Berry had spent a few days camping out in the cave to recover. A few hours after he left the dungeon the entrance disappeared. It was quite a shock he wondered if it would of disappeared with him inside. There was so much he didn't know about the world. His life in the village had been very sheltered. During this time of rest he had continued his physical training each morning as if he was still at the fort. He had known he was far behind the other new recruits who had joined around the same time as himself. Unfortunately getting stronger took time and persistence. He had also been meditating each night to become more familiar with his new found magical abilities. Surprisingly he had made no progress. He had tried shaping his mana like he did before trying to make fire. Every time he tried his mana core would empty in less than a second. He came to the conclusion that he simply couldn't contain enough mana to use for his magic. Despite having very little mana his core seemed to feel up rather fast. He concluded that was the reason he could keep his light spell going indefinitely. If he could learn other low mana spells maybe they would work similarly. He had also retrieved the scraps of his shirt to see how good the repair enchantment was. It wasn't completely repaired yet but it at least could be worn. Another interesting development was his sword was also being repaired, although only when he was holding it. It seemed like the enchantment slowly converted ambient mana into raw material that was used for repairs. He had caught many fish, cutting and drying them into jurky. His belt had plenty of pouches that all held fish except the one that was specifically made for his coins. He had designated another one for monster cores should he gather more.
On the dawn of the fifth day he set out to continue his journey. He had decided to alternate between walking and jogging to work on his endurance. He may have over did it a little. As night approached he realized what a mistake he had made, his legs practically useless. The big problem was he kept hearing howling growing closer. If he was attacked now he would be easy picking. Luckily his light seemed to make them keep there distance. "Maybe It would be safer to sleep during the day and not get eaten." On the second night he traveled at a steady pace on guard the whole night. What ever was out there in the dark was definitely following him. He got a glimpse of them the next night. "The light won't hold them off anymore." Each night they had grown bolder, now they knew the light wouldn't hurt them.
Before the sun was fully set he could see 👀 them prowling back and forth at the edge of the woods. It was still hard to tell what they were but he had counted at least ten of them. They were not large but that didn't mean they weren't dangerous. The last fingers of sun light released him, they charged. They ran on all fours but it was clear they could also stand upright. As displayed by the larger one in the back. There fur was long and curly. They varied in color patterns of white and brown. The first two that reached him quickly fell off from a single swing of his now fully repaired short sword. The third took his shield straight to its face knocking it to the ground. As he finished it off with a quick trust another bit into his calf. He hollored in pain removing its head with his next swing. They began to fan out trying to flank him. Berry almost stumbled when he put pressure on his injured leg. 'If I fall I die' he grit his teeth. He rushed the closet one bashing it with a shield charge knocking it off belence. He caught another one mid jump with a trust before slamming his shield into the one mouth of the one he had laying at his feet. His shield shattered into places leaving gash in his left forearm. He let out warcry screaming with determination and pain. The three remaining grunts began to take a step back all confidence falling them. The boss monster grabbed the that had backed up the most growling in anger shaping its neck. The last two understand the treat. "Me or him" Berry said taunting the last two. Desperately they attacked falling with little trouble. Berry and the boss locked eyes, he gripped his sword tightly with both hands. " let's finish this" he hollered. The beast charged, taking a swipe with one of its nasty claws at Berry's head. He ducked felling the claw scrap the side of his helmet. He buried his blade in the monsters side. Pulling it out he hacked the monster like he was trying to fell a tree. It crumbled to ash just like the rest. "Damn" he said falling to his knees. Laughing he pulled out a peace of fish jurky.
As the sun began to rise Berry smiled happy to have won his first real fight. He knew he had gotten lucky. "I need to train more." If all those monsters were as strong as there boss he wouldn't have survived. He had gathered all the loot from his kills into a pile. That he was now just getting a chance to sort. Three gold coins, three monster cores and a dagger. "I had no idea monsters would drop gear." He said holding up the dagger. There wasn't anything particularly interesting about the dagger except for the fact it came from a monster. The big prize however was the monster core from the bosses ash pile. It was larger then the other two. He decided to try to absorb the small ones first like he had done the first time. He spent close to half a hour attempting this with no luck. "Gahh I guess I can't do anything with these" he said switching to the larger one. As he focused on it he could instantly fill a stronger push and pull coming from it. Drawing it into himself like he has before he was surprised when it simply popped his old one out replacing it. "OK that's felt weird" he said filling his new larger core with mana. He could tell his mana capacitie had increased a little. This core wasn't much bigger than the others but every bit counts. "OK let's try this again" he said drawing his mana to his palms. "Fire" he called out trying to shape his mana but again nothing. "Damn I guess no fire. Stupid magic why can't you just be easy." In a panic he summoned his light fearing it wouldn't work. He breathed in relief when it manifested just about his head. He shifted his leg a little sending pain jolting up his leg. "Damn it" he called out, but the sudden reminder of his injured leg gave him an idea. He pulled his light to his open wound focusing on manipulating his already manifested spell. "Heal" he whispered keeping his eyes closed. Suddenly his leg started feeling better. Unfortunately his mana core quickly emptied. The spell only lasted a few seconds but that was enough to make a difference. He alternated between healing and refilling his core till dawn.
After casting his new spell a few times he no longer had to convert it from his light spell. All his injuries had now been healed, unfortunately his method still left scars. Back at the fort instructor Samuel would heal any injuries relieved during training. Anything he healed left no scars. Although the spell he used looked nothing like what he had seen Samuel use. His healing spell retained the form of the spell it evolved from. It was a small orb with a dark red glow, almost like blood. His standard light spell let of way more light and consumed almost no mana.
Berry had added his new coins into their pouch bringing his total up to four. " I'm gonna be rich" he said mumbling to himself. The tree small cores found themselves in the pouch next to the coins. His shield however was unsalvageable, "well I know the first thing I need to buy. Also I need a sheath, I'm tired of carrying this around." He said waving his sword around in the air.
Half a day later he finally saw the first signs of civilization. He had reached the end of a road, or the beginning from his perspective. It wasn't paved and didn't have any of the magically enchanted steet light that were commonly seen around Frostharrow. Not even half a hour later he saw his first person. I was a man in full plate armor atop a horse. His excitement quickly disappeared when the armored man drew his sword.