The fire flickered and cracked. A set of two women were sitting around a campfire where a big pot of something bubbled.
After a few minutes of stirring the older woman grabbed a recently carved wooden bowl and got some of the liquid from inside the pot...
"Here... Drink it slowly, it's hot." Nana passed the stunned Janette a bowl of hot soup, it was nothing spectacular just a bunch of wild herbs and vegetables with hot water, just enough to count as nutrition...
Nana sat beside Janette and caressed her hair while Janette silently sobbed on her shoulder.
Everything happened so quickly that Janette hadn't had time to process it all.
She had to flee from her home.
She had to leave her father behind.
She had no way to help him, and now it is too late.
Janette blamed the robbed people.
If not for them her happy family would still be thriving and enjoying an easygoing life.
But...
Ultimately Janette blamed herself...
She was confident that Nana would have been able to escape by herself, and thus Eric could have done so too...
It was because of her that Nana had to waste time.
It was because of her that Eric was unable to escape.
It was because of her that now they no longer had a family.
Janette grew frustrated and resentful.
If it wasn't because of her lack of strength, Eric would still be alive...
So she decided to do something about it...
~~~~~~Later that same night~~~~~~
[System.]
[I... I don't know man... I'm tired.]
[Join Unnamed Virtual Space 1.]
[What a mouthful.]
Janette found herself on the same grassland she has previously visited once more, she took a few seconds to look around and after ensuring she was completely alone she broke down.
"FUUUUUUUCKKKK"
"SONS OF A BITCH MOTHER FUCKERRSSS"
"WHY GODDAMIT!!"
Janette proceeded to yell at the top of her lungs for a long time.
She yelled until her voice broke, she cried until her tears dried up, and only after punching the ground until her hands went numb did she fall on the grass exhausted.
Janette had grown accustomed to her daily life.
In the morning, they enjoyed breakfast together, they joked around and talked about what they would do the rest of the day.
After breakfast, Janette and Nana went to take care of the house, and Eric went hunting for them and occasionally the rest of the village.
After their usual chores, Nana would instruct her on a bit of science and history, sprinkling a few of Eric's accomplishments here and there.
Then Janette would train a bit by herself and wait for Eric to get home so he could teach her a little more or enjoy each other company when they were practicing their own things.
Nana would teach her how to gather and harvest herbs and wild plants to do cooking and medicine.
And lately, Janette had been volunteering to make dinner to show her appreciation to her family.
Although Janette was only five and a half years old as of today, her family always treated her as an adult, with expectation, love, and respect.
She hated the idea of partying with such a caring family. Given her last experience in her previous life, she knew how much of a treasure it was to have the love and care of such a wonderful group.
But now everything was taken away from her once more.
Her dreams had been fulfilled, And yet destiny played her once more.
Janette didn't want it to happen again. No. She wouldn't let it happen again...
Janette sat crosslegged and started to meditate.
She, at least, was going to master the last thing Eric taught her to perfection.
And so it all began, electricity coursing through her body and damaging her flesh. It hurt like hell on earth, but it couldn't compare with the emotional pain coursing through her heart.
Time passed... A beautiful statue of a young lady was erected on an infinite grassland, occasionally flashes of blue lightning came from its body but her expression was unwavering.
The statue suddenly opened its eyes. The magnificent aura she exuded started repressing itself and slowly forming a mantle around her body, small flashes of electricity trashed inside unable to go outside, but ultimately Janette still failed and passed out.
The emotional stress in conjunction with the bare meal she had and the physical damage she sustained during her training made her body unable to continue to function properly and she fell asleep...
After a few hours Janette woke up, she found herself still inside the Virtual space but after a few minutes something weird went off.
"Are you ok Janette? I have been calling your name but you stayed asleep." Nana had aged about 20 years in the past few days. Even though she tried not to show herself weak in front of Janette the weight of losing her only child was apparent.
"I love you, Nana." Janette blurted without thinking. Her judgment was certainly impaired because of Eric's passing but those words came directly from her heart.
Her one and only regret were not telling him those words as well, she wasn't planning on committing the same mistakes twice.
"I love you too my darling." Nana and Janette embraced for a while, but after a few moments, Nans stood up, her eyes narrowed, and she said.
"Let's continue, our destination is a few days away, we need to keep moving.
I need to find you a teacher, he's an old friend of mine. We need to hurry. We are still far away from the city of Bellrain"