I did not get the chance to rest until later that evening when Kwah had picked out a location for us to set up camp. Kwah was an interesting person. Her eyes were a bold yellow with a circular pupil. As I thought about it, I began to realize that human eyes were a minority in this world. Even Nan’s eyes were not like mine, rather almost completely bronze with only a hint of white along the edges.

Beyond the eyes, Kwah’s face form was rather human. She had a beaked nose, but that was the only notable feature of her face. Her hair shimmered if the light caught it, reflecting as if wet. In the rush to exit, I did not get the opportunity to really interact with her, but once we left the walls she disappeared into the foliage. I caught sight of her once when she was warning Bastar about something. She resided on a branch I would have sworn could not have supported her, swaying with the breeze. As she left, I watched as none of the branches she landed on seemed to bend under her mass. And while I will not call her a large woman, I would say that a twig should not support a fully grown adult.

Bastar led the way, somehow knowing where we were going. If he talked to Kwah more than the one time I saw, I would have no idea. He prowled through the foliage, barely making a sound. But no matter what, he made sure that we knew where to go. Often it was simple enough for him to remain within eyesight. I only got lost once when I tripped. I fell off the path, rolling down a small landing. As I looked up, I would have sworn I was alone in the woods. As I looked up, the only person I could see was Nan. When she helped me up that I noticed she was not as stealthy as the rest of our party.

Nan was interesting. Her head was teardrop-shaped, with a long nose and large ears. But she kept a constant smile, often matching my own. She moved with care, but without fear. Where Kwah was a ghost and Bastar moved swiftly, Nan endured. If I were not terrible in the woods, I imagined the only sound I would have heard is from her feet crushing everything underneath them. No matter how often I slipped or tripped, she was there to help me up. Even as I worked to get back to the proper path, she walked the incline as if it was flat ground.

Heather did not walk with us. I believe due to her nature; she was more at home moving through the plants. And I mean that literally. Heather seemed to morph into whatever plant it was fern, tree, grass. I would expand, but that is my extent of plant lore. Every so often, I would catch her mid-movement. Her hand would form from a leaf to touch a leaf on a different plant before she would get sucked into it. Due to how many ferns littered our paths, her path was the least obstructed of all.

I only tried to speak once, and that was to ask about a road. When we had left the southernmost gate, the road ended less than a stone’s throw from the wall. I figured the soldiers would have burnt the tree line back to get a better line of sight. Instead, the jungle seemed to invite us in.

As cleared my throat, figuring we were safe so close to the walls, Bastar was at my throat. He held a naked blade against my throat, clasping his hand over my mouth. That was the first time I saw hate in his eyes. It was hard to tell, due to how different they were from my own, but I saw hate and worry battle there. After a moment, the blade disappeared with my mouth covering. Swallowing, I vowed to be as loud as my team.

Fortunately, Nan was loud. Otherwise, I would have failed that within the first 5 minutes. I continued to try to not make noise, but the dense coverage prevented me from seeing where I would step. I would have sworn that every step I took was the wrong one, causing pebbles to shift or a branch to crack. Even keeping my feet just above the ground did not help, as that caused the bushes around me to shake.

The hike itself was uneventful. I would have made note of it, if not for how everyone else acted. I might have been new to the world, but I was not stupid. If Bastar thought that we needed to be quiet, then I was going to be quiet. I only hoped that once we reached wherever our destination was, I could get a basic explanation.

That destination appeared to be a cave of some sort. I did not think that jungles had caves, but then I would not be surprised if Magic started jamming ecosystems together just to have some fun. I was more than willing to bet that someplace a swamp met a desert at the edge of the tundra. It would not be the weirdest thing I would see on our outing.

Kwah was not visible, but Bastar was and already unpacking. That caused me to pay attention to our packs. I gave it little thought outside of a desire to complain about carrying it. It was not as heavy as I thought it should have been, but I had a sinking suspicion as to why.

Bastar removed a bedroll, fire starter, and some supplies to cook. That was it. His bag looked deflated as he placed it deeper in the cavern. Heather appeared nearby, notably pack-less. Nan and my packs contained nearly the same as Bastar, only mine had the addition of a hat and a mirror. I patted it down, finding a wood ax and a small knife hiding in one of the pouches. Theoretically, it would have been available to me from on my back, if I knew they were there.

I kept my quiet as the others around me made camp. The light of the forest had never changed, keeping it the perfect level to see at. But still, Bastar had Heather find wood for a fire. I was hoping that Kwah would come back with something to eat, but as finished setting up she did not appear from the woods.

I pondered the wisdom of having the one more in tune with the local fauna collecting the materials needed to kill the local fauna. Instead, I sat down in the cave, leaning against the wall, and thought. Through the hike I made sure to reinforce my movements with mana, keeping it as an imaginary suit around me. As I did that, I noticed the strain on my muscles seemed to lighten. When I first got tired, I found I could rest by having my mana move my body. Obviously, this was not perfect, the number of falls I had testified to that, but I thought it might have been my visualization. I was imagining braces on my joints and pinions on my feet. I was thinking if I changed to full coverage, it would prevent future falls.

That left making my passage untraceable. I had no idea of what to do there, but I figured someone else in my group did. If not, I would copy Nan and just plow through. If it worked for her, it would probably work for me.

I closed my eyes, listening to the sounds of the woods. There was no bird song, no sounds beyond the rustling from the wind. I heard the snik snik of flint hitting steal as the fire was lit. I could see the light from behind my eyelids and felt it on my skin. It felt wonderful. Then Bastar hit me with a stick.

I looked up at my trainer, rubbing my head where he hit me.

“Get up,” His voice was gruffer than normal. “You need to train.”

I nodded as I arose. He then did not bother telling me anything. He took his stick and beat me with it. Sometimes lightly, sometimes quickly. I attempted to use my idea of a mana suit to prevent the damage, but he would always strike before I had it ready. Or he would choose a spot I had reinforced and shattered the fragile covering.

Our training session continued until Kwah came back. Heather just remained by the fire with Nan, watching my humiliation. I wanted to scream. I wanted to rage, to fight back. The anger in me begged for release, but I just used it to fuel my smile and attempted to learn. The strikes were strong enough to bruise but do serious damage. He stayed away from my neck and head, choosing to focus on my chest and joints. I think that was because reinforcing my joints was the easiest way for me to keep standing and breaking the mana around it would eventually lead to my collapse.

It was after one of my many, many collapses that he finally stopped. He moved to the fire and sat opposite from Heather and Nan. As I lay there panting, I tried to put myself back together. The thing about having a mana shield, as I was thinking of it, broken was not that it was painful. Rather it was like you suddenly got flipped on your back. Each time it shattered I got disoriented which made it hard to maintain other shields that fed the loop.

By the time I rose, I noticed that Kwah had returned. Silence still reigned supreme as four pairs of eyes looked to me. I rose to my hands and knees, crawling to the fire. I collapsed closer to it. I slowly pushed myself to a sitting position, focusing on my breaths. Deep in, deep out. In comes the tools to repair my battered body, out went the pain and fatigue. I put my smile back on and tried to find my peace.

Kwah broke the silence first. In a conversational tone, she looked at me and began.

“There’s something not right about you kid.”

To which, I only smiled.