Now what? Meyriv thought
My place of solitude is compromised and I have nowhere to go.
He paused, another thought occurring to him. On the other hand, do I need to continue hiding? The worst of the reflections have ended. That being the case, how much can I do without creating new ones? Speaking of which, how do they determine what I “directly cause”? It seems subjective, yet enchantments cannot function without a way to define their parameters.
The girl suddenly stood and looked at him:
“What is your name?” She asked
“Meyriv.”
“Meyriv…?”
“Yes.”
She sighed and let it go.
“Thank you for your help Meyriv. I am Sanae Arai’eiko”
He shrugged.
“I am planning on taking a ship to the mainland.”
“Good for you.”
“I could use someone to train me in magic…”
“Absolutely not. I’m not cut out to be a teacher.”
“You did just fine in the cave!”
“That was not training. That was me showing you a quick and sloppy method to give me energy so that I could do what was needed.”
“But it’s still more than I’ve been able to do before!”
“That method would have killed anyone besides me.”
“What makes you different?”
“You don’t give up, do you? Fine. What makes me different is my soul does not rely on my body remaining intact to stay corporeally anchored.”
“So, you’re immortal?”
“No, I can still die if my anchor is destroyed. It’s just harder to do than killing someone.”
“So, you're basically immortal.”
“If you say so.”
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She stared at him with her mouth open.
Eventually it started to irritate him.
“What?”
“You have immortality but you’ve been wasting it hiding in a cave doing nothing.”
“So what?”
“Do you have any idea how many people would give anything to have that?”
“Yes, and they're wrong.”
“How? Time is the most valuable resource, so limitless time is priceless!”
“Life is nothing but a series of painful experiences. More time just means more pain.” He said bitterly.
“That’s the most uselessly cynical thing I've ever heard.”
“That doesn’t make it less true”
“True or not, that doesn’t make it productive. Why not try finding things that make you happy? Or maybe try reducing the amount of pain in the world?”
“I tried that once, but my efforts were rejected and punished.”
“So keep trying! You have all the time in the world to try things until you succeed.”
“There’s only so much I can take before it becomes too much.”
“So running away is the solution?”
“No. I’m not sure there is one.”
She smiled suddenly.
“Well, thanks.”
He narrowed his eyes.
“For what?”
“I was feeling sorry for myself when I got captured and nearly died, but after seeing your skills at making yourself miserable I’m resigned that I will never measure up.”
“You don’t know what you are talking about.” He said coldly
“At least I’m able to—”
He suddenly raised his hand to quiet her. Faint voices echoed through the trees nearby.
“We’ve been here too long.” He said softly
She nodded. Without another word they ran in the opposite direction.