New world (4)

"Is it over?" the kid asked her as soon as she stepped out of the carriage, carrying on her back the last reserves of food from those three men.

She was unsurprised that he guessed her actions; she didn't bother hiding them, after all. Though she was slightly sad that a kid of his age was so jaded when in her original world kids of his age still had the naivety in their gazes. Even the supernatural sects in her world, who were mostly prosecuted for around thirty years now, believed in protecting children from the horrors of reality.

Though she did believe in preserving their innocence, she never completely approved of the ideology of hiding information that concerned them. She did believe in guiding them through and being as partial as one could though.

Not that her opinions mattered as this was a different world from her own.

With a sigh, she nodded. "Yeah. They're now in peace."

"They're one with Emain," the kid said with a solemn gaze, remind her that this world's faith was centered on the planet, Emain, as the beginning and end of everything. It was their belief that when one died, one would return to the earth and become part of everyone soon after.

"As it gave, it took; as it took, it gave," he said, repeating the motto of the temple of Emain. He then shook his head and looked at her. "So, what are we going to do now?"

She scratched her chin, trying to fight the weariness she felt. "First, we're going to find someplace away from here to rest. Then I suppose we could go to Dudria after a while. I want to regain some of my strength first, though."

"Are you a mage?"

She looked sharply at him before reminding herself that she wasn't on Earth anymore and that this land was used to magic and mages, seeing them as normal. A thing that was really weird for her. A planet where magic was widely known and respected.

It was surreal.

After realizing that the kid was still expecting an answer, she nodded.

"Cool," he said, though there was some sadness in his eyes. "What type are you? You can't be an internal mage because you killed those men without touching them. Are you an external mage, then?"

Internal? External?

Okay, while the previous owner of this body knew of magic and how important it was, only the people that trained for it knew more about it and there were three ways to study it. The first was by going to one of the Academies, the second one was by finding a Master willing to teach, and the Third was by joining the army. So this body really didn't know much about the subject.

Better to bite the bullet, be honest, and tell the truth.

"I don't know much about it. I... erm... learned what I know by myself."

Okay, the half-truth.

Probably shouldn't have said that. Going on by the kid's wide eyes of amazement, that was a Big Deal.

"Really?!"

Oh, well. Go big or go home, right?

"... Yeah." She scratched the side of her nose with a finger. "I'm Alula, by the way," she said, though it didn't feel right. She was Alula Moreno, true, but the body was of Cassie Astra. "Alula Astra. What about you, kid?"

"I'm Amycus Walsh, not 'kid'." His blue eyes narrowed at her, before looking at the horses. "Know how to ride them?"

She thought of the communities they had where they could only live off nature, horses being their chosen transport, and nodded. "I do. What about you, Amy?"

He puffed his cheeks, now clean of tears. "My name's Amycus."

She smiled. "I know."

With a roll of his eyes, the kid went to the horse. He seemed troubled for a bit as it was too big for him to reach its back, but then, using the seats the three men had used, he reached fine.

She would have helped but, seeing his determined face, she knew he wouldn't accept it. He was just freed and needed anything to prove his freedom and independence. That's why she grabbed the food and map she found and went on.

Only to realize she couldn't read the map.

"Erm... Amycus, do you know how to read the map?"

He gave him a weird look but nodded, extending his arm to receive the map. After a while, he once again nodded. "Yeah, I know where we are. My father used to be a hunter and we used to camp near here." He then looked up, at the sun's position. "It's almost noon, so we'll be probably on Dudria by tomorrow afternoon if we keep the pace, but..."

Glancing at her weak form, he added, "But there's a cave near here that we could use to hide for a while. You did say you wanted to regain your energy, right? We should go there."

She hummed. "How long will it take?"

"About three hours, I think."

Okay, three hours. She could survive for three hours.

- -

So our protagonist made a new companion. Hurrah! And is also in a bit of pain (and by a bit, I mean a lot)