Talent

We don't stop moving for a whole twenty-four hours and when we do, I take Isla deep into the ground connecting some air passageways, and tell her to get some sleep.

Unlike before I do not worry about sleep time and focus on recovering my energy.

The meat we caught along the way was eaten raw, we grabbed whatever leaves and herbs along the route that we could,

If the mage were to catch up to us at this point it would not help to be tired, but I was ill-prepared. Mislin said I could contend with a mage not overpower one.

If one came, they would bring friends whether they could use mana or not I wasn't going to underestimate anyone.

I set up holes all around us wide enough for an adult foot within seventy yards of us, before eating my food and going to sleep.

I would wake up every two hours and make sure that none of these have been tampered with before sleeping again at times I would catch a critter or two but I let them be not even bothering with them.

After a whole day of rest, Isla and I continued our trudge we have three hundred miles to traverse, but I was not worried about time.

A whole day of rest allowed me to sift through and go over certain things. My vocabulary included the alphabet and a wider range of words albeit colloquial it was better than nothing.

The man only went into the army due to mandatory service; every citizen man or woman was to serve as a soldier in the Kingdom's army for at least five years.

The man's social rank was farmer which was even below the villagers let alone the merchants and artisans. Above the merchants and artists are the Nobles and then Royalty.

I 'tisked" at the man's lecherous nature and how he enjoyed young girls.

My emotions flare but then bide away like a receding wave. A lot of political facts and military experiences along with military training get filtered, experienced, and stored.

We walk for a whole month and I do not spot a mage at all beginning to loosen up I start to enjoy my journey teaching Isla how to write the alphabet. "How do you know this?" she asked me.

I kept silent not answering her question, I did not want to tell her that I can break into her consciousness whenever I wanted it would make traveling a little more awkward.

Along the way, we kill the bigger game-like hogs that were humongous standing over four feet high that reinforce their tusks with mana, and also deer that surprisingly knew how to hide their mana sense.

They would dart off before I could get near them, I was able to adjust the ratio of my mana output ever so slightly to eventually kill one by sending a makeshift spear through it, the meat was so tender it melted in my mouth and naturally sweet.

I would trap the meat and smoke it in a mana ball Isla especially loved when I did this and stared at the mana ball often when she was hungry, I would never let her be hungry for long.

It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows that's for sure, nights were especially rough as the sounds of predators could be heard all around us, I never slept at night.

Isla was filling out exceptionally well, one night two months into our journey over the fire I hand her a tunic and a belt with some underwear made from the old linen that I ran away with.

I also fashioned her a leather belt and handed her Standish's short sword, I instructed her on tying it to the belt "Let that weight become comfortable for you".

She nodded and began stripping right in front of me. Before she sleeps, she meditates along with me just as I instructed her.

I can absorb the world's energy a lot faster when my mana core is outside of my body, but I don't want to risk it.

We travel again for another month we have already made it halfway and we begin to slow down, confident that our slavers would not come this far.

I have met many predators that use mana differently from jungle cats who use mana to run at a ridiculous speed to monkeys who hurled balls mixed with goop and mana at us all in a pack attempting to bog us down.

I handled all of them well not daring to get close to them I use mana to toss them away or break necks at times picking away at the pack.

As night fell and we went into a meditative trance I notice mana fluctuations next to me.

Opening my eyes, I see waves of haze expanding out of Isla's body.

It was subtle but very noticeable… I wonder if that happened to me in my mother's womb I thought.

Suddenly a thumb size ball of energy rushed out of her diaphragm and floated in front of her opening her eyes she looked between me and her mana ball, "I can… feel it" she said, astonishment written all over her dirty muddy face.

I smile at her we are both foul and smelly having passed the last water hole a month ago.

"That is your mana core it can draw in energy just like you can when you are breathing, try expanding it and contracting it like an arm" She concentrated and after a moment it started pulsing, the expansions and contractions looked like a heartbeat.

"When you exhale hold it for as long as you can when you inhale hold it for as long as you can it helps" I advised her.

We walked again for another week before reaching a river it was a half mile long checking with my sense, I found nothing around us.

I grabbed a fish and checked its memories making sure this was not Sylph territory, it wasn't but if I went upstream for about ten days I would meet with them in a larger river that made this one look like a stream. I grilled the fish and ate it with Isla after washing it up.

"I think it's time to take a break," I said to her "It's time to start training" At those words she beamed at me excited to learn.

I went five feet away from the fire and she followed standing across from me. "We are going to fight," I said to her calmly as if talking about the weather.

"I don't want to hurt you," she said meekly, at those words, I lunged forward and hit her in the nose.

When she clutched her broken nose with her hands I hit her in the diaphragm when she kneeled I roundhouse kick her in the temple putting her to sleep, this took no more than three seconds.