The next day in the morning after a peaceful sleep on a tree branch I am headed back to the city.

I have hunted a few more monsters yesterday, including two Stone Beasts, though one of them weak, another smaller Amphice and a monster known as Beisvart or Black Beast, which looks like a repulsive, oversized cat of two meters in length. It has black fur, hence the name, large jaws with long teeth and slim body with four clawed legs and long, flexible tail. It is very strong though, firmly into Rank D- and closing to D, and its soul was even a bit larger than that of the first Stone Beast.

There were also a few slimes and zombies, but nothing noteworthy, though it might be worth mentioning they were stronger than in the sewers. Not to the point I would need to spare them any attention. I was just coming close to them and pulling their souls out.

The earnings from these guys should reach over four large silver, so it’s a large profit. Huge even comparing to what Laura is earning, which is between half and two silver a day depending on various circumstances. It’s a given though considering that she can only use the stones she collects on missions in the refining formations and is forbidden from selling them. I am not sure why they have made it to be this way in the Hunter’s Guild, likely for the simple reason of lack of money, and they are just paying her for her missions. I haven’t discounted whatever less she earns due to Murky though.

With that said, what I am doing is a very dangerous job. While it would be almost impossible for me to die having Natria around, normally one major injury out in the forest would spell practically certain death unless you have a biomancer or healer around. Laura has told me that it is common for Xana, the biomancer of her team, to be the most exhausted one after the mission after healing the team repeatedly after each encounter with a stronger enemy.

It is not without a reason that over ninety percent of free hunters die within a few years after starting going out to the forest. That’s also probably one of the reasons why Laura didn’t choose to be a free hunter despite much higher potential profits. Dead have no profits after all.

On the other hand though, my Mana Core has passed the third threshold, becoming more vibrant green with a tinge of blue, and has just reached my soul’s size. This is the main reason why I am going back to the city now.

I was quite tired after fighting the four monsters so I decided to rest in the trees while learning to control my mana among a few other things.

At first Natria was guiding my mana forcefully, which was a bit uncomfortable, and I was doing my best to grab it all and follow the same pattern she showed me as she was loosening her control. The mana was going into various parts of my body, circling neatly through it, at least when it was Natria doing the job, and then into half of the tentacles of my soul. Then rotating around the eye like a cyclone and entering Mana Core. After that it was guided through other half of the tentacles on the top of the eye and at last flowing out.

It took me a few hours actually to properly grasp how it should flow through my whole body and guide it by myself, and even then at very slow speed and with a lot of mistakes. But it was worth the effort, because it made my body energized as I never felt before. Though saying ‘energized’ might not be right word for that, since I felt no urge to move and wasn’t restless, but it was just the feeling of having energy to spare, like after a peaceful night and good breakfast, and when I tried running on the trees I was much more concentrated and was tiring slower.

And that feeling was simply incomparable to making my mana spin in circles like before, because even with my weak control over my mana and poor precision of the movement it was flowing much more smoothly thanks to following a pattern where there is less resistance both from body and soul.

My stronger Mana Core has also helped with that significantly, making my control over mana better overall. Natria also mentioned that the next level of Mana Core will be when I almost reach Laura’s soul size and at this point there will be a large change to it.

As a side note, I have wrapped my chest with a meter long, thin leaves that Natria has cast a peculiar spell on, making it feel and look similar to bandage or thin cloth. She explained it as removing the liquids and unnecessary elements from plant’s insides while preserving its structure and texture and preventing it from rotting or drying up.

Anyway, I used them to wrap my chest, maybe not making it look quite right, but much more decent considering the alternative was exposing my chest. I also wrapped them over my thighs and waist and feet following Natria’s advice.

So, as I walk to the gates of Bluesky, watching the dull, gray walls grow closer in my eyes. There is a huge gate in the wall, almost ten meters tall and even wider, but it is usually closed and only two doors one to two meters large are open, one letting people in and the other out of the city. There are no people going in at this time in the morning, but there are quite a lot of hunters venturing to the forest.

Had this been eastern or western gate there would also be some merchants leaving the city, but the northern gate is used almost only by hunters since it opens straight at the forest, and the only road there is a trail made by hunters.

I approach the gate slowly, attracting a fair bit of attention since I am coming back from the forest early in the morning and I absolutely don’t look like a person who would survive a whole night in the forest.

As I walk directly to the door I notice one of the guards looking at me with mouth and eyes wide open in what seems to be astonishment.

“You’re… please show the hunter’s token.” – He asks.

I do as he says, fishing out the bronze token from my cloak and showing him, but I open my eyes wide as I notice it lighting up in red.

“What?” – I mutter with surprise.

{Ooops, I forgot about it, please wait a second.} – Natria says, releasing a bit of her mana into the token which lights up with green light a moment later.

I wiggle my eyebrows and chuckle at Natria’s intervention, then show the token to the guards once again as they look at me with expressions saying they have no idea what just happened but it shouldn’t be anything bad.

“Eh, well, I guess it’s good?” – The second one says uncertainly, turning to his colleague.

“Yeah, should be. I have also seen the lass going out a few days back and she was fine.” – The first replies. – “I am honestly surprised you came out after this time. Most first-timers would be goners after, what, five days? Inside the forest.” – He adds, turning towards me and stepping to the side to let me through.

I take a good look at his face while walking between the two.

He looks to be a young man with plain face with a large scar through his left eye, though the eye itself is fine, and with short bluish hair.

“Oh, you were there when I was going out.” – I recognize the guy who looked like he wanted to stop me from going to the forest. – “You looked like you didn’t want me to die back then.” – I smile cheekily while raising my eyebrows, showing him my face.

“Eh, that I did.” – He answers a bit embarrassed. – “No offense, but you don’t look like a person who would survive out there.”

“Well, do I?” – I say, tilting my head. – “I certainly will.”

I flash him a grin and turn around, walking into the city, overhearing a conversation behind me.

“Say, man, what’s the deal with her? You look strange.”

“You haven’t seen her face, did you?”

“No, why?”

“She looks beautiful like a princess, and has completely red, long hair. That’s not how a young free hunter should look, especially this face.”

“You sure you’re not just in love?”

…

‘Say, Natria, what’s the deal with that token?’ – I ask along the way.

{Eeeh~.} – She stretches her voice as if in complaint. – {I hadn’t checked how this token works so I didn’t realize the change in your mana at each level of Mana Core will make the token unable to recognize it. I just fixed that back there to make it recognize your new mana.}

‘Oh, okay.’ – I nod, smiling wryly. – ‘Gave me quite a scare to be honest.’

I have no idea what would happen to a person using a token belonging to other hunter, but at the very best it would end as unpleasant misunderstanding and I wouldn’t be surprised if they punished me for that in some way.

I walk through the commoner’s district briskly and reach the slums when it’s still morning. As I am turning around the corner I spot Geil going out if the building with Ned following just behind.

They both turn to me with surprise, though only one continues showing it as Ned smiles faintly and nods towards me. Geil though opens his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, gets slightly flushed, and shakes his head.

I always took him as the more composed one.

Is he perhaps…? Well, no matter for now. No plans in this direction.

“Heya~! Is Laura inside?” – I ask, approaching them.

“Eh, no, she went to the guild literally five minutes ago.” – Geil replies, regaining his composure.

“Mu, no matter then, I’ll find her later. Do you want the magic stones now, Geil?”

“Um, I am going to the commoner’s district now, so I can take them. How many do you have?”

I drop my head slightly and fake a disappointed voice. – “Only twenty or so. I hoped for more to be honest.” – Then I reach into the pouch, taking out all the stones at once and showing them.

And making Ned suck in a deep breath and Geil stop in the middle of reaching for a sack with jaw dropping.

He looks a few times between me and the stones of worth he can easily estimate to be in large silver coins. Three large grey from Stone Beasts, two bluish green, similar in size from Amphices, one even larger from the Beisvart and many smaller ones, but majority still larger than that of ordinary zombies, including eight colorless from wolves. Even the ten percent that go to him will be somewhere close to all I have given him before.

Geil finally regains his voice after five seconds. – “This, you, you got all this alone?”

“Yep.” – I grin. – “And there will be only more~.”

Geil sighs lightly and finally takes out the pouch into which I drop all the stones.

“Say, Nea, you are not really normal?” – Ned asks bluntly with a wry smile. – “Even Laura often earns less, hm?”

“Eeeh~, it might appear this way, but it’s not so simple. First of all she can’t sell the mana stones she gets on missions, but she gets to use the refining formations that make her stronger. And then it’s a dangerous job to fight monsters out there without a biomancer or healer, you know?” – I pull my cloak aside to show the two what appears like a bandage on my chest through the huge hole in my vest, making them both gasp in surprise. – “A few days back I got a wound from here to here.” – I track my finger from my collarbone to my lower ribs, just below my left boob that seems to make Geil particularly nervous, where I was cut lightly by one of the wolves. – “It is mostly healed now, but such things hurt like hell. I would be dead meat already if not for my spirit.”

It’s mostly a bluff obviously, since I have no wound here, but I can’t show him the wound on my stomach that Natria has already healed completely. And I don’t want them both to have any weird ideas about registering in the Hunter’s Guild themselves. Well, maybe not Geil, he wants to be a merchant either way, but Ned definitely.

“Ekhm, you said you have some kind of regeneration before, right?” – Geil asks after a moment, nodding his head somewhat worriedly and hiding a blush that crept up his face.

“Yeah, but it was my spirit who saved me this time. Additionally, I don’t have any equipment I would need to repair apart from clothes and she can make food for me in the forest so that I don’t need to buy it in the city, so it’s another thing I don’t have to pay for.”

“Right. Well, good to see you in one piece.” – He nods with a smile. – “You are here for Laura, or…?”

“Her too, but since she isn’t here I’ll let Yana know I am back and find Laura later.”

Geil bites his lip nervously at that and his eyes swim to the side.

“Hm? Is there something wrong?”

“Eh…” – Geil scratches his head.

“If it’s about Yana, you should visit her.” – Ned says with a frown. – “She was in bad mood lately and didn’t want to come out, and she didn’t want to tell anyone the issue.”

“I don’t think it’s something very serious, but it’s still bad enough to visibly affect her behavior, so it worries me. Maybe you can help.” – Geil adds after him.

“Hm, sure, if I can.” – I nod, frowning at the news. – “Is she inside?”

“Yeah, I think so.” – Geil replies.

“Well, I’ll be going then. Good trades.” – I pass by them both, waving, and open the door with worry in my heart.

““See you later.””

If it was about any other kid in our group I wouldn’t be half as worried as I am now, but in Yana’s case such thing will be almost guaranteed to have to do with her claws or with sucking blood from others. And both can bring her enough trouble if used untimely or in front of wrong person to make her traumatized for some time, especially since she seems to have had bad past.

Alternatively she could have encountered some problem with her bloodsucking she doesn’t want to admit to Laura or others.

Either way I should pay her a visit.

I go through the door and look inside, noticing Angelin sitting by the table with Van and Rovio.

“Hello~.” – I greet them.

“Hm? Oh, hello.” – Angelin turns to me, surprised, and replies with a smile. – “Did everything go well in the forest?”

“Yeah, it went good. I just gave Geil the mana stones to sell. I heard from them that Yana is in bad mood?”

“…Mhm.” – She nods with bitter expression. – “One time, two days ago in the evening I think, she came back from the market all down and nervous, and she stays like that since then, not leaving her room except for meals and work. I have no idea what happened though.”

“Hm, I wanted to check on her…?” – I leave the question unsaid.

“Sure, she should be in the basement in the rightmost room.” – Angelin says with a faint, appreciating smile.

“Okay, we’ll talk later if you want.” – I go down the flop in the floor after waving to the kids.

I automatically walk to the room Angelin mentioned since I remember its position very well and knock on the door. There is no response after a long while even after another knock.

“I’m coming in.”

I peer the door open and look inside with worry, noticing Yana sitting in her bed and just turning around with surprised expression on her face.

“N-nea? W-why are you here?” – She backs away and asks in a frightened voice and with expression twisted with fear and anxiety, instantly making me realize that something is wrong.

Very wrong.

And I am sure I know the culprit.

I am immediately hit with a crashing waves of shock, regret, anger and fury, and none directed at Natria and Laura for instigating Murky, but at the perpetrator himself. Because I would have never thought he would be so inhumane to cause permanent damage to a child’s spirit for some power and knowledge he isn’t even sure he can get, not to mention that child is my sister as it is me he wants to steal it from.

My face darkens, I clench my fists tightly and the mana flow within my body shakes as I almost lose control over it.

‘Natria.’ – I say, knowing she will know what I mean.

{Yes. It will take time though. I need to be careful here not to harm her even more, so she will be fine within one day.} – She says with restrained anger and releases a spell on Yana’s spirit. – {We can go now, she will heal.}

‘Good.’

“Sorry, Yana, I’ll be back soon.” – I say, barely restraining fury in my voice, and turn around, closing the door behind me slowly, then hiss to no one in particular in a low voice dripping with anger and promise of retribution. – “You are dead, Murky.”