[Kitsuna POV]
The cave smelled of damp stone, cooked herbs, and the bitter medicine Fran had been forcing down my throat for the past three weeks. Water dripped into the green restoration pool behind me while I checked my pack for the third time. I had food, a bedroll, a change of clothes, the small medical pouch Fran had prepared, and two weapons I had forged before the capital fight. The longsword rested against my hip while the shorter blade sat across the bottom of the pack where I could reach it without unpacking everything.
Fran watched from the other side of the stone table with her arms folded. She looked half asleep, but her eyes followed everything I did, especially whenever I tested the straps around my wrists or moved my shoulders too quickly. My body had recovered enough that walking no longer felt like work, but the damage inside my mana veins was still there. Most of the constant pain had faded into a dull irritation. Whenever my core stirred, it became much worse.
"You have enough food for two days," Fran said. "Three if you stop eating like a starving beast. Stay near the old stream until you reach the lower ridge, then keep heading south."
"I remember the way."
"You also remember that you cannot use mana, but I am going to repeat it anyway." She pointed at me before I could interrupt. "No spells, no portals, no Weapon Creation, and no Wrath. Your body can handle the walk. Your mana veins cannot handle you forcing power through them. I do not know how long the deeper damage will take to heal, so do not make it worse because you get impatient."
I tightened the final strap on my pack and looked down at my hands. The marks beneath my skin were barely visible now, but that did not mean the damage was gone. I had tested it once during the second week by trying to move a small amount of mana into my fingers. The pain had reached my shoulder before Fran slapped me hard enough to knock me back into the pool.
"I understood the first time," I said.
Fran raised one eyebrow. "No, you understood after I hit you. There is a difference."
I could not argue with that, so I picked up the cup waiting beside her. The medicine smelled worse than the cave and tasted like burned grass mixed with old blood. It was fucking awful, but I swallowed it before my body could reject the idea and placed the empty cup down carefully.
"That batch is disgusting."
"Good. You will remember taking it." Fran took the cup and put it with the rest of the dirty dishes. "It will reduce the pain until tonight, but it will not hide fresh damage. If your arms start burning, your fingers go numb, or your vision blurs, you stop moving and rest."
"I am walking through the Dead Forest without mana. Stopping in the wrong place might be worse."
"Then choose a better place before you collapse."
That was the closest I would get to sympathy from her. I pulled on my jacket and shifted the pack until its weight settled properly across my shoulders. It was heavier than I liked, but I could carry it without using storage magic. That was the point. Everything I needed had to remain within reach because opening Dimension Storage was no safer than casting any other spell.
Fran moved closer and pressed two fingers against the center of my chest. Warm mana passed through my body while she checked my core and the damaged veins around it. I stayed still until she drew her hand away.
"Your core is stable, and the physical damage has recovered enough for normal movement," she said. "That does not include fighting every monster you see. Use the swords only when you cannot avoid something."
"I am not planning to hunt."
"You rarely plan the stupid parts."
I ignored that and followed her toward the cave entrance. Before we reached it, Fran stopped beside one of the shelves and handed me a small charm made from two silver rings with a cloudy piece of glass fixed between them.
"Wear this near your wrist," she said. "It will react if the ambient mana becomes dangerous. It stays dormant unless you try to channel power through it, so leave it alone."
I fastened it around my left wrist and tested whether it interfered with my grip. "And if it breaks?"
"Throw it away and move faster."
"Useful."
"You are welcome."
We continued to the entrance. The morning outside was cold enough that I noticed it immediately after spending weeks underground. The ground was wet from rain, the older trees blocked most of the sunlight, and something large was moving far enough away that I could hear branches snapping without feeling the ground shake. The Dead Forest had not become safer while I recovered, but it was still better than staring at the same cave walls for another day.
Fran stopped beside me. "I have sensed military movement in the eastern forest during the past few days. They belong to Daragon, but I do not know why Stacy sent so many soldiers this deep into the forest."
"How close?"
"Close enough that you might encounter them before reaching the outer patrol sectors. There is also something wrong farther north. The corrupted beasts are avoiding that area, and I have heard the forest singing again."
I looked toward the northern trees. "What does that mean?"
"I do not know, which is why you will stay away from it. If you hear singing and cannot find the source, turn south immediately."
Fran was not someone who admitted ignorance easily, and she looked more worried about the northern forest than she had about sending me out without mana. That was enough for me to take the warning seriously.
"I will stay away," I said.
She studied me for another moment before accepting it. "Good. Now leave before I decide you need another week in the pool."
I stepped onto the wet ground and adjusted the sword at my hip. "Thanks, Gran."
"Come back before you destroy yourself again, Kit."
I raised one hand without looking back and entered the forest.
The first two hours were easier than expected. I followed the old streambed south, keeping the gravel to my right and watching for tracks near the waterlogged ground. Most of the marks belonged to small animals, although I found one set deep enough to have come from something heavier than a horse. It had crossed the streambed during the night and continued west, away from where I was heading.
Without Mana Sense, every part of the forest demanded more attention. I could not check what waited beyond thick bushes or feel a monster approaching from behind. I had to listen for movement, watch the birds, and study tracks before entering places where the trees grew too close together. My physical senses were still better than those of most soldiers, but I had grown used to having mana fill in whatever I missed. Losing that advantage was irritating and a little embarrassing.
By midday, the ground became drier and the trees showed old burn damage. Pale dust remained mixed into the soil, and the charm around my wrist gave one weak pulse when I entered the corrupted zone. The mana left behind was too faint to threaten me unless I stayed for several days, but the area was quiet enough that I did not trust it.
I kept my left hand near the longsword and moved at a steady pace. The pack had started pulling at my shoulders, though my legs still felt strong. So far, the only pain came from normal strain rather than my mana veins, which was better than I had expected.
The first growl came from somewhere ahead and to my right. I stopped beside a thick tree and listened until it came again, followed by hooves scraping through loose soil. A corrupted boar stepped from behind the bushes. Black veins covered its neck and shoulders, while crystallized growths had formed around one tusk. It noticed me almost immediately and lowered its head.
"Of course," I muttered as I drew my longsword. "Could not let me have one quiet day."
The boar charged before I could move to better ground. I stepped aside and cut into its shoulder as it passed, but the impact travelled through the sword and struck my wrists hard enough to make my fingers sting. Black blood spilled across the ground while the boar turned faster than something that size should have been able to.
I adjusted my grip and waited. Trying to overpower it would put more strain on my arms than necessary, and I could not reinforce my body with mana if it caught me. When it charged again, I moved behind the same tree and let the trunk block most of its approach. The boar tried to turn around it, lost speed, and exposed the damaged side of its neck.
My sword entered behind the jaw and cut deep enough to reach the throat. The boar pulled away, nearly taking the weapon with it, but I kept both hands on the grip and twisted as I stepped back. It staggered several paces before collapsing against the roots.
I remained where I was until it stopped moving. My wrists hurt from the first strike, and the fingers of my right hand had begun to tremble, but there was no burning beneath the skin and no pain spreading toward my core. Fran had been right. I could protect myself with ordinary swordsmanship, but a longer fight or a stronger monster would become dangerous quickly.
After cleaning the blade, I rested for half an hour and ate some of the food Fran had packed. It was annoying to stop so early, but continuing with tired hands would only make the next encounter worse. Once the shaking faded, I resumed the walk at a slower pace.
The sun had started sinking when I reached the lower ridge. From there, I could see movement between the trees below: several armed groups travelling in formation with their banners folded and most of their equipment packed for a long operation. Their armor was difficult to identify at that distance, but the silver-and-red Draig insignia told me enough.
Fran had been right about the military activity. Stacy had soldiers moving through the forest, although I still did not know what they were searching for. I watched until they disappeared behind the trees, then continued far enough to find a safe place to camp above the ridge.
I chose the hollow beside a fallen tree and built a small fire between several stones. My wrists had stopped aching, and the deeper pain remained quiet, but I was more tired than I wanted to admit. Three weeks of lying in restoration fluid had healed the worst damage, but it had also left me unused to carrying a pack through the forest all day.
After eating, I cleaned both weapons and checked the charm before settling against the trunk. Rain was approaching from the west, and I wanted to catch up with the soldiers early the next morning before it washed away their tracks. They could tell me what had happened during the three weeks I had been missing and why Stacy had sent them this deep into the forest.
Either way, sitting inside Fran's cave was over. I had crossed most of the first day's distance without mana, survived the first monster that found me, and confirmed that my body could still do what I needed as long as I did not become reckless. That was enough for one day, so I pulled my jacket tighter, kept the longsword within reach, and rested while the first drops of rain struck the leaves above me.