Someone was shaking my shoulders, so I grumbled and turned around. I had a great dream about golden, flying steaks protecting a hive producing candy.

"...ke up." I heard and responded by flapping my hands at the offending voice. I was taking an after-meal nap, no waking up.

"It's late evening, I want to get at least some distance today," Tom said. I blinked at him, looked around and lifted the bundle of fur laying by his backpack. "You can carry me, my ankle is still sprained," I replied groggily, closed my eyes and curled up. I got picked up, among some grumbling about brats.

I woke up some time later. The sky was still blue and the cat was walking down a hill, full of pines or some other type of spiky trees. I recognised oaks because they're important... and few other ones, but spiky trees were spiky trees.

I pulled out a book on trees. Study what you don't understand and wisdom will come. Especially when it's less interesting than watching the snails go. I read on, but it would have been so much more fun to roll down the hill or hop above the trees or just doodle.

Once the light got redder I looked up from the book. I didn't even get to the chapters describing the more magical varieties of the trees. Everything was passing by faster than it should. I twisted my head around and noticed Tom was covered in a mana shimmer. He also looked absolutely exhausted and his eyes were blank.

"What's the hurry?" I thought I would have noticed if something had attacked us.

"Endurance and Shell." With that response, the kid collapsed and I supported us with a puff of mana, jumping over him.

"I don't think you need to push yourself that far, you are still a kid." I patted the head of the gasping corpse.

"I've got sixteen in soul." Came a strained voice between gasps.

I sat down next to his head. I supposed if mine... then, "It lowers the rest?"

"What? Yes, can't get over nineteen..." The kitten turned on it's back, sliding off the backpack. "How low are you, if you don't know?"

"Twenty." The response was a stink eye and a long while of grumbling. A blue blur appeared over Tom's head and he got silent all of a sudden. His eyes sparkled.

"Annoy me more." He had a really serious look on his face. Who'd think cats were this expressive.

"Alright, if you give me a wide smile," I informed the kitty and smirked. I received the wide, toothy smile of a cat. As a reward, Tom received the pile of fur on his stomach.

I boosted up. We were at the decline of one hill, turning into another one. The mountains seemed much larger, though the big one was about the same as I last saw it. I angled my fall with puffs, to fall on the furs.

"Stop being tired and set up your camp." With these words, I got myself up and dropped again. There were no leaf trees or rocks to sleep on. "Tie one of the furs between the trees. I will sleep on it." I informed the kid and pulled out the tree book.

When I didn't feel any movement I looked over the book's edge. Tom was still stabilising his breath. "Chop-chop."

I rolled off the pile and lifted it. "See how nice I am?" I waved my hand and got back to reading. It was as boring as cats lacking reaction.

"Also, you stink, we are going to find water tomorrow." Kid either rested enough or just wanted to get this over with and got up.

"Yes, m'lady." He even added a bow.

"No need for that. I graciously permit you to be causal." I straightened my back and looked at Tom over my nose.

"Uhm, okay." He said uncertainly and turned to get back to work.

A completely random, spawned out thin air, extremely mysterious, small manaball hit him on the back of the head. I was reading my book, so obviously, it wasn't me.

I got brought out of reading, the most exciting page about a parasite tree, that grew on other trees and was green and had no magical properties, but Tom poking me on the top of my head.

"I'm done. Would you mind borrowing me the books to read again?" The cat said in an exhausted voice. He had needles sticking all over, from his fur and the gambeson.

I threw him Anastasia's manual on runes and circles. After a quick look around, I boosted towards my hammock. It stank a little.

The next two days, were rather similar. Tom told me to infuse my leg with mana, but since I couldn't, I just opted to carry our luggage. The first day I got exhausted first, the second he did.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

The nightfall of the second day, we almost reached the bottom of the mountains. The big one didn't appear much larger but was mostly covered by the small ones.

"Before we cross through Hammervale, I'd like to pass through one place," Tom said. He looked like a starfish, laying on the ground.

"Sure, I'm in no hurry," I replied and busied myself with a book about creatures in the Outer Ring. The area we passed through. The place was strangely void of anything stronger or more mystical. I thought to check what we could encounter in the mountains, or beyond them, but... where would be the fun in that? If it will turn out I missed something amazing, I could always come back.

This much closer to the mountains, there were already some small valleys and rather frequents streams all over the place. We stopped by some white, large rocks, the type that a long time ago were made out of shells and stuff. There was even a small cave, which I took. Tom put up his tent outside.

Once I finished a chapter about types of earthworms living in the fields, I got up and stretched. My head was drowning in information, which was good, but oh so tiring.

"Where do you want to go anyway?" I yelled out from my spot. My foot was better, but still a bit tender.

Tom came over and sat in front of me, by the opposite wall. "A dungeon. My parents got me a couple of maps with their locations. If we get up early, we should reach one suitable for me, around noon."

I nodded and looked up in thought. "Could you show me that map?" I asked curious about something. The cat nodded and came back a moment later with a laminated map. It had pretty pictures of cartoon dragons and some heroes.

"They bought it when I was five." Tom puffed up and stretched out the map between us. It showed the span from the train station to the mountains and was wider in the other direction.

There was a lot more dungeons than I thought, some deep under the ground, others high in the sky. Most also had obscure entry conditions. After dragging my finger across the map, I found an icon of a cube to the left of the tracks.

Recommended; Stats average: 30; Party size: 3; Multiple means of escape

When I poked the symbol, an expanded description with a map popped up. It seemed, that while I went the shorter path if I took a different turn, I would have avoided the boss. There was even a rest location a bit beyond the bear. There was also a list of treasures. Killing the bull, let you grab the four cubes as a reward. Escaping got you nothing. At least, it seemed the one I found was a rare drop. A familiar cube.

If I'd manage to find or create a semi-sentient creature of matching element, I could join it with myself as some sort of summoned minion.

"Oh, I heard the candidates who are almost fifteen tend to risk that one. Sometimes, if they manage to get a minion, they let them into the Academy, even if they're too old." Tom spoke excitedly, while aggressively nodding his head.

I shrugged. "Go to sleep. Let's get up early." I said and turned. The cat froze, his hand pointing at something closer to the mountains.

"That's the one we..." he sounded kinda sad. I smiled at him. "I like surprises." With these words, I waved and curled up on the furs.

----------------------------------------

I put down the child on the ground. She stretched and dropped our luggage on the rocks. I winced, one day my health potion vials would break. Mom spent a lot on them. Maybe I could ask Mads to keep them in her bag of holding. No. Who knows when she'd just run off somewhere, forgetting to give them back.

"Alright, this entrance leads to multiple dungeons..." I began, but the girl wasn't listening. She seemed to be meditating, gathering her mana and shaping it between her hands. I shook my head.

I walked up to the crevice in stone and began looking for the rating marks. I hoped the kobold variant would be open today... the goblin one would do too, but it would push my soul towards a shamanistic race. I jumped over the stream flowing from the entrance and stumbled on a loose rock. It wasn't there when I looked.

I turned my head, but the noble brat was just scratching a picture in the dirt, with a stick she found somewhere. I kicked the stone and looked back at the wall. I looked back down, the marks were in the water.

I squatted and squinted my eyes. Not good, it was the last, illusion variant. It didn't require a party and the cat-creatures inside had low Endurance and Shell. The issue was that their illusions were doubly effective against children. We would need to wait for up to a week before it changed. I stood up to inform Mads.

Something flew over my head. A mane of blonde hair, followed by a red cloak, disappeared in the crevice. "Mads...?"

She... What? I run in after her. There was nothing. I was just falling. Did the illusion already take me? I screamed.

"Hey, Tom." Came the sickly innocent voice of the tiny Devil. I opened my eyes. Mads sat on a six-legged house cat. "I will not need you to carry me anymore. I found Pushkins."

How? The illusions were supposed to build up slowly!! Why was my mind already broken? I pinched myself and the view didn't change. The girl-illusion just tilted her head. I pulled the knife from my boot and stabbed into my hand. Before I hit it, something pushed it away and I just waved the knife through the air. They could control me!! All of my hairs stood on ends.

"No need for self-mutilation. Pushkins can carry me around the dungeon, but I want you to be my neighbour at the Academy." The illusions voice came.

"Mads!! Don't move, there is an illusion pretending to be you!! Something could be..." I got interrupted by a ball of mana hitting my nose. "Don't yell. It's annoying and will scare Pushkins." The illusion tried to break deeper into me again.

I saw a mist slowly rising around the cat. That was the first stage of their magic. I furrowed my brows. "Why are you sitting on a Pretender Rakshmi?" I asked the possibly real Mads.

"I wanted to explore, but I heard you scream and this comfy sit came over." I doubted the cats would come up with this.

"Anyway, you need to get off it. They cast potent illusions on children." I advised the girl and readied my sabre. Mads poked the cat on the head. "Is that why you have two smells? What were you trying to do, Pushkins?"

The damn Rakshmi lowered its head. Then a ball of flame shot from its tail and.. splashed against girls noble clothes. In response, six manaballs smashed into the cats head splattering it.

"Can they be cooked?" Mads asked, looking a little pale. She shook her head and pointed at the corpse. She looked up at me. How did a goddamned Devil look so innocent? Frick, dad would be angry if he heard me swear.

"Yes, yes they can. Can we get out first?" At least being around her, helped me train my willpower. "Also, did you say you can tell a difference between the smells?"

She nodded while lifting the cat on one of her platforms. "A talent I suppose? A Bogin or Godlin... Godling? Whatever they're called tried to snatch me."

"Smack me with a manaball..." I got interrupted by a manaball in the face, "... when I ask, or you think I might be seeing things."

Mads replied with another manaball to my face.