"I'm not going out into the forest with those psychos Dad!" Leah said

"Listen they seem like decent people. Any of them could wipe us out. They took us in they didn't hide anything. We got a full tour. If we don't pull our weight they may kick us out." Joe tried to explain to his daughter. In this new world it wasn't who you were. It was what your brought to the table. Power seemed to be the new currency. His daughter has a good class. It would help them in a hunt.

"Fine I'll go but if they kill me or try to say some beasts killed me it was them. That means it was your fault for making me go out there with them." Leah snapped back

"Just help them bag some game so we have some food. Show them you know what your doing. I thought you how to track and hunt when you were a girl. You can do this. Tell them you need a weapon so you can protect yourself." Joe said

"Ok good idea." Leah answered

Leah walked back towards the barricks with her father. They knocked on the door and heard someone yell come in. When they went inside they could tell the others were just about ready to leave. "Hey you coming along for the ride?" Dave asked

"I'll come but I need a weapon to protect myself." Leah responded

"What kind were you thinking. Dan has a few basic weapons he can loan out. We may even come across a loot box out there and you can get yourself something better." D told her

"A decent size knife or a not heavy sword. I'm still only level 1. I won't be able to swing around something heavy." Leah said

Rob pulled out his old dagger. It had worked well for him but now he was going to focus on using his ranged skills. He was planning on slaying most beasts before they knew what hit them. "Here." He reached out with the dagger handle first.

"Thanks." Leah said timidly

"Before we go we need to know your class and mana type." D told her

"I have an uncommon warrior class that uses light mana." Leah said

"Nice she can throw out some heals then it's fine if Dan stays she can run the healing. Her manas low now but still any heal is better then using the potions. We only have so many of those." Dave said

"I don't really know how to heal." Leah said her cheeks getting redder.

"Well we are gonna have to have Dan show you before we go then." D responded.

They went outside. The barricks were close to the town hall. It was within ear shot so D just yelled out a "Hey" and all 8 of them got together. Before Dan could start the training D decided they should all share how they learned to use their mana. Maybe everyone was a little different.

Dave went first. "For me it was like I just had to push it towards my hands. Dan had just been clipped by a boar. I was pissed to see my friend hurt and I just kind of pushed it from where I felt the rage in my chest out to my hand. Then boom a bolt shot out."

"Mines a little different." D started "I have to kinda focus almost visualize what I want it to do. I think Dave and my mana are really only offensive. They don't seem to have any healing benefits that's we've found yet."

"I don't really think about mana yet. My class came with a mana skill called Shadow Blink. It allows me to teleport a short distance about 20 yards. I just kinda think the words and it happens as I want it to." Rob said

"Well when I heal someone I feel like I'm thinking about what just happened to them reversing. I'm not sure if that makes sense. I'm looking at the cut and kinda visualizing it closing in reverse. While I do that I feel my mana stur in my chest. Then I just will it to my arm." Dan said

"We're gonna have to hurt someone so she can give it a try. I'll cut Dave on the arm and she can try to heal him. If she can't we'll have Dan heal him." D said

"What the fuck man! Why can't you cut Rob! Why do I gotta be the one who gets cut this is some bullshit!" Dave said

"Don't be so dramatic. Dan can heal you. Worst case is you have to wait an extra 30 seconds I'm not chopping your arm off. I won't use my sword I'll use the dagger no bleed effect." D said

"Again this is some bullshit. Fine go ahead and cut me, but like don't really cut me you know what I mean. Make me bleed but don't like stab me just slice me enough to bleed. No need to do any real damage." Dave said

Even Leah could tell he wasn't the maniac she had first thought him to be when he first helped kill those men. Him not enjoying pain made her see him as a more regular person. Before they started she tried to feel her mana inside. She tried to touch it. To move it. When she felt like she was doing something she opened her eyes to see D smile. "She's doing it. You see her eyes glowing like Dan's does. She's got this. Hold out your arm Sally."

Dave held out his arm but turned his head away and closed his eyes. D cut a quick thin line on Dave's forearm. Dave winced in pain and started to grown. You would think it was a fatal wound. Leah focused inward and did as Dan said she willed the cut to reverse to go back to how it was before it was an opening. She felt her mana shift and she pushed it towards her arm. Then down to her hand. She almost squeeked in surprise when golden light flew from her palm over to the cut. It actually started to close. She stayed focused and was able to heal it. She felt a little drained but that was all.

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"See I knew you could do it." D said

Leah was proud of herself she has used her mana. She was using magic basically, the smile on her face was huge.

" Ok the rest of you are going to practice with Dan using whatever mana type you have while we go find us some food for the day." D told everyone.

They made there way towards the gate. D was excited they hadn't fought anything all day. Sitting still wasn't he cup of tea. Finally they would be getting into a fight. Well a hunt but who knew what lurked out in the forest. They could run into anything, maybe get a loot box of some more gear.

"We're going to hop down over the wall. I don't want to leave the gate open. We should have brought Joe and Dan over here with us. Well just keep that in mind next time." D said

They were able to hang and drop down from the top of the wall. No one was hurt from the drop so they started to make there way into the forest. "Your dad said you can feel beasts and monsters. I'm going to mark these trees as we walk to we can find our way back easily. Tell us when you think something is near by." D said

They had to walk about 20 minutes into the forest before Leah felt her first beast near by. "I feel something. There is maybe 4 of them to our 3 o'clock. They seem to be staying still."

"Nice this is going to make leveling a lot easier. Leah what we learned is that you have to contribute to the fight to get more Exp. If you just stand back you will get some but less than if you were fighting." Rob explained

"Yes what well do is I'll smash one with my shield. When I do and it seems dazed run over to it and stab it somewhere vital." Dave said

They all started to crouch and walk slowly through the forest. This far away from the settlement, the woods were pretty think. Rob could see a clearing a head and hear faint noises. He held up a hand. "I can see a clearing ahead. Well spread out a little and make our way to it. Well try and surprise them. If it seems like a losing battle when we IDENTIFY them. We will back off."

Rob was the first to get a good line of sight on the beasts. 3: level 2 wolves and 1: level 3 wolf. He knew they could take them. He just wasn't sure how wolf meat was going to taste. He glanced around and realized everyone was in position. He summoned his bow and drew back. As soon as he released the arrow, Dave ran into the clearing. D and Leah were pushing forward too. Rob arrow slammed into the side of the level 3 wolf. It dropped where it stood dead from a single shot. Dave let out a cry and bashed a level 2 with his shield. Leah did as she was told she ran over to it and started to frantically stab it until it stopped moving. D unleashed a massive slash with his sword and lobbed the head off another wolf. The final wolf froze. Dave decided to utilize his boots. He ran towards it closing the distance fast. The wolf crouched low as if ready to run. Before it could Dave spun a roundhouse kick for it's face. The kick landed hard dropping the wolf to the ground. With one solid stomp to the head it was dead. Exp flowed from the beasts towards all of them. Leah gained a level and started to glow.

They all looked towards her when the glow faded away. "Wow what a rush! Does it feel like that every time?" She asked

"Sure does makes you want to keep going right?" Dave replied

"Yea it does. Where should I put my 3 points? Leah asked

"Well as the new healer, I think you should put them in mana for now. Let's make sure you can cast a few heals before you tire out." D told her

"Ok, but I also want to get my strength up." Leah added

"That's fine next time you level put 1 into mana and 2 into strength. We don't know much about stats yet. We're hoping to get into the cultivation area of the town hall before we make mistakes just throwing them in at random." D said

"Let me have my dagger back I'm gonna grab us some meat. Then we'll head back to the settlement and see if everyone has been able to make progress with mana usage." Rob said

Leah tossed him the dagger. Rob made short work of processing the meat. They had been out about 45 minutes now and it would take another 20 to get back. Leah was surprised the hunt went to well. She had these guys all wrong. They clearly weren't the psychos she thought. She just encountered them at a bad time. The group was growing on her. If they could keep teaching her how to level she felt it was a great trade off. She was having less regrets with choosing Providence as a settlement. She just hoped anyone else who came fit in well too.

They made the way back to the settlement following the marks D had made. They were almost back to the gate when they saw a man who looked to be bleeding and hurt by the gate.

Rob had the best perception of the group he could tell the man was injured. He also got a faint hint that there was something familiar with this man. His back was turned to them so he couldn't put a finger on it.

"Weapons ready this could be some type of ambush." D said in a quite voice. "I'll take point and see what this is about."

They crept up behind the injured man. He was clutching his side. Clearly in pain. He was just starting threw the gate. Dave was about to shield bash him when the man slowly turned around.

"Holy shit it's Mike." Dave said

Mike was a few grades behind them in school but Mike had an older brother they all use to be good friends with. Mikes brother ended up going to a different highschool when there family moved to another part of the city. He has grown up alot. He was taller then Dan at about 5'9" and a little husky. His hair was a mess. Some dried blood on it. He was wearing sweatpants and a ripped and bloody Tshirt.

"Dave is that you?" Mike answered back

"Leah heal him please. We know this guy. Well we did. Haven't seen him in a while but he's a good person. Heal him if you can." D told her

Leah focused and sent out a heal. Mike had a few different wounds and it used a decent amount of mana. When she was done she could see a grateful look on Mikes face.

"Wow that's amazing. Do you guys know how we get inside this place. I've been waiting here for about 30 minutes I think and I haven't seen anyone." Mike asked

Dave smiled and shot a bolt into the air. The boom was loud and they knew Dan would be coming.

Mikes face was in awww. "Do you guys know who is in charge here. I was a days travel away when the message hit me. I've had some bad luck with beasts and had to just keep running away."

"Yea were in charge here, and don't worry we'll get you settled. It's gonna take a bit to fill you in on everything though." D said with a smirk

Dan and Joe ran over to the gate. Joe looked nervous at the new man who had blood all over him. Dan didn't seem nervous. They opened the gate to let them all inside. For a short hunting trip it turned out to be turning into a hell of a second day.