The next two days I diligently continued to collect that energy. Because of this, my recovery sped up dramatically. After that couple days I didn't have a single wound left. What's more, not even scars remained on me.
"Amazing, meow. I've never seen anything similar before. What is your body made of to heal so fast? Nobody would believe that three days ago you were half dead," Mirthia was glaring at me in surprise as I removed my remaining bandages.
"Isn't it related to magic?" I asked her, finishing putting my clothes on.
"Of course not, meow. Magic does not have this power. Others like you don't heal as fast?"
"No… I never saw another human heal so fast…"
"Whatever, meow. Now that you are recovered, it is time to learn how to fight. Normally one would train with sticks and stuff like that, but it's not my style. I think it is better to learn as you go, with real experiences. Therefore, today you will come to hunt with me."
We made preparations and headed back into the forest. This time we went deeper. Trees, bushes, roots sticking out of the ground and all kinds of weeds accompanied us on the way. It was a natural labyrinth that would make anyone who enters without sufficient knowledge easily get lost. Luckily, Mirthia taught me pretty well how to follow the correct paths and I quickly was able to follow her pace without problem.
"What are we going to hunt?"
"The first thing we find, ha, ha, ha. That will depend on your luck," Mirthia replied with a mocking laugh, "Oh, there is something perfect for you just there, meow!"
She grabbed my neck and pushed me into some bushes, behind which we hid to watch our prey. Walking slowly through the vegetation there was an animal over two meters long with dark green skin covered with large yellow circles on each side of its body. Its rounded head had a pair of long black antennae that wag in time with its movements. After coming across a large light green leaf that it seemed to like, it raised half of her body, revealing sixteen small legs. Oblivious to our presence, it began to chew the leaf with a mouth that opened vertically.
"The hell is that huge fucking bug!" I screamed when I saw that damn gigantic caterpillar.
"Meow? It's just a little caterpillar. Go take care of it, will be a good warm-up for you. I think you'll be up to it... More or less, meow."
"Little caterpillar... Is that what you call little?! It's bigger than me!"
"Shut up and go for it, meow!"
Mirthia kicked my ass and pushed me out of the bushes. After staggering a bit, I found myself right behind the huge caterpillar. It didn't take long for that damn thing to notice my presence and quickly turn to me. I swallowed nervously but managed to calm myself. It was just a caterpillar, it couldn't be that dangerous… I took Vurtalis and the pistol out. This time I would be the attacker.
I didn't have many bullets left and I didn't want to waste them, so for the moment, I had filled the magazine of the pistol with pebbles about the size of bullets. I needed to find some way to get decent ammo asap, but to kill a bug those simple stones would have to be enough.
Before the worm went on the offensive I ran to a tree and hid behind it. From there I took out half my body and began to shoot the caterpillar... but not a single pebble penetrated its skin...
"It's a bug! How is its skin so tough?!"
"I already told you that most inhabitants of Fandragoth have affinity with the earth, animals and insects are no exception, ha, ha, ha. Earth magic specializes in defense and, as you can see, they can also use some rudimentary magic innately. Even the most harmless bug can be tougher than it looks."
"You couldn't say it before?!"
Anyway, despite not having been injured, it seemed that it had clearly felt the blow and it had hurt a little. I took a deep breath and calmed down completely. I could handle it, after all, it was just a big bug. I really hadn't wounded it because of the bad ammunition I was using. Therefore, I simply needed a better weapon!
I prepared to come out from behind the tree and attack directly with Vurtalis. However, before doing so, I decided to analyze the situation a bit. It was a caterpillar, a slow insect whose only way to attack would be by throwing itself at me or with something similar to silk threads. If I moved quickly and avoided being caught with the silk I would have no difficulty against him.
I came out from behind the tree, running straight for the caterpillar while shooting nonstop directly at its head. I had no intention of letting him fight back. The bug seemed annoyed with my attacks. After receiving a few shots, it stepped in front of me and lifted half his body. I reacted instantly, doing a somersault on the ground to get away from in front of it and got behind it. Before it had time to turn around, I jumped on its back and stabbed in the middle with Vurtalis. Its skin was really tough. It took me a bit to thrust the sword in, but I managed to insert the blade more than halfway.
Seized with pain, the caterpillar shook furiously. I jumped off just before it managed to throw me and stabbed again at its side. I caught Vurtalis in a reverse grip and ran across its body, leaving an end-to-end cut. The bug got up again as he let out an almost imperceptible growl. I took advantage of the fact that it had stopped shaking to get on top of it again.
"Die at once!"
I grabbed Vurtalis with both hands and, taking advantage of the fact that its head was right in front of me, I stabbed once more with all my might. Once the blade sank to the hilt, I let my own weight help me to push it down, leaving a large vertical cut on top of the bug. Sticky green fluids began to pour out non-stop from the long wound. When I got off his back, the bug crashed to the ground with a heavy thump and, after twisting a little and curling into a ball, it didn't move anymore.
"Well, it was easy enough."
I rubbed my forehead to wipe off the sweat as I breathed heavily from not having stopped moving for a second. I was quite happy that I was able to handle that caterpillar without suffering any damage, but while I was celebrating my victory I heard an uncontrolled laugh that took all my euphoria at once.
"Pfffff hahahahahaha. Ha, ha, how pathetic hahahahahaha. I don't know whether to feel embarrassed or laugh hahahahaha. Well yes, better laugh hahahahahaha. Congratulations, you killed a bug hahaha."
Mirthia clapped from the ground, trying to get to her feet without being able to control her laughter.
"These things are very hard but completely harmless hahahahahaha. They are not dangerous even for a newborn child, but I'm glad you take it so seriously, hahahahahaha."
Even after getting up, she continued to laugh out loud as she hit a tree in tears.
"You should have seen yourself bouncing back and forth. The same bug seemed to be embarrassed to see you, hahahahaha."
My face turned redder than ever.
'It's said that cats have seven lives... I wish I could take a couple from her right now.'
I closed my eyes, trying to contain my shame with all my might, but at that moment I noticed that my surroundings had been filled with that energy. When I tried to absorb it, I realized that was a lot easier than before.
'Was all this inside that caterpillar?'
I forgot about the catgirl's teasing and smiled slightly. The amount that I had collected in a moment could not even be compared with all the accumulated during the previous two days.
'This is quite… interesting.'
We continued hunting for a while. This time more serious prey, like rabbits or birds… huge. I confirmed what I thought. Every time an animal died, it released large amounts of that energy, and obviously, it was much easier for me to collect that energy concentrated at the same point than the dispersed throughout the forest.
"With this we have enough for a few days. Time to go back."
But when I started to get excited, Mirthia decided to end the hunt.
"It's still early, isn't it? Let's keep hunting a little more."
"No way, meow! Hunting more than necessary is not good. Also, I'm meeting someone and I don't want to be late."
I had to resign myself and return to the village. I have no idea if it was due to a lack of conservation methods or if those cats liked fresh meat, but there was no way to convince the catgirl to hunt a single animal more, so I could not continue to collect energy. I would have liked to get a little more, but I was still satisfied with the result. At that moment I still wasn't able to use magic, but maybe if I kept collecting that energy, sooner or later I would be able.