The next few days followed the same pattern. They would leave the town they stayed in, and Abigail would fill him in on anything out of the ordinary she overheard while talking to the people in the taverns. Which was never anything important or really anything of substance at all. She would also give him tips and tricks on how to start learning information gathering, she told him he would start trying himself soon.

Thomas would ride and practice controlling his mana until his headache got to severe and he had to stop. They would spend some time just chatting as he recovered. He tried to guide the conversation towards her life before becoming an Inquisitor, but she always changed to topic when he did. It felt like a barrier was there preventing her from being open about her past. As the days flowed Thomas started getting more comfortable with his control. He was starting to understand his mana little by little and the things it liked to do.

On the fourth day of travel Thomas finally got limited control over his mana string. It was circling around his hand all be it somewhat unsteadily. This time Abigail was impressed, she told him she expected it would take a week or more before he could reach that level. Unfortunately, he already knew this would be his new hobby for the foreseeable future. She kept reminding him of the importance of control and how it was the starting point before they moved on.

When they made it to the next town Thomas decided to relax in the tavern with her this time instead of going to his room as a reward. He had noticed that the further they traveled the smaller the towns actually were. He decided to sit down and enjoy the food with Abigail but neither of them decided to drink, Thomas wasn’t a big drinker, and neither was Abigail apparently. They sat in silence just enjoying the conversation around them. As he watched her, he noticed she was paying attention to what was going on around them. Just when he was about to ask a question, she tapped her ear and pointed to the table next to them. Thomas got the hint and started listening in.

He listened to the two men talk about how some monster was starting to cause damage to their fields and eating their chickens. When they mentioned they would need to get some money together and send in a guild quest Abigail asked the two men, “Does that happen often?”

They were startled and turned, and gave her a confused look, she explained. “These monsters. Do you normally have issues with them or is this new? if so, do you know what they are?”

That seemed to clear up the confusion, they also noticed how nicely dressed she was as they answered. “It does happen from time to time. Normally it’s just a boar but sometimes we get a wolf or two ma’am.”

“Well, we will handle it since we are here no need to worry about it. Just tell me where they are killing your livestock and where you think they are. Since it’s already late we will hunt them down in the morning. Actually, can you send someone here in the morning to show us the way.” She told them with a bright smile.

They agreed after Thomas pulled out his adventure card showing that they were adventurers. They said it would be a great help, they would send one of the teens that knows the way tomorrow morning. They talked for a bit before the two men went back to enjoying their ales.

She turned to Thomas and poked him in one of the few small openings in his armor and said “Looks like we are starting tomorrow morning out with a quest! We are also sparring tonight before bed; you have been skipping to many sessions.”

He flinched from the sudden jab but agreed. He had been missing out on sparring simply because he was to focused on his mana training. There was no time like the present to remedy that issue, smiling back at her he said “Sure, I’m ready whenever!”

A quick walk out of town was all they did to find an open field for them to spar. It also gave them some privacy from onlookers. After stretching and getting limber Thomas got ready for another hard spar. Abigail looked him over and got ready herself. It caught Thomas off guard when instead of pulling out the stick or even her own sword, she summoned two long daggers from her storage ring. He wanted to ask but the smile on her face made him shudder.

She rushed towards him, her body and blades low to the ground. Thomas barely had time to react before she was on him. Still, he did react, lashing out in a horizontal slash not holding back at all, Abigail didn’t even slow as she parried his blade with one of her daggers. Making his slash go right over her head. He had to twist out of the way as she closed the last bit of distance and lashed out with her other free hand.

He tried to keep her from getting inside his guard but every attack he sent her way she blocked or dodged. Thomas quickly caught on to what she was doing, she would lock down his sword and close the remaining distance to strike out with her free dagger. Luckily, he would always be able to create space before she could land a strike. More like she allowed him too, her new weapons caught him off guard at first, but he was slowly adapting to the new fighting style.

After their fourth exchange ended the same way Thomas decided to mix it up. When she closed in again, he feinted a diagonal slash that she started to duck under. When she committed to the duck, he pivoted and put all his strength into turning it into a downward cut. He got a quick glimpse of a smile on her face before she spun out of the way and closed the remaining distance between them. He was fully committed and realized he was over extended. The next thing he knew was one dagger was pressed just under his breast plate angled upwards and the other was in his armpit. Both places where his armor was the weakest. With her face just inches away from his she smiled and said was “Your dead. You over committed to that attack and when I dodged you could have pull back in time if you weren’t. Also, you made that feint way to obvious, you needed to make it seem like you are truly committed to the attack for a feint to be successful. It was clear from how little effort you put into the slash that you were going to change it up.”

Thomas was momentarily caught off guard, not just from how easily she beat him. He was used to that but with how close she was and the pure joy on her face from the fast-paced fight they had. He already knew she was a bit of a battle manic, but she seemed more happy than normal. He tore his eyes away from her gold-colored eyes and took a step back as he said, “I will work on it, ready for round two?”

She seemed to realize how close she was when he stepped back as well, and Thomas thought he saw a bit of embarrassment flash across her face for a second. That made him smirk, she always teased him, her getting embarrassed made that spar a win in his mind. Either way she raised her blades and grinned at the question.

The sparring session showed him how much he needed to learn all over again. Her just using different weapons than he was used too made him feel like he was back to square one. Instead of feeling downtrodden by it, after they were done, he asked if she could switch up what weapons she uses more often. That led them to the conversation of how many weapons she was good at. She wouldn’t tell him the number, but she did say the only weapon she considered herself to be actually good with was the sword. It just made him wonder more about who she truly was and about her upbringing.

The next morning, as soon as they were done enjoying their breakfast, the young teen who couldn’t be older than twelve that had been bouncing from foot to foot finally came up to their table. He spoke to Thomas who was facing his direction saying, “Hello, I am Jake! You two the adventures that are goin to be taken care of the monsters messin with pa’s farm, right?”

Thomas stood and reached out his hand for a shake saying, “Nice to meet you Jake, I am Thomas, this is Abigail.”

Jake took his hand shook it then looked at Abigail and blurted out “Wow you are pretty.” Then his face flushed in embarrassment as Abigail smiled and said, “Why thank you Jake.” Which made the kid blush even harder. “Are you taking us to where the monsters were last seen?”

Jake, still embarrassed, just nodded and said, “Ya, I will show you. Follow me!”

Thomas and Abigail followed the young teen out of the inn. Before Jake could start walking Thomas stopped him so they could get Mila and Angel. Walking around behind the inn they got their companions. The look of surprise on Jake’s face when Mila walked around the corner made Thomas laugh. The teen looked dumbstruck by the large cat, but what surprised Thomas was the lack of fear on the kid’s face.

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It didn’t take long for Jake to lead them to a chicken coop. The side of it was torn open and there wasn’t a chicken in sight. Jake gestured towards it and said “Two days ago pa came out and it was like this. Most of the chickens were gone too. The ones that did survive we put in another pen closer to the house.”

Abigail got close and looked for any tracks or signs of what killed the chickens. Thomas looked around the area searching for any clear path or tracks. Thomas spotted a clear trail through the grass and spoke up saying, “We got it from here Jake you can go. Abigail, I got a trail over here.”

Abigail came over to him and nodded saying “Lets follow it.”

The teen surprised Thomas again by speaking up saying, “I want to be an adventurer when I grow up. Please let me come with you so I can see yall in action.”

That brought Thomas short, looking at Abigail, she shrugged and said, “Jake this is dangerous, and you could get hurt.”

“I know I could get hurt but how am I suppose ta know if it’s what I truly wanna do if I can’t see real adventures work?” Jake countered.

That rang true to Thomas so he sighed and said in a stern voice, “You can come but you are staying next to Mila and Angel the entire time. You will listen to everything either I or Abigail tell you to do. Got it?” Jake quickly nodded in answer.

Turning to his feline companion he said, “Look out for the kid.” She walked up to the kid who wasn’t that much taller than her and eyed him before nodding.

Abigail gave Thomas an appraising look before whispering to him. “I won’t contradict you, but this is an unnecessary risk.”

Thomas shrugged, and whispered back, “If there is a threat that can get past us, let alone Mila then we have bigger problems.”

“True enough.” She replied. Still, she poked him hard under his unarmored armpit. Causing him to flinch again, Thomas glared at her smirk. Which caused her to chuckle and stick her tongue out at him. Throwing his hands up in defeat he set off.

They followed the tracks starting from the chicken coop, the tracks led through a farm field planted with tall stalks in neat rows. It would perfectly conceal anything traveling through it. It wasn’t hard to imagine why none of the farmers had seen what was killing their livestock. Thomas gathered from the size of the tracks what they were hunting wasn’t that large. If he had to guess they were no larger than a smaller sized dog. He didn’t know what the normal monster would be in this area, so he could only make a guess on what it could be.

Jake even got enough courage to ask questions about adventuring. Questions Thomas gladly answered, he didn’t have anyone to help him in the beginning. Being able to help someone who wanted to head down the path was refreshing for him. Thomas didn’t miss the sly smile on Abigail's face as he talked and explained to the kid. He shot her a questioning look, but she just shook her head.

After the group made it past the field they slowed even further. They came upon a converging point of tracks it seemed, multiple tracks funneled into one and headed in the same direction. It was proof they were heading in the right direction and that there was multiple monsters. Ahead of them the previously relatively flat land started to turn hilly, and the tracks led deeper in. Thomas and Abigail made brief eye contact, and they simultaneously loosened their blades for an easy pull. Not fully drawing them but ready at a moment’s notice. Jake noticed and quieted down; a look of nervous excitement appeared on the kids’ face.

The trail wove around the base of a few hills before it ran into a thicket. The bushes were the closest thing to trees in this region. They were at least as tall as he was if not larger and while dense towards the top the bottom of the plants had enough room for a beast to crawl in. It appeared to be the perfect place for a den of beasts.

They stopped before they got to close to alert anything hiding in there and Abigail looked at him with a shrug before saying “I think they are foxes, based off of the tracks at least and where their den is but what kind I’m not sure. I counted at least nine of the same type of tracks coming this way. Hey, Jake, are foxes common around here?”

Jake jumped from the sudden question before stammering out “Ya there are foxes that come around sometimes.”

She nodded and said to Thomas, “I will force them out, depending on what comes out we may have a fight on our hands. Sound good?”

“Yup let’s get this over with.” Thomas said as he pulled his sword with Abigail mirroring him.

Abigail’s thin blade shone blue before she whipped it in a horizonal slash. Trailing the tip of her sword a crescent blade of ice launched towards the base of the thicket. Thomas could tell she was trying to minimize the amount of damage to the thicket but do enough to scare whatever was in there out. The blade of ice buried into the thick brush, just as fast yips of surprise and some sounds of pain sounded out.

Over a dozen light brown foxes bolted out from the underbrush. Then they saw Abigail and Thomas and bolted in all directions but theirs. Thomas and Abigail both reacted fast and managed to kill three in total. The foxes were fast, and it only took a moment to realize they weren’t even a threat to them.

It was over faster than it started, they stood there for a moment before they sheathed their weapons. They quickly skinned the three, and they walked back to the others that were waiting. Jake seemed confused about the not very impressive fight as Abigail explained to the teen, “It looks like just an overpopulation of field foxes. When we get back, we will tell them to set up some traps. They should leave once you do. What we did maybe enough to scare them off.”

They made it back to the town and sent Jake on his way, the entire walk back he asked questions. They gladly answered, the kid now seemed set on becoming an adventurer in the future. Thomas guessed seeing them easily handle a problem that had been a major concern for his town impressed him. When they made it back, they explained to a few of the farmers what the problems was. They seemed relieved that it wasn’t a true threat and didn’t waste money on submitting a quest with the guild. Since they didn’t have a true need for them Abigail traded the furs from the foxes they killed, they got for some fresh ingredients she stored in her storage ring.

As they travelled down the hilly road towards the next town Thomas asked a question that had been on his mind, “Is that how you investigate? I know you say it’s all about listening and talking to the people, but it just seems so easy.” It came out with a laugh it seemed absurd that just asking around she could find out crucial information.

Abigail responded in a more serious tone saying, “Actually yes, outside of reports from the guild I go over to look for inconsistencies. Such as increased monster attacks or more mana beasts than normal are indications of something being wrong. The other thing is just talking to people gives you most of the information you need. People will help with everything, people in taverns or restaurants will talk about things out of the ordinary they have overheard. Or someone who is struggling with a problem and want to just talk to someone. It is what I did back there with the fox issue, they were complaining about something that normally doesn’t happen. This time it didn’t lead to anything but what about next time? Who knows what we will find.”

“So, paperwork and listen for useful information? Sounds kinda easy even though I have a feeling it’s not.” He stated.

Her serious demeanor changed going back to her normal easy-going attitude as she chuckled and said “On by the Holy Mother no its not that easy. Figuring out what is actually useful is what makes it difficult. For example, I was almost certain that the issue the farmers were facing was nothing serious. A monster that only really raided chicken coops is more than likely just a normal issue, not mana beast acting abnormally. We confirmed that when we found the foxes. Normally I wouldn’t have even wasted our time and suggested setting up traps after asking more questions. Honestly, I just wanted to double check since we haven’t done anything other than travel the last few days.”

Thomas looked at her and laughed, “You were bored! Fair enough.”

“No. I still am bored; we probably won’t get attacked or have to go deal with anything until after we are past the last real town. This road and entire area is heavily patrolled.” she said with a shrug.

He muttered to himself, battle manic, before saying louder, “That’s true we pass at least a group of soldiers every day or every other day.”

“Exactly! Plus, you haven’t been sparring with me lately. I need to stretch my legs more often.” She said with a pout.

“I know I know; we are going back to sparring everyday again.”

That brought a bright smile to her face as they continued to ride down the road. He enjoyed the light banter they shared as the day went on. She gave him some other tips and trips to try and get more useful information when looking into something. She explained other things that are indicators of which information is actually useful and not just gossip or false rumors. He would periodically practice his mana control but never to the extent that he would be focused to the point he would lose track of time like before. He had already achieved his first minor goal of controlling a string of mana, he just wanted to get even better at it before he moved on any further.

He also started to experiment with his mana a little. Before he lost control of the string of mana he started to send it flying towards the grass lining the road. It always cut clean through it which only confirmed even further that his mana was like a blade that always wanted to cut. It got him thinking about what Leo said when he tested his mana about his sub aspect. He wanted to know what he needed to do to be able to use that but after he mentioned it the Abigail, she shot him down quickly. Only saying that once he got better control of his mana would they discuss how to use his sub aspect. She did hint that he would eventually pick up on it himself once he got a better understanding of his mana.

Before he knew it, they made it to the next town just before dark. A quick spar later they both went to their respective rooms. Thomas kept on working on the Hammel cycling technique. It was hard and he didn’t know how long it would take before he could truly get a better grip on it. Every time he was done cycling it felt like he just got done fighting Abigail for an entire hour straight but instead of it being his body feeling beaten it was his core and mana veins that felt the strain.