Ch: 112.1 (Patreon)

“Five more minutes, Mom,” I grumble when I feel Mother trying to shake me awake. She should know how tired I am after forging all day yesterday. My arms, back, head, everything hurts; all I’m asking for is a little more time to rest. Is that too much to ask for?

“I am not your mother,” a cold voice whispers next to me.

My eyes snap open, and I bolt upright. My tired muscles complain about the sudden movement, but I have bigger problems at the moment. I accidentally confused Tabitha with my mom! And the sad thing was, I’m not sure if it’s ruder to compare Mom to Tabitha or vice versa.

“Sorry!” I quickly apologized in the direction I heard Tabitha’s voice, not sure if she would take offense to my slip up. Rubbing my eyes, I try to spot Tabitha’s silhouette in the darkness, but I struggle to do so and only manage to see her outline and nothing else. The forest that held a surprising amount of light during the day was veritably pitch black at the moment.

Feeling around the darkness, my hand lands on my hammer resting at my side, and I'm reminded of where I am. If Tabitha was waking me up, it must be my turn to take over the watch.

"I'm sorry for mistaking you for…."

I don’t see Tabitha’s hand as she covers my mouth, cutting me off. “Shhhh," I hear Tabitha hiss close to my ear. "You're too loud. You'll draw unnecessary attention towards us."

A small wave of panic washes over me when I realize there is a second reason Tabitha could be waking me up. "Are we in danger?" I ask in a quiet voice after she lowers her hand. Were we under attack!?

“Calm yourself,” Tabitha quietly reassures me. “We aren’t in any danger…. at the moment.”

That was unnecessarily cryptic; I wonder if Tabitha could see me frowning right now? “What does that mean?” I try to make my confusion known through the tone of my voice.

But instead of answering my question, I feel Tabitha grab my wrist. She gently pulls me to my feet, and I have just enough time to grab my hammer before she's pulling me to the front of the tree hollow that we were currently camping in. And the world that greets me when I get there isn’t the one I remember from before I fell asleep.

It was still incredibly dark outside, but that only made the flickering motes of lights around us stand out that much more. I forget that I'm looking at a forest for a brief second, and I question if I’ve been teleported to outer space. Millions of little stars surround us, twinkling in the darkness.

But they weren’t stars. Instead, one of the lights drifts mere feet from the opening of our hollow and allows me to get a look at what was producing the glow. It was a dragonfly that was eight inches long and had six wings instead of the usual four. The insect's light was coming from its long abdomen, just like deep-sea fish. This was the first time I've seen bioluminescence in person, and it was breathtaking spectacular to see.

I wanted to hold out my hand to see if one of the insects would perch on it to better look at them, but I only needed to remember my earlier encounter with the bird to remind me that it probably wasn’t the wisest idea. Most likely, they were harmless, but then again, for all I knew, they could explode when touched.

I lean closer to Tabitha, standing next to me, and whisper, “Are they dangerous?”

My eyes were slowly adjusting to the level of darkness, but I still couldn't make out Tabitha's facial features, so I had to wait for her to respond verbally.

“It’s not the insects you need to be wary of," Tabitha ominously points out. “Look below us,” she instructs me.

Glancing down, I don’t understand what Tabitha is getting at. I could barely see her, and she was standing right next to me. How was I supposed to see anything on the forest floor?

Staring down into the abyss, I strain my eyes, trying to pick out whatever hidden foe Tabitha warned me about. Then I saw it.

Well, I didn’t exactly see it, per se, more like I saw its outline shifting below us. And once I saw the first one, I began to pick out the others shifting in the darkness. Parts of the forest floor appeared to be moving below us. A shiver runs down my spine, and my hair stands on end as I struggle to keep track of the everchanging masses.

At this height, I couldn’t make out any of the beast’s features, so naturally, my overactive imagination started to conjure images of eldritch horrors prowling the tree's base.

“They’re feeding on the bird you killed,” Tabitha explains.

As usual, she was right; while there were plenty of figures moving below, most of them seemed to be drawn to where we left the bird carcass.

“If you stay quiet, they should continue to leave us alone," Tabitha notes before turning around and moving to get comfortable. "Wake me in a few hours when the sun rises.”

“A few hours?” My eyes widen in surprise. "How long was I asleep for?"

"Eight hours or so," Tabitha lazily tells me as she positions herself into a comfortable divot in the bird's nest. As expected, she doesn’t take off any armor, choosing to sleep in her gear rather than put herself into a vulnerable position.

“What happened to switching places halfway through the night?” I ask.

Tabitha tilts her head in my direction, and I assume she's looking up at me. "You needed more rest than I did. A few hours will be enough for me.”

Of course, she would. Once again, I was reminded Tabitha was more compassionate and considerate than she usually let on. I should strive to be the same.

“Hold on,” I tell her as she’s about to close her eyes. “Sleep on my tarp; it will be more comfortable for you." My makeshift pillow might not do much while wearing a helmet, but at least she could use it to help with her posture.

Tabitha’s head moves in the dark, and I choose to interpret it as her nodding in thanks.

While she changes positions, I make myself comfortable near the hollow's entrance. It isn’t easy to find a spot that lets me see our surroundings while mainly hidden, but I eventually settle in. Last night I learned Tabitha could fall asleep almost at will, so by the time I truly get comfortable, I’m sure she has already fallen asleep.

I was on my own now. If something were to attack us, it was my job to protect Tabitha.

Pulling up a smaller section of my status page, I check to see how much I recovered after my battle.

LV: 74 Experience: 914,441/ 1,004,619

Health: 2,356.17/2,450

Stamina 1,581.64/1,666

Mana: 784.93/1,030

Not bad; I was still sore, but I already knew I wasn't going to be back to full strength so soon. However, my recovery was progressing faster than I originally thought.

My mana was recharging the quickest. While we were eating dinner, I absorbed a great deal of mana both from my surroundings as well as from all the magic-beast meat I ate. While I was sleeping, my body processed all that excess mana and was slowly drawing in ambient mana again to fuel my regain.

To get things moving faster again, I activate Extract Mana and pull in more ambient mana. Again, I carefully absorb just enough to push the limits of what my body can handle without overly straining my mana network. If I keep up this pace, my mana should be fully charged in another eight hours or so.

Until then, the only magic skill I should use is Mana Skin. It may hinder my regeneration rate, but there was no way I wouldn't use it. I even kept it activated after my fight when my mana levels were dangerously low, only dropping it after I passed out.

Speaking of which, I reactivate my skill, seeing how I forgot to activate it in the spur of the moment when Tabitha woke me up.

A sigh of relief escapes my lips after my skill flickers to life. It’s calming to feel my mana wrapping around me. It’s like I’ve surrounded myself with a comfortable blanket, only this blanket is capable of saving my life.

I'm like Tabitha in that way; while she doesn't like taking off her armor, I don't particularly like dropping Mana Skin unless I’m safely home. Maybe without realizing it, I’ve too developed a phobia of being exposed. It's not the same as Tabitha's, but if I’m not careful, it might eventually evolve into something like Tabitha’s anxiety. I sit pondering this possibility for a second while constantly scanning our surroundings.

The mana signatures of some giant bugs show up in Sense Mana, but thankfully nothing truly dangerous makes itself known. Everything of significant threat is below and well out of my skills range

.

But while I could confidently say my mana was going to be back up to full in a few hours, I was less confident about my stamina and health. I heavily overdrew on my stamina during my areal battle, and even after sleeping for as long as I did, it refused to fill all the way.

Staring at my status page for a few minutes, I could see my stamina tick up by .01. At least that proved I was slowly recovering, if even at a reduced rate.

My stamina and mana were significant factors in my fighting style, so it was important they recover as fast as possible, but my health most concerned me. I may only be missing 100 points in it, but the fact that it's yet to increase while watching my status page proves I took more damage in the fight than I initially thought.

When Tabitha cut me during our sparring sessions, I would lose a handful of health points, but they always recovered within a few hours.

I slammed really hard into that tree; it wouldn't surprise me if I bruised a few bones on impact. My vitality may see flesh wounds healing in hours, but I doubt the same applied to bones.

I was going to need to be extra careful in the future. If I suffered another attack of that caliber, I might suffer more permanent damages. Father was bedridden for days after he suffered major damage that one time and that was with Anastasia helping him heal. The consequences of getting hurt are more severe than they've ever been.

I wasn't going to let anything sneak up on me again!

I can't take risks when it comes to fighting. As Tabitha said, I need to analyze my opponent before I attack. I wasn't going to make the same mistake again.

And that's how I spent my time on watch, going over everything Tabitha told me I did wrong during my fight and coming up with solutions to how I could've handled myself better.

I did that until the first rays of light penetrated the thick canopy above us.

It was time to wake Tabitha up.

It was time to start my second day in the Endless Forest.

**********

1,900 words.

A relatively short chapter, but I can explain it. I'm going on a camping trip out of state next week, and I don't want to leave you guys without content during that time.

So, I plan to release chapters every other day from here on out, and I've been prepping for that. I’ll be posting another chapter tomorrow, considering I need to make up for this last week, but starting Sunday, you guys on my Patreon should be getting a chapter every other day.

Wish me luck, and as always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.