My ‘new’ boots kicked and slid through the dirt as I danced excitedly. 

I probably looked like a cringe idiot, but it was all too exciting. If I could make my clothes much more suitable for wear, then I could do the same to by belt and my boots. And so, I did! 

Though, I didn’t completely replace them. They were keepsakes from Lionel after all. I won’t go so far to stomp down on Alex’s feelings. I’ll probably just stick to addressing and moving past them in a totally healthy way. 

They were both dried and partially cracked, so I just repaired the damage and renewed their condition. Just like that, they were pretty much as good as ‘new.’ I even thickened the lining of the boots to increase their snugness factor. 

What else could I change up at home? I want to see everything I can possibly do! 

Yet, as I took a step towards home, I couldn’t help but look at the majestic creature that appeared downstream. 

Its fluffy fur was a bright white that made it stand out from the greens and browns of the forest in its background. It was already Spring and I had thought such fur would change to a more brownish color as winter snows melted away, to better hide in the forest. Maybe I’m mistaken.  

Regardless, I’m glad it didn’t. If it didn’t stand out so much, I might have just continued walking home. Then, I would’ve missed seeing that long and pointy horn protruding from its forehead, which sparkled gloriously in the sunlight like white marble dotted with diamonds. 

It wasn’t a unicorn, it wasn’t nearly as large, but what could I call such a creature if not a unibunny? At least it seemed like the next best thing. To eat, that is. 

I mean, with all the time I’ve spent out here, it’s probably already lunch time. I can just multitask. Eat while play- I mean, eat while learning. Yes, that sounds about right. 

It shouldn’t take too long either. After all, how long does it take to hunt a single bunny? It’ll be quick. I’ll be back before supper. 

This’ll also be a good exercise to break free from Alex’s weakness. Even now, I can feel that lethargy, that hesitation, trying to bring me down. 

And so, I followed the unibunny as it traveled down the stream and we soon reached a river that ran almost perpendicular to the stream.  

The water in the river seemed rather deep. It was certainly too deep to be fed only by one lonely stream. What kind of river system did this river belong to? 

It was quite a long river, as well, because opposite of where the water was flowing, I saw the walls of what must have been the city of Arreti peeking over the horizon.  

The city so far away, but its walls stood tall enough for me to see. I would have liked to see what kind of place it was, but unfortunately, the unibunny was traveling away from it.  

Then again, its where Dahlia is currently staying, so it's probably better this way. 

When I turned back to the unibunny, however, I discovered that it had disappeared! My eyes scanned the surrounding forest for its bright white fur. I even ran at a full sprint along the river, but it was no use. I couldn’t find it. 

It was then that the chirping of birds gave reminded me of one more thing I could do. 

Similar to when I had used my magic to create a mirror and to fix and improve my clothes, I used not only the mana in the air, but also my body, to lift myself up into the sky. It didn’t come to me as easily as everything else, however. 

Whenever I manipulated mana, making it gather and disperse, I always remained stationary. Now that I was moving and also rising from the ground, I realized something about the mana around me.  

Mana emanated from the surface of the world itself and reached high up into the sky. Like an ocean of gas, most concentrated at its lowest levels and dissipating as it climbed in altitude. 

Perhaps it reached into space. I looked further up into the sky and wondered how high I could go, but I decided against it. I’ve been reckless enough for a good long while. 

I closed my eyes and felt myself slowly drift through the sky. I was just a small body of mana, surrounded by a vast ocean of it. When I accepted that, ‘flying’ became much easier. It was more natural, because you don’t fly through the ocean. You swim in it. Duh. 

I moved closer to the ground, strafing between trees and through branches, and I noticed that my flight through the air was surprisingly silent. Though, I suppose not needing wings to move through the sky does that. I wasn’t literally swimming through mana, either. It’s not as though I was propelling myself, with my limbs thrashing in water. 

As I passed over many of the forest’s animals, none of them knew I was nearby. It wasn’t until my shadow entered their sight that they jumped in fright, but that was easy enough to avoid. 

When I came upon a place where the river was bordered by an open field of tall, swaying grass, I caught sight of the unibunny, sitting down on the riverbank. Wary of my shadow, however, I didn’t fly straight towards it. 

I maneuvered around it in a way that kept me and my shadow away from its sight. It never got a chance to notice my presence. Not even as I hovered above it, watching and waiting. 

But still, how should I approach this? 

My railgun was pretty fast, but that speed also made it very loud. Won’t it use its reflexes, honed through years of surviving in the wild, to avoid it? Maybe it won’t be quick enough, but still, there’s a chance it might escape. 

I’m going to need to reduce the power of my shot if I take it, as well. I don't want it to explode into oblivion. It would be such a waste if I couldn’t eat it, at the very least. Though, if it remained largely intact, I might even be able to do something with the fur and horn. 

After all, it’s one of the most enchanting things I've seen so far. It’s bound to be exotic or something, right? There were deer and birds, but they were all completely normal things I’ve seen before. I mean, the unibunny is pretty much just a bunny, but at least it has a horn! 

It would be great if I could sell its parts, but wait. If I could sell it, couldn’t I make more with magic? Imagine all the profits I could make replicating various items and selling them. I could even make more of whatever they use as currency. 

I almost salivated onto the bunny below me, but I wiped my mouth in time. 

It’s probably not a good idea to just replicate items for sale and an even worse idea to just make money from almost thin air. I don’t want to be singlehandedly responsible for raising inflation in this world. Besides, it’s probably illegal. 

Hmm... 

As for the plants, maybe there were flowers or even mushrooms that could be used to make health potions or just potions in general, but I wouldn’t know. They all looked the same to me. I know Narses does stuff with potions. He should know the difference between magic mushrooms and psychedelic mushrooms, if there’s even a difference. Maybe even Alessa or Rose could tell me.  

I’m sure nobody would mind if I made potions more plentiful, since they’re could only be helpful. If not that, then I could even become I fucking super farmer. Oh! Maybe I could even be rewarded by some dryad to embiggen their forest. That seems fun. 

Are there even dryads? What kind of magical life exists in this world, anyway? I know there’s at least one other mage that uses magic, but everything has been horrifyingly normal. Oh well, it just makes the unibunny that much more unique. 

As I stared down at it, relaxing on the riverbank and licking itself, however, I couldn’t help but wonder why I bothered with waiting. How do hunters even hunt? It’s already sitting still. Is that the moment they wait for or do they wait for something else? 

Eh, I don’t care anymore. It’s good enough for me. 

With my index finger at the unibunny, however, I had a brilliant idea. I brought my hands forwards and I pointed both of my index fingers at the unibunny. Then, I brought my thumbs up and pointed them to the sky. They’re my finger guns! In hindsight, it’s a much better name than railgun. At least, it made a lot more sense. 

So anyway, I started blasting.