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***Silvester***

When I stopped running, a few hours after we left the corpse, the sun had just disappeared behind the horizon.

If I had been traveling alone with Freya I would have had to end our off-road marathon sooner, to prepare for the night, but Zeph had a myriad of small things that could help make camping easier — for example, an enchanted plate that could heat up the food, and magical lamps — so we continued until we almost couldn't see anymore.

I prefer the fire, though. I only made one on the first night, but it felt wonderful compared to just having a fixed light. It made the atmosphere better.

The upside to the plate was that it was convenient; we also didn’t have much wood around us anyway.

I scanned our surroundings, seeing a few shrubberies hiding behind the rocks — it would take a lot of walking to get enough dried wood in this place. Still, there was more vegetation around now, and the grass now looking a little greener compared to the yellowed one we saw just a few days before.

The closer we got to the mountains the more we would find, according to Zeph — it was still quite barren though.

The terrain was also becoming much rougher and less flat, with a few hillocks around that obstructed the sight.

I took a few long breaths as my heart calmed down after the exercise.

A heaving Zeph reached me a few seconds later, sitting on a rock right away. He was a sweaty mess. It may be the first time I saw him so dirty, too, with sweat forming lines in the dust that got attached to his face.

I laughed. “That’s why I told you should exercise more. Just doing a morning spar won’t build stamina. Even if a Class can help you maintain your body better, you still need some exercise.”

He looked at me and took a few breaths before saying, “Stats will take care of that *huff*, and I better spend the time training my Skills. It’s more cost-effective.”

Bah, always about Skills, I thought as I crouched to let Freya down.

“And besides,” he continued after another few breaths, “It’s just your body that’s insane.”

I laughed at his remark, then looked at Freya slouched to the ground and laughed some more.

“Hey, what’s wrong, girl?” I asked, poking her with a foot.

She looked up, looking nearly as tired as Zeph. “C-can’t feel my arms anymore.”

I shook my head.

“You really need to bulk up. Even getting carried makes you tired. I wasn’t even going that fast.” I had to wait for Zeph after all.

And it seems he had something to say about that too.

“Maybe you weren’t going fast, but I’m surprised she didn’t puke on you after you started your ‘wonderful reflex and balance exercise’ by jumping on rocks left and right everywhere,” he said before closing his eyes and bringing out our backpacks and his tent.

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I shrugged.

“You were too damn slow, I needed the extra challenge.” I then looked at the girl. “You just need to hold on for a few days until we’re far enough. And I will just run normally tomorrow, so don’t worry.”

If Freya decides to be trained by me, the first thing I’ll have her do is run. Until she can at least run 10 kilometers on a flat road before breakfast, there'll be only running and strength training for her.

There was no point in teaching her anything if she couldn't even do that.

Running well is the most basic thing any living being should be able to do. It came right after walking.

I then went to get my backpack and put up the tent.

We exchanged a few words during dinner, but we avoided talking about what happened with Isorn.

There were a few things we had to talk about, though. So, after we ate, I brought up the first topic.

“What do we do with this?” I asked after taking it out and putting it on the ground before us.

I really disliked holding the thing.

Zeph looked at it as if he didn’t believe I just left it on the ground like that, but I just ignored his expression.

“In my opinion," I continued, "The best thing would be if we sold it and divided it between us. Or, better yet, if you used it and paid me the other half. No one to question us and everyone happy.” I turned to Freya. “You’re not doing anything and are mostly a burden right now, so you get nothing.”

She gave me a surprised look. Probably not even thinking, I would have shared.

I do intend to give her some as a parting gift, if I get enough, though. If she became my disciple, the money spent on her would probably exceed what I would give her anyway. I’ll just give her a discount from what she’ll owe me later.

“So, what do you say?” I asked, turning back to Zeph.

He lifted his gaze, as he had been staring at the coin since I put it down.

“You greatly underestimate the value of that coin,” he said gravely. “Even if it was just the price at which the church gives it out in my home country, the cost is enough to make a ruler feel pain. If someone wanted to buy it? The value would be even greater because of the scarcity and demand.”

He thought about it for a moment.

“For now, keep it,” he said in the end, giving it a last look before looking away. “I’ll think about what to do with it, and then I’ll tell you.”

I looked at him doubtfully. “Is it not better if you keep it in your ring?”

It was the most secure option in my opinion, and seeing how he looked at it, it was strange that he just left it to me.

“No. It’s better if you keep it until we reach Caldris… just in case,” he said hesitantly.

Well, okay, I thought as I put away the coin in one of my pockets. I had no idea what that ‘just in case’ meant, but I didn’t need to find out.

In any case, I wasn’t short on money, given what he was paying me daily. Instead, I felt quite rich compared to the average commoner.

After that, we talked a bit about the next part of our journey, and then they went to sleep.

I, like the night before, started to train.

I was already much better compared to the previous day. At the speed I was going, a few more days would be enough to get back to where I was.

No, I’ll be even better.

After my evolution, I felt like everything about my body was better. I was also adapting to the changes much faster than I thought I would.

It’s a pity, but I’ll have to postpone finding out the best training plan. It’s too risky while on the road.

After I get my balance and control back, I will just rotate the training.

I won’t see as much of an improvement, since I can only train at night, but one step at a time I’ll reach my destination anyway.

After a few hours of training, I finally went to sleep.

Surprisingly, my Level increased once more, reaching 10.

I didn’t have that much of a workout to justify my level up. Was it my sword training? Or maybe I was close to the tenth Level anyway, and I went up with the run? Or maybe something else?

I had no idea.

Damnit, this is why it would have been better if I kept things separate.

There was nothing I could do, though, so I just dismissed the screen and went to sleep.

Like the previous morning, we departed quite early.

As before, we stopped every few hours so that Zeph could check his map and so that they could rest.

We also needed to check if we were being followed. That’s why we stopped on top of a hillock on our path.

I was looking at the back with my scope when Zeph’s voice called my attention.

“We’ve got company,” he said.

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