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

He wasn’t really too useful to me as an opponent, since our skill level was too far apart, but it was a nice pastime for me. And even if he wasn’t too strong, it still helped in keeping my senses sharp.

He sighed again.

“I’d like another spar, yes. So long as you remember to avoid injury.”

I cocked my head.

“Why are you so stubborn on that point?” I didn’t think too much about it before, but it felt strange after our spar. “You don’t fight like someone that’s so scared of wounds that he needs to repeat that constantly.”

He looked at me with a slightly upset expression.

“You remember the punch you threw me the other day? You nearly activated one of my defenses because of that. I would like to avoid wasting them, as I already said,” he answered with a slightly accusatory tone.

Oh, that explains it.

I didn’t regret punching him, but I had to be a bit more careful from then on. They were really triggered with nothing, though.

“Okay.” I shrugged it off and stood up as he took out his saber, and then we started our second spar.

I knew his Skills now, and I had a better grasp of how he moved, so it was even easier to handle him.

I can’t call it a beating though, if I can’t even hit him too hard, I thought after we ended the spar. It irked me.

After giving him a few pointers, we proceeded with our day.

We found another village on the road two days later that was even smaller than the first one. According to Zeph, they were probably born around the inns that hosted people who traveled from Caldris to the capital, and boatmen going upriver. They were having a hard time now, and the only open place was just as empty as the previous one.

This time I had some luck in finding armor. Blacksmiths were a precious commodity during wars, and they almost always got called into the big cities to work for the nobles, so a metal one couldn’t be found.

The previous village Leatherworker had moved to the city, but I had more luck this time.

Zeph too bought one. When I asked why he didn’t have one, he answered, “I have one. It’s just too noticeable to wear. Before this, I also didn’t need to worry too much about attacks, since my guards took care of all the small problems. If our pursuers caught us, a common leather armor wouldn’t have made a difference.”

There wasn’t one sized for Freya, and anyway, I doubted she could even move if I added anything to her right now.

“Are you sure she’s okay,” Zeph asked me that evening after she fell asleep.

I had noticed him giving her worried glances more frequently the last two days of march.

“Mm… maybe it would be better to wait a day here in the village unless you’re in a hurry. She’s eating and exercising, but she also needs to let her body recover some,” I said since he brought up the argument.

He hesitated for a moment before saying, “I am not that much in a hurry, but using a healing potion can make you better right away after an exercise, so if I gave her one there shouldn’t be a problem. She probably doesn’t even need a full one. Just a third of a flask would be enough to even heal her feet.”

And here he was being all reticent when I asked him if we could use them before. This is goddamn discrimination! Also, he was a softer guy than I thought.

“Well, I’m not her guardian, so ask her. If you want my opinion, though, let her suffer. If she can endure, she’ll be tougher, both in body and mind. I don’t want her to start relying on potions all the time so, unless we need to hurry up, let’s avoid that.” Training that needed potions was something for later if she accepted to become my disciple. “I also told her that I wouldn’t coddle her during this trip.”

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

“I thought you were in charge of her,” he said doubtfully.

I looked at him askance. “She’s thirteen, she can look after herself well enough. I have no intention of taking care of her — or anyone else for that matter. I’ll just help her reach a suitable place to live, and give some suggestions here and there, and that’s it.”

I didn’t tell him what I offered her, since it wouldn’t matter anyway for the moment.

After a few seconds of silence, he said, “Fine, let’s have her rest today then. If I see she isn’t getting used to it after a week, though, I’ll give her one.”

I just waved at him dismissively. “Do whatever you want. It’s your things.”

The next day I went out of the village and trained by the riverside with the manacles on. I was tempted to stop and start experimenting with my mana, but I resisted the urge.

Then we began our march again.

That routine lasted for two more weeks.

Camping for a night or two, then finding a village and resting there for a day. Freya was holding up well, and she was getting used to the road — it was still hard on her, but not like before. The plentiful food was also putting some meat on her bones, and now at least she didn’t look like she would break with a gust of wind.

I also started wearing the manacles even when I wasn’t marching. They weren’t really a bother when I stayed still, so I decided there was no need to take them off as soon as we stopped.

One annoying thing was that I was letting in a few blows from my spars with Zeph.

We started using wooden swords, and he had to stop using his Skills, but thanks to the increased difficulty it became a good exercise for me too. Mostly a mental one since I had to put that much more focus on predicting his next movements in time, but it was also physically demanding, since the faster I tried to move the more strength I needed.

At the end of the fights, I was winded and tired as hell, but it didn’t take much to recover if I sped up how much mana my Attributes used. I could allow myself to, since I wasn’t using as much just by walking after I wore them for a few days.

So, at the end of the second week, when my level reached 9, I stopped with the strength training. It was taking more and more days to get a level-up, and it was time for a change.

Before I start training mana though, I want to move around a bit and feel the difference, I thought as I went out of the village we were staying.

It was so easy to walk, and it felt so good. I had some trouble coordinating at first, since I put too much strength on my steps, making me stumble, but it soon went away.

After I started exercising, though, I felt the true difference.

The first thing I noticed was that I had problems getting the timing right, since I was faster than I expected and every movement felt too effortless.

I then looked around the river for a rock to test my strength with.

I hadn’t lifted one since I was in the gladiator school, but I did remember the approximate size of the biggest I lifted. We had other instruments for gaining strength, but lifting rocks had always been in vogue for some reason.

Well, lifting big rocks just makes you feel good.

Fortunately, the closer we got to the mountains, the more we found, so it didn’t take much to find the right one.

When I lifted it, I was left stupefied. It’s so light!

I could feel its weight, but not as much as I thought. I could hold it over my head! And keep it there!

I stayed there, dumbfounded, until I heard a voice behind me.

“What are you doing?” asked Zeph.

I turned around with the rock still over my head.

“Am I amazing?” I asked, feeling emotional.

He looked at the rock and then at me.

“… Yes?” he answered, unsure.

“Good, because I have no time for our spar today. My amazingness needs more testing!” I said as I dropped the rock and started looking for bigger ones.

“… What’s his problem now?” I heard a murmur behind me, but I ignored it.

From the tests, I concluded that my strength and speed were roughly half again as much as they were before.

I was on par with a Warrior between Level 30 to 40 if I didn't guess wrong; in physical strength alone, though.

Still, it was mind-boggling.

Some of it may be from my evolution, but most of it came from the training, I’m sure.

It shouldn’t have been so surprising, in hindsight.

Probably, without my Attributes, I would have lasted only about two hours while walking with the manacles. And surely not for two consecutive days.

The amount of training I did in these two weeks may be more than what I could have done in months before.

I also had underestimated how much stronger I could get. I was only Level 9 after all. It was tempting to ditch my mana training and keep going with strength, but I controlled myself.

I need to stick to the plan. It was better to do things thoroughly and decide how to move after.

It was with that conviction that I gave up strengthening my body and started training my mana. I had already thought of a few exercises to try while we walked, so I started that day right away.

Unfortunately, before I could see any improvement, we met with some complications.

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