I woke up in pain the next day, with aching muscles. It wasn’t surprising though, since I have never exerted myself that much before. I stumbled out of my room only to notice that it was already getting dark outside.

I asked my dad, “Can I skip foraging for today because of the torture you put me through yesterday?”

“Well, you can, but keep in mind I’ll be serving you whatever I end up picking, which may coincidentally just be all the stuff you hate eating.”

“…On second thought, I think I’ll manage.”

I left to go look for food, but every step I took hurt, and squatting down to pick things set my whole leg on fire. Eventually, I stumbled my way to the area near the elven settlement, where I spotted the elf.

“Kio okazis al vi?” she asked, with a look of concern. “Lasu min resanigi vin.”

She walked over to me and motioned me to sit down. When I did, she put her glowing hand over my leg while singing something. Whatever magic she used worked great, as the pain and soreness instantly disappeared. After she was done with my legs, I gestured all over me, and she continued the healing treatment. Toward the end though, I’m pretty sure she took longer than needed as an excuse to pet me, but it’s a small price to pay for the healing service.

Now invigorated, I gave her a quick hug to show my appreciation, and then ran off to continue foraging. After that incident of the poisonous berries, I avoided picking food in front of the elf, so I was forced to go away, lest she follow me around again. Luckily, I rarely encounter her during foraging hours though.

Anyways, after finishing my job, I skipped home in high spirits, since it seemed that not only did the healing alleviate the pain, it made me feel even better than normal. However, that came with its own problems, since when my dad saw me energetic all of a sudden, he got suspicious.

“Sofare, I seemed to recall you were dying of exhaustion yesterday, to the point where you want to skip out on foraging today. So why do you look so full of energy all of a sudden?”

Oh crap. Should I tell him the truth, or should I say that I was faking tiredness now? Wait but if I did that, that would be really suspicious. But saying some elf healed me is probably worse though. Or –

“Nothing to say about that? We were worried if we pushed you too hard yesterday, so it’s good to know you’re fine. Oh, and we’ll also tell Beda that it’s fine to crank it up a notch, since she was concerned if she went too far, but also wanted to help you progress more.”

“No, I’ll die. I’ll seriously die!” I said in horror.

“You should be fine. Just look at you now.”

“I, uh, just recover fast. The hunting training was already bad enough yesterday. Don’t make it worse. Please!”

“It’s just part of growing up. Get used to it.”

Well at least I didn’t have to lie and make up an excuse. But still, going through something worse than that torture every other day? Why couldn’t I be reborn with normal stamina or something.

The next day, it was time for another hunting training session. I spent the entire time yesterday thinking about how to mitigate the pain and decided on trying to look for the elf as soon as the hunting training was over. However, that meant that my parents can’t be escorting me back though. I was hoping that they would let me walk back, just like they used to do.

When I asked them on the way, my mom said, “Well, that does save us time, but if you think you can play hooky, just letting you know, we will be asking Beda. And if I get word that you have been skipping, be prepared to face the consequences.”

“Don’t worry, that thought never even crossed my mind.”

When we got there, my mom immediately told Beda, “You can continue like yesterday, since Sofare is fine with it.”

“No I’m not!” I interjected.

Ignoring me, my mom continued, “Also, while it might be true that she does get more tired easily, she’s also a great actor, so keep that in mind.”

“No I’m not.” I said yet again.

“So please train her to be a splendid hunter, and no need to hold back. Thanks again, and I’ll see you later!”

“No, please do hold back.” I mumbled.

After my parents left, Beda remarked, “If you really were dying like you seemed two days ago, you should still be sore and stiff, yet you seem quite fine now. So no, I don’t think I will hold back. But you really do have a talent in acting. It even fooled me, and I’ve watched so many other children pretend that they’re trying their hardest over the years.”

“No, that’s because I really was dying. I just heal fast that’s all.”

“Well that’s fine, if you can heal that up in two days, as long as you don’t actually die, it won’t make a difference. So prepare yourself, since today will be harsher than before.”

Resigned to my fate, I followed Beda’s spartan training regime. It was basically a repeat of the first lesson, since Beda claimed that the foundations were important. Unfortunately, foundations included having a fit body, so there was a lot of running involved. When I couldn’t run anymore, she let my legs take a break by making me throw spears, and when my arms tired, I was forced to go run again. No rest for poor me.

By the time it was all over, I could barely even walk to the elven settlement. When I trudged near it, I just collapsed on the dirt floor and took a short nap.