It's been two days since Dimas and Lilee left for the tournament. Two days of mostly silence, except for the one-sided conversations that Lilee would try to start up. Two days of non-stop walking under the harsh sun.
Lilee wipes the sweat off her brow, letting out a loud sigh. A routine she does every once in a while. Her own way of telling Dimas that she wants to rest. Dimas continues walking, his way of saying to keep moving. Lilee trails behind Dimas.
'He can't be human', Lilee entertains the thought. Not once has she seen him show any signs of getting tired. From morning to night, he never breaks his stride or slows down. Even the summertime heat doesn't seem to affect him.
"It's hot today, don't you think so?" Lilee tries to start up a conversation once again.
"Nope." Dimas answers.
'Definitely not human', Lilee thinks to herself.
It's been like this the entire time. Lilee would ask a question and Dimas would answer in as little words as possible. She has half a mind to begin talking to herself just to ease the boredom.
[One more day and we arrive at the tournament.]
Dimas hears Lilee sigh behind him. He rolls his eyes and ignores her.
[Can't she take a damn hint? We're not going to stop just because you're tired. You have all night to rest.]
He doesn't seem to understand that Lilee doesn't have the same level of endurance as him. Walking all day is nothing compared to the activities he would do as training. Climbing and hiking mountains were two of his preferred methods of endurance training.
The reason for his rush to get to the tournament, apart from the universe eventually killing him if he takes too long, is to begin training. The journey leaves him with little to no time. He walks all day and sleeps at night. Although he does manage to fit in a few minutes of workout before and after sleeping, it's not enough to satisfy him.
[I also need to test my new ability's limits.]
After fighting Stone, Dimas's arm felt sore. Almost as if using the ability strained his arm to the max. The same thing happened when he kicked Stone during their first fight. His legs were sore as well. Not only that but each use also left him out of breath. From what he can gather, the ability does put a massive burden on his body with the 'powered-up' limb taking the most abuse.
[I wonder what'll happen if I use it on the same arm twi-]
"It's hot today, don't you think so?" Lilee interrupts his train of thought.
"Nope." Dimas answers.
[Why can't you stay quiet?]
Not long after, Dimas begins to see trees on the horizon.
"Thank the stars! We'll finally get some shade!" Lilee says.
The trees give way to a forest and the duo get a long deserved respite from the sun.
"If I remember correctly, the map says this forest should put us about half a day away from Onaq." Lilee smiles, her enthusiasm coming back.
"You have a map?" Dimas assumed that Lilee simply knew her way to Onaq.
"Yup!" Lilee replies.
"Show me." Dimas says.
"... About that..." Lilee becomes embarrassed. "I was excited to start traveling and… kind of… forgot to bring it along."
Dimas stares at her, a look of disapproval on his face.
"Don't give me that look! We can buy ano-" Lilee stops and looks down.
"What?" Dimas asks.
Lilee stays quiet. Her face begins to turn a slight shade of red.
"What?" Dimas asks once more.
"Promise you won't get mad?" Lilee asks quietly.
"No." Dimas answers.
Lilee fidgets in place before finally speaking. "I forgot to bring my Crild savings..."
Dimas closes his eyes and shakes his head.
[...Idiota…]
"So, we have no money?" Dimas begins to think that maybe the father would've been the better choice.
"We do, not a lot, but we do." Lilee says.
"How much?" Dimas asks.
"Moo." A cow slowly walks in front of them and begins to munch on the grass.
[What the hell?]
"I didn't know there were wild cows in this forest." Lilee begins to pat the cows side.
"Maybe we can sell it." Dimas is still focused on their money troubles.
"Don't you even think about it, bub!" A brawny woman walks up to them. The woman is fairly young with dark brown hair that matches her eyes. She's wearing blue overalls with a white shirt underneath.
"So, you're the thieves that've been stealing my cows!" The woman points an accusing finger right at Dimas.
[Why am I getting blamed? I'm not the one touching the cow.]
"We're not thieves, we're travelers on our way to Onaq." Lilee backs away from the cow and stands beside Dimas.
The woman walks up to Dimas and looks him directly in the eyes. Dimas furrows his brow and doesn't look away. Then the woman does the same to Lilee. Lilee has some trouble keeping her eyes straight as she finds the situation uncomfortable.
"Makes sense. My cows have been going missing at night, never during the day. Unless you changed your methods to throw me off." The woman grabs the cow by the ear. "I oughta put a bell on you. A ball and chain would probably be better." She begins to lead the cow down a small grassy path from the main road.
"We should help her." Lilee whispers to Dimas.
"The cow or the woman?" Dimas asks.
"The woman! Didn't you hear her? Her cows are being stolen."
"Why should I care?"
Lilee looks at him in disbelief. "We should care because it's someone in need."
"If it was the other way around, she probably wouldn't help you."
"You don't know that."
"Yes, I do. People are selfish. It's as simple as that."
The two stand there, arms crossed and lines drawn.
"How about this? We can use this as fighting practice and maybe charge her a small fee." Lilee reaches out with a compromise.
Dimas mulls it over.
"Alright, let's see what she's willing to pay." Dimas reluctantly agrees.