I looked up into the starry night sky. The moons were nearing the end of their cycles and dawn was fast approaching. The night had felt so long, but I recognised that was just due to the excessive amount of activity, along with all the exciting and tense moments. I could feel the adrenaline still pumping through my body, my blood flowing restlessly through my tired arms and legs. I had given up on secrecy and was rapidly absorbing all the mana in the air around me, the mana helping slightly with the recovery of my body. I efficiently moved my senses around my body internally, feeling around and checking for their functionality and safety.

The root against my head felt strangely smooth, the bark glued against the wood inside creating a sensation against my short hair similar to the inside of water-proof hides. My neck had a dull ache, but nothing serious. My back rested on the ground, pressed against some loose gravel that created some minor bumps near my lower spine, my legs raised slightly on another root that had splinters sticking out of it. A troop of green capped mushrooms lay to the right of me, slightly off the path under a tree, a few of the spread out ones barely touching my left shoulder, slightly irritating the still open cut. The previous splatters of blood had soaked into the grass underfoot, feeding them and continuing the circle of life. I shifted my body weight slightly, relieving the pressure on a bruise on my ankle, while moving the open wound on my left shoulder away from contact. I would have to be careful of an infection before it healed. Having confirmed my health's stability, I started to consider the implications of previous events.

I lay on the ground, slowly whirring my brain back to what had just happened, slowly processing the events again. Hmmm, had I accidentally bumped my head somewhere? The bizarre encounter with the two tailed fox had seemed a little too unrealistic and crazy, but the following scenes of what appeared to be space magic as well as the pain from magic being physically imprinted on me denied the possibility of a dream or hallucination. The two black circles appeared to have teleported the arrow from one location to another along with all it’s momentum behind it- clearly space magic. I looked towards the back of my right arm. Yup, like before, the mark had disappeared and it was empty.

I seemed to have slightly recovered from my fatigue. I sat up, taking in my sorroundings. The other lady had fallen without a scream, the arrow piercing her skull, mercilessly taking her life. I could sympathise with her resentment, though I didn't appreciate it. One of the requirements for survival in the slums as well as being an informant was to recognise the strength and therefore dangerousness of people and clients, and over my life so far, I had built up this skill to a strong level. Although the lady didn't seem to use any fancy skill, from her magic imbued arrow and tracking skills, she must have been an expert hunter at the very least, and probably an intermediate magician as well. To have suddenly died at the hands of a child, a child who was injured and had even been frantically absorbing mana while being chased, it could be said that fate had played tricks on her. Then again, she had probably destroyed the lives of countless others.

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A faint unnatural blockage of mana could be felt from a nearby bush and a faint rustle suddenly came from within it. I quickly went alert again, half narrowing my eyes, and was just about to stand up when I realised who was there. I relaxed my guard again.

1*

I shut my eyes again suddenly feeling all so tired. Living is tiring, but yet I desperately struggled to live. Suddenly the rustling stopped and I felt faint trembling on the ground as the sound of dried leaves being crunched filled the quiet night.

"Are they still alive?" The timid voice belonged to Shiara. I suddenly felt mildly annoyed at having brought her all the way here. If she didn't know healing magic, I wouldn't have even looked twice and just left her behind.

"This one's dead. The arrow's smashed her brain and she's not breathing at all. Hey, stop staring and quickly go check on your friend!" The benign voiced belonged to the princess. Maybe it was due to everything finally calming down, but even though everything was said softly, the voice contained hidden authority and strength. Well, at the end of the day, she was a princess, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.

I opened my eyes as I felt a dim shadow cast over me. "I'm alive." Shiara's mouth formed a perfect circle, a different appearance to her normal confident face. "Can you stop gawking and heal me? I got a cut on my shoulder and some healing on the back of my neck and ankle wouldn't hurt." I sat up right on the ground and outstretched my legs. Shiara quickly knelt down and outstretched her two arms till they were nearly touching my wound.

2* 

"Clear and purify thy wound, and burn away all evil. Cauterise." I clenched my teeth as a mild sizzling sensation began. It soon faded, so I observed my shoulder wound. The wound seemed to have be cleaned, and the blood around the edges evaporated into the air, tickling my nose with a metallic scent.. "Oops. Blessings of love, numb thy pain. Painkiller. Ha...Nature's course; all wounds heal with time. Elementary Heal." The edges of the wound had become this pinkish white and began to rapidly close up. Shiara began to shift around me, but I quickly got up.

"Shiara, that's enough. You must be tired. I can handle the rest." I gently outstretched my hand and patted her matted red hair. It would be better to let my minor injuries heal with time. I wouldn't want to tire Shiara out so much that she would become a liability. Though I was slightly taller, the action was still strained. I looked sideways as I noticed the princess staring at me. Her eyes seemed to be measuring me. She suddenly smiled at me when she noticed I was returning her stare.

"Let's see what we can grab here and then get away before we introduce ourselves ok?" I started bending down, leading by example, grabbing the previously spilled supplies, and making a makeshift carrying sack with the excess cloth. And so, as the morning sun began to break dawn, we slowly sifted through a dead corpse...

3*