The moment I reached the forest clearing with the stony ground and my pond in the middle, something entered my field of perception.
Followed by another… and another…
And more.
I took a step backwards.
Again?
A group of humans appeared on the road and came into my direction.
It's still early and the sun just got up a while ago so did you travel the whole night to get here? Whatever you want, just leave…
Of course they didn't hear my thoughts and I have no intention to go to them and tell them.
Instead I turned away and started to run.
I am not running away though.
Well, not completely.
I ran around the forest clearing in a wide circle until I found the tree that I used to wait until the first group of humans were gone the other day.
Quickly I climbed up its branches until I couldn't be seen from the ground anymore and curled myself up in my coat.
Because I moved quite fast and in the opposite direction of the humans, I couldn't [see] them anymore but they should enter my field of perception soon enough.
And then just leave as fast as possible please.
But they wouldn't.
They came to the pond and stopped.
A few of them inspected the remains of the campfires that the previous group created. They talked in a cheerful tone with each other and some started to laugh. Then they began their own preparations to build up a camp around the pond.
Ugh…
If you travelled the whole night, then you could just go on.
Or maybe…?
Please don't.
A bad thought crossed my mind.
What if they just hurried here so they could stay at the pond longer until they have to set out again. That would be awful.
Maybe they knew that there was a hotspring here before and wanted to relax a bit.
Well; its not here anymore so just suffer knowing that it's gone now and go away.
They didn't.
And they don't give the expression of suffering. Sad.
Huh?
Wait a minute.
… 46… 47… 48… Dang it!
As long as they don't show me anything about magic or come way to close, I have no interest in humans so I didn't really [look] at them.
They are even weirder than the group before.
Their clothing and equipment is far superior to the first group and some parts seem quite advanced. So why is the overall impression that those are people from the medieval times?
Most of the men and woman at least partly wear chainmail and on their belts are weapons like swords and maces but sometimes quite modern guns too. A few of them have a large shield on their backs and some wear helmets, but most of them have it fixed on their belt too. Maybe its not very comfortable I wonder?
Wha-? Who cares?!
What's with the people in this world?!
Would you please decide for one time period and just stay with that? That would be really nice, thank you.
Haaaa~
Stupid humans.
But they made me think…
No, that can't be… can it?
No chance…
But what if-? Never!
It's just not possible.
What?
Well its just an absurd idea I had.
I have to laugh at myself if I form it into a clear thought.
So, take a deep breath.
Fuuu~
Haaah~
Let the logical and common sense just out of it and think about it.
First of all; there are humans with a technology that is far superior than everything I ever saw before.
Then the technology is gone and humans are in a very simple state.
Shortly after they are on a medieval level and in some parts way beyond that…
That's the one side.
On the other is this forest that seems somewhat the same and quite different at the same time.
The road that seems to be years old but was not there a few months ago.
The hotspring that is gone and a pond appeared in the same location with a stream of hot water underneath it.
And it started after a certain incident.
The moment the world had a "hiccup".
So…? No it is to absurd.
It absolutely can't be… but it would explain much.
Okay just hypothetically;
did the world got set back in time?
Hehe… he.
Yeah even if I form it into a thought it is just absurd.
My brain can't comprehend this.
It's completely illogical.
…
//But if-?
\\No!
I clap my own cheeks to get out of that thinking loop.
Maybe it was a bit too hard but it helped quite well.
I need some distraction.
Found it… sadly it's just the humans.
They already finished setting up their camp and made some fire in the already existing pits. I've seen the magic that creates fire quite often by now but I still I am not a single step closer in being able to use it myself.
Of course their tents are far superior to what the other group had.
Those are real tents for up to three people each. Maybe I should stop comparing and just take it as it is?
For some reason they built up their tents in a circle around the pond but with quite some distance to it.
Hmm maybe there is a reason for that?
Within the group of nineteen people there are two odd ones.
The one who stands out the most is a really old man with long white hair and a short, cleanly cut, white beard. He was dressed in some purple robes made from a cloth that I never saw before.
Well most of them wore purple and blackish colours so maybe its the natural colour of that cloth?
Don't get distracted!
What made the man "odd" was the way he [looked].
Similar to the boars he was a being of flesh and bones but he [felt] completely different. It was as if a fountain of energy was just standing there disguised as a human being.
If I count up all the humans I've seen until now, they still couldn't reach the amount of mana that circulates in his body.
Just what kind of monster is he?!
He stood at the pond and stared at it for a while.
Then he took a few steps back. Is it a coincidence, that he would now stand near the edge of my hotspring?
It was as if the wind stopped for a moment and even the other humans looked at him in awe.
Faster than one would imagine if they saw this man he drew a few lines in the air. This was not a full magic circle.
But still the mana in his body reacted.
It left the old man, quickly entered the stones and the earth and moved it as if it was the most natural thing.
Within seconds the pond grew to the size of my old hotspring and quickly got even bigger so that it was a meter more in diameter. At the same time a few cracks opened up at the bottom of the now deeper pond and connected it with the underground stream.
The cracks were the perfect size so that hot water could rise up and fill the pond but it would not overflow.
The man got back to his normal posture and breathed out once. Then he started to smile at the people around him who started to applaud.
My mouth gaped open and I could barely stop myself from clapping too.
Thank you so much Mister old man! You brought back my hotspring!
Tears of joy assembled in my eyes and soon rolled over my cheeks but just moments later I froze up.
Noo~ my hotspring.
Of course the cool old man didn't make this just for me. He shouldn't even now that I exist in the first place. He did it for himself and his group.
Some of the humans got into the tents to change into towels and some kind of swimming gear so they could enter the hotspring. Of course the old man was with them too.
Other ones seemingly complained a bit and then took some posts around the camp. Those are on guard duty I assume.
Two people did something no one else did; they each took a crossbow from the big carriage this group had and then entered the forest. I am quite curious about them but they soon left my field of perception so it cant be helped.
I could follow them though but I don't want to give them any hint of me if possible.
So I decide to watch the humans that have fun in the hotspring while pouting.
For some reason the mana in the old man calmed down. Or did he suppress it on purpose?
When I [look] at him closely it is still raging like a stormy ocean but there was a calm layer over it that hides this nicely. What a strange old man. I am curious what it [looks] like when he is asleep but for that I have to wait I guess.
So switch focus to the next most interesting person.
It is a child.
Just an ordinary girl with dark blonde hair and bright eyes though.
But this is what makes her all the more odd in my opinion.
Everyone in this group is in the prime of their life except the old man and her. Well, the reason why the old man is with the group seems quite obvious but why is she there?
She talks to the old man in a very familiar tone so maybe they are related to each other?
When I [look] closely, I [see] some similarities in their faces, their skintone and their bone structure too. Even their mana feels somewhat the same but the child has far less than the old man.
…
No actually.
Isn't that way too much mana?
She should be around 5 maybe 6 years old so the amount of mana shouldn't be that high, right?
The children in the woodcutters place are a joke in comparison.
Even the adults at the forest clearing are no match for her. If it just the mana she is right after the old lady in the woodcutter village.
I just didn't really notice because next to the old man everyone just seems weak.
So what's with this family of monsters?!
If you have so much mana then give me some of it!
No?
Meh!
I pout more.
…
After quite some time – the sun already reached the highest point and started to sink again already – some of the humans left the hotspring and switched with the guards.
The old man stayed where he was.
The child on the other had left the water and entered one of the tents to dress up.
When she left she said something. Got an answer that sounded quite admonishing and reacted in a pouting tone to that.
Then she left the clearing and wandered into the forest?
…?
Oh no. Please stop.
She came in my direction.
Here I was, thinking that she just had to pee or something but seemingly she just wanted to explore and while doing so she came dangerously close.
Only about five meters are left between us until she finally stopped and kneeled down to observe some small flowers.
She pointed at them and drew three curved lines in the air. With the movement of her hand some mana was released and with its flow the colours of the flowers changed.
I stared at her with my eyes wide open.
She drew another line that connected the three before and the flowers started to grow until they reached the size of a human head, their blossoms now at the size of a childs hand.
The little girl kept playing with the flowers for a while and I absorbed each of her movements.
So one does not need a complete magic circle for every magic? Maybe it is enough to use the basics so that the flow of mana can manipulate the surroundings? Hmm but I can't even use the basics it seems…
"Ouch!"
Huh?
Oh.
Serves you right.
She turned the flowers into another kind again and this times some large thorns grew on them that pierced the skin on her finger.
This is quite interesting though.
I closely [looked] at her small wound.
If it was me it would just be the outer form of my body but for her there was really a small hole in the finger that connected the inner parts of her body with the outer world.
Out of curiosity I concentrated more on the point were she hurt herself. So how are her real cells coping with the Situation?
…
Eh?
Uhm…
For someone who has so much mana and control over it it was weird, that she didn't just heal up her wound and instead started to suck on her wounded finger like a normal child would do it. With a few tears in her eyes she got up and started to run back to the forest clearing.
Weird.
But by far not the weirdest part of all this!
What is going on?!
So, I already know that my body is quite weird but I don't want to think about that. Until now I thought that the fake cell division would look normal, even if it is abnormally fast. But no!
My cells [look] quite different from the human ones!
Who could blame me for not knowing what a cell should look like? Exactly, as if anyone ever really saw one.
Well I could have assumed it because my skin is dark grey though…
Doesn't matter!
An Idea flashed through my mind.
If I can heal up my body by concentrating on the fake cells that are my outline then…
I lift up my hand and stare at it with my eyes and my field of perception. Imagine the picture of what it looked like on the little girl…
Make this look the same…
…
….
….
OH!
Starting from the center of my palm the skin slowly got brighter and after a few minutes my hand looked like that of a very pale human… It still had a slight grey nuance that made it look kinda sick…
But this is interesting.
Although far to exhausting.
I stopped concentrating and immediately the skin got back to its normal color.
Weirdly the brighter colour was not actually my skin but a thin layer over it.
But still very interesting…
\\And what am I supposed to do with the ability to look like a sick human?
//Uhm… no idea. But something!