A town outside the forest?! A human town?! Mixed feelings of excitement and fear tumbled chaotically through her at her Master's statement. Jun sat up straight, jostling Shiori as she did. Her Master jumped off her shoulders to land on the grass beside her and turned to glare disapprovingly at the sudden movement. Jun ignored the glare, her mind filled with questions that overflowed through her mouth.

"WhereisitHowfarawayisitWhencanwegothereWhat'sitcalledHowman—mhmahfmmph?" Jun's words blended together as she rushed to ask her questions, only to stop with a squeak as an invisible force slammed over her mouth and squeezed her lips shut.

"One question at a time kitten." Her Master said, fixing her with a disapproving stare as the force keeping her quiet disappeared.

Jun opened her mouth again, ready to spew out her questions, only to snap them shut again with an audible pop. Closing her eyes for a moment, she took a deep breath and painfully tamped down her excitement before carefully choosing the first of her many questions.

"How far away is this town?"

"A week's walk from here for you kitten."

"How big is it?"

"A few dozen people the last time I traveled there."

"What is it called?"

"I do not believe it had a name."

"When can we go?"

Shiori cocked her head to the side in a thinking pose for a few seconds before answering. "Show me your status."

Nodding, Jun did as her Master directed, opening her status screen up as her Master's eyes began to glow gold.

Karmic Balance: 149,864,661,344 (+1) World: Merinthia (Tier 1) Name: Jun Titles:

Apprentice

Adopted Kitten (HIDDEN)

Level: 9 (+6) (82/100%) Race: Human (Balance) Gender: Female Mana: 200/200 Core Status: (HIDDEN) Stable (Tier 0) Stats: MIND - 20 (+6) CON - 20 (+6) STR - 20 (+6) AGI - 20 (+6) DEX - 20 (+6) CHA - 25 (+6) SPR - 20 (+6) Traits: (5/5) [Touched by Karma] (Hidden) [Born of Karma] (Hidden) [Magic Touched] (Disguised; [Affinity Hoarder]) SEALED [Fast Learner] [Charismatic] Skills:

[Karma Manipulation] (Novice 2)

[Body Cleansing] (Novice 7) (+6)

[Mental Resistance] (Novice 1)

[Soul Sealing] (Novice 0)

[Piercing Missile] (Apprentice 19) (+17)

[Multi Casting] (Apprentice 7)

[Stealth] (Novice 8)

[Tracking] (Novice 3)

[Cleaning] (Initiate 1)

[Cooking] (Novice 4)

[Butchery] (Novice 9)

[Foraging] (Novice 6)

[Crafting] (Novice 2)

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

[Pain Resistance] (Novice 1)

Jun couldn't help feeling a touch of pride at her status. She'd made a lot of progress in the last month. Things just seemed to click for her with some practice, which she assumed was the [Fast Learner] trait at work. All of the hunting had eventually gotten her [Stealth] and [Tracking] as well as [Cooking] and [Butchery] for processing the animals. She had picked up [Foraging] when Shiori started teaching her to harvest some of the herbs they used to cook with that grew wild in the forest, and tinkering around with the hides from the animals they hunted had gained her [Crafting].

That last skill had been especially useful as her clothes had grown increasingly tattered with every hunt, the hard training, and constant washing. What had originally been a sturdy shirt and skirt was now a tattered set of rags inexpertly patched with strips of poorly processed animal hides. Her first pair of foot wraps had begun to smell rancid and fall apart, forcing her to replace them. Through trial and error she figured out that by drying out the hides for a few days then soaking them in water and scraping the undersides, she could remove the remaining bits of fat and flesh which she guessed was what made her foot wraps rot.

She was then able to harvest some tree sap and wood from a tree she'd accidentally hit with a missed spell while hunting, and with Shiori's help cut the wood into a rough shape mimicking the soles of a shoe. The sap she used as glue to attach the wooden bottoms to a crude pair of booties she'd made out of the hides with the fur inside for padding. Making her crude boots had taken her most of the month, but she had finally finished them just a few days ago. The thought of her needing to walk through the forest for a week to reach civilization made her glad she'd started trying to figure out boots weeks ago, even if she hadn't worn them much beyond making sure they fit and would stay together while running around the clearing.

Jun was interrupted from her thoughts as her Master made a sound of approval. "Your skills have come along well apprentice, for a kitten." Shiori nodded her furry head, ears twitching as she thought for a moment. "Moving to a human town would be good for your development. Let's go." Without waiting for a response, Shiori got up and walked into the cave as Jun smiled excitedly.

A town in a magic world! She could only imagine the magic that must be used everywhere in a magical world, especially if everything had a system like in a video game. Images of people casually using magic to float things around, conjuring items out of nothing, and flying about filled her head. Idly, she wondered if there would be more talking cats or even dogs in the town. Maybe a talking hamster!

Jun's daydreams were interrupted as a heavy pack dropped to the ground next to her, her not-spear secured to the side with strips. Confused, Jun looked at it. It was the pack with the clothes Shiori had given her a month ago. She hadn't seen it since, and for some reason hadn't thought about it until just now. Jun looked up to see Shiori staring at her expectantly. "Well, what's taking so long? I said 'let's go.'" Her tail flicked back and forth as Jun stared at the pack.

"Now? But don't we need to prepare? Gather supplies? Pack?" Jun asked as she glanced around the clearing looking for the items normally scattered around, only to see that there was nothing beside the pack next to her. Getting up, she rushed into the cave and around the corner, expecting to see their camp still lit by the ever present campfire that she'd figured out was probably more of Shiori's magic, only to see darkness. No fire lit the space, and she couldn't make out anything in the dark.

Casting her [Piercing Missile] spell, she used all of the tricks she'd learned to barely power anything. The brightness of the spell she learned was evidence of mana waste, where the amount of mana in a spell naturally had some waste that would convert into light. Taking advantage of this, she figured out that if she purposefully directed most of the mana to be wasted, she could make a slowly drifting bright light that would burst with all the force of a cough if it touched something.

The cave revealed to her was empty. The place where their campfire had burned for the past month was cold, the only evidence it had existed were bits of ash and scorch marks in the stone. The space where her furs had been was bare, as was the flat topped rocks they'd used for shelves.

A strange feeling of sadness mixed with excitement settled over her as she walked out of the cave and back to where her Master waited impatiently by the spring. They were really going. Right now. And it felt like it would be a permanent move. As strange as it seemed, to her this cave and clearing felt like home. She'd felt more relaxed, happy, and free living here in the forest with her Master over the past month of her new life than she could ever recall feeling on Earth in her old life. But now they were leaving.

Glancing inside the pack, she saw the boots she'd made sitting on top of the neatly folded fur she used as a bed and her bath case. Pulling the boots on, she wiggled her toes, enjoying the soft feeling of the fur enveloping them.

"Well? Are you ready?" Shiori asked, her tail flicking back and forth as Jun finished tying up her boots.

Jun stood and shouldered the surprisingly light pack. Sparing one last look for the clearing and the entrance to the cave, she nodded at her Master, tears in her eyes as she smiled. "Yes, I am Master." Jun said, her voice cracking with emotion.

Shiore jumped up to rest half on the pack and half on Jun's shoulder, nudging her cheek with her head and purring. Her whiskers tickled.

Shiore jabbed a paw forward, pointing toward the stream that left the clearing. "Then let's go, time's wasting!"

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

Draxar growled softly, watching from his hidden place in the trees as the human and her pet cat hiked out of the mountains. The human's weapon was strapped to a pack. Not in reach. Defenseless. A cruel smile curled his reptilian lips, revealing sharp fangs.

He had watched the human as it hunted over the past few weeks. It seemed to have learned a magic spell like the shamans of his tribe, but it didn't know how to fight. Its weapon was sharp, but its skill with the cursed thing was pitiful. It depended on its magic to hunt, but that would be useless against him. It always returned to the hidden clearing at night. The few times it had returned late, it had stumbled through the dark, bleating nonsensical noises.

He tightened his grip on the tree he hid behind, sharp claws punching deep into the hard wood as the human and its cat entered the woods. The shadows had already begun to lengthen. Glancing at the sun, he calculated the remaining light as excitement and anger filled him. It would be night in a few hours and the human would need to rest in the forest. The past month of surviving alone in the forest while he studied his prey had taught him patience. It's head would be his soon. The cat's too.