Althea came back to consciousness on a bed. No, a cot, she could feel the threads pressing her back. A hammer was pounding her skull, and her vision was hazy, but she could still make out something.

A bright figure, no, a figure on fire was…doing something. What, she wasn't sure. Before she could even think more, she felt a wave of dizziness attack her, making her fall unconscious again.

The next time she woke up, she did not bother opening her eyes, instead sensing outwards. The surroundings seemed clear. There was no one near her, and the people as far as a kilometer away were weak. Not even a single Journeyman among them.

Gramma's village suddenly looked powerful.

Then again, most villages in the Northern Continent didn't even have an Apprentice. The nobles didn't see fit to allow commoners to cultivate.

Opening her eyes slowly, she sat up. There was no creek in her joints, and for some reason she was even able to sit up without relying on mana. The dress must have made her body stronger. Or someone powerful had healed her.

The latter was unlikely given the power level in this village, but there could be someone hiding around. Althea stood up, taking a second to regain her balance before walking out. The villagers stopped working the second she stepped out, a few running while others cowered in place.

The situation was strange, but thinking for a few seconds explained their reactions.

The clothes she was wearing were made of precious stones. The clothes they were wearing were made of fur, not even good quality fur from the look of it. Just a skinned rabbit or something.

The mana she was gathering passively was enough to flatten their entire village with a thought. The mana they were gathering-actually, they weren't gathering any mana. Althea sensed their cores reaching out, but apparently just her presence was enough to deprive them of their ability to use mana.

Another thing that would make them afraid. Althea cleared her throat, acting nervous as she looked at them. Showing a little weakness and emotion would go a long way to making them lower their guard.

"Is there any way I could meet the healer? I would like to thank them for helping me and inquire about the condition of my companions." she asked.

The villagers fidgeted before pushing one man forward with eerie coordination. Was the son of someone important? Or someone significant himself? Althea wasn't about to discount him because of his age. Not to mention, he looked twice her age.

"There is no healer here, my lady." the man bowed far too low, his arms sagging around him in a humiliating fashion. Althea ignored his lack of etiquette. Expecting any would be foolish of her. This wasn't the northern continent, or a court. This was a rural village in the middle of…somewhere remote. At this point, she wasn't sure if she was still in the Southern Continent.

"Is there anyone I can meet that would know where my companion is? Are you aware of an old, somewhat battle-addicted man that washed up with me?" she asked.

"That- I think they're in the Town hall. That's-" the man began. Althea looked where he was pointing. The largest, least maintained building in the village. Did they lack funds and decided the town hall wasn't important enough to maintain? That actually made sense. In a village this small, the administration could easily be done at someone's home.

But it did make it harder to impress any visiting dignitaries. Looking at the village, though, she wasn’t sure that was even possible. Even if they had the fanciest, most well-made town hall that money could buy, their lack of power would just have people steal the building away. Picking up a building and carting it off might be strange on Earth, but it was more than possible here. Still strange though.

"I see it." she replied, speeding towards the hall. "Thank you for the information." If the man said anything in reply, she didn't catch it. To be honest, she had already reached the town hall. The distance wasn't large, and the few people walking were slow enough that they might as well be stationary.

Opening the door, she stepped into a room lit only by sunlight. The windows allowed enough light to see, but she couldn't say it was particularly comfortable. Perhaps they didn't have enough funds to buy lamps? Or were they lacking oil? With how weak the people in the village were, they might lack the mana source and expertise to make mana lamps. Or source oil for that matter.

Heck, she didn't even know if the people around here used oil. Even the commoners in the Diery county used mana lamps. The ones that couldn't afford them survived on streetlights. There were plenty of those that had survived the centuries.

Walking into the building, she sensed inside. An old Apprentice with a waning core was in a room with a Novice. That should be the village head. Or maybe he was the village chief. Althea wasn’t sure if there was any difference between the two.

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A waning core. Now, that was something she hadn't encountered before. The phenomenon usually occurred in people that tried to break through when they were too old and failed. But since breakthroughs in their higher stages of cultivation contained a lot of mana, surviving a failure became difficult. That was why a lot of old people with high cultivation remained stuck, they were too afraid to break through.

At least this granny or grandpa had tried to breakthrough. That was something. Even though they had failed. Althea had to wonder how one failed to breakthrough in the Apprentice stage.

Walking into the room, she found this one better lit. The old man, who was probably the village head, was carrying the lamp around. That made sense. The other person that accompanied him was a bit surprising.

Althea had expected someone from this village, perhaps an assistant. What she got was Aasha. The girl turned to her with a smile on her face, making her wonder what was going through Aasha's mind.

"How come you are here?" she asked. Then immediately kicked herself. Ignoring the Village head was disrespectful and rude. Why did she keep forgetting proper etiquette? The Great Mother wasn't even interfering with her mind, she had been keeping check.

In fact, as far as she could tell, the tree hadn't even taken advantage of her being unconscious. That was a bit strange, but she wasn't about to reject such good luck. Perhaps it had found other things to worry about. Or it had done what it needed to, and she just couldn’t detect.

"Gramma thought you would like to find a familiar face when you woke up. Grandpa had to head back to help manage the refugees."

Althea nodded, turning to the village head. "I apologize for my rudeness, I fear my excitement at seeing Aasha overtook me."

That was a plain faced lie. Althea wasn't even a bit excited to see Aasha. But it was a better excuse than 'I forgot'.

"Oh, no trouble at all. I am just…glad I could be of service." the smile plastered on the village headman's face was so fake, it screamed that something was wrong. Althea turned to the girl, noting her smile. That was an excited smile. Aasha had been excited when she had killed bandits. And when they were planning to kill Zhang.

Why was she excited now? Just who did she think Althea was going to kill?

"What happened?" she asked.

"What do you mean? I assure we tried our best to heal your wounds, but there was precious little we could do-"

"I do not mean my wounds." she said, her mind working on overdrive.

"Grandpa could have simply had the village head here give me directions. But he didn't. No, he sent you." Althea turned to her. "How many days have I been asleep?"

"Just one." Aasha said. "Grandpa only pulled you out near a village that was friendly to us."

Althea raised an eyebrow. " What is going on?" Aasha was avoiding the topic. The girl she knew was one that would just spill the beans easily unless it was something actually important.

The old man looked at Aasha with a worried expression on his face, that did little to calm her.

"Well…you know how Granpa isn't very good with speed?" Aasha hesitantly replied.

Althea narrowed her eyes, thinking about what was going on. There was only one thing that came to her mind that would make them so nervous.

"Did we get caught?" she asked. "Did someone from Zhang's side-"

"Oh no, nothing of that sort." Aasha looked even more nervous now.

"What, if not that?" she asked, wondering herself. What else would make them so nervous?

"The staff got stolen." Aasha blurted out. Althea took a second to catch up. The staff got…stolen.

Of course.

The dress she was wearing was made of jewels. Just by looking at her, one could tell she was rich. And a target while she was healing. The thief must have presumed that the staff she had with her was valuable.

"Was it very precious?" Aasha asked, wincing. "Grannpa tried to stop him, but he was too fast, even though he was on fire."

Oh, it was that guy. The one she saw briefly when she woke up.

"The staff is a family heirloom." she answered. The old man stilled while Aasha winced. Althea realized what that sounded like.

"Do not worry, I do not plan on pursuing this with you. A powerful thief stealing it is hardly your fault. I shall simply have to pursue it."

"Gramma thought you'd say that. The thief is likely in the Barren Mountains though. That place is crawling with criminals and monsters." Aasha replied. "Are you sure you want to go there?"

"The staff has been in my family for fifteen thousand years." Althea replied. "I cannot simply abandon it."

Aasha froze. The old man's smile stiffened as he looked at her in fear. Why were they scared now?

"What happened?"

"Oh, nothing, my lady." the old man said. "If there is anything you need from us, we would be happy to help…within reason. I fear there are some things we just cannot do-"

"There is no need to worry, as I have already informed you, I shall not punish you for this." she said, turning to Aasha. "Was he able to get out?"

The old man wouldn't know who they were talking about, so it would probably be fine?

"Yes." Aasha looked at the old man and then continued. "I think we should discuss this later. Grandpa wanted me to help you find your staff again. That's the least we could do."

Althea smiled. That was nice. There was just one thing.

"Did he tell you to come, or did you volunteer?" she asked. Adita would send someone more useful if he had just chosen someone.

Aasha looked like a scared deer at her comment. "I just wanted to help you! And I know where the important dens are! I am useful!"

And more than a bit irresponsible. But she could probably handle it. The girl was right when she said that a guide would be helpful.

"How powerful would you say the thieves are?" she asked.

Aasha looked at the old man again. This time, the old man stepped out without saying another word. Hmm, Althea hadn't gotten his name yet. Oh, well, she could do that later.

Oh, wait, she was leaving now. Not asking his name wasn’t that bad…right?