I managed to find a town, where I traded for a hunting knife, a compass, a map, a horse, and an introductory book about magic. This wasn't exactly easy, as I had to convince villagers to trade with a strange man who was covered in mud and only seemed to have family heirlooms instead of money.

Fortunately, I had kept my face relatively clean, and with my looks and my heart-wrenching story of being a noble young master who ran away from home, I was able to earn enough sympathy to override the suspicion. This did, however, completely bankrupt me.

Well, no matter. I had what I needed. I had almost entirely eaten through my several hour lead on the temple, and they would probably catch up to me soon if I didn't keep running.

To be fair, they hadn't done anything bad to me yet. It was really just my suspicions.

But I had no intention of sticking around to find out. I trusted my intuition. There would be time enough to talk to them later, when I had the power to defend myself.

I gathered ambient mana and channeled it into the horse to help it run faster. I hadn't time to read the entire introductory book, but I had flipped through it quickly and found that this was the safest way for a beginner to increase travel speed.

We ran through forests, rivers, and rocky terrain. I did what I could to slow down the trackers, but I knew it wouldn't be enough. My best bet was to get to a city governed by the Temple of Iron as soon as possible. From the information I had gathered, they were the political enemies of the Temple of Light, so the priestess should have a lot more trouble capturing me there.

I figured the odds of them telling the Temple of Iron about me were quite low. If I lost a nuke in a country I was at war with, the last thing I'd do is tell that country's government about it. I'd instead try to recover it quickly before they could get their hands on it.

The horse wasn't particularly healthy, but even so, with my mana reinforcing it (and some animal abuse) we managed to cover about two hundred kilometers in around two days before I decided the horse absolutely needed a night's rest.

I was exhausted, but I couldn't sleep yet. I started reading the introductory book of magic until I learned how to cast a few rudimentary spells: alarm, light, and heat.

Apparently it normally took months of specialized training to even feel mana, let alone cast anything, and the way to cast these three spells was described in far too much repetitive detail. They occupied a regrettably large part of the practical portion of the book.

Still, it was much better to be too talented than less skilled, so I wasn't unsatisfied. Besides, I truly was a complete beginner, so it didn't exactly hurt.

I was probably being too harsh, anyway. I highly doubted the book was intended as a crash course to be read on the run by fleeing fugitives, which was how I was using it. Perhaps I would find it more enjoyable if I were to read it in a warm bath with some scented candles.

I twisted the ambient mana into the alarm spell. It was a simple construction; it surrounded the area where my horse and I rested, and it would send me a jolt of mana if disturbed.

The Temple of Light probably had ways around it, but it was better than nothing. We had covered quite some distance and I needed to be functional in order to reach the border without getting caught.

Fortunately, I was the sort of person who only needed to sleep for a few hours a night.

Unfortunately, I felt the alarm go off a little past midnight. I jolted awake and saw a lovely young girl in clothing that was, let's just say, unsuitable for trekking through the wilderness. Suspiciously, she was completely clean, despite this being miles from any sort of road. She was holding some sort of glowing rock.

"Big brother, can you help me?" She grinned and asked in a cutesy voice.

I eyed her very warily.

"I don't know who you are, but please leave my campsite. If you want, we can talk in the morning."

The lively, adorable girl twisted a lock of her jet-black around a finger.

"Oh, come on, don't be like that," she pouted, looking at the man in front of her.

He truly was a stunner. Disheveled dark hair framed a pale face with beautiful features. His heavy-lashed eyes were the most startling shade of blue. He looked like some artist's masterpiece.

Seina was glad she brought a light. Her darkvision wouldn't have been enough to appreciate a man like this. Even before she had been sealed, she had rarely encountered someone with looks of his caliber. And his budding mana smelled incredibly pure and refreshing.

Right now, he was using those sharp eyes to glare at her in a way that sent shivers down her spine.

"I may look like this, but I'm really strong," Seina continued, winking at him, "I promise I'll definitely be extremely useful after my power is unsealed. And you seem like a really talented guy, so with your help, that will take no time. What do you say? This is a huge opportunity for you."

The man smiled in a friendly manner, but Seina was perceptive. She noticed the way his hand crept to the hunting knife on his belt and the way his legs tensed as he prepared to run. She was a bit surprised he was willing to lose the horse just to get away from her, but she supposed that such decisiveness was fitting for such a remarkably dashing man.

"I see you need some convincing," Seina said, and before he could move, she was on top of him, pinning down his limbs.

She knew very well that humans considered her current body to be incredibly good-looking. After all, she had sculpted it herself based on their ideals.

"No!" He shouted, "Get off me!"

His previously cold eyes were now flooded with emotion as he struggled. It was unimaginable how much more appealing his fiery expression made him.

Seina thought he was far more attractive than she originally realized. It set ablaze her desire to conquer him.

He might be acting angry at the moment, but Seina understood men. He would definitely forgive her by the time she was done. He'd probably even feel a sense of responsibility and attraction towards her.

In the worst case scenario, she'd claim she was drugged and not in control of her senses. She looked forward to the looks of guilt and longing she'd get from him in the future.

"Come now, don't be shy," Seina murmured. She pressed her lips to his and began to kiss him deeply.

Rage, horror, revulsion, and even fear coursed through my veins.

The girl was on top of me, holding me down, and forcing her tongue into my mouth. I couldn't move my jaw because of the way she was pressing her face to mine.

I tried strengthening my arms with mana to push her off, but she was too strong. All my struggling was met with her soft laughter.

If this was her sealed state, I dreaded what she would be like with her real strength.

Trying to push her off with force was an exercise in futility. I let the power go out of my arms. She seemed delighted by my apparent surrender and began to rub one of her legs against my genitals.

I couldn't suppress the shiver of fury and disgust, but she didn't seem to think anything of it. She stopped kissing me for a moment and started to reposition herself.

I would probably only have one chance. I would have to be extremely fast and precise. I didn't know if my mana control was good enough yet, but it felt like the magic in this place wanted to follow my will.

Hopefully, it would be enough.

As she moved to rub herself against me, her head tilted up, exposing her neck.

I focused mana in my jaws and almost instantaneously bit her in the throat, as hard as I could.

Shocked and bleeding heavily, she inadvertently loosened her hold on my arms. It was enough. Pouring all my strength into my arms, I grabbed my hunting knife and slashed at her neck.

She let go of me entirely and stumbled backwards. I scrambled off my back and followed her in close, rapidly stabbing her about forty times in her torso and head.

She looked like a horrifying mess of blood and tissue by the end of it, but she had claimed to be powerful. Even this much might not have been enough to put her down for good.

After she stopped struggling, I decapitated her. I did not want an angry, incredibly powerful monster (like she said she was) recovering and coming after me for revenge.

Later, I would burn the body. It would probably be like putting up a huge flag advertising my location to my pursuers, but I was not willing to take any chances of this thing reviving.

I spat and kicked her corpse.

"No. Means. No. You fucking bitch."