I slept surprisingly well, considering the situation I was in. I half-expected to be tossing and turning for most of the night over my concern for my friends and the possibility that I might not get back to them soon, or at all. I was worried about that; but, it didn't seem like a huge deal at the moment. That thought made me wake up fully and think about it. I went over my thoughts and I couldn't find any outside influence on my mind, so I had to assume that whatever happened to me that sent me here had given me a compulsion of some kind.

I didn't try to fight it, because if I started to obsess over it, all I would manage to do is give myself extra stress about it. Like Maylia had reminded me, I can't give up my hopes until I reach the capital of this country and find out for myself if there is any technology to be had. I had to wait until then before I start freaking out about everything that's happened so far. I felt someone move through my detection range and come up the stairs, and I looked to see a young woman knock on the first room.

They said something and moved across the hall to the other door and knocked and spoke, then moved back across the hall to our door and knocked. “Breakfast.” She didn't wait for a response and moved on down the hall and knocked on the other doors.

“Ugh.” Maylia said and lifted her head to look at me. “It's morning already?”

“Didn't you sleep well?” I asked.

“I was sleeping well.” Maylia said and put her head back down on my chest and closed her eyes.

“Do we want to miss breakfast?” I asked, and she sighed.

“No, I guess we shouldn't.” Maylia said and reluctantly sat up. “I'd rather stay in bed; but, we need to eat and get going if we want to make it to the harbour by noon.”

I reached up and cupped the side of her face. “There's no rush. We'll have two weeks to rest on the boat ride to the capital.”

“We're actually taking a ship?” Maylia asked, surprised. “I thought we were just getting there as a destination point to head in the right direction to the capital.”

“I was going to, because I wouldn't mind running all the way just for the exercise, then I figured we could find some kind of transport instead.” I said and sat up myself. “There's no real reason to exhaust ourselves by going there in a rush.”

We got up and picked out a normal outfit to wear to breakfast. I wasn't stupid enough to leave our things in the room and packed everything we had into the bag of holding, except for my blast shield. That I put on and covered in solid Presence to make it look like it was embedded into my skull.

“That is so odd.” Maylia said and touched it. “It even feels like it's attached.”

“It actually is now.” I said and she dragged her fingers down my cheek to my chin, held it for a moment, then let go. “That's why Ari and Nita struggled to try and get it off.”

“You need to choose to let it come off?” Maylia asked, and I nodded. “Who else has seen your eyes without that in the way?”

“Only a few people since I started wearing it.” I said. “I don't normally take it off for just anyone.”

Maylia gave me a brief smile and then we left the room to go downstairs for breakfast. A few people were there at the small tables, including Hoquan and his family.

“I see you made it out of bed in once piece and... what in the seven hells is that thing on your face?!?” Hoquan exclaimed as he saw the blast shield and everyone in the inn turned and looked at me. Several women gasped and a young girl serving food dropped a plate. It didn't break.

“Hoquan!” Margaret whacked him on the shoulder. “That's not nice to point out!”

“Dammit, woman!” Hoquan rubbed his shoulder. “He's disfigured and it surprised me, all right?”

“Now you know why I wear the cloaked hood all the time.” I said. “How's the food?”

“It's great because it's free.” Hoquan said with a chuckle. “I'd pay a copper for the family to eat here, if they served food to non-guests.”

“Considering your wife's cooking, that's high praise.” I said, and Margaret's face flushed red. I held a chair out at the next table for Maylia, and she sat with poise.

“Hey, no making time with my wife.” Hoquan said and laughed as I sat down near him. “She's got all the man in her life that she can handle right now.”

“Hoquan!” Margaret said as her face went a brighter red.

“Don't be embarrassed, Ma'am.” I said, intentionally giving her the high society label in public. “I know he means you've devoted yourself to him completely and that means a man like me wouldn't have a chance with you.”

Everyone's attention shifted from me to her, and her whole face turned blood red and she ducked her head in embarrassment. The young girl that dropped the plate came over to our table with two plates of food and stood between me and Hoquan's table as she stared at my face.

I reached up and tapped the blast shield with my finger. “Yes, it's metal.”

“How can you see?” She asked. “Is it magic?”

“I've trained myself to see without my eyes.” I said, and she gasped. “Even though I'm not looking at him, I can see that Joquim is sneaking a bun from the bowl on his table to save for later.”

Everyone's eyes shifted to Joquim and saw that he had a bun half-tucked into his pants pocket. Mumbles started as people discussed how I could have seen it, since the girl stood between our tables.

“Are your buns that good?” I asked with a smile. She looked to be about fifteen years old and her body was only slightly developed, and yet she completely understood my innuendo and her face flushed red.

“Hey, don't be teasing my girls.” A woman came over with glasses of water for us. “She's only fifteen and is too young for adult games, anyway.”

“I had my seventeenth birthday a couple of weeks ago.” I said and she dropped the two glasses in shock. I easily caught them with Presence Hands and put them on the table. Complete silence met my words and my actions.

“You're really only seventeen?” Maylia asked, shocked.

“Yeah.” I said. “I had a huge growth spurt when I turned fifteen and now I'm about six feet tall.”

“And muscled.” The young girl said before she could stop herself. The basic pants and shirt I wore didn't hide much of my physique like the uniform did, so when I moved, you could see a lot more of my muscles.

“I've been training for most of my life.” I said.

“It really shows.” The woman said, and I was a little surprised she didn't question my age. “I saw the creatures you caught for the mayor.”

“We all have.” The young girl said.

“Are they cleaning them out and hanging them in the town square like Gill said?” I asked and started to eat. Hoquan was right and the food was actually pretty good. Maylia stared at me for a few more moments, then she started to eat as well.

“No, they're trying to figure out how to get the blacksmith and the leather worker to cooperate to make armor plates out of them.”

I smiled my understanding. “They compete for business a lot, don't they?”

“Like an old married couple that hates each other.” The woman barked a laugh.

“I'm sure they'll work something out, especially if there's money to be made by both of them.” I said.

“True, true.” She nodded, then glanced at her daughter that still stood there staring at me. “There are other tables.”

“Hm?” The girl looked at her mother in confusion, then she kind of jumped. “I'll go check them!”

When the girl walked away, the woman bent close to me to whisper. “I don't want any adventurer playing with her, even if you are close to her age. Understand?”

“You have my word.” I whispered back. “I was surprised she was smart enough to understand what I meant, actually.”

The woman squinted her eyes at me and looked like she was about to get angry.

“Don't misunderstand.” I whispered. “I meant she's very intelligent, especially at her age, to pick up on the implications.”

The woman's face smoothed over and she stood up straight. “So are you.”

“I've had to be to survive.” I said and glanced at Maylia. “My knowledge is still severely lacking, so I've recruited some help to compensate.”

“You are still a child.” Maylia said and sighed a little. “I'll do what I can.”

I turned my head and looked at the woman. “Where can we get clothes washed or wash them ourselves?”

“Just use the tub before you drain it.” The woman said. “Or leave the tub and we'll drain it when we clean the room at noon.”

“I assume that's the checkout time.” I said, and she nodded. “Thank you.”

She walked away and I finished eating breakfast, as did Maylia, and I bid Hoquan and his family a good day. They waved as we left the dining room and we went up the stairs to our room. We had about five hours to wash and dry our clothes that needed it, so I took them out of the bag of holding and Maylia and I soaped them up and scrubbed them while my uniform and her leather armor were hung on the chairs to air out.

We hung the wet clothes on the line above the tub where I thought the shower curtain was missing or something, and it was actually a line for hanging wet clothes after washing them in the tub. After we hung them up to dry, Maylia reminded me about the massage she needed. She stripped off and seemed a little distant, so when she laid down on the bed and started to instruct me on the proper technique to use, I took the opportunity to confront her when she was done talking.

“You're upset that I'm so young, aren't you?” I asked and started doing what she instructed.

Maylia sighed and nodded. “Men aren't considered for child bearing until they are over fifty, even if they show unnatural abilities.”

“Would it help if I told you I was eighteen when I died the first time?”

“Wh-wh-WHAT?!?”

“I was born on a planet called Earth, lost my parents before I even knew them, then grew up in an orphanage.” I said. “That's a place for parentless children.”

Maylia stared at me with wide eyes and her mouth slightly open.

“I lived a normal life for eighteen years, then I was kidnapped and tortured for months.” I said and used a mental technique so that I wouldn't have those thoughts and experiences going through my mind and kept busy working over the pink creases in her skin. “Then I was killed.”

Maylia didn't say anything in response, so I continued.

“I was reborn to my parents, Aida and Lokend, who were on the run from an organization called The Order. I loved them and lived with them for four years, until they were caught and killed. I was taken to The Order's home world against my will and trained to become one of their agents for seven years.”

Maylia was listening to me intently at this point, so I kept going.

“I met Lashina then, when they took my caregiver away and I destroyed where I had lived. I graduated from their program a year later, four years early, and they wouldn't let me leave.” I said. “That's when Kara showed up and declared herself my 'master'.”

“N-no.” Maylia said and sat up to take my hand.

“I was treated as a servant and taught by her for four more years until my sixteenth birthday.” I said. “Of course, I had been telling them the whole time I hated the organization and that I would never join, so instead of giving me the coming of age ceremony to make me an adult, they tried to send me on a dangerous mission to have me killed instead.”

“Tell me you killed them all.” Maylia said, her eyes full of anger.

“I was about to, then I found out my property was stolen and I had to coerce them to tell me how to get them back.” I said. “I gave my word that I would let them go if they told me, and they did.”

“Being a good man hurt you that time.” Maylia said, quite accurately, and I nodded.

“It took me a year to track down who I needed to find, met up with Lashina and celebrated my birthday with her for a week, then left her and confronted the man and killed him.” I said. “I thought my task was done, then Kara showed up and we fought.”

“With the artifacts.” Maylia said, and I nodded.

“She was... really powerful.” I said, disappointed. “I had been overconfident and thought she had shown me everything she could do, and I was proven a fool. She tossed me around and played with me, then ran me through with her weapon.”

Maylia gasped and gripped my hand tightly.

“That's why I thought I was dead.” I said and pointed the the spot. “Imagine that round hole in the tree through here. I woke up in the protection tree, and you pretty much know the rest.”

Maylia pulled me to her and gave me a kiss on the lips. She only held it for a moment and pulled away slightly, then she laid down and pulled me down on top of her. It was my turn to cuddle into her chest and she held me for quite some time. Neither of us spoke as we laid there and let the time pass us by.

After a while and without a word, we both got up and checked our things. They were dry for the most part, so I used Presence to isolate the water and pulled it out of the slightly damp cloth. Maylia wasn't surprised as the excess water dropped into the tub and I handed her things to her. We both changed out of our normal outfits and put on our fighting uniforms. I finished faster, since she had so many laces to do up, and I helped tie her into her thick leather armor.

I used a slight bit of Presence over certain spots to ease the chafing of the armor and to stop it from digging in, then helped her put on the thick leather top and tied her into that as well. As I did so, I had the bright idea to make cups for her breasts out of Presence and made them solid. She caught her breath as her breasts were enveloped and she looked down at them.

“I didn't like those pinkish crease lines.” I said and she raised her eyebrows at me. “It's not armor; but, it will stop your armor from digging in like it does.”

Maylia nodded and we strapped her breastplate on, then attached her arm bracers and slipped on her boots and tied them. With that done and both of us dressed with our weapons on our hips, we put on our cloaks and raised the hoods to cover our heads. I let the water out of the tub, stored our other clothes and nightgowns into the bag of holding, then we left the room. We went down the stairs and stopped at the desk, and the woman from breakfast was behind it.

“Thanks for the tip about washing clothes.” I said and put several copper coins on the counter. “Have a nice day.”

She looked at the coins and then at me. “But... but you could stay here for...”

“You can pretend we are if you want to.” I said with one of my best smiles and she stopped talking. I took Maylia's hand and walked out of the inn. We didn't have to look around to see where to go, since we had looked all around the town the day before, so we walked right over to the edge of town that led to the road to take us to the harbour about eighty or so miles away. Some of the townspeople waved or said hello as we passed them, and a few minutes later, we came to the guard house on that side of town.

“If you see any more monsters, take care of them for us!” The guard said from the roof.

“As long as you can pay!” I said back, and he laughed because he knew we had spent most of the bounty in the town already.

When we were far enough away, I started to teach Maylia how to properly use her energy to share in the Mana Presence Run technique. She listened attentively and asked the right questions when I thought she didn't understand, and her ability to share and boost our combined energy increased by a significant margin. When we ran, we were that much faster, and that made her very happy.

“So, does this mean you don't hold my age against me anymore?” I asked.

“You are a reincarnated soul and have been granted a new life by divine intervention.” Maylia said, her voice full of confidence and resolve. “I've heard your story and know it to be true, so I can only praise god for having a hand in everything you've done.”

“I've done some bad things, too.” I said. “I was a bounty hunter and...”

“It doesn't matter.” Maylia said. “You are a good man even after everything you've been through.” She said and then she smiled. “Thirty five isn't that far from fifty.”

That last comment made me laugh and she laughed, too. We ran for a good portion of the day to reach the harbour, and I was surprised that a boat ride to the capital was only a little more expensive than sleeping in an inn for the night, even though it was a two week trip. When I asked how much their best cabin was, the woman at the desk told me. I paid it without even haggling, and she practically jumped over the desk to hug me.

She took us out to the ship and said it was leaving right after supper and introduced us to the captain. We were going to be eating at his table apparently, and he was more than happy to hear that. He had a deckhand show us to our room and it was huge by comparison to the inn.

“Okay, I could get used to this.” I said and sat on the bed.

“This isn't a pleasure trip.” Maylia said. “We're going to the capital because...”

“Hold on. Who said this wasn't a pleasure trip?” I asked and took off my blast shield.

“Hunter, I just assumed that...”

“I've got you pretty much all alone on a ship for two whole weeks, with nothing to do except spend the time with you.” I said with a smile and held a hand out to her. “Why would you think I wouldn't enjoy that?”

“I...” Maylia stopped talking and walked over to me. I stood up and she took my hand. I turned her around and sat her down on the bed, then eased her back to lay down. I took a step away, then tried to step forward and intentionally tripped over my own foot. She let out a little squeal of surprise and caught me with open arms and held me steady.

“Oh, look. I tripped and fell on top of you.” I said, and that made her remember what I said when I carried the first creature's carcass to the town.

Maylia had to smile at that. “You did say you would make sure to do it later.”

“And you said you couldn't catch me.” I said and looked into her eyes for several moments. As if on cue, she licked her lips in anticipation, so I couldn't let her wait any longer and kissed her.