Chapter 43 - The Warmth of Mana (Patreon)

In the end, I didn't find anyone.

Tess found me.

Still wearing my hoodie, I see.

Hoodie Snatcher.

Also, why such a face? It's just a few flesh wounds and a few broken bones. With a bit of time, they will heal on their own, just by the power of my constitution. Infection also doesn't seem to be a problem because of the stat.

Missing a piece of my pinky?

You should see the other guy, hehe.

Actually, there might still be a few pieces of him on my feet.

I drink a lot of water and gobble up all the smoked meat Tess has with her. Then she leads me back to the camp and gives me an information dump while we walk.

It looks like they did relocate their camp because the trolls around it started to become stronger and stronger. Actually, overall, it looks like the monsters are at higher and higher levels.

The kids seem to be fine, but one more person died.

Actually, should I be calling them kids? They are only a few years younger than me.

Whatever, they look like kids to me, so it will stay.

As for the dead man, it's kind of on him. He either didn't put in enough effort and was just too naive, not realizing the situation they were in, and just waited for others to deal with it.

Anyway, it's not like I knew him.

The best doggo immediately welcomes me but stops just a bit away from me. I feel its eyes moving up and down my body.

Oi, I will be hurt if you don't recognize me.

He doesn't disappoint and rushes at me, jumping up my legs, touching them with his front feet while bouncing on his hind ones.

Damn, I would be happy if I didn't know that he just likes that his food dispenser came back.

"What the fuck, Nat. Did you get dragged across the entire forest?"

I will forgive Kevin, as his voice sounds worried even as he says what he does.

"Welcome back," Hadwin says shortly and nods, and I return the gesture.

People start gathering around me, and I hear them talk and ask questions over each other. Some are worried, some are curious, and soon enough they start talking over each other and talking louder and louder to let their voices sound over other people's voices.

I am too tired to deal with this.

I gently stomp my feet, and my mana flares up into the surroundings as I try to replicate the thing Cinderbear did.

Everyone shuts up instantly.

"I'm tired, so I will go and sleep. Tess, please show me where I can go."

No one bothers us as she leads me towards the makeshift bed.

"I will keep watch."

A thankful feeling fills my body, and I fall asleep as soon as I put my head down.

*****

When I wake up, Tess is sitting on the ground near me. She instantly notices that I've woken up and just acknowledges it and continues to keep watch.

Thank goodness.

I'm not a morning person, so if someone talks to me right after I wake up, I stay grumpy the entire day.

Instead of saying anything, I just lay there and look up at the side of the cliff the base is built around. The spot is nice, and it seems like there's only one way the enemy can come from, as there is only a high rock wall behind us.

I continue to think over everything that happened, and 30 minutes later, when I feel like it, I finally ask.

"How long?"

"You slept for six hours."

Huh, that's shorter than I thought it would be. I feel pretty good, all things considered, and even my arms seem to be healing pretty nicely. Did Lily help?

Fortunately, I don't have to worry about my bones growing back in the wrong way, as the natural regeneration of a high-constitution body seems to be pulling them into the right places. It's kind of fortunate, judging from how often I am getting wounded.

The only problem might be half of my missing pinky, but even now, when it's all over, I feel like it was a low price to pay to hurt that little... I forcefully calm myself down and enter a bit deeper into [Focus].

Okay, it's time to eat!

Give me food, a lot of food, and water, a lot of water!

I hungrily look around, and it looks like Tess knows me very well, as there is a nice pile of dried meat near me and a full bottle of water.

After devouring it in what feels like a minute - with Tess's help, I lay down on the makeshift bed and stretch my limbs.

Dude, really, fuck this forest.

I want civilization.

Mattresses, freshly washed blankets, warm showers, sweets.

Give me.

Damn...

Let's hope the second floor won't be worse.

"Here's your second shirt you left behind, but we don't have any shoes or pants."

I guess I can't be too picky, but I will have to be careful not to fight around with my bare ass. That would be awkward, to say the least.

As for shoes, well, my constitution-strengthened feet don't mind walking on the ground that much. I'm not even getting wounds from sharp stones or small pieces of twigs, which is also nice.

So, back to the [Side quests]. I take a peek at my skills:

Focus - lvl 6
Mana Manipulation - lvl 9
Mana Perception - lvl 8
Oscillation - lvl 4
Kinetic Redistribution - lvl 4

It looks like the winner will be [Mana Manipulation].

Actually, I am kind of curious about what will happen if I upgrade one of my skills. How big will the difference be? Will there be more options to choose from, or is there just one?

Well, I will see soon enough, I guess.

Together with Tess, we join the others. Kevin is eating, so I clumsily grab the meat from his hands and start chewing it while sitting down next to him. He says something about gluttony but doesn't complain that much.

Yup, stolen food tastes better. I can confirm.

The doggo immediately joins and puts its head on my knee, and I feed him small pieces of dried meat while listening to other people talking.

No one is asking me anything; they just talk.

About skills, and their levels; at some point, they talk about people they all know and laugh, remembering how much they complained about homework.

I feel movement to my side, and Lily moves closer to me, our legs almost touching.

"I'm glad you made it back," she whispers and holds my hand, the one with the missing piece of the pinky. I feel her mana wanting to enter my body, and my mana instantly pushes hers back with ease, but I slowly calm it down and move it away. Her mana enters my hand. It's warm and refreshing at the same time.

My pinky stings a bit, and I feel her mana focusing on the spot and some also on my arms.

A few minutes later, she stops, and I swear the missing part of the pinky is smaller.

"I'm sorry, that's all I can do for now. It will take a bit longer."

With big eyes and black hair framing her petite face, a tiny nose rests in the center. Her hair is neatly tied into a ponytail, as she offers an apologetic smile.

"It's fine."

I gently pull my hand from hers and get back to caressing the little doggo.

He's even heavier than he used to be.

I bet he kept stuffing himself with food while I was struggling out there.

As an act of revenge, I boop his snout, knowing that he doesn't like it that much. He ignores me at first, so I continue doing so until he woofs at me.

Huhu, take that.

I poke him one more time, and he woofs again.

Kim comes back with a bit more meat, so I stop and grab some. The doggo turns to me. Immediately after, I hear something in my mind.

(Food!)

"..."

What the heck?