Chapter 16

For the next weeks, I just kept repeating my routine. Getting up, working out until I was so exhausted that I couldn't even lift a finger, eating more weird fruits, and absorbing ether before going to sleep.

It was absurd the amount of pain I had to bear the last weeks, not to mention the monotony of it all. Thankfully, and unfortunately, Sage was there to keep me company and make me train as if there was no tomorrow. It was insane how much she pressured me to do that unhealthy amount of exercise. The only good thing during this crazy regime was that if I got injured at some point Sage would come to my rescue and seconds later, I was as good as new.

It seemed that her healing powers had gotten better and better since I came here. According to her, it all happened the time I met her the first time, the moment I got near, something unlocked inside her. That was why she could recover from such grievous wounds almost instantly. We still don't know what exactly happened back then, and the only thing I was missing was the little green gem I found way back. Maybe Sage ended up absorbing it like ether and that caused such an evolution of her powers. Whatever happened, I'm grateful that I couldn't become crippled due to the potent healing powers of Sage. She was the one who got me to do such an insane routine, but I needed it to become somewhat stronger.

Right now, according to Sage, I could take 3 blows from the bear before ceasing to exist, literally. It was a pitiful amount, I know. But considering that just a few weeks ago I was a normal human, it was great progress. Or maybe not. By the standards of Sage, I was pretty much behind everything in this place that has a conscience, and some others that don't have it are also ahead of me. Why does she have to whack me so ruthlessly after praising me just a little!? 

The duality of good and bad emotions was truly confusing. I wanted to keep doing that hellish routine because I could improve, but at the same time, I just wanted to lie down in a patch of grass and drown in self-pity.

But I had no time for that, I was eating so much fruit that even if they tasted amazing, I was already fed up with them. I decided to go out and hunt some little animals. According to Sage, some new animals started to appear in the forest, no scratch that, they were not appearing, they were returning to their previous houses little by little. It seems that, once more, the day I came to this forest another strange thing happened. Almost every little critter that was living here abandoned their houses like they were running from something scary. The only ones that were not affected were Sage and some little animals like the horned staaj, birds, and insects.

As there was more variety in the forest as of now, I wanted to hunt something new. I hope that it would not try to kill me, whatever animal that I end up tracking, but it would be unwise to not prepare for the worst. I tried to make Sage accompany me, but she said that a life-and-death situation would be a good practice for me. I needed to know how to fight something at least twice my height and not shit myself. That, and I need to hone my fighting style.

I tried to make some new tools, all made with ether. A little attempt to give it form. It didn't go that well. I could make some little knives that seemed to be made out of crystal, their edge were better than the ones I made with bones, but they consumed so much energy that just one invocation was all I needed to end up panting on the floor.

The invocation was a failure, but I knew which direction to take from now on. My dream was to be able to summon anything that I desired. A whole armament made with ether at the ready when I so desired. Just the thought alone was enough to make me giddy with excitement for the future. And who knows what its limit could be.

I found another deer walking around the forest, the same species as Sage it seems. I would not try to hunt it down, who knows if Sage is alright with that, and I don't need all that meat for myself. A few minutes later there was a boar in front of me, fortunately, it hasn't detected me yet. 

The boar was corpulent and full of muscles, its front tusks were almost as big as its head. One little detail to note is that sometimes its tail would light up as if it were on fire. It's the first animal I've seen, besides Sage, that has some visible and radical alterations besides its size. The horned staaj doesn't count as its slight resemblance to a rabbit was because its teeth and ears. 

Let's see if this new specimen can pose a threat to me. I hope not, but it would be a good challenge. 

As I have the element of surprise on my side I decided to aim at a vital spot to keep the fight short. Fortunately, I have some experience in this so getting near the boar without making a sound was easy. The tricky part was to choose a good spot that could kill the boar instantly. 

Who am I kidding I don't know a thing about boars, much less their anatomy. I just directed the stab towards its hind leg. 

One quick thrust and I was retreating rapidly to avoid any injury. The stab was shallow and I just hoped that the pain would make the boar a little clumsy. 

Suddenly, a high-pitched sound hit my eardrums. With such a sound you would think that I managed to land a killing blow. This bastard was making so much noise because I managed to pierce its hide. 

The leaves and bushes began rustling and I became alarmed at the prospect of a new foe joining the hunt. Fortunately, it seems that the ones making the sounds were some little critters that were escaping from the scene. The little bastards almost scared me to death. 

Pocking my head out of my hiding spot I tried to see what the boar was doing. It was on the floor thrashing about and still smiting shrill screams of pain. It hasn't moved from the place where it was stabbed. What a weird creature, it screams like a banshee, but it hasn't moved a single centimeter. Maybe it can explode at will and burn to crisp its attacker and thus save itself? 

If it is like that, I need to use long-range attacks. I… just know how to throw a knife. And with a pitiful aim, I might add. It's difficult to practice if the knives end up broken after a couple of tries and you have a limited amount of them. After some knives ended broken I stopped trying to learn. 

I could try to attack it while falling down from a nearby tree, but I don't know how to climb one and that would make so much notice that the boar would be alerted even before I managed to take position. Feeling torn between fear and the prospect of getting to taste a new food I decided to just aim for the head of the boar while creeping to it from behind. I made my way as silently as possible and when I was near the wailing boat I summoned a little knife. 

I thrusted the knife as fast as I could to its skull, or I should say that I tried to. The damn boar exploded instantly the moment it sensed ether being used.