They say that curiosity killed the cat, but they often forget that cats have nine lives. I, however, have just spent one of my nine attempting foolishly to strengthen my core without someone’s guidance, fully aware of how unstable it was. Luckily, it appeared I’d managed to beat back the cold as I got woken up to the sound of the fire crackling, all while wrapped in a blanket.
“You okay?” I heard a soothing silvery voice that I quickly recognized to be Alice’s as she held me in a tight embrace from behind. “Had me worried for a second that you weren’t going to make it.”
She sounded tired, but all I could focus on was her pressing against me with her bare skin, apart from the area covered by the thin fabric of her underwear which pressed against my upper back; definitely not what I expected after a near-death experience. Considering there were empty potion vials next to us, it was likely that she force-fed me to keep me alive. I couldn’t even imagine in what state I was in when I passed out.
“It seems I have to thank you somehow for saving me,” I chuckled, a bit ashamed to have forced her to do something she probably felt uncomfortable doing.
“Nonsense,” she whispered, still holding onto me. “You saved me first anyway.”
“So what happened when I passed out?” I struggled to make myself break away from her warm embrace as it felt comforting.
“You got hit by a severe case of Mana Freezing, so I used up your remaining potions. Don’t dwell on it too much, okay?” She teased, knowing from experience that I held little to no attachment to items as long as they served their purpose. “But yeah. Your body temperature dropped drastically, so I had to warm you up.”
“Sorry for that,” I said with a meek smile while attempting to stand up for the first time.
“Don’t move.” She held me in place. “Your body is still cold, and I don’t want you passing out again.”
“But you must be freezing having to hold onto me.”
‘’I’m fine. Circulating mana heats up the body, so a cold such as this is nothing,” Alice explained, but I could tell there was something she hid from me. “Just promise me you won’t do anything so reckless anymore, and we’ll call us even.”
“You won’t have to worry about that.” I chuckled, taking a deep breath, accepting her kindness that I still felt like repaying. It didn’t have to be extravagant but a simple token of appreciation. “It appears I’ve attempted to manipulate too much frost at once, and it backlashed. I’ll have to be careful next time so the same thing doesn’t happen, and I need to do it in a safe place. Leaving you alone to watch over me in a cave isn’t exactly what you had in mind when you asked for us to travel together.”
“Watching over you isn’t the issue, but the dying part is.” Alice sighed. “Anyway, the rain stopped, so once you’re feeling better, we can probably leave this place.”
“How long was I even out for?”
“Probably about an hour or so. It hasn’t been that long.” She glanced toward the cave entrance. “It’s somewhat dark outside because of the clouds, but we still have quite a bit of daylight left. However, we’re not leaving here until you’re good enough to travel. I’d rather spend the night and make sure you’ve fully recovered than risk you collapsing.”
“Just give me five more minutes then.”
“I told you not to push yourself,” she sounded annoyed.
I chuckled, tilting my head back against her shoulder before glancing at her from the corner of my eye.
“Don’t tell me twice, or I might just end up staying like this forever,” I teased, yawning deeply. “Besides. . . the old man that helped me form the frozen mana core told me that I wouldn’t have to worry about Mana Freezing shattering my core or killing me; Afterall, it’s what I used to create it in the first place.”
“Your failed attempt tells us a different story,” she commented, letting a sigh escape her.
“Well, there’s bound to be backlash for being dumb and trying something reckless.”
“Fine, fine. . . We’ll do it your way.”
“I’ll be okay, but thanks for caring.”
After that, we probably spent a bit more than just five minutes sitting next to each other before we finally got up and dressed back into our clothes. We considered again waiting until morning to leave the cave but decided against it as we were getting sick of the place. I’m sure that after what happened with the slavers, Alice was keen on getting home as soon as possible.
When I questioned her about the logic behind traveling alone and risking her life for what she said was a pearl, she openly admitted to being a fool, believing nothing would go wrong when she left. Alice blamed her inexperience, but I couldn’t really hold it against her. After all, who was I to judge her when I myself dreamed of leaving home and becoming a renowned adventurer for exploring the unknown? It’s just that, unlike me, she had what was necessary to do such a thing. If anything, I believed what happened to her proved how messed up humans were, as Alice was prepared to fight monsters on her adventure but wasn’t ready to go against humans wishing to capture her alive.
“Ready to go?” Alice asked as she finished refilling our waterskins.
“Yeah,” I answered, pulling out a pair of berries I collected from my pocket. “Want one?”
“Oh, belaberries! Where’d you find those?” She looked genuinely excited.
“Seriously, does everyone know what these are?” I let out a sigh, offering them in the palm of my hand.
“Well, considering I grew them back home, you’d expect I’d know about them. Besides, belaberries are my favorite,” Alice explained, grabbing one from my hand.
“Too bad you can’t eat too many of them.”
“Why’s that?” She looked confused.
“Well, you know. . .” I awkwardly avoided answering, but the more I stared at her, the more obvious it became that she really didn’t know why. “The side effect?”
“Side effect?” Alice sounded more confused by the second, making me believe that Anna was simply messing with me.
“Never mind. . .”
“What?” She smiled, looking intrigued. “You can’t just say something like that and not explain.”
“Oh yes, I can,” I said, turning around and heading for the exit.
“Hey, Alex!” she yelled, running after me.
Alice could probably tell how embarrassed I was for believing something ridiculous and just wanted to have a good laugh about it; however, I wasn’t going to indulge in her fun this time around.
“Just drop it. I’m not telling you.” I chuckled as we left the cave.
“Fine, fine. . . But slow down already,” Alice complained, grabbing for the back of my tunic. “I thought you were more fun than-”
“Watch out!” I yelled, turning to Alice and attempting to push her out of danger, but her reflexes proved supernatural as she dodged with ease the incoming attack while shoving me with her hand that held the tunic.
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It all happened in a blink of an eye, but thanks to my Mana Sense, we both came out unscathed. However, our troubles had only begun as what came after us was a pouncing predator that wandered the forest. It rivaled a grown tiger in size and matched the catlike appearance, with razor-sharp claws and thick fur covering its body. What made it even more frightening was the muscular build and the long barbed tip of its tail that could easily reach us due to its length. Letting out a low growl after failing to ambush us, it glared with the intent to fight.
“Alex! You alright?” Alice yelled with her weapon drawn.
“Yeah, you?” I asked, unable to take my eyes off the creature as we both circled it while it tried to determine who to hunt.
“I’m fine, so stay focused!”
“You’re the cat person! Think you can do something about it?”
I could see her smirking despite our predicament.
Turning toward me, I expected to be the target, but it took us by surprise as it lashed out at Alice with its tail. Luckily, she dodged with ease again while looking for an opening to strike, and even though it was my first time facing such a creature in combat, I felt calmer than I did back in the cave. Regardless of its massive size, it didn’t feel as intimidating, but that could’ve been because Alice was with me.
It was frighteningly fast as it leaped toward me with its claw, but channeling what mana I had left allowed me to backstep on time. Ideally, while it focused on me, Alice would do the attacking; however, she too had to dodge a flurry of relentless attacks the beast made with its barbed tail that was probably capable of killing us in a single hit. Unlike my stiff movement, Alice gracefully dodged, making it look effortless as she leaped over the tail and spun mid-air to avoid a follow-up attack.
“We need to attack together!” I yelled as both of us understood running away from it was impossible.
“I’ll make us an opening,” she said, taking a deep breath, allowing mana to circulate through her body as she ducked under its tail.
Alice prepared to charge once the beast sloppily clawed toward me, but something felt off.
“Dodge!” I yelled as she was about to go on the offensive, sensing mana building up within the beast’s tail.
Alice managed to do a one-handed back handspring, dodging the mana-infused strike that split the ground.
“Arcane Arrows!” Alice extended her blade forward as mana gathered around her, forming three transmutation circles from which beams of light darted toward the beast, hitting it on the head.
While there were no visible injuries, the attack still managed to daze it long enough for us to counter. Alice charged forward, thrusting toward its joint while I slashed at the neck. However, our attack proved too weak to cut through its thick fur as Alice barely managed to draw a few drops of blood while my attack bounced off as if I used a blunt blade.
“Draining Touch,” I channeled my only spell as I grabbed it behind the ear.
The sudden surge of pain angered it as the beast channeled mana into a roar that sent us flying from the shockwave. While I managed to regain my balance after tumbling across the ground, I no longer saw Alice using my Mana Sense.
Giving me no time to recover, I watched as the bloodlusted beast charged straight for me. While I reinvigorated myself thanks to Draining Touch, my mana supply took a significant hit, preventing me from enhancing my body on time.
“Blink,” I heard Alice’s voice as she appeared before me out of thin air, ready to block the mana-infused claw attack. “Shield.”
With her hand pointed toward it, a shimmering barrier appeared around us, absorbing the hit and knocking the beast back a few steps. Without hesitation, Alice continued advancing, ducking its tail and side-stepping the claws, all while repeatedly making minor cuts across its sturdy body.
“We need to find its weak point,” I said, stepping back and allowing her to do what she did best.
Her swordplay looked more like a mastered dance that rendered her opponents helpless, making me believe that if it weren’t for the ambush after fighting a monster already, the men that captured her would’ve stood little to no chance.
“Its skin is too thick to pierce,” she commented, nearly getting hit by a claw.
“What about the inside of its mouth?”
“I’d try if I could!” she yelled, nearly gouging its eye out. “Shield.”
Observing the fight, I tried coming up with a strategy for taking down the monster, but I was slowly running out of time as Alice’s mana supply couldn’t keep up after being forced to use a few defensive spells. Despite being a first circle mage, her mastery over mana and how to utilize it was incomparable to mine. Had I fought her a hundred times, I would’ve won maybe once if she’d let me.
“Get it to expose its back to me, and I’ll make you an opening!”
“What about its tail?” she questioned, already working toward taunting it away from me.
“Let me worry about that,” I reassured her, knowing that taking down such a monster risk-free was impossible.
Despite only watching from afar, I used the time Alice provided me to absorb the mana floating around, making sure I had enough to execute the plan I conjured.
With its back exposed, I took a deep breath, charging forward, believing that as long as I avoided the fatal tail swipe, I could get it to at least open its mouth. It was all up to Alice how she’d capitalize on it, but I placed my trust in her that she’d get the job done.
Mana gathered around its tail, warning me ahead of time that it was going to strike any second, but thanks to its bestial intelligence, the attack pattern wasn't complex enough to be unpredictable.
Leaping over the tail that aimed for my legs, I shoulder-rolled closer to its massive body, but just as I was about to do what I planned, I got caught by surprise with a follow-up attack that I had to block using my sword. The power behind it was so grand that it knocked me back into the beast’s body, forcing me to drop my weapon to the ground. Luckily, the sword wasn’t necessary for what I had in mind as I gripped its fur and jumped on its back.
“Draining Touch.” Necrotic energy surged again, draining me of what little mana I saved up, but in the end, it proved fruitless as the beast refused to open its mouth, only grunting in pain. However, it was too soon to give up as I aimed to deceive it, hoping it showed any signs of intelligence. “Draining-!”
Before I could finish the fake incantation, I sensed the beast's tail infusing mana again, striking toward my exposed back. In response, I allowed my body to go limp as I pulled myself off its back, falling face first to the ground. However, my little bluff paid off as the tail slammed against its back, forcing a pitiful wail to escape. Had I been a second too late, it would’ve split me in half.
“Blink!” Alice appeared out of nowhere, thrusting her rapier deep into its mouth. “Sword Burst!”
The last bits of her mana gathered around her as vibrant energy traveled through the blade before a cracking boom echoed inside the creature’s mouth, exploding its eyes, rupturing the eardrums, and splitting the lower jaw apart. It wasn’t something I ever wanted hitting me.
“We did it,” I said, proudly watching its body hit the ground before noticing Alice wobbling. Using what little strength I had left, I pushed myself up and grabbed hold of her, allowing her to collapse into my arms. “Gotcha.”
“Good job,” she told me with a smirk, letting herself rest on my shoulder while struggling to catch her breath.
“I should be the one saying that. You did all the heavy lifting.”
“It was a team effort,” Alice reassured me.
Afterward, we took a short rest anyway, despite leaving the cave mere minutes ago, as both of us needed to replenish mana.
“Do you know what that thing was?” I asked, looking at the dead monster’s body.
“Mana Beast,” she said, approaching it with her sword. “There are various types, so I don’t know which specific species this is. I’d have to ask a druid back home.”
She drove her blade into its chest.
“What are you doing?” I looked at her confused, knowing there was no way she scavaged for food like that.
“Ew. . .” Alice looked disgusted but easily pierced its previously impenetrable skin. “Dead monsters have mana crystals inside their hearts.”
“You mean the same ones you’d typically mine?”
“Sort of,” she sighed, sticking her hand in while biting her lower lip, trying to feel for it. “These. . .” she pulled out a hand-sized crystal orb, “are harder to get and possess a greater amount of mana.”
“That’s great, but you might want to wash up.” I looked at her bloody arm.
“Here.” She threw me the crystal, heading back to the cave to wash up in the pool. “Put it in the bag. We can probably sell it for quite a bit.”
Our efforts were rewarded with something valuable before we continued our journey toward Thysa.
Honestly, I looked forward to seeing the city she praised so much.
Chapter End.
Thank you for reading.