The night had given way to the day and the first rays of the sun began to shine through the branches. A soft breeze moved the leaves rhythmically, creating a pleasant rustling which accompanied the atmosphere created by the ever-changing lights and shadows.

The until now dormant land began to awaken. It would be some time before it would be completely active, but the murmurs of the rising people already filled the air. It would be another long day of work, especially for those who had to enter the depths of the mountain, to clean its passages from what remained of the old days.

As everyone woke up to go on about their day, I continued to rest there where I was, on top of a branch, with my back against the trunk of the crooked weed, while reading a book. It was not the first time I had taken it in my hand, and neither the first that I absorbed the information contained within; and yet it managed to entertain me.

After the fateful day in which the Gamma Perimeter had been revived my schedule had changed drastically. Before that, I had been running around like a madman, driven forward both by external necessity and by internal urges, while now I had come to know the pleasantness of letting the days go by without continuously trying to find new ways to put my life on the line.

It had required a great deal of effort on my part, to learn how to manage those instincts screaming deep inside me. Time had been an ally of mine, as the more I spent inside of my domain, the more those compulsions slowly settled down. I had come to know the different facets that constituted my own self. It was taking some patience, but the passing of days was slowly making them coalesce towards a single nature. The process was not yet completed, but that was to be expected. After all, there was never an end to growth.

I turned to another page and continued my reading. I was purposefully keeping a slow pace, as there was no point in simply memorising it with just a single glance. While I was intent on learning about the peculiar habits of lifeforms no longer inhabiting my world, a faint rustling reached my ears.

I didn’t bother to turn towards the source of the noise. I closed the book and rested it on top of another branch of the tree I was spending my time on, hoping to put it out of harm's way. As usual, I raised my hand, turning its back towards the direction of the incoming blow.

One split second after I felt the cold touch of metal against my skin and the raging blue aura lashing in all directions, grasping everything in its path and dragging it along with it. The shock travelled from my knuckles to the rest of my bones.

I flew through the air at high speed, pushed by the force of the impact and by the blue-infused wave of air and debris. I bumped into numerous branches before stopping against the trunk of another tree, in which I found myself embedded.

I pushed myself out of the improvised wooden prison without much effort and landed on my feet a few metres down.

“Dammit! I was sure I had gotten you this time!” the usually cheerful Lily complained loudly.

“As I already told you, you have to swiftly correct the trajectory of your blows before making contact,” I reiterated to her, as I had been doing for quite some time.

The slash of her greatsword had managed to cut the superficial layers of my skin, but it had failed to inflict actual damage, as no blood was trickling from the shallow wound. It was her weapon which had suffered more from the encounter, as it had become blunt in the area that had made contact with my knuckles. After all the metal it was made of was softer than my fully developed bones.

“Should I try again? This time, I will surely succeed!” she playfully exclaimed, getting ready to jump at me again.

“It would be better to stop it at that for today,” I responded, crouching down towards the ground and stretching my hand outwards.

“No can do!” she shouted overly excited and too taken by her fiery temper to notice my slight annoyance.

Fast as a bullet she was on top of me, her weapon raised up high. I intercepted her weapon with my open palm, grabbing the blade and trying to stop it in its track. Unfortunately, my intention of absorbing the force of the blow and delaying the ensuing explosion failed. Her blue aura infused the surrounding atmosphere and weighed down on me. The shockwave travelled through my body and through the soil, creating a deep crater into the ground and scattering soil and debris all around.

She retracted her weapon and distanced herself from me.

“How was it?” she questioned me while grinning, looking for praise.

After all, her attack could be considered a success, as her blade had managed to open a wound into my flesh. My crimson and purplish blood fell to the ground, where it was rapidly absorbed by the root system spanning the entire Perimeter. Not a single drop of them went uncollected.

I remained silent, looking at the ground.

“... What’s wrong?” she asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

“The book,” I simply stated.

She turned her eyes to the ground and saw what I was seeing: hundreds of pages ripped apart, spread all around, pieces of them still floating in mid-air.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to… Well, maybe we can recover it somehow…”

She made as if to put down her weapon, but I stopped her from doing so.

“Don’t. Now, we’ll have a spar,” I told her in the usual, calm, monotone tone of voice I had become so familiar with in the last few years.

Her eyes opened wide and a nervous chuckle blossomed from her lips.

“Oh, come on, there is no need to be like that. I can understand you’re angry, but come on, I can collect the pages and put it back together. See? I’m picking them up already! Give me just a few days and it will be as good as new,” she spat out words in rapid sequence, trying to appease me.

True to her words, she began to collect the few surviving sheets of paper from the ground, while I used the hem of my shirt, which now resembled a rag due to the effects of the brief scuffles, to wipe the blood from my already healed hand.

Suddenly, Lily raised an eyebrow.

“Excuse me… but why is this book about… frogs? Yes, frogs! Why is this book about frogs so important that you want to hit me?” she asked bewildered.

“It was Faye’s birthday gift to me,” I smiled at her.

“F**k!” she immediately turned around and started to run away.

Although hers was certainly a valiant effort to escape me, it was ultimately futile, as with just a few kicks to the ground I had already reached her. I raised my hand, my fingers well straightened.

“Remember, you have to protect yourself,” I reminded her as I always did during our training bouts, the same almost imperceptible hint of annoyance in my voice.

“Not the face!” she cried out loud.

After that, only a loud smack reverberated through the forest.