I looked down and saw an arrow, glowing red, embedded in the front of my chest armor, only stopped by the enchantment from piercing through me.

Larin, lifting his helm, and Molly, were looking at me smugly, while the others started to walk towards me.

“I’m not sure about you, but that would have pierced through the heart of an Orc, and they can't recover from that,” said Alex when he was closer, while I pulled out the arrow. “How are you doing, though? Anything broken?”

“No, everything’s alright,” I told them. My arms ached, and I had a trickle of blood where the arrow stopped, but my Attributes were already working on them, and they weren’t something I would consider injuries anyway.

“Good job, everyone,” said Carl, the healer.

“Ah, finally a hit in,” said Larin with a satisfied tone.

“That’s only because you were working together,” I told him, then I looked at the others, “Your teamwork is excellent, by the way. I didn’t even last thirty seconds.”

I was happy to finally have some good training. It was also the first time I fought against such a well coordinated team, so the experience would be useful.

“Hours of practice,” explained Alex. “You’re no joke either, though. How did you dodge that first arrow? I didn’t see anyone avoid it like that… your reflexes must be insane. Did you ever catch one midflight?”

I shook my head, already thinking over my mistakes during the fight. I should have let it pierce my arm, instead of dodging so awkwardly.

“Indeed,” said Carl, “Are you already Level 50, by any chance? Or is that the work of a Skill?”

“Neither,” I answered, “And why would I be here if I was Level 50?”

“Playing around,” he answered as if it was a given. “Honestly, you’re so strong that I wouldn’t be stupefied.”

“Well, thanks,” I told them.

I didn’t waste my time telling them I was unblessed. No one believed me anyway.

“I was really taken by surprise by that Skill at the end. Was that you, Ophelia? The thing that blocked made me see white, I mean,” I asked her. That really surprised me.

She nodded.

“Yes. I concentrated mist around your head. I made it so that it would reflect light,” she explained.

“Duh, I would have lost right away if you had done that in the beginning,” I said to her.

I hadn’t trained to fight while blind, after all. Maybe I should think about it.

“I couldn’t do that,” she said, shaking her head. “It takes some time to prepare, and if you move fast enough, I can’t make it follow you.”

“Mm, I see,” I said, shaking off my random thought.

“She’s also not a combat mage, technically,” added Alex. “Her abilities are more geared toward water control and gathering. She’s a real lifesaver when we’re far from civilization. It’s just that she insisted on helping during the fights, and so she devised a few ways to use her Skills.”

That explains a lot. I heard they were a lot more destructive than what I saw just now.

“Yes, she’s much more useful than me and Molly,” said Larin. “Especially Molly. She only knows how to hit things!”

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“Shut up,” said the grumpy woman, kicking him in the leg.

The blow had no effect obviously, so she threatened, “You’ll see later.”

“Well, you timed that perfectly,” I praised the mage, ignoring the duo.

I could also see the usefulness of always having water on hand. I didn’t have Zeph’s ring after all.

“Thank you,” answered Ophelia.

“And what’s your role?” I asked the only guy that didn’t do anything.

“I heal?” said the Healer helpfully.

Then he chuckled when he saw me rolling my eyes.

“I also make poison,” he added, “And make antidotes, cures, repellent, healing paste, and whatever else is required from the situation. I have a few Skills to heal and give some stamina, but they’re not too strong. Unlike specialized Healers, I had to diversify to be useful in different situations. Just enough to keep them alive until we reach civilization.”

“Oh, that’s… pretty useful?” I thought so, at least.

“Yes, it is,” confirmed Larin. “He’s also a good cook.”

Until he mistakes spices for poisons, I thought as I looked at him. It wasn’t a nice thing to say, though, so I kept my mouth shut. He’d also give them an antidote in the slim eventuality.

After that, we prepared for another bout.

The first one was just to take each other measure and, since it ended so fast, there wasn’t much to say. As I adapted, the fights became a bit longer, but I still didn’t last long; fighting such a well coordinated team was hard. I did get a few blows in, though.

We also simulated various situations, such as an ambush or injured member. They looked a bit surprised at my stamina since I didn’t require much resting between fights, but they didn’t ask more questions. The cage was booked for three hours, so I worked out a lot.

It was a fun morning.

I also didn’t injure myself too much, other than a few bruises and cuts.

I found out my body was more resilient than I thought, so despite being hit by Larin’s hammer a few times I didn’t break any bone; though, admittedly, I never took it in bad spots and unprepared. For the other small wounds, I didn’t even need Carl’s help, since they would heal soon enough.

Unfortunately, they had a quest the following week that would take them out of the city for a few months, so I’d have to find other parties to fight with. I was a bit sad since they were good sparring partners. Molly still hadn’t apologized, and she didn’t speak to me, but she was at least professional and did what she had to do, while the others were just fine. I could only hope the next ones won’t be much worse.

In the meantime, I'd also work out a strategy to deal with them. Beating them next time was improbable, but I was sure I could come up with a surprise or two.

I then went to the inn room and looked at how Freya was doing.

We were making steady progress with our books. I chose the one on Ademil since it was the one that I felt was the most fun to read. Freya instead just chose randomly, ending up with the one on the cultures of our continent. I wasn’t sure if she found them all to her liking or just didn’t care.

I’ll give her the one I’m reading now next, I thought as I went back to the inn. After reading my book for a week I indeed liked it, so I hoped she’d feel the same — though, as the bookseller said, some things did sound far-fetched.

I left her with two tasks while she was alone: reading books and practicing meditation.

She probably had a better disposition towards it than me, since it didn’t take her too much to get the basics down. I wasn’t as… steady as her the first times I tried, so maybe that didn’t help. I felt relieved since it was one less thing to worry about. Now, I just had to wait and see what would come out of it.

When I reached our room, I found her meditating, as expected.

Maybe I should give her a deadline on the book, I thought as I walked past her. It was the first thing she seemed to like, though, so I was a bit reluctant to meddle.

In the meantime, I sat on my desk and opened the book to keep reading.

I glanced out of the window, seeing the clear sky and a few clouds in the distance. The sun shone strongly despite the chill in the air.

Taking in a breath, I looked around the room, enjoying the moment.

Even though more than two months already passed, sometimes I still found it hard to believe the life I was living. It felt almost like a dream.

I took a moment to wallow in the feeling before I opened my book to read.

It had been just a week since I first held a book in my hand but, surprisingly, I found that it was getting easier and easier to keep reading, and I was getting faster. It could have been just me, though. Maybe it was another effect of the Evolution.

I’ll have to ask Freya later.

I wasn’t sure how accurate her response would be, though. Understanding her was hard, since she wasn’t one to complain, usually.

I looked at her, still immersed in meditation.

Given how much she liked it, I was half expecting her to tell me she felt mana any day now. It was extremely improbable, of course, since it took me years before I could feel it, but I couldn’t help but wonder how much she’d take.

Well, thoughts for later, I thought, giving her a last glance before focusing on my book.

Knowledge wouldn’t enter my head just by holding it, after all.