his efforts of walking at such a distance would come to a waste.
Kai sighed very deeply, forming a fog due to his warm breath.
In addition to his lack of proper sleep and drained magic, this weariness and coldness makes Kai want to go back home and plop back into that large comfortable bed. But he knows that he must resist the temptation to do so and continue on. Otherwise, he'll continue suffering because of those accursed dreams and magic drainage every time he falls asleep in the castle.
Kai slipped his hand inside the pocket of his coat and pulled a folded paper. He unfolded it and stared with difficulty at the attempted drawing of the map of the continent. He sighed quietly and tried to understand the inconceivable map. He's the one who tried redrawing the large map sprawled across the wide wall inside a room in the castle, so he still vaguely remembers the original map. But in his current condition, it's quite hard to remember every single detail.
But, hm, if he's basing on the terrains and the direction in which the compass is directing him, Kai must be around the North to East area by now. He started in the Northwest area and started walking in a clockwise direction.
This… this little progress only made Kai even wearier than ever. The White Forest is indeed vast and due to the plains covered in snow that extended to a faraway length, this forest might seem like a boundless land. However, this forest only covers about a third of Kai's whole northwest territory.
Kai stared at the map for a long while before replacing it in his pocket. He raised his head, covered his lower face with both his hands, and breathed, to attempt warming his cooling fingers.
'Perhaps, I can also use an enhancement magic on myself?'
Kai can enhance himself to be speedier and more resistant to cold. But… does he have enough mana for this? Kai couldn't help but exhale a groan. He stopped walking and walked to a nearby tree and simply dropped his ass down on the soft but cold surface of the snowy ground.
"Urgh…"
He leaned his back on the tree, raising his head and staring at the dull gray sky with frustration. "I find it easy to cast magic nowadays… but I am insufficient when it comes to mana capacity…!" What is the purpose of being able to perform magnificent magic, when it's going to be cut short due to lack of mana anyway? Kai only has enough mana to perform a few spells properly. As said before, the haunting dreams Kai repetitively had drained both his energy and mana.
Rather than doing this manually and writing the formation by himself, Kai would've had a better chance if he just went and cast a large array surrounding the whole White Forest.
But then again, compared to formations, larger magic arrays take a lot of mana from the caster…
…
"Should I go back to the castle?"
But that would ruin the formation he had already started writing. All efforts would go down the drain and surely, Kai would wholeheartedly regret it if he just went home like this.
But then, Kai knows that he'll reach his limit soon (he actually just walked for two hours with breaks in between)… If he goes on, will he even have enough stamina to start the formation?
Sometimes… Kai would think that his own indecisiveness and physical weakness would someday bring his own downfall. To think that, that would be the case today…
But, ah, Kai recalled the times when he had to give up on things he wanted to do in this world so far. There were a lot of times indeed. Perhaps, that's just why Kai doesn't want to easily back down this time. Constantly giving up is totally not his style at all. But he has been doing that ever since he transmigrated into this body. It's unpleasant, truthfully, for Kai.
So with a deep breath, Kai finally rose up from the ground after a small breather which helped him organize his untardy thoughts and decide his next course of action.
Kai will stop when he reaches the southeast portion of the White Forest after reaching a certain point at the southwest part, Kai will head back to the castle and when the northwest and the southwest are connected through the formation, Kai will activate the formation, finally. This much should be fine, at the very least.
Going too far would simply put a strain on his body, causing a negative effect. But giving up now and here would leave Kai with a bad taste. In the end, he decided to write the formation for at least the right portion of the territory.
'Mhm, that should be good enough.'
And so, Kai went on with his shortened journey.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
shirasenpai_
shirasenpai_ Short Theather, an extra for the previous chapter:
ML: *peacefully meditating, wide awake*
MC: *knocks, opens the door, peeks inside the room*
ML: He dares open my door without permission, and peek inside?! *angry, about to scold MC*
MC: *quietly closes the door*
ML: Oh.
ML: By the way, the whole castle feels off.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone