“…I wanted to keep them both here, where I can look out for them.”


    “This will be better for them, they’ll be stronger in the long run. I don’t want to see them leave either, but you know… sometimes the little birds have to leave the nest.” Margie said, looking out the window in Sullivans office. Margie was a sweet olddy with a soft voice, Sullivan found her quite agreeable.


    Sullivan slightly smiled as he nodded, looking at his desk.


    “I suppose you’re right.. They’ll at least be protected from the safety bearer’s.”


    “Mm, and I’m sure they’ll be d to have them.”


    In this world, the ‘safety bearer’s’ were an elite team of soldiers, each of them having unique sses. Practically, they were royal assassins at the service of the nobles, securing their power and enforcing their politics. Most of them had anti-mana capabilitiesbined with strong sword skills, they made short work of most rampant magicians. The safety bearer’s used to be called ‘the mage hunters’, but this was changed to trick themoners into thinking what they did was a noble deed – however their role never changed: to hunt down and execute those with potentially dangerous sses – dangerous to the status quo anyway.


    Jay would meet such a criteria, having a powerful monster ss. Sullivan wasn’t sure if Anya’s ss would be considered dangerous too, but he wasn’t willing to take the risk with his only daughter.


    “Yeah. I remember the stories Rn used to tell me about that ce… before the assassins ‘secured his protection’ when he eventually left it.”


    A regretful smile appeared on both Sullivan’s and Margaret’s face as he said that. Rn was a friend of Sullivan’s who was forced to flee due to his unique ss. He was soon found and given a new home by a mysterious group of mages, mystics and mancers – each of them having their own unique sses. At the time, Sullivan was the only person who helped Rn, so the mages left him with a gift: an ability to contact them if he found more people like Rn.


    “Will you send them care packages Margie? When they’re gone?”


    “I will,” she smiled “as long as they will allow it.” she scratched her head, wondering how she would send something to them “You should put that in the letter.”


    “Thank you… Maybe we can set up some arrangement to at least send them letters.” With a smile, and his smooth but powerful voice, Sullivan sincerely thanked her.


    Margaret bowed her head and left.


    Sullivan thought to himself as he sat in his ck leather chair, staring into the courtyard._.


    “Anya will be protected by Jay while they’re there. Hopefully Jay will ept my proposal…” a half-smile appeared on Sullivans face.


    Margaret had been like a mother to him, and a grandmother figure to Anya. Working as the receptionist here since he came to this vige, she had looked out for him.


    Sullivan wasn’t defenceless, but was a powerful adventurer. Though simply being powerful didn’t trante into running an association branch, he had no clue. The association branch was his reward for serving in the war; Margaret helped him to run it, and keep hold of it.


    Sullivan started making preparations to form a message, one made of pure mana. This was the skill that was somehow imprinted on him for helping Rn.


    This process would take all of his mana, leaving him defenceless while taking days to recover. It took a toll on his mind and body. Even though the spell was costly, it had its purpose: to contact someone in a mirror reality.


    – – –


    “So, where’d you go?” Kel asked out of nowhere, while Anya rubbed open her eyes after meditating. Kel was questioning Jay about something.


    “I just went to have a look around the forest, make sure you’re all safe” smiled Jay.


    “Oh…” Kel looked up in thought for a moment. “Thanks” she smiled.


    *Mmh* Anya stretched, getting up from the rock as she noticed something on the ground “What’s with all the weird nts?”


    “Hmm?” Jay raised a brow


    “Why are all these nts all dead at the top?” she leant down, cupping a half-dead nt in her hand.


    “Oh yeah, weird…” Jay said, crouching and looking at the nt.


    Kel hid a cheeky smile behind her brown hair, not wanting the attention.


    “Oh well,” Jay said, standing up “we haven’t got time for this.” he started jogging down the road before looking back.


    Anya shrugged at Mark and started jogging, following Jay.


    The others started jogging now too, so Jay turned and kept going.


    The path turned grassy at some points and rocky at others. Sometimes they had to jump over logs and walk around ponds.


    [Running – Level up]


    [Running is now level 2]


    [+2% Speed]


    “Nice” Jay thought, uninterrupted as he swept through the forest.


    After three hours, they had to stop again.


    So far, they were about 30% of the way, having travelled seven kilometres; over mountains and streams, through forests and valleys. The terrain was rugged, while much of the path was non-existent or overgrown, making it hard to travel. If the road was ideal, they could cross up to thirty kilometres in the same time.


    As the group left traces of civilisation, the path got less and less pronounced. Soon, there was no noticeable path, and small piles of rocks were used as markers for the track. Following an unspoken rule, perhaps even a tradition, each of them added another rock to these piles as they passed them.


    Jay meditated for thirty minutes again while Kel only took twenty minutes. Waking up first, she practised her skills for a while.


    Time passed as she got lost in her practice, and she didn’t realise Jay waking up.


    “What a strange ss…” Jay sat, silently watching her shrivel a nt.


    “Is that some kind of nature magic?” Jay asked in a hushed voice, not wanting to distract the others during their meditation.


    Kel jerked a little, slightly startled out of her deep concentration. Her orb flickered for a moment as she temporarily lost control.


    With a tiny, smug half-smile she turned to Jay “Time magic.”


    Tilting his head to the side “Time magic?” Jay didn’t understand what it was. Other than wither nts, he could only guess; nevertheless, he wanted to say something positive.


    “Sounds useful.” he shrugged.


    “It’s pretty easy, but hard to master.” Kel said as she went back to practicing.


    “…I hope I didn’t sound sarcastic just then.” Jay thought to himself as he watched her torment the nts once more before he got up and did a few stretches.


    “Wonder what I should do to pass the time for the next hour.”


    Jay took out his book, reading through the pages a few more times. He felt a sense of agreement, even joy as he read through the first two pages, but felt like he still had to digest the third page.


    At this point, Kel was back to meditating again while Mark had woken up.


    With a smile, Jay silently took out his sword, showing it to Mark.


    Mark responded with a half-smile, silently taking out his monstrous white sword.


    They looked at each other’s swords once more before Mark spotted some saplings of varying sizes in the forest around them, he pointed at them, drawing Jay’s attention.


    “Shall we?” Mark quietly asked Jay.


    Jay had the exact same idea “Yes. Yes we shall.”


    “Which one first?”


    “That one.” Jay picked a random nt for Mark to attack.


    Mark and Jay then spent the remaining half an hour culling the forest, showing off their skills to each other. A small clearing was even beginning to form around the oblivious meditating girls. They were swinging so fast that the only sound was the nts hitting the ground along with a whoosh sounding from Mark’s sword.


    The girls finished meditating, synchronized as they were shaking their heads at the newly-formed small clearing around them. Anya was still confused by some of the nts being half-dead on the tips, but decided to ignore it since they didn’t have enough time.


    “We’re ready, let’s go.” Anya called Jay and Mark over.


    “Right, let’s go.” Jay said to Mark as they both culled one final nt before storing their weapons. Jay took the lead again as they continued to jog.


    The next few stops were uneventful. They were getting closer and closer while the sun was getting lower. They ran for 12 hours. Eventually the sun went down, so they decided to stop for the night and set up a small camp before finishing the rest of the journey in the morning – a 6 hour trip remained for them tomorrow.


    “Can we start a fire? It’s cold.” Kel asked, unrolling a thick mat with a fur nket on top.


    “Sure, we’ll find some wood.” Jay said, “C’mon Mark.”


    The party made a square with their sleeping gear, with a fire in the middle. Jay and Mark had gathered a small pile of wood next to the fire in case anyone wanted to add some more.


    Anya pulled out a small tent, setting it up in a sh. Clearly she had camped a lot.


    Jay was standing by the fire, getting warm before he would jump into his swag. Anya took this opportunity toe and talk to him.


    A rasied brow was on jay’s face, looking curious about why she wasing closer.


    “They have been a little too close.” she whispered.


    “What?”


    “I can sense them, looking at us. Your… friends.”


    “Ohh” Jay finally understood what she was talking about. “Thanks. I’ll make some room…” he hinted and nodded, thanking her for the tip.


    Jay willed his skeletons to form a defensive perimeter around the camp, but making sure they were far enough away to avoid detection by Anya; this way they would both sleep soundly.


    Tucking himself into his swag, Jay felt satisfied with his purchase. It was asfortable as his bed at home.


    The night was uneventful, at least for the four sleeping. Anya had her guard up, even while sleeping she had vignt senses; this caused her to wake up a few times as she heard Mark tossing and turning, but she quickly went back to sleep.


    In the morning, the forest was quiet and cold. A mist had appeared, and the fire was long dead.


    Jay was the only one to wake up with a smile, as he received some notifications.


    [1 Exp][15 Exp][1 Exp][1 Exp][5 Exp]


    “Good skeletons” he thought, still smiling as he mentally ordered them to break the circle formation and go back to stalker mode – but this time a little further behind the party due to what Anya saidst night.


    The party had some of their own rations, packed up their gear, and made sure the fire was truly dead before jogging off once more.