The morning light finally came; they had spent the night in the same tent again. Sleeping definitely would’ve been a challenge if he hadn’t been so mentally tired from the pain. There was healing, but this time it had strictly been healing. Without the relief of the prior night, exhaustion had been the only catalyst for his ability to get proper sleep despite the proximity of such a tempting delight.
He turned to his side. Her bedroll was empty, as was the tent. He felt a feeling of dread slowly creep in. He was almost certain that she wouldn’t just leave him alone, but the fact that he wasn’t one hundred percent sure was slowly eating away at him.
“Liam, have you awakened?”
Her voice came from outside, and relief washed over him. He exhaled a breath he hadn’t realised he was holding in. The dread rapidly got replaced by the warmth of even just knowing she was nearby. Having his mood so easily swayed by another’s presence was an odd feeling, yet he found he didn’t exactly mind it as long as the person was her.
He slowly got out of his bedroll and up; as usual, her healing had left him feeling as if the trying day of combat had never happened. In fact, he was feeling better than he’d been yesterday.
We are on a lower floor; I must’ve absorbed even more residual mana.
The reasoning was sound; after all, it was widely accepted that the lower a floor was, the more residual mana floated around. The expectation of being on a lower floor was that you’d absorb more mana.
Mana… I need to try to have some time to myself so I can work on channeling it.
He’d never worried about learning how to control mana before, never needed to. Now, though, he had mana, and he wasn’t going to waste that blessing by not meditating and finding ways to use it. Even the meager amount he had would’ve been an improvement over relying on a purely mortal body that was polished only through passive mana absorption.
He left the tent with a smile on his face, half because of the idea of working on his mana and half due to her looking radiant as ever while waiting for him.
“I’m here, don’t worry.”
“Finally! You took quite a while to wake up today.”
Despite the words, her tone was more playful than disappointed or upset. Liam’s smile stayed in place, growing wider at the display.
“You could’ve just woken me up, you know.”
“Then you would have been all moody, I bet. I am not relying on a fighter who has not gotten a full rest. That is how you get killed before your time is up.”
Liam couldn’t stop the chuckle that escaped him.
“Anyway. Since we are already later than we had planned, perhaps it would be a good idea for you to go and sell those cores and maybe get some new supplies like more rations and even a better weapon. No offence, but yours has been through quite a bit and is rather damaged. You have the means now; an upgrade, or at least a renewal, would be a good investment.”
He took out his shortsword from its sheath and gave the blade a look over. She was right… There were chips along the edge.
His first choice for a sword wasn’t exactly what he currently had anyway. He had always preferred a longsword; better range and leverage made things easier. It was also what he’d been trained for. The only reason why he’d gotten this sword was that it was what he could’ve afforded back then. He no longer needed to compromise that much. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
He nodded in agreement.
“That’s a good idea, but that means we’d need to give up all the progress we’ve made. I was looking forward to taking you to the boss floor today or tomorrow at the latest.”
She tilted her head to the side and gave him a smile.
“Well, I could send you back through a gate spell.”
Liam just stared at her, wide-eyed and dumbfounded. A sanctuary spell had already been a pleasant surprise. This was now bordering on miraculous. Normally, a spellcaster knew one or the other; having a healer capable of both transporting and providing safety was a blessing for any party, let alone one that was made up entirely of E-rank adventurers.
What kind of an idiotic party would ever let someone who can do those things leave?
“Wait a second, if you’ve been able to make gates, why did we bother with camp supplies? We could’ve just gone to town and then come back to where we were before.”
She shook her head side to side.
“I can send you back and keep the gate open for you to return, but I have to stay here for that. If I also take the gate like you suggested we could have done, then it would simply close after me, and we would have no way of returning. Hence why I said I could send you instead of suggesting we go together.”
Her voice dropped to a sultry whisper as she closed the gap between them slightly with a teasing smile.
“Besides, camping has its fun parts and advantages. Would you not agree? I am quite certain you had no complaints about sharing a tent the night before.”
Liam’s face reddened as memories flooded his mind involuntarily. He couldn’t disagree that camping certainly had its pros. He wanted to make a witty remark. His mouth just silently opened and closed without managing to utter a single word. All he achieved with that was making her laugh. That sound was still a win in his books.
“So what do you say, would you like me to send you back so you can sell the cores and get the stuff we will be needing?”
Liam nodded.
If nothing else, that means I’ll have a chance to be on my own and try to work on my mana control.
“You won’t be in danger while I am gone, right?”
“Not at all. I will just refresh the sanctuary spell and stay within its boundary. As long as I am inside, no monster or adventurer will be able to get to me, so do not worry.” This chapter was copied from novelping.com without permission.
He had no intention of abandoning her if it would’ve meant she’d be in danger. So hearing that confirmation was all he needed to be fully on board with the idea. He gave a final nod of approval.
He wasn’t exactly sure about the accuracy of her statement, but he wasn’t about to question her about it. He didn’t know much about how it all worked still, so he figured it wasn’t his place to be skeptical; she wouldn’t say she’d be fine if it wasn’t the case. There was nothing she had to gain from lying about that.
“If that’s the case, then I think that’s the best course of action. More supplies and a better weapon certainly wouldn’t hurt. Magic me away.”
He watched as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. He couldn’t fully tell what she was doing, but even he could feel the mana slowly shifting around them.
Wait, I can feel the mana… Very faintly, but I finally can do it.
His excitement regarding the discovery made him look forward to returning to the town and trying to learn more about his own mana even more.
While he was lost in his own world, imagining the possibilities the gate opened. He had expected it to be a blend of golden and white light, which usually was what the healer spells manifested as in terms of colours due to their mana. Hers was oddly crimson, the same as her eyes.
“There you go. Step through whenever you are ready, and it will take you to just the outskirts of the city. That way you can enter through the gates and not break the law. It is forbidden to just teleport into the settlement if you do not know.”
He didn’t know. It wasn’t a law he’d ever been told about. Considering he wasn’t someone who could teleport, nobody had bothered to do so. Still, it was good that he knew now; after all, maybe in the future he’d be able to do so.
Yeah right… That’s a pipe dream if I ever had one.
“I suppose I’ll see you later then.”
He gave her a smile and waved as he stepped through the portal.
For a split second, he could’ve sworn he smelled the familiar metallic scent of blood from the portal. Though the fact that the travel was practically instant meant he didn’t spend any amount of time inside that would let him confirm for sure. It didn’t make any sense anyway. It was probably his own clothes smelling like that. Unlike Melissa, he’d been covered in blood quite frequently. Both his own and monster blood, at that.
That must be it; my clothes probably stink of it, and I just haven’t noticed just how much until now.
He found himself a few minutes away from the gates as his mind convinced itself that the scent had nothing to do with the portal at all.