So far, Mirthia had only "taught" me how to fight animals, but she finally decided to give me lessons in real combat. Or rather, she started to beat me all over... she seemed to enjoy it quite a bit.
"You're horrible, meow! At least learn to defend yourself decently!" She yelled at me as she hit me on the head with a wooden cane.
Stunned by the blow, I let go of my cane and took a couple of steps back, at which point the catgirl took the opportunity to hit me harder in the stomach.
"Never drop your weapon, meow!"
'This is not training... this is torture!'
Mirthia was a skilled half-beast warrior, I was a mere human who had never trained with a weapon in my life. It was impossible for me to even get a little closer to her. Anyway, I couldn't complain too much. After all, it was I who had asked for help...
"Meow... you're really useless fighting, but I have to admit you hold up well."
"Thanks, I guess…"
Of course I was good at holding. Unlike a normal person, I possessed that surreal regeneration. Another person would have ended up lying on her bed within five minutes of training with her. I was still taking the blows thanks to the fact that even the bruises disappeared within a few minutes.
"However, this would be of no use to you if it were a real sword, meow. Another thing, never let your guard down!"
With that simple and unexpected warning, she attacked again. I had my guard down completely, I didn't even see it coming. Her stick slammed directly against the right side of my face.
"Dead again, meow."
I held my temple indignantly. The blow had stunned me, everything was spinning around. The truth is that I was starting to get depressed, no, maybe it would be better to say that I was starting to get frustrated.
'Damn cat... I'm not going to give up before I hit her face!'
I stood awkwardly to my feet and raised the cane with both hands, straight at her. With a big smile, she attacked me again. I held my position and waited for her. She gave me another quick vertical blow. My head was still somewhat dazed from the previous blow, yet I still got out of its path and raised my stick above my head. I narrowly dodged the attack and slammed my weapon down, striking directly in the middle of her cane, blocking her movement by pressing it down and slamming it to the ground.
"Meow?" She meowed, surprised by the strange block I made.
Taking advantage of her position, I took a step forward and raised my weapon with all my might towards her head. Hers had been blocked with my previous move, so she couldn't defend herself. Her mocking laugh disappeared when she saw that attack she couldn't defend against. The blow came to her head... and was easily dodged by leaning back exaggeratedly.
'Fuck...' I cursed when I saw that my attack had been dodged so easily.
Then Mirthia, still leaning back, raised her can up again and hit the back of my head with the tip. Pushed by the hard blow and my own inertia, I ended up on the ground right behind her. From that position, I noticed how she put her cane in the middle of my back.
"And you died yet again, meow."
When she pulled the cane away from me I rolled over still on the ground. I lay stupidly on the floor, staring directly into her eyes, which were staring at me with a raised eyebrow.
"I admit you took me by surprise. I didn't expect that from you. Why didn't you move like this before?"
"I did... but you dodged and blocked everything…"
Her laughter had completely disappeared. She was looking at me with a strange expression of concern. I sighed and got up heavily.
"If you say so, meow. Anyway, let's stop here for today."
I had no choice but to nod at that. I was in pain and also wanted to stop. I went back to Mirthia's house, hoping to recover a bit from the one-sided beating. Raidha was there, looking bored.
"How are you today?" I asked.
"I'm almost fine now. I think in a couple of days I will be completely healed.
She lifted her shirt to show me the wound. She really was almost healed. She wasn't wearing bandages. I found a chair and sat down next to her, dejected. She laughed lightly at me.
"I wish I had real bullets... I wouldn't need a sword if I could use my pistol well."
"That's why we don't use that kind of weapon. It's easier to depend on our magic than to be limited by ammo. The strength of our magic is also far superior to simple bullets. Anyway, the mana and ammo run out. A good melee weapon can always be used."
"Yes, yes…"
She was probably right about that… if we were talking about Silphen or Katryde. I kept thinking that if someone approaches you with a sword it is easy to take down with a simple shot of a pistol. What I could not deny is the magic part, with it they could launch attacks similar to shots from a firearm without needing one.
"But I can't cast any spells that can be used as a substitute for bullets," I said as I leaned back in the chair.
I had been training my aim with bullets made of wood or stones. My aim was already questionable and using bullets that could not even fly straight didn't help.
"Let me see something," Raidha got up and stood in front of me.
She held my head with both hands and looked me straight in the eyes with a rather serious face. Still, I felt like she wasn't really looking at me. It was a pretty strange feeling. She finally frowned before releasing me.
"I don't see any magic power in you. Before you say absolutely anything else, try this. Put your palm up and focus mana on it."
She did the same thing that Mirthia taught me. She raised her hand and a sparkling black sphere formed.
"I've been trying this for days and I'm not succeeding in any way. The most I have achieved is..."
"Just do what I tell you, what I want is to observe the flow of mana in your body, not the sphere itself!" She interrupted.
"Ok…"
I tried to imitate her. I drew my "mana" from the body. Greenish-yellow liquid began to flow from my hand and awkwardly rose a few centimeters above. Of course, without detaching from the palm. It wasn't even close to the sphere, but at least I could control it a little better outside of my body now.
"Well, how do you see it?" I asked.
"I see nothing."
"Don't you see this liquid-like energy coming out of my hand?"
"Nothing comes out of your hand!"
"And this energy that we have surrounding us, what is it?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Forget it…"
"I really don't understand you at all."
She walked away a little annoyed, but I couldn't do anything. If I told her that this was natural energy, she would probably treat me like a madman, just like Mirthia. Anyway, whatever they said, the energy of the world itself was flowing through my body. Not only it had not killed me as Mirthia claimed, but it was also benefiting me. The more I accumulated the stronger my body felt.
'That's very nice and very useful, but I still can't use magic…'
I wondered that I might never be able to cast spells with that power, but I couldn't give up so easily. Perhaps the amount of energy that flowed through my body was too little. Luckily, there was a way to fix it.
'Let's go hunting!'
Later I escaped from the village by myself. My goal was clear, to hunt animals alone to collect their energy directly. With a bit of luck, I could fill the container enough.
Thanks to Mirthia, I had learned to move as if the forest were my own home. I wasn't afraid of getting lost, so I moved quickly through the thick vegetation. Clearing low branches and chopping down bushes that blocked the way, I made my way everywhere in search of my prey. A couple of hours passed… and I was unable to find any animals.
"Whyyyyyyyyyyyy?! Get out at once!" I yelled as I stabbed and kicked a log in frustration.
—Shut up, you moron. Don't you realize that by screaming like that you will surely not find anything? You are pathetic.
I stopped hitting the tree when I heard that voice. I looked from side to side without wanting to, even knowing its origin. Shame filled me and my face probably turned redder than ever... I'd completely forgotten about him. I didn't expect anyone to see me making a fuss.
'Damn it, so I won't have a moment of intimacy anymore… I have to find a way to get rid of him as soon as possible.'
I sighed deeply and regained my composure.
"So what should I do?!"
—At least try to hide a bit, be stealthy. You are scaring all the animals. They notice you half an hour before you notice them.
I was not very clear how to react to his words. I was still not sure how to treat or what to consider that thing, but after reflecting I realized that what he had said was true. I really felt more of an idiot than ever.
'I think I'm too anxious, I need to calm down a bit.'
—Listen, moron, pay attention to your surroundings. Do not walk without a plan, thinking that some animal will jump out of nowhere and stand in front of you waiting for you to kill it.
"Right…"
—The only thing that will appear will undoubtedly be something dangerous and probably from behind. You're acting like prey, not hunter, moron.
"That's true…"
I tried to relax, both because of his presence and because of the situation. I didn't want to have that thing inside me, but since I didn't know how to get rid of him, the best thing would be to try to get along with him... Or at least put up with him...
"Tell me something, what did you do when I was unconscious?"
—Save you from dying stupidly.
"So you wouldn't do the same if some dangerous animal came out?"
—Now it is impossible for me to do that. I don't have enough energy left.
"Ah? Do you run on batteries or something?"
—Of course not, you moron. Just think that I'm too tired to move.
"I understand... Then you can't do anything until you recover... How are you going to recover?"
—I just need some time.
"Really? I'm glad about it... I guess…"
'I wish you never recovered!'
After the chat with myself, where anyone who was spying on me would have believed that I was someone with serious mental problems and every animal with the intention of eating me would have escaped for fear of being infected by some rare disease, I continued with the hunt.
This time I was advancing through the forest with more care and stealth, while I kept making my way cutting the plants that bothered me. Soon I began to find the odd animals and, among them, more of those shitty caterpillars. At least they were easy to hunt. Mirthia told the truth, they did absolutely nothing. I just needed to stand in front of them and swing the sword to cut off their heads... Or so it would be... if it weren't for the fact that they were harder than a rock!
I found animals that I had not seen during the hunts with Mirthia. Many were quite similar to those I knew from my world. A squirrel the size of a large dog, whose hunt cost me so much that I decided not to go after another ever again. Something halfway between a weasel and a rabbit, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say a rabbit with a very long neck. These were the most abundant and easy to hunt. No matter what kind of animal it was, they all had something in common, all animals were huge. No, rather, everything in that forest was gigantic in size.
"So worried about the big predators and look, all we find are scared little animals..."
—They will have thought that you are not worth even for making broth.
"Well, better for me... This is not something that is going to make me feel bad."
—Moron.
"If you call me moron, isn't that the same as calling a moron to yourself?"
—Being in the same body doesn't mean I called myself a moron.
"Isn't the same thing as call moron to a reflection?"
—No, that's why I say you're a moron.
"And I say that you are the moron."
—Moron.
"Moron."
—Moron.
"Moron."
While we were having our intelligent conversation I found something like a large white cloth hanging between two trees.
"Who put this here and for what? I don't think it was the cats."
Since it was on my way I just decided to rip it with Vurtalis. Instantly, the damn piece of cloth began to move in despair. It was in that instant that I realized that it was not a piece of cloth, but the wing of a moth at least six meters long.
"Don't screw me! What the hell is this? How can there be a damn bug bigger than that shitty caterpillar?!"
I ran without thinking twice until I got a safe distance. The bug flapped desperately trying to fly, but with its half-ripped wing, it could not take flight and just stayed there, making strange movements a few meters from the ground. After calming down a bit and seeing that it didn't seem dangerous, just big, I got closer again.
"Maybe... is this thing the same shitty caterpillar?"
—Maybe.
"Hey! Aren't the moths about the size of the caterpillar? This thing is so much bigger than the caterpillar!"
—Who cares? Kill it at once.
"Yes, yes…"
I walked over and finished cutting off its wing. Without wings, it was just an even bigger inoffensive shitty bug. As with other animals, immediately after dying, it released a large amount of energy.
"This bug has released more than any other animal. It seems that the bigger they are, the more energy they have."
In the end, I spent around four hours hunting non-stop, my container was already over 60%.
"I should go back before the sun goes down..."
Then I realized that I could take advantage of the fact that this guy was talkative. If he really had fought those Katrydes without a problem, he should know how to fight pretty well, right?
"That reminds me... Do you know how to use the sword?"That catgirl, more than teaching me, just hit me..."
—Sure, grab it with your hand and then wiggle it up and down or side to side.
"Don't make fun of me, I'm serious!"
—I'm not making fun, you moron. This is what I do.
"It's a joke, right?"
—No, I have no knowledge about weapons, or magic, or anything like that.
"And how could you manage those Katrydes?! They were so strong!"
—I think you are actually the one who is useless.
With my self-esteem somewhat damaged, I hunted a few more prey on the way back. I managed to fill the container up to about 70% before reaching the village.
I entered the house as if nothing had happened. I didn't want to tell them that I went hunting animals by myself. Nor was that it mattered much to me that they knew, but remembering that those cats only hunted what they ate, I did not want to hear any reproach.
"Hi," I greeted as I entered the living room.
Both girls stared at me with wide eyes, not giving any response to my greeting.
"Has the cat got your tongue?"
"Drayd?" Raidha asked, pointing at me with a stunned expression.
"But what did you do to your head?" Ha, ha, ha," Mirthia burst out laughing.
"What's wrong with you two?"
"Your hair! What did you do to your hair?! Do you think you look better as a blond with green eyes?!" Raidha replied.
"Blond? What the...?"
I ran to a mirror in the house. As I stood in front, a blond boy appeared reflected in it. My hair had turned yellow and my eyes were still the same deep green color, perhaps even brighter.
"What is this?!" I yelled at my reflection.
Eyes first, then hair. Apparently, every time I collected more energy my body changed a little. Raidha told me that when he appeared my eyes turned red and my hair white. That must be something similar and a clear sign that this power was still increasing.
"It's fine... right?" I muttered.