Boom!

Shortly after the first, I hear a second explosion reverberate through the city. At this point, I start getting worried. As quickly as I can, I make my way towards the source of the explosion.

'Hopefully no one's hurt...!'

Some people are running away from the sound, but even more people seem curious as they cautiously make their way towards it.

"Why have you done this!"

Just ahead of me, I see Mama Bloodcat holding up a man by his shirt, as she furiously shouts at him

"He- he was colluding with a criminal, he deserved it! We weren't doing anything wrong! It's your fault he-"

Not waiting for him to finish, Mama Bloodcat throws him at a nearby building, causing a third explosion to ring out. Beside the crater caused by the impact are two more craters, occupied by a man and a woman respectively. They are all in pretty bad shape, but they're still alive.

Mama seems appeased for now, as she bends down and picks up a limp body.

'Wait, that's Bark!'

I make my way through the crowd that's starting to form to Mama Bloodcat's side. As I look around at the destroyed stalls, I start piecing together the information, which is painting a rather nasty picture. I feel anger well up inside of me as I glare at the three people stuck in the wall, before turning my attention back to Bark.

"How is he?"

"He will not die. It will take him some time to heal, though."

"Oh, right! We could use tonic to-"

Mama shakes her head, "No, we must quickly leave this place before others get hurt because of me."

I glare at the perpetrators, "And them? Should we just kill them?"

"No. If we kill them, this town may be blamed for it. I do not wish to take that chance. Besides, they will not be able to harm anyone for quite some time."

I smack myself in the face a few times. Why was killing them the first thing that popped into my mind? Since when did I become so bloodthirsty?

Under Mama's confused gaze, I sigh, "Yeah, you're right."

Under the mixed gazes of the people surrounding us, Mama Bloodcat carries Bark to the local doctor's building. After stuffing an ample amount of quotes in the doctor's hands, she puts a handful of quotes in Bark's pockets, and then gives quotes to everyone whose property got damaged. She then picks me up and starts petting me while walking silently towards the edge of town.

Usually she doesn't pet me like this unless she's really happy or upset, and I'm pretty sure I know which one she's feeling. I'm not feeling great myself either honestly; not only did a friend get hurt because of us, I also feel like I'm slowly losing my humanity.

'Though I guess I'm not really human anymore.' I chuckle derisively at myself.

We make our way out of the city with an entourage of people following us. Some people have conflicted expressions on their faces, but everybody is so silent that it almost hurts.

The silence continues until we've already started down the road leading to the next city.

"Hey, outta my way! Move! Come on!"

Behind us, Bark starts pushing his way through the crowd, which has stopped in a line at the edge of the city. As soon as he gets to the front, he limps a few steps farther, then stops and just glares at us. After a few seconds, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out the money Mama gave to him, and then tares it in half.

"Do you really think I want your money?! Those punks were going on about how you were a criminal and a murderer, and maybe you are, who cares?! Whatever you did, you had a reason to do it, didn't you?"

He huffs and puffs for a few seconds, before continuing, more calmly this time.

"We're friends, right? Can't you at least say goodbye before you leave? And I want you to remember that you can always return here, okay? Right everyone?!"

A woman who runs a stall right beside Bark's, which also got destroyed earlier, buries her hand in her pocket and removes some notes, proceeding to violently tear them up into several pieces, "Sorry for not saying anything earlier, of course you can come back whenever you want! None of us blame you for what happened!"

The next person to speak up is Tana, the woman who lead us to Bark's house when we first came here, "Hey guys, thanks for all you did here! Wherever you go, make sure to stay safe, okay?"

A couple more stall owners take the money Mama gave them and start ripping it up, as more and more people start shouting goodbye, agreeing that we can come back whenever we want.

Mama wipes a tear from the corner of her eye, "Goodbye everyone, and I am sorr... no, I am happy! I wish you all the best."

I watch the waving crowd of people slowly disappear in the distance. It's a heartwarming display, but somehow, it feels like it would have been easier to leave if they had hated us. I just feel so many emotions flowing through me. I'm happy because they treat us so well, I'm sad because we have to leave... but the thing I feel most right now is anger. I'm angry at those three that attacked the town, I'm angry at this stupid country, and most of all I'm angry at myself.

"How come even now that I'm this strong, I still let people get hurt? What's the use..." I mumble to myself.

Mama Bloodcat lifts me up in front of her and looks at me seriously, "You are very strong, but I am stronger. And I have no doubt that there are many beings much stronger than I; for If there is one thing that I have learned throughout my life, it is that there is always somebody more powerful than yourself. To protect others, the best way is to help them get stronger. And to protect yourself, you must constantly get stronger! Please, Lyna, never be satisfied with your strength. Never become complacent. Always strive to better yourself, and if you care for someone, strive to better them as well, if they are willing."

She grins at me, "And sometimes, even if they are not."

Her words hit me like a ton of bricks. It makes sense, I mean it's not like I can protect someone constantly. Helping them get stronger seems like a much better long-term solution. And protecting myself... I think I'm starting to understand the way this world works. When I was in the forest, I wasn't that surprised by creatures attacking me; rather, with my knowledge of animals on earth, I expected it. But humans seem to be practically the same. The strong prey on the weak, and if they're strong enough, they get away with it. I mean, I guess earth was similar in some ways, but most people had to be more subtle about it at least.

I look up at Mama Bloodcat, whose knowledge of this world, as well as her wisdom, both far surpass my own, I feel.

"Okay, I promise. If I really care about someone, I'll help them get stronger, and I'll try not to get too complacent."

"Ha!"

I try a feint, but the attack is repelled just as easily as every other. Twisting my body in midair, I land smoothly on the ground and go in for another attack.

Once again, I'm repelled with a wave of a hand, but this time I don't wait until I hit the ground. I directly kick the air, sending myself speeding back at Mama Bloodcat. She seems shocked by my sudden move, and quickly pushes her hand forward. She uses more force this time, sending me toppling painfully to the ground.

"Lyna, are you alright?!" she asks, as she runs over and picks me up.

I look at her smugly, "Haha, almost gotcha that time!"

"Yes, you did. How did you do that? I thought that you cannot fly."

"Yeah, my soul's not strong enough to help me fly, but I've found that if I concentrate it in a small area, I can jump off of it in midair! It's kinda hard to do, though."

"That is a very interesting idea."

"Yeah, I think so too, hehe. Just wait, sometime I'm going to get you!"

Mama smiles, "I sincerely hope so."

After Mama's speech the other day, I asked her if we could spar sometimes. She didn't understand what it meant at first, but once I explained it to her, she seemed very approving of the idea. Since then, we have been sparring every day.

Sometimes she lets me attack her while she defends, occasionally giving me tips, and sometimes she attacks me and lets me defend. She holds back of course, as to not hurt me too badly, but I still wind up with a lot of bruises.

She says that sparring is good for her as well, because it helps her control her qi better. Apparently, she hasn't had enough experience fighting since entering Qi Expulsion.

And so with our daily sparring done with, we continue on to the next city, Strodens. Well, Mama continues on her way to the next city while holding me.

It seems like this Strodens might be a big city. The original dirt road that we were traveling on linked up with this huge road that we're on now, which looks almost as nice as modern roads back on Earth. Along the way, more dirt and cobblestone roads started connecting to this one, which led to more travelers and merchants.

Most of them I've seen seem pretty unfriendly, though. Almost all of the groups have a significant amount of guards, who tend to look menacingly at passersby, and especially so at me it seems.

"Mama, what are you doing?"

Currently, we're at the bottom of a grassy hill at the edge of a forest. We're supposed to be going to sleep for the night, but Mama Bloodcat is just sitting there, staring at the forest.

"There are people." she says, pointing at the forest.

I look suspiciously at the forest, and am about to scan it with my soul, when I hear someone start clapping.

"You have good senses! Sadly, you have no common sense. What are you doing way out here all by yourself?"

A roguish looking man walks out of the forest while slow clapping, followed by several brutish looking men and women. It honestly looks like a scene straight out of a movie.

"I am not alone." replies Mama, pointing at me.

The man is momentarily stunned, and then amends, "I meant you are the only human."

Mama shakes her head, "I am not actually human. She used to be human, though." she says, pointing at me again.

I see all of the people's brows furrow almost simultaneously.

"Mama, you have the best ways of phrasing things." I laugh.

A muscular woman steps forward impatiently, "Come on boss, just give the demands."

The roguish man shakes his head, "Right. So you can give us all of your valuables and be on your way, or we can beat you up and then steal your valuables. Or, you can join us and keep everything you have."

I hear several people shout 'boss' at the same time, as a man shouts over the top of everyone, "That last one's not supposed to be part of it!"

"Shut up! She could be useful to-"

The man is interrupted as Mama interjects, "So you want to beat us up? Not kill us?"

The roguish man, the apparent leader of their group, responds, "Of course we don't want to kill you. If people started showing up dead, the local authorities would clamp down on security, and nobody wants that."

Mama smiles, "Then I will not kill you."

We wind up having to move camp, since sleeping around a bunch of beat up, unconscious people is surprisingly hard.