007 | Pursuer

Rudif was curious about what I was doing. I approached the back of the tiny cave we were in and put my palm against it.

"Asher? What are you doing?"

"Digging deeper to avoid extreme weather conditions."

If I could, I would have used Rudif to do this for me. Unfortunately, even though he's a Half-Beast that has lots of strength, he has little to no experience with fighting nor does he know about any techniques. Notwithstanding his knowledge of magic, I believe I will be a much smarter option in terms of shaping this cave.

I found a softer edge in the wall. My mana recovery is slow due to the lack of control I have over it but it's already been a few hours. My mana is near full already. I gave myself a slightly higher level of physical enhancement magic. There's not much to it other than it being a stronger version of the light physical enhancement magic. I feel the power surging through my body.

I brought my right arm back and made a fist. To my surprise, Rudif stopped me. It's crystal clear that Rudif couldn't sense mana yet. Otherwise, he would have known that I conjured a spell. Rudif grabbed one side of my body, holding me back from punching the wall.

"What are you doing?! You're going to break your hand!"

"No I won't, mutt, now let go!"

"Yes, you will! You're so young! Even I can't punch through solid rocks yet!"

"Listen carefully, Rudif. You haven't awakened your ability to use magic yet so you can't see that I just used a spell."

"Oh...Are you going to forcefully break the cave back?"

"Of course not, I also planned to have a spell to soften up areas that I punch. It will be like punching marshmallows."

Rudif's ears went up. Looks like the dog is getting excited about treats.

"What's a marshmallow?"

I forgot that although the Earth Copies are similar, they are by no means identical. There are two conclusions I can draw from Rudif's reply. He either never heard of marshmallows or they simply don't exist in this world. I highly doubt it's the latter as the process of creating them is extremely simple so it would be quite shocking if this world's technology can't accommodate such a simple snack.

"They're a type of sweet candy."

"I like candies! What do they look like? What do they taste like?"

"Well, they're white, sticky, and gooey."

Wait hold on, that was not the best description I could have given. Especially, without ANY context. Well, I'll just roll with it.

"Anyways, if one day we see some marshmallows, I'll treat you to some...Alright?"

Rudif nodded his head. This conversation really derailed itself from the main topic.

"Anywho, with my series of spells, I can easily dig through more space for us."

Rudif tilted his head. Looks like he's confused. Little did I know, what he would say would be an absolute game-changer.

"Why don't you use Raw Energy?"

"Raw what?"

"Raw Energy. Everyone has it. It's like magic but Raw Energy is only for your body and stuff."

His explanation could have been more detailed but I guess I can't expect much from a seven-year-old. I shrugged off Rudif since he was still holding onto me. Any more holding between men will make it pretty awkward. Not saying there's anything WRONG with that.

"Tell me more about Raw Energy."

"Uhm, well my dad and mom told me that many people think it's bad. They call it commoner's mana because you can't use any spells. It's just making yourself stronger."

"I see. Tell me how to USE it. I want to learn."

This is big. If Raw Energy is another form of a type of physical enhancement spell, and it doesn't run on mana, it would create so many more opportunities. Frankly, I'm quite overjoyed. Rudif provided a vague explanation for me to go upon.

"You have to draw Raw Energy from your heart! That's what my dad told me!"

I looked at him and expected him to further elaborate. Turns out, all he did was look at me and smile. I gave this useless mutt a pat on the head.

"Thanks. I'll figure it out from here. Just watch me do my thing."

Rudif nodded and backed away. I could feel him staring in astonishment as my fists slowly pushed the back of the cave. I focused on making the floor smoother. Instead of using my fist, I started to incorporate some palm strikes. I'm not fighting in constant wars anymore, so I think a little bit of luxury is acceptable. Especially when you're living in a cave.

The moon was already up by the time I finished and Rudif was snoring on the smoothened cave floor.

While that child was asleep, I took this opportunity to improve my control over my mana. I sat down, cross-legged, and closed my eyes to concentrate on the flow of mana inside my body. I can feel it going through my body, but I am unable to interact with it fully.

I attempted various different mana control exercises. It was harder to do than I thought, you could think of it as trying to swim upstream. My mana wouldn't listen to me.

For most of the night, I spent time cultivating my mana so it would flow smoothly which would allow me to have better control.

I'll try to summarize everything there is about magic. Starting off with its fuel, which is mana. It's like subconscious energy that circulates throughout our very body, our veins, and our blood. The very moment an individual is able to move that energy of their own volition is when it is considered that they have awakened their ability to use magic. Of course, whether you can actually put up a good spell or not is completely dependent on each individual's compatibility with their mana.

Thus, if my control is faulty, I am not able to use my mana to its fullest potential.

Cultivating is the process by which you strengthen your bond with your mana through intensive meditation. Allowing it to move smoothly, in larger quantities, and swiftly as well. Cultivating can also expand your body's mana pool, which is how much mana that you are able to handle inside of you. However, you have to be careful to not have an imbalance between quantity and control, otherwise, you'll turn out like I am.

Though, I had no choice but to break a few seals that Alpha placed on me.

Time went by faster than I thought. By the time I finished cultivating, the moon was on the edge of the horizon. In about a few hours, I can estimate that the sun will rise and morning will come. I looked over at Rudif, the mutt.

"It should be fine in his hands."

With that said, I plopped over in the smooth cave ground and dozed off immediately.

* * *

My bad luck strikes me right in the heart as I was awoken with some mutt pushing my shoulders and calling my name.

"Asher~ Asher~ Asher~"

"I GET IT, SHUT UP!"

The mutt stared at me with a blank expression.

"Sorry, I stayed up late. What's wrong?"

"There's a rabbit snuggled up with you..."

I did feel a fluffy sensation between my arms. I got up and witnessed a white rabbit sleeping soundly where I was before. It must have gotten into the cave and gone between my arms. It sure does know how to enjoy itself.

"Rudif, can you talk with the rabbit?"

"Uhm, somewhat but not really. I don't think I'll be able to hold a proper talk with them."

"Useless mutt."

"I'm s-sorry!"

"It's fine. It'll pay off nurturing you in the end. So, when is this rabbit going to wake up?"

"Maybe we should let her sleep."

"It's a girl, huh? Well, while she enjoys her sleep, have you gotten food?"

Rudif's face lit up. He turned around and unbundled a few large leaves which stored some wild fruit. Compared to my last life, they were like a light purple apple and pear hybrid. They were about the same size as them as well.

"These are really good fruits! Good thing I got them before the beast did!"

Rudif explained to me that he found a tree where these fruits sprouted from. Unfortunately, there was a beast that he described to me to be very similar to the characteristics of a boar. The only thing was that they were way bigger. About the size of a bear. Rudif told me he threw a rock to lure the boar away and then he quickly climbed the tree and picked up the fruits.

I couldn't help but smile and pat his head. What a good laborer. I see a bright future together.

"Good work."

Unfortunately, just as I had made delicate plans to thrive in the wilderness, I caught sight of a sharp arrow flying towards us.

I grabbed the rabbit by her nape and then I tackled Rudif down. As the arrow flew by, my eyes followed it as it went past my face.

A finely crafted arrow that I could tell was made with the intention of flying further all while doing more damage and being lightweight. The arrowhead seemed to be some sort of metal alloy which gave it a slight mix of a light blue shade. The fletching was a beauty and the shaft was sturdy but didn't seem too heavy.

The arrowhead went halfway into the cave's wall and cracked the nearby wall a little bit. Typical archers or arbalists from my world could not shoot an arrow to this degree of power without using physical enhancement magic of some sort. This was my first real enemy.

Though I analyzed all that, it won't contribute to anything. I was careless to believe that there wouldn't be anyone pursuing Rudif, a recent runaway slave. I'm not sure how slavery works in this world, but I believe a Half-Beast slave that is physically stronger than humans would be placed at a higher value.

"Mutt, grab the rabbit and take a sharp turn when you leave the cave. Most likely, this is someone that was sent to retrieve you. No, this was someone sent to kill you off."

Rudif, who was mentally still a child was obviously bewildered by what I'm telling him.

"W-what are you saying? S-someone is going kill me? I'm going to d-die? W-why would they go so far to send a such a bad g-guy!"

I pushed Rudif and the rabbit into the side of the wall as an arrow flew towards us again. Rudif jumped, his eyes were wide in shock.

I put my hands on Rudif's shoulders.

"Listen Rudif. You're strong and a good person. I will not lose my future transportation- my future comrade so easily. Run. Run as fast and as far away as you possibly can."