Chapter 24 - Newfound Trouble

While she was listening to Silinth excitedly talk about the wonders of spellcasting and explaining how to draw a framework inside their mindscape, Mila was contemplating her previous spell choice.

At the time, the simplicity of the Mana Bolt felt like the correct option to pick. The cheapness of it was an excellent upside.

And then she had encountered Kaldiro and realised there was another path for her. The man had failed to notice her before she had revealed herself. Kaldiro clearly knew how to perceive his surroundings without seeing, but he had not detected her.

When the fighting had started, Isabel had proved to be brave enough to stand against all odds. The girl’s shield was a superb frontline ability. In time, she could become capable of taking the brunt of the enemy offensive, leaving Mila to do something else.

Andrew and his bonds could be very flexible. With Mr Crow and now the wolf, the boy could fulfil various roles during a battle. While he likely would not become someone who fought directly, he didn’t need to. Andrew could help more from the back lines.

Their downside was that the duo was quite flashy. They did not know how to be subtle. While Mr Crow was doing a fine job at scouting, they lacked the option to sneak up on anyone. Anything clandestine or requiring caution and nuance was better left for Mila to deal with.

There was also a lack of firepower, but Mila couldn’t fill that role. Instead, she figured to concentrate on a more sinister path. As she had discovered, she didn’t have any qualms about taking lives in an ‘underhanded’ way.

Of course, Mila was doing her planning with the assumption they would be sticking together. It was still not guaranteed, but very likely, at least for the foreseeable future.

So, while Silinth was explaining how a person's mana pool slowly increased naturally just by living, Mila was trying to recall how the spell ‘Hide Presence’ worked and how the spell framework looked.

It wasn’t a popular spell as it didn’t actually hide you. Just helped to mute your body heath and breathing noise. Anyone with eyes would be able to quickly spot the user. It did, however, serve as a step to more powerful variants, such as ‘Erase Presence’ or ‘Vanish’.

Those were too far in the future for Mila to worry about. For now, as Silinth was explaining to the duo, they had to work on the basics.

Although for different reasons. While Mila lacked mana, the duo lacked the skills to cast anything. Their power reserves were abundant and quick to refill.

Silinth droned on how they would have to spend years learning and practising. And it was partly true. However, the initial difficulty mostly came from the lack of mana to practise with, which Andrew and Isabel didn’t have to worry about.

It was unfair. After a night's sleep, Andrew was once again brimming with mana. Mila would have to rely on her naturally slow growth while her peers rushed ahead of her.

But that’s how it was. Those testing rocks they had meant to grab from the town were meant to tell if the testee had enough mana to even start learning spellcasting.

Kefo and Tiff, for example, were skirting the line. For the most part, all they could do was to reinforce their bodies. They would never be slinging destructive bolts.

As far as Mila knew, there wasn’t any way to hasten the expansion of mana pools either. What Andrew and Isabel had was special.

If Mila spent all of her mana, it would take her hours to refill it, while her friends could regain the same amount in minutes.

Or so Mila guessed. It wasn’t like she could tell exactly. She had to rely on her rudimentary senses.

All in all, there wasn’t anything new to her that Silinth was teaching. Mila silently began weaving the geometrical shape necessary for ‘Hide Presence’.

An hour later, Mila was feeling desperation. Oh, the progress towards her chosen spell was significant. However, she was dying from hunger.

Silinth was using a small hologram floating above his palm to demonstrate how the ‘Translation’ spell looked.

A neat trick, Mila decided. It certainly was better than dealing with mountains of parchments. So, learning spells has become easier over time.

At least there was some progress, despite one of the gods under which such an advancement would be made being dead. It begged a question - when had it died?

Mila distracted herself with such thoughts until Andrew started to complain about the same worry she was suppressing.

“I am so hungry!” Andrew finally couldn’t bear it any longer.

“Hey, Hungry, I am-” Isabel stopped and sighed. “You know what, so am I.”

“That’s a bad joke. Mila heard it.” Andrew smiled evilly. “Didn’t you?” He turned around.

“I did.” Mila agreed, which made Isabel groan. “Why?”

Andrew scrutinised her for a moment, then turned to his wolf. “Do you see now, Termi? With what I have to deal with!”

All of them looked at Andrew with disgust. Isabel was the first one to call out him on the abbreviation he had used. “At least use the name you pushed on the poor creature.”

“He likes them both, right Termi?” Andrew patted the unamused wolf’s side. “Terminator says - yes.” He translated what Mila was sure was a complete silence.

“We will eat when we are back. We can’t waste time hunting and cooking.” Silinth gave reasoned.

Despite her hunger and general weakness, Mila agreed with the man. Despite her rather jovial mood, she was still worried Kaldiro would show up without notice.

It did little to dissipate Mila’s discomfort. It was rather shameful how loud her stomach protested against this decision. She was sure everyone was dealing with the same, but her usual demeanour didn’t suit the pitiful sound.

“Well, we do need a break.” Silinth finally sighed. He plopped down under a tree with the rest of them following.

When Mila sat down, she noticed Isabel trying to nonchalantly come closer. Her friend studied the surrounding moss and pretended to find the best sitting spot just a bit left of Mila.

“Could you stretch your legs?” Mila suddenly asked.

“Yeah.” Isabel answered while doing so.” Why?”

Mila swayed towards her friend and gently laid her head on Isabel’s thighs. “I need a pillow.”

Isabel speechlessly looked down. She didn’t speak a word or make a twitch as if afraid to startle Mila into leaving. Even her breathing seemed to slow down.

“Is everything all right?” Mila asked, barely masking her smile. It was wondrous how weak Isabel was to flirting.

“Ah,” Isabel sighed. “No, it’s just-” She looked away. “Nice, you know?”

“Oh,” Mila hummed. “I know.” She looked up to the canopy hiding the sky. It was another warm day. At least the weather was not tormenting them.

Everyone had split into their small groups. Tiff and Kefo were once again together, although they were arguing about something. Andrew was whispering something to his wolf while Mr Crow kept the lookout. Only Silinth was on his own, grimacing while patting his chest.

No one paid them any attention. Mila studied Isabel’s straight nose and long eyelashes.

“What?” Isabel finally couldn’t handle Mila’s stare.

“Nothing.” Mila didn’t stop.

“What is it?”

“Nothing.” Her answer did not change.

Isabel scratched her cheek, then straightened her hair. “I- Uh, I am not looking the best right now, so- Don’t look too closely.”

“Ah, nonsense!” Mila disagreed. “You look marvellous.” She spoke her thoughts.

Of course, it wasn’t entirely true. They had spent two days wading through forests and meadows. They had fought a battle and slept on the ground.

But still, Isabel was looking beautiful. Well, more cute than beautiful at this moment as she was blushing from the surprise compliment.

“T- Thanks.” Isabel covered her face with her palms. “But please stop.”

“I am just conversing.” Mila shamelessly replied while trying to sneak a peak beneath Isabel’s arms. She could almost hear Isabel’s heartbeat.

Ah, perhaps that was hers. Mila paused. Definitely hers. She had thought she would be able to handle the closeness better than this. It turned out it wasn’t that simple.

While Mila had plenty of memories, it didn’t mean her body wasn’t that of a nineteen-year-old girl. Of course, she had her needs. Now that she had acknowledged her attraction towards Isabel, they were letting themselves known in full force.

That was unexpected. Mila turned on her side, pressing her cheek against Isabel’s thighs. She looked at Isabel’s stomach, remembering how well-defined her muscles were from all that training.

A tantalising aroma intoxicated Mila’s mind. She took a deep breath before jolting up from her position. This was definitely a problem. She rubbed her temples, wondering what to do about her urges.

“What happened?” Isabel asked. “Did you sense something?” There was a tinge of worry in her voice.

“No, nothing of the sort.” Mila dispersed her friend's worries. “I just had a realisation about something I am not entirely sure what to do about.” She looked back at Isabel’s troubled face.

“Really,” Mila reassured, then mumbled to herself. “If anything, you would probably be glad.”

Before Mila could calm down and return to her blissfully feeling pillow, Silinth noticed she had gotten up.

“We continue.” He announced while getting up.

After a round of complaining, they were once again travelling towards their goal. Mila found her position behind Isabel, Andrew and Silinth. She listened absentmindedly to the man’s speech.

At least now, Mila had other worries occupying her thoughts. Instead of hunger for food, she now worried about hunger for physical contact.

In the end, nothing really changed. There was no need to change any of her plans. It only meant Mila had to be more careful while teasing Isabel.

It was even great. Sexual attraction could play a significant role in keeping relationships healthy.

Yes. There were no downsides. Or so Mila decided. It did mean she would have to keep her gaze in check, as it was now following Isabel’s figure.

At least she didn’t need to worry about erotic dreams staring Isabel in the lead role.

Mila sighed. That wasn’t a positive thought at all.