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I didn’t plan to restrict her freedom, though. I left that job to the slavers. “That’s, of course, only as long as you're working with me. If at the end of the training you wish to travel on your own, you are free to do as you wish — get a Class, become a Priest, you do you. Just don’t bother to show yourself in front of me again, 'cause that would make me quite mad.”

Then I remembered another thing, as I was talking. Maybe I should have given it some more thought before speaking, but what’s done is done, and it helped me draw out a plan, anyway.

“And all the money I will spend on your training, you will have to pay back when you’re good enough to start working. So I won’t allow you to leave before that. If you try to run, I will catch you, and you will not like it, trust me.” Because I will need to spend a lot of money on her training, other than all the basic necessities.

“If you refuse instead, I will help you until we find a suitable place for you to stay. I won’t count money for that, so you can relax and enjoy the ride until it lasts... Mm, maybe ride is not the right word, I’ll not carry you, so… walk? No, journey fits better. Anyway, that’s all. Was everything I said clear enough?”

She gulped at my question, “Y-yes…”

“Good, we’ll also work on your responses. You have to show some confidence when speaking, or people will walk all over you. Show them you have the guts to confront them if they ever try to go against you. But we’ll work on that later, you also don’t have to decide right away, since we’ll have plenty of time on the road until we reach a suitable place." It was something I had been planning to do before I thought of bringing her along. I took a gulp of water from the waterskin, and threw it to her, before finishing.

"I won’t drop you off in some random rundown village, so relax for now. Also, you’ll need to finish those jerkies you stopped eating. You’ll have to put some meat on those bones so, in case you decide to let me train you, we can start right away — right now you’re so thin I’m surprised you’re still walking,” I said pointing to the remaining ones she had left. I had already finished mine.

“Okay…” she said as she started nibbling on it again.

Good. One thing done. Now I just hope that we can reach an inn or a village by nightfall, or by early morning tomorrow. From what I heard, they’re more common near big cities and capitals, so there shouldn’t be a problem. The road also seemed to be a big one, so there should be a lot of places to rest if many people traveled on it. Now that I think about it, it should be strange not to see people walking on a road like this, right?

It was a big road near the capital, so logically there would always be people walking on it. Is it because of the attack yesterday?

I didn’t know if news could travel that fast, but I didn’t have any other explanation.

It was not something that bothered me, though, so I dismissed the thought and concentrated on something more pressing — my reduced hunger.

I hadn’t put much thought into it the day before, but now that I was starting to think more rationally, I could see how much I wasn’t bothered by the lack of meals. I had eaten a few jerkies, while I walked, but it shouldn’t have been anywhere near enough to satiate me. In fact, it hadn’t been enough but, while I felt the empty stomach, the feeling had been somewhat muted compared to other times — and I knew very well how it should feel since I passed all stages of hunger in the last months.

It felt as if it was kept at bay somehow.

I can guess why, though. It’s an unexpected but welcomed surprise if I'm right. I hated hunger, after all.

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The reason was, probably, the Mana consumption Attribute. Since it was working all the time to provide energy, my body felt less the need to eat. Maybe it was working constantly because I hadn’t eaten enough.

So if I guessed right, the consumption should be higher now. I had just swallowed a few jerkies and I didn’t have time to digest them yet, so I may see a difference if I enter meditation.

My clothes were still drying on a branch under the sun so while I waited I could check that out, and that’s what I did — as I thought, my guess was accurate.

I could feel a much higher drain than before, and not only that; the rate at which I was absorbing mana from the environment wasn’t keeping up with the consumption. I was absorbing more than the previous day, but it wasn’t enough.

The next step was obvious — trying to absorb more mana. I wanted to be a bit more cautious, so I would probe slightly and see how it feels. If it felt like it could work, I would then try to gradually improve that. What happened the previous day was a warning bell that I had to be careful on how to use my abilities if I didn’t want to get in some accident. Also, the pain of mana entering my body during my evolution was still fresh in my mind, and I didn’t want a repeat so soon if possible — that had been the worst experience of my life.

It took a while of probing without results before I decided to take the gamble. I knew the risks but if that was the only way then I would have to take it sooner or later, and I didn’t hesitate in front of challenges.

Before that though, I thought as I opened my eyes, It’s better to warn the kid… no, the girl.

I didn’t want to scare her again now that she became more comfortable with me.

“Hey Freya,” I said, making her look towards me, “If I suddenly drop down, or scream, or start convulsing, don’t worry. I’m just experimenting with something. Just ignore me.”

She batted her eyes a few times, her mouth slightly open. It was a dumb look.

I took that as an okay sign.

She's been warned, I thought as I took a deep breath and entered meditation again.

I thought back to the fight.

It wasn’t hard to remember — those moments were burned in my mind. I was desperate, I felt so tired, so heavy, so powerless… so empty. I was searching for something, anything, to give me power, to fill that void, trying to draw it from anywhere I could — and there was something all around me that I could get... I just had to stop rejecting it.

Yes, it was as simple as that.

I just had to stop pushing it away, I thought, after I compared how I felt before and after the change.

It was probably something I had been doing unconsciously since I was born, and I didn’t realize it even after I started sensing mana. If I have to guess, the reason I suddenly began absorbing mana was because I had my senses all scrambled up, so while trying to draw strength from somewhere I accidentally let it in.

That was the only conclusion I could draw. It was probably not even rushing in all at once like I thought — it just seemed a lot since I had none before.

It was just slightly more than now, maybe. Comparing was hard since I was trying to stay conscious through the pain and move my body, when it happened.

Still, I didn’t know how to speed up the process. Right now it was just coming in because I stopped pushing so, probably, it will get in faster if I try to pull when it comes in contact with my skin. It was just hard to find the right feeling.

I’ll try to push now, and see if it stops, then I'll try to pull. It took quite a few tries before I succeeded, but after the first time, it was fairly easy. I could also keep it up without much thought, probably because it was something that I had been doing all my life, even if I didn’t know it. There’s not much point to it, though.

I wanted it to get in faster, not block it.

Since I had learned how to do the pushing, though, I now had some ground to start in. It should be easy to pull if I know how to push.

It wasn’t.

Numerous tries later, I only felt that maybe I was drawing it in faster. The difference was so small that I wasn’t sure, though.

I was about to redouble my efforts when I felt something hitting me in the head. I opened my eyes alarmed, only to find everything normal. Freya, who had been looking at me, raised her arm and pointed at the sky.

“It’s late,” she said in her usual quiet voice.

I looked at the sky, seeing the sun had already moved quite a lot, then I looked down at her, then at my lap, where a small pebble was resting.

Wait… did she just throw a pebble at me?!?

Right on the forehead, too!

Just when I was about to open my mouth, though, I heard a sound coming from the forest not too far from us.

I swiftly grabbed my sword and held my breath. Then something surprising popped out of the forest.

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