Which one was she going to pick?

While prepping the spot I was going to cook our celebratory lunch, I constantly steal glances at Tabitha as she inspected her kill. Yet, I said nothing as she carefully pulled out multiple feathers, only to discard them in order.

At the rate she was going, I would only need to gut the bird before I roasted it. And I was okay with that but also curious about which feather she would pick to add to the ones in her hair. Because though not exact, Tabitha’s hair was a similar shade of light blue same as the feathers she was looking at, so I was curious if it’d stick out enough.

I knew the feathers symbolized a warrior’s achievements, which begged the question, would she wear one people weren’t likely to see or stick to the three she was already wearing?

Whether she chose to wear it or not, I respectfully stayed away from Tabitha while she decided.

Silently, I remove the brush from a relatively flat part of the forest floor. The trees and bushes weren't the only things that grew taller the deeper we went into the forest. Grasses, groundcover, and other ordinarily small plants now grew to my knees and were extraordinarily thick and hard to remove.

It was funny because I wasn't clearing them to prevent a forest fire; instead, I was clearing them because they contained too much water and were a pain in the ass to build a fire on. Everything felt wet to the touch, even though very little water was around.

The feeling of wetness came from the mana in the air. Ambient mana differed depending on the environment, but the mana of the Endless Forest had drastically changed since we first entered the core part of the magic-dense region. When we first entered, the mana was the same as the rest of the forest, just more condensed.

It was hard to give specifics due to the ever-shifting tides of ambulant mana, but the elements used to be mostly tied with one another, with the only exception being fire. Percentage-wise, it used to be 35% water, 27% earth, 34% wind, and a pitiful 4% for fire.

Now almost 70% of the ambient mana was of the water element, doubling what it was when we first entered the magic-dense region.

Maybe that was why I felt like I was underwater.

The drastic change in mana was inconvenient yet mesmerizing to experience. The closer we got to the forest's heart, the more it became apparent that all the water mana was emanating from there, crediting Clarkson's story that a massive lake awaited us when we reached the forest's center.

I really wanted to see it. What kind of lake produced such overwhelming amounts of mana?

That same water mana was feeding the massive trees around us, promoting their growth. Mana was mainly an energy source to me ever since I first saw it, but energy alone couldn’t sustain such life. The trees and plants around us were taking in the massive amounts of water mana and somehow converting it into physical water.

After clearing the spot I would use, I walked over to the closest tree and put my hands on it. Closing my eyes, I focus on the mana radiating off the giant organism. Then, using Sense Mana to dive deep into its core, I try to spot where the tree converted ambient mana into water. And when I do, I’m fascinated by what I find.

The majority of the water in the tree was stored in its massive roots underground. Usually, trees absorbed water through their roots and stored it throughout the rest, but things were reversed here. The massive canopy acted as the tree's 'roots' absorbing as much water mana as possible.

The mana was then stored in the tree’s massive trunk, where it was somehow condensed and turned into physical water before being stored in the trees’ roots. Of course, part of the water stored underground would leak out of the colossal root system, but that leaking water was what was supporting life on the forest floor and keeping the ground from drying up.

But where was the mana being converted exactly? I drill Sense Mana into the massive tree trunk, hoping to uncover its secrets.

Close to where I’m standing near the base of the tree, I find what I’m looking for. That’s the spot most of the mana absorbed by the tree was being pooled. That much mana might as well have been a neon sign; it was so obvious. Unfortunately, just because it was easy to find where the tree was gathering the majority of its mana didn't mean I immediately found its conversion method.

This wasn't the first tree I'd looked at, and it wouldn't be the last. While the amount of mana made it easy to trace, it also made examining it difficult. The more mana contained in a single area, the harder it was to look at without getting a headache. It wasn’t like the elemental or the time I tried to use Sense Mana in the mine to look at magicite, but I was trying to look at a great deal of mana compressed in a relatively small space.

I was guessing, but I'd put the mana in one of these massive trees at over a thousand times what I had inside my body.

“Is something wrong?" Tabitha asks behind me. For once, I didn’t flinch because even though I was focusing most of my attention on the tree in front of me, I maintained a passive scan of my surroundings and noticed Tabitha’s approach.

“No, everything’s fine,” I remove my hand from the tree and turn to face her. “That the feather you picked?” I motion to said item in her hand.

“It is,” she holds the feather up so I can see it better and slowly twirls it between her gauntleted fingers.

It wasn't the one I expected her to pick, but it wasn't my choice. In Tabitha's hands, she held a beautiful blue feather whose edges were slightly tinted red. It was one of the feathers that started to change color after the bird absorbed part of Tabitha's blood. I thought picking that one was a little morbid, but at least it will stand out better if she chooses to wear it.

“The fire?” Tabitha gestures to the spot I had cleared.

“Sorry,” I sheepishly apologize. “Got sidetracked again,” I pat the tree like it was alive.

Tabitha rolls her eyes at my shamelessness. "It's fine; I've long grown accustomed to your short attention span."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Hey,” I whine at the not-so-subtle dig.

“Am I wrong,” she sends me a challenging look.

“No,” I reluctantly grumble. “I’ll have the fire going as soon as I can. Do you think you can properly dismantle the rest of the bird?” Even though I asked her, my tone implied she couldn't.

Tabitha huffs at my challenge, but I see the corner of her lips threatening to curl upwards. "Worry about the fire; I got the bird,” she confidently tells me.

“Alright,” I smirk.

The two of us separate; Tabitha moves back over the bird, and I fetch nearby logs on the ground. I used the pike side of my hammer to split the wood into more manageable pieces, but that didn’t exactly help with the moisture issue.

After using and failing to light any of the wood with my basic flame spell, I take more drastic measures.

“Hinsung gab bas ri he dymntn, o silf wer yemki por faestt. Ir metbels bnieght eforem em meyme, es weth firmesnu molh acose. Dat ruenghtl fys trai, ight nurrbb!”

Mana gathers in my hand as I prepare to launch my flame javelin spell.

“What are you doing!?” Tabitha rushes over to me holding her sword at the ready, hearing me about to cast a tier 3 spell, probably thinking we're under attack.

“Starting a fire,” I grin like a maniac as I use my skills to compress the spell. It didn’t need to be big, but I needed the spell to be as hot as possible. The wood I was aiming at was already incredibly tough, adding moisture on top of that, and I wasn't even sure if my spell would do anything.

I see Tabitha shake her head judgingly at me out of the corner of my eye, but I ignore it to launch my spell. A bolt of fire blastoffs from my hands and squarely strikes the pile of wood. A few of the smaller pieces of kindling are knocked away by the force of the blast, but the large pieces remain in place.

I rush in before the spell dissipates and start blowing a steady stream of air onto the lightly burning parts of the wood. Even with my spell, getting a fire going would still take some effort.

“Honestly,” Tabitha remarks before sheathing her sword and returning to her work.

It takes over ten minutes to get going, but eventually, I get the fire to catch. By then, Tabitha stood beside me with crudely butchered chunks of blue bird meat skewered on sticks ready to be grilled.

I grab the pouch of spices I gathered from the forest from my bag. Mixed were chunks of nettles, wild mint, and edible grasses. I don’t use much as I wasn’t sure how it would affect the taste of the meat, but I do apply some before placing the skewers over the fire.

"I wonder how water phoenix will taste," I smile at Tabitha.

"Water phoenix?” she glances at the dead bird before smirking at me. “That’s the best you can come up with?”

"Let's see you do any better," I lightly push back, knowing Tabitha was just having fun with me.

Honestly, I thought calling the bird a water phoenix was an apt description. It was similar to the mythical bird of legend, minus the immortality, of course.

I expect Tabitha to rebuff me with an equally horrendous name, but instead, I watch her reach into her hair and remove the clip holding her black feather in place. Tabitha then lifts a small latch on the clip and carefully removes the black feather from the ornament.

“What is that enchanted with?” I gesture to the now empty clip in Tabitha’s hand.

“It’s a simple protection enchantment,” she tells me as she carefully stashes the night raven feather in her bag. Even though she was replacing it, she intended to save it as a keepsake. Too bad, I would've loved it if she let me have it. “It keeps them from getting ruined in battle.”

“They don’t look that strong,” I point out to her.

“They aren’t, but if I can't protect them, I have no right wearing them," she counters.

"Will you let me examine one when we return to the village?" I ask. “I’d like to try to make something similar for myself if that's okay."

Tabitha pretends to think over my request but quickly nods in agreement. “When we get back,” she tells me as she fits her new feather into the clip and reattaches it to her hair.

The three feathers in her hair were now the grey one that I didn’t know the origin of, the brown one with white tips from the level 120 speckled griffon she hunted with two others, and now the water phoenix feather.

“Congratulations again," I smile at Tabitha, trying to get some light conversation going. The blue-tinted meat from the phoenix was cooking slowly over the fire, and I didn’t want to spend the whole time in silence.

“Thank you,” Tabitha lazily responds while siping her waterskin. After she's done, she offers me some, and I gladly take it.

After taking a sip of untainted water, I hand the container back to her and try again to keep the conversation going. "Soon, you'll reach level 100."

Tabitha snorts at the prospect. “Hardly,” she says self-deprecatingly.

“Oh, come on,” I don’t let her put herself down. “I’m sure you’ll reach level 100 soon. With your talent, you might even catch up to Pacore in a few years."

“You really don’t know anything, do you?" She shook her head disappointingly but didn't sound mad at me.

“Then teach me,” I push for her to explain why she wasn't celebrating as much as I expected her to be.

"Okay, I will," Tabitha turns her whole body towards me and gives me a critical look. “You probably don’t know this because you grew up in a small village. But there's a saying nobles follow, '50 by twenty, 75 by thirty, 100 by forty'."

"And that means?" I give her a confused look.

“It’s how people describe geniuses,” Tabitha tells me. “They reach level 50 by age twenty, 75 by thirty, and level 100 by age forty.”

“And you are?” I ask Tabitha for her age for the first time.

“I turned 38 last year,” she explains in a slightly deflated voice.

I wanted to compliment her appearance for her age, but something told me I shouldn't. It's a good thing, too, because she keeps talking.

“I know what you’re thinking, but I'm not on track to reach level 100 by then." Tabitha must see my confused expression because she explains further. "I just checked, and I need 3.24 million experience points to reach level 99 and even more after that to reach level 100.”

Hearing such large numbers, I can’t help but hiss as if I touched something hot. Then, doing some quick math in my head, I calculate that Tabitha needs to earn enough experience points equivalent to going from level 1 to 65 in only two years to reach her goal.

“So, you understand now,” Tabitha looks off into the distance, looking like she’d already resigned herself to failure.

"You don't know," I try to cheer her up, not liking this new, defeated-looking Tabitha. "You still could do it.”

Tabitha turns back to me with a soft smile. “That’s kind of you to say, but I’m not like you. I'm not a crafter; I must fight to earn experience. It's why I challenged the bird. I've been inching towards level 98 for a while now and saw it as an opportunity to push through finally."

“What about leveling your skills?” I remind her. I get a lot of experience for the multiple skills I level.

Tabitha chuckles good-naturedly. “I just told you my age, and you think I have skills to level? Most of my skills are at higher leveled bottlenecks.”

“Then take up a hobby,” I tell her. “You can unlock more skills that way and work on those.” That was the most straightforward solution I could think of.

Tabitha again shakes her head. "That would be a waste of my time. I would get the same experience from leveling one of my stronger combat skills. Plus, it would further my combat potential more than picking up a hobby. Besides, combat is where I excel."

Well, I couldn't argue with that.

Reaching over, I flip our skewers before they start to char.

“You’re young, incredibly so,” Tabitha reminds me. "You're fifteen and already at level 75, no matter how impossible that sounds. You probably get a lot of experience from the many skills you level, but I'm here to tell you it will eventually slow down. Of course, you can supplement your experience gain through crafting, but eventually, you'll know what it's like to hit the experience wall.”

"It's why I was happy when it was decided Master would lead the invasion of Olebert, and I was assigned to come along. I need as many combat opportunities as I can get, or I risk falling behind and losing my genius status, bringing shame to Master Pacore. So you could imagine my displeasure when we easily trampled Olebert's forces.”

“Then why have you been letting me divert us? I ask. "Surly now is the best time to earn experience."

“Master assigned me to look after you,” Tabitha straightens her back and replies like a soldier repeating their orders. "I will not let harm come to you for my own gain. You confirmed the bird was alone, and I was sure I could defeat it; that is the only reason I risked fighting it.”

That’s…. wow. Tabitha has done so much for me, and still, she's willing to put my safety over her own goals, despite how it troubles her.

“Maybe we can try fighting a few more beasts while we’re here?” I try to offer, but Tabitha just continues to smile at me.

“That wouldn’t be wise. Even for me, the beasts here are becoming increasingly challenging to face. I want to see the heart of the forest with you, but after that, we must leave and head back to the village. Understand?” Tabitha waits for me to respond, so I can’t pretend I didn’t hear her later.

"I understand," I reluctantly reply.

"Good; now, how is the food doing?"

“Almost done,” I pull one of the skewers away from the fire to check it.

"My skill says it's good enough to eat," Tabitha informs me like that automatically meant they were done.

“It’s still a little raw,” I know this because both Cooking and Gourmet told me to leave it over the flames for a little longer. But at least I knew it was cooked enough to be edible.

“Do you think we’re close to the heart?” I ask Tabitha for her opinion after a brief silence between us.

“You would know better than me,” she lazily comments, but her expression quickly hardens. “The mana is growing increasingly thick, so we should be at least close. It's already higher than I'm used to in Scholl's magic-dense regions. You would think Olebert would be stronger with access to such a prime hunting ground,” she sighs disappointingly.

"You would think," I chuckle, sharing her sentiments.

I now felt like I understood Tabitha better than I ever had before. Of course, I was aware of the ridiculous amount of experience points I would need to level going forward, but to hear exactly how hard it was for others to level, especially from someone as talented as Tabitha, really put it into perspective.

I was incredibly blessed and needed to be aware of that fact from now on, especially in no small part to the cheat skill Soul Devourer.

Maybe I could find a way to help Tabitha level, as hard as that sounds? Unfortunately, we were on the tail end of our trip, but maybe we could do this again sometime.

All I knew was that I wanted to help her, so I would, anyway I knew how.