I lost track of how long we had been jogging before I felt a new kind of weariness. I then had a brief misstep that turned into a tumble on the dirt and gravel path.

I did manage to get my left arm up In front of my face just before I face planted. This caused me to rotate slightly and land on my left shoulder. The impact was both painful and numbing at the same time.

"Nicole!" I hear Turnip shout just behind me.

After coming to a stop and taking a quick self assessment that I didn't feel any sharp pains I slowly started to push myself up to a sitting position.

"Hell girl don't move!" I then heard her say next to me before calling for Root.

"I'm find… I promise I know how to walk… most of the time." I said as I continued to more roll myself over.

"Fuck Nicole hold still." I heard Turnip tell me.

"I'm fine I promise." I said then tried to push myself to my feet. The odd part was my left arm was not working very well. That's when I felt Turnip put a hand on my chest and I found her kneeling next to me.

"By Dirt you're stubborn just wait a moment. Do you know how fast we had been moving!?" She yelled at me.

"Ok… I get the point… also my left arm feels… numb." I said.

"I'm checking you for head and neck injuries first." I heard Root say just before he entered my field of vision.

Right… I just took a rather nasty fall while running… let's pay attention to the medic.

"Any pain in the head or neck?" Root asked me while he began to look at my eyes.

"No" I said in a more serious tone.

"Ok let's very gently have you look left and right if you feel anything stop." He told me, I did.

"Nothing" I said.

"Ok now up and down?" He said and I did.

"No pain." I said.

"Alright I think we can rule out significant neck injury for the moment. Follow the tip of my finger with your eyes." He said, I did.

"No change in what I am feeling and no signs of nausea at the moment." I told him.

"Understand and we will want to keep an eye on any possible symptoms then in case it is not obvious." He said.

"Alright, any pain in your chest? Be sure to take a slow deep breath and stop if anything feels off." He said.

"None" I said, after a moment.

"Ok, can you feel all your fingers and toes?" He asked.

"Left hand and arm feel a bit off but I can still move them. Nothing else feels wrong… although my feet currently look different than what I expected… that’s weird" I said as I saw my feet and chuckled.

After a few minutes of some back and forth.

"Yep… your left shoulder is dislocated…" Root told me.

"Ah… wait, I expected this to hurt more." I said.

"A nerve is most likely being pinched right now and it's blocking some of the pain…” Root told me.

"Ah makes sense… we umm popping it back into place?" I asked.

"In a moment, I want to make sure there isn't a break as well." Root said then spent the next minute gently checking my entire arm.

"Ok I think you're fine, let's see if we can reset its position." Root said, he then guided me through several arm movements all while keeping an eye on the shoulder. The process took several minutes as I guess he was trying his best to ensure nothing else got injured or pinched in the socket.

"Alright this is going to hurt now." He said as he carefully moved my arm.

I felt the shoulder slip back into place with an audible pop and a wave of pain hit me.

I cried out from the pain before it dulled considerably.

"Holy shit you weren't kidding." I said after a minute of panting.

"Any pain or pins and needles in your hand or arm?" He asked.

"None, I don't think the nerve got pinched again." I replied.

"Good to hear, we will want to keep an eye on that Incase something else did." He told me.

"Understood… fuck I feel tired…infact I felt like I hit a wall where my energy gave out just before I tripped." I told Root.

"What's your Mana?" He asked.

Mana 16/120

"O shit 16 points… and it's been a few minutes as well." I said.

"Yup you pushed yourself to the point where you ran out of Mana. Just like Stamina your body relies on it." Root told me.

"Opps…. I'm still having a hard time remembering to keep that energy reserve in mind… wait how long have we been jogging for?" I said embarrassed then asked.

"About 2 hours and it was closer to a sprint. Also you should practice paying attention to that pool of energy more often. I know it's alien for you still but it needs to be subconscious." He said.

"True… so can I get up now?" I asked.

"Not yet I have a sling in my pack that you will want to wear for the next day or two." He told me.

"Don't worry I'll carry your stuff." Turnip said, currently towering just behind me.

After a few more minutes my arm was placed into a sling and I was helped up to my now bare feet.

"Really…!? I didn't have to change anything back, it would just happen on its own?" I sort of asked out loud.

"Obviously if mana was fueling it, also you should just be able to will the connection of energy off to a change like that." Iser said.

"Hmm so why did I have to supply energy before to change it back?" I asked.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"Umm… I have no idea…" They replied just as confused as I felt.

".... I'll add it to my things to research and study… in the meantime…" I muttered to myself.

"Alright I should be fine to keep running." I told the group.

"Yeah… no you need a break. It's honestly surprising you could keep up but based on what you have told us about your skills you have been augmenting your movement with Mana. We actually made very good time and it won't be a problem if we continue to walk for a few more hours. We’ll find a comfortable space to camp for the night." Root said, and he got nods of approval from everyone.

Instead of putting my boots back on I just opted to add extra thick and tough layers of skin to the bottom and sides of my feet. I was a good bit slower but it was far less draining on my mana.

We managed to find a nice spot by a large stream after only two hours of additional walking.

"Sorry about the crash earlier… that was dumb of me…" I said a bit sullenly.

"You're fine… just remember not to completely ignore it. I can imagine it's more difficult for you since it's so new. Your mana was that momentum type right?" Root asked.

"Yeah I did find out a while back I could infuse my legs to speed myself up quite a bit. I guess I subconsciously did something similar to stabilize myself." I said.

"Awww our little girl is growing up so fast." Lluvia said.

"Little, I'm in my 30's…" I said, Lluvia just chuckled softly.

"Oh and look at that both Shaping and Mana Manipulation both are ready to rank up." I said.

Congratulations! Through repeated actions your Shape Alteration skill has improved and is now eligible for rank up!

Rank D is a free rank!

Shape Alteration

Rank - E 100%

Your mana usages is even more efficient and you can add minor extra appendages.

Rank D is a free Rank, would you like to upgrade?

I accepted that quite quickly.

Congratulations! Through repeated actions your Mana Manipulation skill has improved and is now eligible for rank up!

Rank B costs Two (2) General Skill Points!

Mana Manipulation

Rank - C 100%

Your ability to control your mana both inside and outside of your body has grown in considerable efficiency and effectiveness.

"Oh crap two general skill points!?" I said.

"Ouch Journeyman Rank on general skills are annoying. Hey wait, how did you get it to Adapt at level 8?" Turnip said.

"Remember the thing?" I said.

"Oh right…" she said, shaking her head for a moment.

"Fuck if I do this then I'll only have three points left… What’s everyone’s thoughts for Mana Manipulation?" I asked.

"It's a solid skill to get up at least to Journeyman… wait 3 points left?" Said Orlo and a more confused look.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck…" I was muttering to myself as everyone gave me very wide eye looks.

"Sorry I should have been more honest up front… before I did the thing I sort of asked the quest to give me a reward to assist with additional future cleansings…" I said.

"Umm what did you ask for?" A very surprised looking Turnip asked.

"Umm 4 general skill points… And a Unique Skill. Oh and just before that when I nuked all the slimes with the homemade claymores I also received a general skill point as well." I said.

"Wait… so that's what that later shape ability is from that?" Root then asked.

"Yeah, I wasn't sure what the quest system would have considered Unique but if it is anything like my interpretation then none currently has this skill." I said, the group just listened.

"So that either means the skill is very likely brand new, or no one has had it in a very long time." I said.

"I do remember reading about the history of dungeons, skills and classes and that would align with a possible old skill. Things have not always been the same as they are now, I would need to review some of those books to get a better idea however." Iser said.

"I'm more concerned that we are running around with someone that has enough general skill points to be in their second evolution." Turnip said.

Orlo seemed sort of proud of me but I got different feelings from both Turnip and Iser. Turnip seemed maybe hurt while Iser just seemed confused.

"Ok so going back to my original question… two points into Mana Manipulation a good idea?" I asked again.

"Yes I think everyone here has a version of that already and if it's not in their class then at least everyone is sitting at Journeyman Rank." Root said.

With that I upgraded Mana Manipulation to Rank B.

I released all shape modifications I held which were only my feet then I monitored my mana for the next 30 minutes or so, based on sun position.

It was certainly faster now, between 3 to 4 mana a minute.

By this point everyone has sort of wandered off to take care of other tasks. I got the sense that most of the group was trying to sort out personal feelings about me.

I was tending a small fire when Lluvia came up and saddled herself right behind me. It felt nice.

"Is everyone mad at me?" I asked quietly.

"No, a little hurt but they will all come around. Turnip and Iser keep forgetting that we have only known you a week. And that you are in effect an alien to our society. Honestly you have to put your trust in us, if we wanted to do anything to you… well you would have no ability to stop it and a secret might be your only defense. I think the two of them in particular have sort of forgotten that part." She said.

"Me on the other hand I get it. You don't want to show everything you have to everyone." She continued then wrapped her arms around my torso and pulled me back into a hug.

"That feels nice." I said as I relaxed into her embrace.

"So Turnip's comment about the number of general skill points I had…" I sort of trailed off in the end.

"That would require a total of 30 levels between two classes to reach that number. The only way to do that is through core breaking… which you know is so frowned upon." She said.

That really put it into perspective, I was starting to get an idea of how long it would take to level up to that point… but it could take years without support. And I have reached a milestone in days.

"You all know that my luck has played at least as important of a role if not more so than skill right?" I asked.

"You have had crazy good luck honestly… also don't sell yourself short you are crazy skilled… Your adoption of magic is proof of that." She told me.

"Thanks… by the way I do trust all of you… and not just because I have to. I really do feel a connection with this group." I said.

"We feel that connection as well." She said and kissed me on the back of my head.

That night I discovered that sleeping in a sling sucked. I tended to sleep on one of my sides. The right side was somewhat manageable but the left was impossible.

I eventually just got up to sit next to the fire for a while and found Turnip on watch.

"Hey" I said quietly to her.

"Hey" she replied back.

"Thanks… for keeping me from getting up after I fell… I have no doubt I would have injured myself even more." I said while sitting down next to the larger woman.

"No problem, I've been in your position numerous times by this point. Adrenaline is a hell of a drug." She said.

"Hmm phrases that still translate… or maybe it's just the translation ability…" I said letting my mind wander.

"I never know what you are talking about." She said with a soft chuckle.

"Sorry for not saying anything about the points or skill sooner." I said, leaning my head into her arm.

"It's honestly fine… I have to remind myself that you have to put a massive amount of trust in us. Honestly if our positions were switched I don't think I could handle it as well as you have." She said.

"Thanks… and I do trust all of you and not just because I have to in order to survive. This group accepts who and what I am without question… ok so plenty of questions but nothing outside of curiosity." I said.

"You know… if we had not gotten so used to Iser your constant jumping from topic to topic is very hard to keep track of." She said teasingly.

"Yeah… my mind wanders quite a bit… Also what's wrong with Iser and I jumping from topic to topic." I said in mock outrage.

"I've seen you and him talk quite a bit in the evenings about… well all manner of things… you never noticed the topic switching?" She asked.

"Yeah but there's always a connection from one thing to the next…" I said a bit self consciously.

"Ok… how did you go from me saying some random phrase back to an apology." She asked, looking at me like she caught me in some sort of trap.

"Easy, the phrase made me think of my translation skill or ability which got me thinking about general skills which reminded me of the general skill points." I said.

"Yeah normal people don't think like that…" she said flatly.

"Oh I know but when I get excited or stressed it becomes a bit of a thing I do…" I said.

"Fuck… get some sleep girl…" she said with a small chuckle and pulled me into a gentle hug.