Before I left, I dipped myself into the river to wash off the grime.
It was hot here so I was able to dry off before coming back to the group, but I didn't forget to smear some dirt on my face and hands to remain unassuming and unapproachable.
Training that night was different as I used a lot of my new muscles walking, I had to replenish that energy.
This time finding the balance of intake of energy to heal my sore muscles was almost automatic making me wonder how good my control of this energy is in comparison to everyone else and how I could use my new core to generate new functions.
I did not try though; I didn't want anything to go amiss and expose myself.
The following day I was famished eating another piece of bread that immediately got me kicked and pummeled by Kirle and Tume.
No matter how much energy I use I will eventually get hungry and unusually hungry.
I could describe it as my body searching for a specific food I had a craving that wouldn't go away no matter what I ate.
"This food is for all of us you can't just eat when you want you have to ration! Ration! Do you understand me"? Kirle screamed while Tume flicked my forehead.
I nodded and curled into a ball making myself as small as possible.
This seemed to please Kirle as he reached over smiling smacking me in the back of my head with an open hand before leaving.
I did the same thing the next day following the path but this time a few other kids were going so I stopped myself a quarter of the way. A normal three-year-old couldn't walk a mile and be fine.
The next day I tottered with a small limp not because I was broken or anything, but because it gave the older boys a reason to ignore me, they didn't view me as a threat to their food or space.
I started getting small tasks around this time. Pick this up, tie this, help lift here or carry other smaller children.
After a while a few weeks passed and I figured out what everyone wanted from me, having it ready when they asked and moving back into the shadows when no one was looking or needed me.
I left for the stream earlier than most, it seems like they have it worked out between them who can go and when but didn't include me as I couldn't make the trek yet and they sure as hell weren't going to carry me.
Luckily for me a few weeks later the coast was clear on one side going upstream and I did not hesitate to follow this route.
It snaked for almost two and a half miles I noticed many other small man-made routes which I assumed led to other children's settlements.
When I reached the end, it was the town where I was born, I could tell because of the four buildings leading into the center of the town.
They were situated right behind the stone gate that was being guarded by a group of men I couldn't tell how many, I was too far.
It seems that this route is a dead end. I cannot escape from that direction they would catch me and throw me back or worse.
I still stayed around to explore; this whole walk took me about two hours.
I didn't want to use any energy to help with the trip because I wanted to strengthen myself and get used to this body.
Only when I couldn't go on did I start to breathe in the energy and let my body absorb it creating a wonderful numbing effect for my sore muscles world energy was way more potent than my processed energy.
I knew I would be hungry, but it was a decent tradeoff for a rare chance to explore.
Between the town and the stream was shaved mana grass but towards the rest of the stream, the water gave birth to ridiculously high grass.
I would assume if they didn't cut it regularly here then it would be just as thick.
It seems that upstream is impossible to go through and I can't get past the village unless I go into mana grass.
After looking around some I turned around and started jogging back it took me half the time to get back.
I got into the group and started helping with menial tasks until it was time to wrap up.
My goal now was to check the other side.
It took a week and a half for the other side to clear up by this time my muscles are very used to this route, so I stowed away an extra piece of bread that I rationed for today.
I immediately started my journey downstream. I ran into a lot more routes but oddly none of the children were out today, I kept going past I a huge tree with red leaves.
About fifty yards from this tree the stream connected into a lake that I could not see across. It looked like the ocean to me, but the water was extremely clear and pure, almost like diamonds were being reflected from the surface.
I hesitated knowing the dangers of the lake more than most.
I knew what kind of creatures large bodies of water create. I couldn't take the risk of jumping in, but this clearing was great to do some experimenting.
No one was around as the last route to a settlement was a mile away and I was about three miles away from my own settlement.
I don't even need to concentrate too hard when my white pearl leaves my body and hovers in front of me.
It does not make a scene during the day but at night I am sure it will be a beacon.
I start to draw world energy using the opposing forces of my energy balls to trap, compress, absorb, and refine.
Like before in my covers the white pearl was slow to process the energy barely able to accept anymore because it was so condensed, but the outer ball kept inflating and becoming purer and hazier.
In my rock life, the minerals I couldn't process stayed on top of me this outer ball was now the same thing.
My inner ball siphoned its already purified energy making it purer.
I noticed my control was getting better the process was seamless even if I didn't concentrate on the outer ball it still expanded and contracted symbiotically with my white inner core making the process less mentally taxing.
I played around with both energy balls separating and bringing them back together and sending them as far as I could, It seemed like there was no limit to how far they can go but they were both connected to each other through me.
But the further they went the less control I had and energy began to dissipate faster especially when separated.
I made a tentacle after my outer ball was filled and I dipped it into the water I sensed some fish I didn't recognize, and wanting to see the extent of my range I pushed it deep into the lake.
Everything I brushed up against immediately darted and swam away quickly.
With my outer ball, I stretched the tentacle over fifty yards.
That seemed like nothing compared to the extent I had before as a rock.
I changed the shape into a straight line it stopped at around one hundred yards.
Drawing it back took no less than a second my control was impressive and a lot less taxing on my concentration I could even move around while performing these tasks.
Still, I did not know what unknown dangers lurked, this was a huge gamble on my part.
I tried creating more than one tentacle at a time and I found that I could control two at a time smoothly but when it came to three, I had to really concentrate, and it wasn't as smooth I didn't try four.
I dipped my tentacle into the water and surrounded a fish that looked like a salmon but bonier and much thicker.
I drew it out in a ball of water and dumped it behind me letting it drown in oxygen before drawing in as much energy as possible not knowing when I could catch this feeling again.
I dashed out of there running to my camp.
As soon as I got there, I went straight to Silla and handed her the thick salmon before any of the other kids got some ideas, seeing the runt with such a meal they would beat me and say it was my fault for not sharing.
I have seen it happen too many times.
She was shocked and asked me where I got it from "A big boy had three and dropped one along the trail he said I could have it" She looked at me like that was impossible but it was hard to carry more than two as the skin is a little slimy and they are big it came up to a little past my waist and I was almost 40 inches.
We got covetous looks from the other children, but I didn't mind today was an exception... I needed to eat.
No one asked me any more questions as Silla and the boys made a fire and dug in.
Even though I was smaller and needed less food, I didn't hesitate to fight over the plump white meat like the bigger kids bobbing my head like I was handicapped and smiling widely.