Jumping into the fray.

We started walking toward the east. We were going to be walking for a while, so this was a great chance to learn a few things from Faylinn.

Leonel: "Faylinn, you explained to me how to perform that 'blinding punch,' but that's probably not going to work on enemies like golems or earth elementals since they have no eyes. Are there any other skills I could learn that won't end up destroying my body?"

Faylinn: "Well, you can try strengthening magic. It basically makes your muscles temporarily stronger, but depending on the element—in this case, fire—there might be additional effects, which, for you, is a bad thing. If you overdo it, you will become a pile of ashes..."

Leonel: "That doesn't sound good..."

Astra: "That's why she said 'if you overdo it.' If you don't go too far with fire-type strengthening, and you don't keep it up for more than a few seconds, you will still get a boost to your physical abilities during combat, but you won't end up burning yourself. You just need to keep the intensity of the fire-attuned mana as low as possible."

Faylinn: "That's right! If you don't go too far, you might even be able to defeat an earth elemental with your sword! Just don't think about punching them. Your strengthening magic will never allow you to smash an earth elemental with your bare hands."

Leonel: "Ok, so... how do I do it?"

Faylinn: "It's easy. Instead of just forcing your mana to flow only through your veins and towards the surface of your skin, you just focus mostly on keeping your mana concentrated in your muscles. It requires constant control, but it's not hard. The problem is that in your case, it will increase your body temperature. You might want to focus on specific limbs rather than on your entire body."

Astra: "You can probably try it here. Try strengthening your leg muscles so you can jump high enough to grab the last pink fruit on that tree over there."

Astra pointed at a tree with her right arm. She didn't seem to believe this was hard at all, even though the last fruit on that tree was like five meters above ground level...

Faylinn: "Try doing it now. It will only take two or three attempts before you get used to it. Strengthening magic is like the easiest thing in the world."

Leonel: "Now I'm suddenly feeling a lot of pressure. You sure think this is gonna be easy... Let's see... I must focus my mana mostly on my muscles. Since I'm jumping, I only need to use it on my legs. I should probably try using it on a single leg, just to be safe."

I started to focus my mana on my left leg. Flames slowly started to appear around my leg.
I was doing it wrong.
I needed to slow down. I needed to start again and focus only on my muscles.
I tried again, slowly focusing mana on my left leg. This time there were no flames, not even tiny ones.
I could feel the temperature rising, but it wasn't that bad yet. I needed to jump immediately before the temperature became a problem and my muscles started to burn from the inside...

I got closer to the tree. I could see the last pink fruit. It was small. Probably a perfect fit for my hand. It looked like a pink apple.
I couldn't waste more time, so I jumped.
I used only the strength of my left leg to jump. I quickly went past the fruit, which meant I was now six meters up in the air... it was time to land...

I made the mistake of landing with both of my legs. Most of the impact of the landing was absorbed by my left leg, which had been strengthened by magic, but my right still took some damage.
It wasn't a bone fracture. It was probably a small fissure, but it was affecting my ankle...
I could endure the pain, but I knew this was going to be a problem.

Leonel: "Astra... you mentioned you had some basic healing magic, right? My ankle might need your help..."

I said those words with a face that clearly showed I was in pain, even though I initially tried to hide it.

Astra: "Oh, that's not good. Let me handle it."

Astra placed her hands around my ankle without touching it. She was apparently worried, even though it was a minor injury.
Both her hands and my ankle were now covered in a green light.

Astra: "I must let you know that my healing skills are quite slow. This is going to take a while. Please try to endure the pain for a little longer."

Leonel: "It's ok. I can deal with it for a while."

It took between three and four minutes of constant healing before my ankle was back to full health. If this was a video game, it would have been finished in a few seconds. Nothing is easy in this world...

Astra: "It's done. Good job enduring the pain."

Astra started gently patting my head, as if I was a kid. I'm a teenager...

Leonel: "Thank you, Astra. It's nice having a healer around."

Faylinn: "OKAY, BREAK IS OVER! Leo, it's time to jump again!"

This girl is not even giving me time to rest...

I had no choice. I tried again. This time I used my fire-type strengthening magic on my right leg.
Last time I jumped too high.
I was more careful this time.

I jumped toward the pink fruit and managed to catch it with my right hand.
Now it was time to land. I did my best to land on my right leg, the same leg I had strengthened with magic this time.
It was a success. My right leg managed to absorb the landing impact just fine.
But there was a tiny little problem.
The pink fruit I was holding with my right hand... it started shaking.

Astra: "This is going to be fun."

Astra's words, in such a soft and cute voice, worried me.
Something was going to happen.

Faylinn: "I'm sure he will be fine."

Ok, now I was scared.

I tried to throw the pink fruit away, but before I could do so, it "exploded" in my hand.
It didn't cause any damage, but it left a horrible stench.
I bet the girls knew this was going to happen.

Faylinn: "Draw your sword, Leo!"

Leonel: "Eh??? Why? What's happening?"

Astra: "The short sword you received from the little blue girl should be more than enough. Don't worry, you will be fine."

I suddenly noticed a large bird with red feathers coming down from a nearby mountain.
As the bird got closer and closer, it became clear that the bird was actually huge. Probably bigger than Astra.
Could it have been attracted by the stench left by the "explosive" pink apple?
In any case, it was coming at me, and I was ready to use the skill I had just learned.