That same day, at night, my mind was not calm. The excitement caused by discovering what I was capable of, prevented me from falling asleep. I spent the afternoon testing what my power could do, and the result was more than satisfactory. I was able to manipulate matter at will. Well, at least the matter in a physical state. Not only that, it could even modify the very molecular structure of matter.
During one of the tests, I took a piece of coal and tried to compact it, turning it from being somewhat brittle to a hard and strong compact mass that could perfectly rival a piece of metal. The bullet problem had been solved with ease. Basically, it could be said that I could make decent bullets using whatever I could get my hands on.
On the other hand, although I was able to control plants to a certain extent, it did not seem possible to do the same with animals or other people. Raidha and Mirthia volunteered to do a test run, but I couldn't control a single hair on their body. Perhaps it was because the structure of an animal is too complex to modify, or perhaps something else protected them from my power, like the mana itself. However, although I was not able to alter my own body at will, the ability to heal so quickly and the change in eye and hair color seemed to indicate that at least it was already affecting my body.
In short, I couldn't use magic. No matter how hard I tried, I wouldn't be able to. In return, I had obtained a much more versatile and practical power for a person without any knowledge of magic.
"I can not sleep…"
After hours tossing and turning to no avail, I decided to go for a walk. I needed to calm my disturbed mind somehow, and in such cases, what helped me the most was letting my mind wander among the dangling stars in the night sky.
Mirthia's house was on the edge of the village. Behind it, there was a grassy field just before reaching the edge of the forest. I half hid right behind, where no one could see me from the village, and lay on the ground, wrapped in a comfortable natural pillow. Nobody would come to bother me there.
"Up to now, I have been useless, someone who has not been able to defend even himself. With this…" I murmured, staring at a glowing moon just above me.
—You will continue being useless.
I wanted to spend some time alone, but that asshole didn't seem to want to give me the satisfaction.
"I didn't ask you," I replied reluctantly.
—Then to whom?
"I spoke to myself..."
—That makes you even more useless.
"Aaaaaa! Shut up for a while…"
I leaned to the side and covered my ears, trying not to listen to his criticism. However, the sound was coming directly from my head, making covering my ears useless.
—Wait ... Keep looking at the sky.
"Why should I do that?"
—I see what you see.
"What's wrong, do you like the night sky?"
—No, I actually hate it...
"Then don't touch my balls with that!"
—Still… for some reason, it reassures me.
"This shit doesn't make sense... Either you hate it or you like it... You really are nuts."
I lay back on my back, staring directly at the sky. As there were hardly any clouds, the stars shone showing all their splendor. They were similar and at the same time completely different from the ones I knew. Some were quite large and some were tiny. Also, there were slight changes in their colors. Most had a pure white color, others a slightly reddish color, and others even appeared to have a certain bluish hue. I too fell in trance looking at the sky.
"I guess you're right…"
—Of course, otherwise I wouldn't ask you… moron.
None of those stars had ever been seen by another human, it was inevitable that I would remain absorbed in observing them.
'It seems that somehow we are not so different from each other.'
And so, under that unknown night sky, I ended up falling asleep without realizing it.
***
The first thing that appeared before my eyes when I opened them was not the blue sky in the morning, it was a sword pointed at my throat. Surprised and stunned, I followed the edge until I reached a hairy brown hand. After going through what was left of the arm attached to that hand, I came to a head with cat ears, with the same color of hair covering them. His face, identical to that of a human, gave me enough information to know that my presence there put him in a very bad mood.
"I haven't learned all the village customs yet, but… waking up someone like that I don't think is one of them!" I yelled at him, worried about the tip of that sword getting closer and closer.
"Get out of this village," he threatened me in a very serious tone. "And above all... don't get any closer to Mirthia!" He added nervously.
That answer took me by surprise. I was silent, watching him better. His face was looking a bit familiar. After searching into my brain for a little, I fell into who he was. I had seen him many times with Mirthia, and most of the time that she was not with us was probably with him. I didn't know his name, and every time he passed me he would turn his back on me and walk away quickly, so I hadn't paid much attention to him. Considering all that and his current reaction, there was no doubt that he was Mirthia's boyfriend... although perhaps not officially...
"I understand... you don't have to worry about anything."
"Great, get out of this forest before I change my mind."
"No… what I mean is that you don't have to worry about Mirthia. I like human girls. Besides, even if she was human, I wouldn't be interested in someone like her. She is all yours…"
"Wha-wha-wha... What are you saying!"
His reaction was clear, that cat was jealous that he spent all his time with Mirthia.
His reaction was clear, that cat was jealous that I spent a lot of time with Mirthia.
"Remember what I told you!"
And he ran away... I was left with my mouth open, watching him run in a panic until he disappeared from my vision after a few seconds. I was paralyzed, struggling to assimilate the stupid situation I had just experienced.
"Go tell her you like her... it's obvious that the feeling is more than mutual..." I murmured.
—This guy is more of a moron than you.
"This time I'll agree with you."
I got up and stretched. The smell of fresh grass, dampened by the morning dew, filled my nostrils. I decided not to give too much importance to the silly threats of that cat, since there was a bigger problem to face: the cat and the idiot.
'Let's see how I explain the reason for my absence tonight... Although it does not seem that they have bothered to look for me.'
Scratching my head, I headed back toward the entrance of the house. The first thing I came across was a Mirthia. She seemed to have gotten up a long time ago. Raidha, on the other hand, was still sleeping.
"I'm sorry, I inadvertently fell asleep right behind the house," I apologized to the catgirl, who was carrying all of her hunting gear.
"I don't care where you sleep, meow. Anyway, I was prepared to go hunting you if you ran away, ha, ha, ha."
"Why should I escape?"
"Don't you remember the mess you caused yesterday? If you broke it, sure you can fix it the same way, right?"
Her expression showed a smile that at the same time looked like a threat…
"I probably can… I hope…"
"Then you know what to do, meow. I'm going out. I have to take care of some things. Try to get it fixed by today, okay?"
"Sure…"
And without saying anything else, she went in the same direction where the cat had left in a hurry. It was more than obvious that they would leave together again. What's more, everything pointed that he came to look for her, but when he saw me lying there, he changed his plans.
'You really should speak with her instead of doing stupid threats…'
Immediately I entered the house and went to see the sleeping princess, who soon woke up, as always, in a bad mood... Neither had she realized that I had not slept in the house... should I be happy or worried?