The next few days were hectic, to say the least. Veles was not only pushing himself but also the two of his pupils. He told the Squirrel to send some weaker unruly beasts their way for the sake of practice. After all, they all needed some real battle experience.

Luckily, they didn’t sustain any severe injuries during this time. Veles made sure neither Davis nor Olivia got caught in a deadly situation. Obviously, he was there with them, but he mainly stood on the side and faced the beasts alone, only intervening when truly needed. However, he couldn’t say their practice went the way he intended…

Veles poured mana into his dagger. It faintly glowed silver until the tip stuck inside Worker Burrow Ant's carapace let a tiny burst of spatial distortion, turning the insect’s insides into mush. The rancid smell hit Veles’s nose, making him contort. He took a few steps back, looking at his surroundings, scanning for any dangers. Finding none, he rushed toward Olivia, who was lying on the ground spasming.

Taking a green pill from his ring, Veles forcefully fed it to her, making sure not to get bitten. Once the pill dissolved, color returned to Olivia’s face, and her muscles calmed down. She breathed a sigh of relief while covering her eyes with her forearm, trying to stabilize her beating heart.

Knowing what she went through, Veles backed away. She needed some time to calm down.

Those ants they fought were a nasty bunch. Six of the Working type and one Soldier Burrow Ant had attacked them. They look like a big type of regular ant, Soldiers reaching knee height while workers were twice as small. But they were the Third and Second Stages, respectively. A hard upper carapace made cutting or stabbing impossible without using vast amounts of mana. And their jaws possessed potent venom affecting the victim’s nervous system, Olivia being a prime example of its effect.

Usually, if someone got bitten by them, they would have to focus their mana on the infected region and try to gently push it outside. It was a fairly easy endeavor if you were not exhausted and surrounded by multiple enemies in battle. And it was not everything these little bugs were capable of. Like every ant, their mandibles could tear flesh easily, and this specific type living in the forest developed strong legs capable of jumping high distances.

When they first encountered this squad of ants, Veles was honestly worried. They had just reached the Third Stage. At the moment, they could be considered very strong Second Stages, but that was all. Surprisingly, the benefits of being at this stage were almost none. Their bodies possess mana that passively boasted their physical prowess by at least ten to twenty percent of an average person’s, nothing more than that.

Using spells was also another matter. Veles having a special bloodline, could confidently say he had mana reserves four times larger than Olivia or Davis. Yet, what could he do? Using three ten-meter dashes was the max. Surrounding himself with the fog to disturb the enemy’s perception of distance was also draining. And let’s not even talk about empowering his daggers with Spatial mana. If he lost concentration as he performed this, the blade would break down into crude lumps of metal.

Yet, they managed to overcome it. To Veles’s surprise, it went much better than he anticipated. One responsible for that was Davis. He cleverly played at the stupidity of the ants, and just after a few exchanges, he successfully found their weaknesses and formed a solid yet reckless plan.

The result was great. Veles wanted them to learn to think for themselves. He especially said yesterday that he wouldn’t provide any guidance if not necessary and even agreed to follow their plans no matter how stupid they were.

So, it was interesting when Davis told Veles to cover their back while he and Olivia dealt with the Soldier ant. Davis somehow managed to figure out that the lower part of their body is much softer, and he did just by seeing one of the Workers jumping from the tree his way.

What also made Veles nod in satisfaction was synergy two displayed. Davis having problems floating chunks of the earth was fixed with Olivia’s gravity manipulation. In fact, she even learned how to delay the effects, giving Davis much more options if he wished to hurl a lump of earth at the ant.

So, they slowly tackled the insect, annoying it until it recklessly jumped on them and exposed its weak bottom side. And Davis waited for this exact opening, where he ended it with his painfully refined stab.

As far as Veles was concerned, this was the okay strategy. Basically, annoy the enemy until it starts making mistakes. However, he hoped they knew this wouldn’t work with more intelligent opponents…

And himself. Veles decided to take it patiently. Slowly crippling the rest of the ants by targeting joints on their legs, when you break one or two of them, they lose the ability to climb trees and jump. And they were weak to his mental attacks. Nonetheless, it was three against one, where Veles had to spend a good chunk of mana.

In the end, one slipped from his grasp and bit Olivia—or rather, he let it slip…

Lying on the ground, Olivia let out a heavy breath. She removed her hair from her face and noticed Veles towering over her with his hand extended. She grabbed it, and he gently helped her stand up.

“Are you alright?” Asked Veles whilst scanning her up and down. Gauging her reaction.

“I’m fine, Teacher. There is still lingering pain in my leg, but it is slowly receding.” She moved her leg to the side to get a better look at the bite mark on her calf.

“Good. You did a great job.” It was genuine praise, catching her off guard. But Veles is already looking at Davis who is sitting nearby and leaning on his spear.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“You also did an excellent job. What you performed back there was a daring move. I like it!” Veles pointed out when the Soldier Ant jumped, and Davis rushed to impale it.

“Thank you,” replied Davis. The Squirrel was already sitting near him. For some unexplainable reason, the little rat found Davis’s company pleasing.

“Hey, rat,” Veles addressed the Squirrel, “Have you called Vera back?”

“Yes, your little bird is on its way back,” the Squirrel looked thoughtfully at him. “I guess this means you are ready to leave?”

Veles nodded. “Yes, if what you said is true. Then this is the best chance to integrate ourselves into this new society.”

“Should I make preparations?” asked Squirrel. “You know, when you step out of the forest’s boundary, our deal is done. If you have some kind of request, ask now.”

“I do have two requests. But first…” Veles moved to the side and took his usual plates filled with some meat and vegetables. It was a classic meal they ate all the time. Not like Veles really had time to prepare something better.

Davis took the plate eagerly. Then said. “I guess we are going east, right?”

“We are,” Veles confirmed. “Time of conflict and confusion is best for getting ourselves sneakily in. If what the rat said was true, this is the best opportunity to act.”

Veles then handed the next portion to Olivia while promptly ignoring the weird gaze from the Squirrel.

He then sat down and decided to tell them how things were playing out.

He explained what the Squirrel said. There was a vast number of people from the east venturing into the forest doing all kinds of activities such as scouting, gathering, or hunting. What was specific about them was that they came in smaller numbers ranging from three to seven, with each of the group members having a different role. This only meant they were adventurer parties or perhaps mercenary bands.

Move like this was something Veles had already expected. Why should the rulers from the east send their own soldiers and waste resources to research unknown when they could tempt unaffiliated randoms to do it for them? New and unexplored land full of natural resources? This was heaven for small groups, a great opportunity to rise and grasp their few minutes of fame. Nobody was going to say no to this.

“This makes sense,” commented Davis after Veles had finished his explanation. “In short, we are going to pretend like we are a few unknown adventurers that got lost?”

“That’s right. I highly doubt they perform serious checks on each person. And-” Veles pointed at the Squirrel. “-he said there are already over a hundred thousand people. It will be easy.”

“Okay. But what about language and culture?” Davis asked.

“Good question. Language is the same. As far as I can tell, mana was always responsible for shaping language due to words of power and spell chanting. But the culture… we will have to see and adapt.” Replied Veles.

Davis nodded and opened his mouth to say something when a sudden thud interrupted him.

Everyone looked at Olivia, who fell down from her sitting position. Clearly, unconscious…

Sighing, Veles neared her. He kicked the food he had previously spiked with sedatives, then grabbed the storage ring he gave her to transfer a couple of items inside. Afterward, he took out a small envelope and placed it inside one of her pockets.

“This is your first request?” Askes Squirrel.

“It is. Can you transport her back to Osvalen? She isn’t ready to face the dangers of the unknown yet.” Veles solemnly said.

“Very well,” After replying. Squirrel touched the nearby tree and got sucked inside of it.

“What’s going on?” Davis asked, he looked very displeased with the current situation.

“You noticed it too,” replied Veles. “She was getting melancholic. I can recognize her empty stare. I know how it feels when one gets haunted by their past.”

Davis’s quietness said enough.

They both noticed her strange behavior. For Veles, her small rude outbursts and passion for getting stronger were never a problem. Hell, her unusual reactions when experiencing pain didn’t faze him either…

But the moment he saw her look that sought revenge above everything else, he knew things were more complicated than they looked. If things continued as they were, both he and Davis would suffer the consequences…

What had most likely happened to her was that some of her memories resurfaced back, reminding her of unpleasant experiences that—to Veles’s knowledge—most of the people with her blessing experienced. Her tendency to self-harm during their training served as proof, and that piercing gaze that carried traces of resentment during their spars just cemented it.

She displayed all of it vividly. Alas, Veles had no idea if she was directing it to herself or someone else. But Veles was clear on one thing…

He couldn’t bring someone like that with him into the unknown. It would be extremely dangerous.

The truth was, he never sought for Davis or Olivia to be like ducklings following him around. He wanted them to be themselves and act on their own. Like now, he was confident that if he left Davis in the middle of this forest, the guy would find his way around and survive.

But Olivia was a different story. Just a couple days into their training, she grew highly dependent not only on Veles but the Davis too. Nobody could blame her for that. She had a lack of memories, yes. But the main issue was that she wasn’t even trying to do anything on her own. Veles got the feeling that she used all that training he’d given her as a means to forget her past through self-suffering and pain, which didn’t bode well with him.

If Veles didn’t put a stop to it right now and forced her to walk on her own legs, she could never reach her full potential. And the Vea—the thing that gave her power—wouldn’t tolerate incompetence. Veles fought those blessed by that thing before. After numerous losses against him, their ends weren’t pleasant…

So, Veles spent last night debating with himself about what to do with Olivia. And the best course of action he decided would be to send her back to Osvalen and let her fix issues she had in the past—if she had any. He even prepared all the necessities she needed—not shying away, he doubted she would find the use for most of the stuff.

At this moment, Squirrel emerged from the tree. “Everything is ready.” Then he pointed at the two giant gray wolves walking their way from behind the tree. Their height doubles Veles’s. A Fogrer Depth Wolves and a Seventh Stage at that.

Veles pointed at Olivia. “Take her to the far southwest of the forest and leave her near any village there. If she wakes up, just knock her out with mana.”

“Understood, protector…” replied one of the wolfs with a growl. It sounded feral and animalistic, in contrast with how the Squirrel talked.

“Good. Now go,” ordered Veles. The wolf just neared Olivia and released fog from its body. This fog gently enveloped her body then moved it on the top of its back. Beast then turned around and ran.

“Is she going to be fine?” Davis quietly asked.

“Oh, she is,” Veles said with a smile. “In fact, I’m certain we will see her again faster than you would expect.”

Nothing more to say. Veles pointed at the other wolf. “Come on, buddy. You are going to carry us out of this damned forest.”

He proceeded to climb the second wolf while gesturing for Davis to follow his example.

After climbing the back of the ferocious beast, Veles addressed the Squirrel. “Hey, rat. About that second request…”