> [You did not ask.]

My lips parted, stunned.

That’s it?

> [Affirmative.]

I’ve got to ask more questions. I guess I’ll try to figure this out…

I pulled my magic theory summary.

It’s not 100% correct then, my theory. Or, at least, not as accurate. Let’s see… I thought it was like the water cycle, in terms of purifying the energy. The sun seperates the clean water from the gross stuff in a puddle and then you have clean water again when it rains. I thought the sun was pure energy, and I guess I’m right to a certain extent. I mean, I was able to get my own energy with it and clean the corrupt energy.

> [Energy user created was made with pure energy,-]

I know that.

> [-from The System. That was only possible because I allowed it. From now on, you will not have access to the protective fields’s energy unless it is deemed an emergency. ]

What? Why?

> [Your organic components are deteriorating from using all of the protective field’s energy. In addition, it will stunt your magical growth if you rely on me.]

I looked at the screen aghast and stopped scratching the dead, blackened skin on my hand.

But wouldn’t it be better if I could practice manipulating your energy first to get used to it?

> [Negative. You’ll incorporate bad habits into your learning. You have had enough practice as is. When you purify energy using my energy, it will never truly be yours. You will be learning how

> to use The System’s energy not your own.]

But,-

> [Negative.]

Well somebody’s being snappy today, huh?

> [You now have the trait [Parent locked].]

Hey!

I read the description.

Use my own energy, huh? What’s that supposed to mean? I was only able to get that after using yours!

I grumped and tried to think it over for a while but couldn’t make any progress.

Maybe I’ll figure it out once I get some rest.

I walked behind him blindly, listening to the eerie static sound of the corrupt energy all around me for a while. It was unsettling. Eventually, questions only Ismund could answer burned in my mind.

I wonder if there’s a way for me to hear Ismund sooner.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Hey, Ismund, could I borrow your bandana? Since I changed the settings recently, well I can’t hear you… uhm also since the protective field is gone, I, well, couldn’t exactly use the stone… Sorry about that.”

I should probably tell him why I would want it… otherwise, it’s a definite ‘no’.

“I don’t know what you use the bandana you have for, but you probably don’t change the settings much right? I could change the settings on your bandana so I could hear you… I wonder what would happen If I wore both at once. Would they explode? Would I be able to listen to you as well as the different energies?… Sorry, I’m rambling.”

I waited for, moments, minutes then hours. No response. I couldn’t hear any response, sure, but, if he agreed, he could’ve passed the red cloth over.

I guess that’s a no.

I took a look at the sky, it was nice to have one again, the moon was at the peak of the sky, covered by a few clouds.

Sooo, midnight? I think? I was never very good at telling what time it was by looking at the sky. I liked my digital clocks, thank you very much.

As I kept walking forward I hit his backpack again.

I hope that didn’t hurt the scratches he has there… maybe we’re taking a break to sleep? Oh, that would be nice, I’m so tired. I could probably fall asleep right here…

The drawstring I was holding was tugged up then it was brought down. Then, it was tugged out of my hands.

Did he jump? …Mayb- oh. He took his backpack off. So maybe we are camping for the night?

Since I lost the only thing that was giving me any sense of direction I decided to stay still. That way I was facing in the right direction.

Ismunds cold hand grabbed mine that was hovering in the dark, opened it, and firmly placed something dry, greasy and textured inside.

What is that?

I lifted it up to my nose and smelled it.

Oh, jerky.

I immediately shoved the whole thing in my mouth. I was tired of eating it, but I was more tired of being hungry.

How can he see anything?

My hope of camping for the night was vanquished. Ismund presumably swung the pack over his shoulders, waited for me to find the string, and continued walking.

Why did he take off his backpack? He has the jerky in his inventory.

I contemplated this for a bit.

Maybe he forgot? Or, maybe he accidentally put it in his backpack instead of that box or whatever that was? … Oh, oh that makes sense. If he tried to turn around I’d probably just follow him, I wouldn’t get the jerky. So he did that to stop me. Okay, I guess that makes sense.

As we walked, I decided to try listening differences in the sound around me. I was bored and had nothing to do. Ismund had a toothpick to fidget with at least. It took a while, bu I did notice something.

What is that?

It was something subtle, and sweet. Almost like it was whistling a tune. I couldn’t hear any specific notes or details; all the other sounds around me were overshadowing it. I think it’s coming from… me?

No, no, that can’t be right. Is that what the System uses to connect to us maybe? And give us our stats and stuff? I don’t know what else it would be. I can only really pay attention when the sound is close to me… I wonder if Ismund has one too? Maybe I could use the process of elimination or something. Maybe it’s the sound of our stats? I guess I would find out if they were different sounds or the same.

I was puzzled. It was so brief, and so vauge, I didn’t know what to do with it. The System wasn’t any help either.

> [User is Listening to energy.]

I would only get that, over and over and over. It probably didn’t know or, at least, wouldn’t tell me if it did know what the sound was. It might know, it put that ‘Parental Lock’ or whatever it was for ‘my betterment’. It wasn’t the smartest thing. It had information, but no idea how to use it. At least, from what I could tell. I mean, why would it think that I was the best person to ‘help’ Ismund? I would think an Olympic athlete or somebody trained in the army would be better.

I sighed before moving on. When I tried to listen to that sound again, I couldn’t catch it. The corrupt energy was grating on my ears and it felt like they’d burst soon.

I need to get somewhere that doesn’t have as much corrupt energy floating around. I want to find that again. Maybe it’ll get me a step further in figuring out this whole magic thing.

… Or maybe it just takes practice, that’d be better. Otherwise, I’d have to go off somewhere quite all the time. Well, maybe I can mute the corrupt energy as well and only listen to this one? That’ll have to wait, but still. Hopefully, the energy field won’t be too loud when it comes back. That could’ve been noise from it being restored, but I doubt it. It wasn’t as, well, artificial sounding.

I shrugged. During the following hours I kept trying to strain my ears, but I didn’t get anything than raw crackling. My ears felt as if they were being stabbed the entire time, and I made no progress. I figured it would be good to be done for the day. I looked up at the dark purple, peach sky

morning I guess.

The taught string loosened in my grip and I, thankfully, didn’t run into Ismund this time.

I probably don’t have to hold this anymore. I can’t see well, but I can see enough.

I dropped the long string.

I was quite happy with myself since I didn’t bump him, but I was even happier when he pulled the tent out of his backpack.

Finally!

Ismund didn’t make a fire but he did steal a few more fresh branches from the dense trees nearby. As he snuck into his tent, I happily flopped on the ground and closed my eyes.

I’m glad I’m not a light sleeper, it’s pretty bright out.