"Alright, sugar and spice, we've got to get moving now; I bet this asshole has troops on standby which means we have hours before a whole witch hunt kickstarts after us," Buster remarks as he throws me a bag full of things as well which felt like mostly food and some clothes.
"I'm sorry I got you into this; you didn't have to fight him; I heard him. Still, thank you for not selling me out. I love you." I respond to Buster with an overly emotional comment that surprises me: what the hell has been going on with my body and mind lately? I am a guy, damn it! I am not overly emotional like that, right?
"Don't sweat it, kid; like I said, I've also been avoiding these guys for a long time. I would have to move out eventually, so I might as well do it with good company." Buster slowly but surely gets me closer to him with his right arm so he can hug me quickly, relieving all my fears with a hug. Man, I had to get checked out or something. This isn't me.
Why was I getting emotional over everything, and why did I care more about feelings and stuff lately? I knew I had changed the first time I reincarnated and got sold into slavery by my father, but this is different. It's like my soul is slowly also turning female, god what will happen to me then?
I've already changed a lot from my former self. I no longer seek to depend on others for help, but at the same time, I've also started to care more about others, and I thirst for social life. Why am I also changing like that? Not that it mattered much. It was just a little freaky. I mean, wouldn't you?
Man looking back at my life opens up my eyes to just how big of an asshole I used to be before my death. I always treated my mother wrong and also was incredibly rude to my dad; if only I could go back and say, 'I am sorry for being such a piece of shit,' then I would do it without a doubt.
Still, life moves on, and as of now, it seems like Buster is my new father figure after my mother died right after my second reincarnation. Yet, I do find these things happening to me quite weird. Why, in both reincarnations, did I end up as a magicless girl without parents? Not that I know that my father is dead in this new trial, but that is strange, isn't it?
Also, why did the name Annabel stick out in both reincarnations? My first name wasn't Annabel in my first trial, but it was my second name. Is there any connection there? Well, there's no time to think about it, as I've got to catch up with Buster, who's already started moving.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
The quiet nature of the forest is tedious, but I keep going in silence until the better part of me gets me, and I start asking questions to kill time while I follow Buster since I don't know where we are going. "So, who thought you the KP engine techniques Master?" I ask Buster, and he responds with interest.
"It was my father who thought me before our village got destroyed in a raid. I didn't get how it worked initially, but I unlocked my full potential by force in my fight for survival at the Colosseum; that's a place you never want to find yourself in." Buster keeps walking as I throw a follow-up question to him.
"What happened at the Colosseum? That guy we killed said something about it, too." Buster doesn't look so pleased to bring up the topic, but he continues his comprehensive explanation without much fuss, as he is probably also bored.
"I killed my way to freedom. I know my name isn't Buster, but since I don't remember what I was called before getting enslaved, I've chosen to go by the name I earned myself in the Colosseum; everyone would cheer my nickname because I used to mess people up."
Buster doesn't look so happy now, and I stop right there as I follow up with an apology for making him bring that up. It must've been tough for him. "I am sorry I made you bring that up; I bet it's painful to make you remember those days. I'm sorry." Buster smiles slightly as he keeps walking.
"Don't worry about it; you will hear about it one day. My story is too famous to be kept a secret forever. You would find out eventually. It is sad that out of thousands of gladiators, I am the only one in history to earn their freedom. Nobody else has done it after me."
Goddamn, this Colosseum fate sounds worse than death. I remember what the Colosseums were supposed to be like according to those gladiator movies I used to watch, but by the sounds of it, the reality of the world was even worse than some vanilla movie tailored for people who are faint of heart.
Everything really does seem to be like I said before: the world is a cruel and unforgiving place ready to kill or exploit you at any given time. Man, I wonder just how strong Buster used to be in his prime since he can still keep up with the nobility and is sixty years old. Not that I know his age, but he looks old.
Could I become as strong as him if I learned the ways of the KP engine? I know I am capable of growth, but will I be able to fight off enemies like the recent one on my own someday? We barely won by pure luck; our enemy was overconfident and greatly underestimated me, but I doubt that will always happen.
If I could become at least half as strong as Master Buster, I would at least be able to help him more rather than resort to hiding behind him with my tail between my legs. The KP engine is complicated, though I've seen it. I've felt the energy, but it's too complicated to control it at will.
Think of KP energy as water and me as a vessel. Sure, I could try catching some water from the stream, but how will I do that when I am an inanimate object without legs or arms to move around? The water stream is right there, but how can I get there? It's hard!