Scarlett knitted her forehead as she compressed the two fire spheres in front of her further and further, trying to focus on, and grasp, the strands of mana that made the magic up. It was like trying to clasp a piece of clay in your hands. Forming and shaping it was as easy as clenching your fist, but trying to separate the clay into its different constituting parts was as good as impossible. Or at least it felt like it was.

After a while, she finally succeeded in grabbing hold of a handful of ‘strands’. She pulled at them gently. Immediately, they slipped out of her grasp. All the other strands came loose along with them, like a bundle of rubber bands. The fire whose strands she had pulled dissipated into nothingness, leaving her with only one sphere left. She let it disappear as well, picking up a small towel from her lap to wipe away the sweat from her temple.

This was hard.

It was only recently she’d realized that her magic was more complex than she had originally thought. It wasn't simply just a clump of mana moving according to her will, but rather an immense gathering of tinier strands working together in ways she didn’t quite understand. Her upgrade to [Greater Mana Control] might have been part of what helped her notice this. She didn’t have any skill to see the mana per se, so the vague connection she had to her magic was the only way to gauge these things, and mana control appeared to be the only skill that affected that weird sense.

[Mana: 843/4575]

She would have to recharge the [Depraved Solitude’s Choker] again soon. Though it would probably be best if she rested for half an hour first. She had recharged the necklace twice today, and it was already stretching the limits of what could be considered ‘comfortable’. Her arms and legs were starting to feel like spaghetti, and she would be lying limp on the ground if it weren’t for the chair she was in. And this was with her taking things slow.

She wasn’t looking forward to how she would be feeling later today.

Taking some time to regain her breath, she turned to look at the porch beside her. The raven-haired woman sitting there hadn’t moved an inch, gaze affixed on the book on her lap for the past two hours Scarlett had been spending practicing her magic. At times she’d glanced up, watching the kids who had been playing on the village square earlier, but she didn’t seem to care much about Scarlett.

Right now, things weren’t looking that promising.

This whole tutelage thing was Scarlett’s own idea and not something you did in the game. As such, she had no idea if it would work. Still, there wasn’t much else for her to do here at the moment, and she felt like it was the best alternative. Considering the woman didn’t seem to think she was strong enough, it wasn’t likely she’d be able to unlock any of the ‘quests’ that were related to this questline.

But that was exactly why she had to make the best use of her time here, while she could.

After resting for a while, she returned to her training.

It was getting late. The intense sun, which had started high in the sky when they got here, was now closing in on the horizon.

Scarlett breathed heavily as she forced her arm up, wiping away more of the sweat on her face. It bothered her, being seen in this condition in such a public space, but she had to fight through that discomfort.

Rosa had continued refilling her necklace as the day passed. Scarlett had taken longer and longer rests between the training sessions, forcing herself close to mana exhaustion every time as she pushed her magic further. And it all led to her feeling like she was going to die. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that she was more tired now than she’d ever been before. Perhaps the sensation could be compared to studying for ten exams at the same time for twenty-four hours straight, all the while running a marathon.

She wasn’t even aware one could feel this tired. She would have thought one would have fainted hours ago. It really wasn’t a pleasant experience.

But as long as there was even a morsel of benefit she stood to gain from this, she was willing to continue.

Leaning back in her chair, she glanced up at the descending sun. Would it be possible to force out one more session if she rested for long enough?

“I’m surprised you’re still moving,” the voice said from the side.

Scarlett closed her eyes for a brief moment, then slowly turned to look at the woman on the porch.

“It’s getting late,” the woman said. “You should probably leave.”

Scarlett lingered on her for a while, then gave a soft nod. “Very well.” She turned to Shin, who was sitting on the ground in front of the porch. He looked up from the book in his hands. “Call for Rosa.”

The young man put away the book as he stood and called over to the bard. Rosa looked up from where she sat on the edge of the platform at the center of the square, klert resting on her legs as they dangled in the air. She jumped down and started moving towards them.

While Scarlett had been focusing on her training, both Shin and Rosa had seemed to find their own ways to pass the time. Unsurprisingly, Rosa had entertained the kids—after they’d tired of watching Scarlett’s magic—until they had been picked up by some of the wary parents when it started getting late. After that, the bard had spent most of her time just strumming away on her klert.

After spending so much mana refilling Scarlett’s necklace repeatedly, even Rosa was looking a bit tired as she approached them. Still, the fact that she was still standing showed how lacking Scarlett was when it came to her mana. Rosa had at least five times as much as her, not to mention a much better recovery rate.

“What’s up?” the bard asked as she reached them, holding her instrument by its neck in her right hand. “Need me to share some more of my youthful vigor? Or maybe a song to cheer you up this time?”

“While I am loath to admit so, the latter is more fitting,” Scarlett said. She gestured to her legs. “We are leaving; however, I am in no condition to move on my own. I would appreciate your aid.”

Rosa blinked a few times, then looked over at Shin and the woman on the porch. “What, are we finished here?”

“We are,” Scarlett confirmed.

The bard eyed her for a moment, then shrugged her shoulders. “Alright then.” She brandished her klert. A smooth tune rang out from the instrument, and with it, Scarlett felt a wellspring of energy rise from inside her.

It was far from enough for her to recover completely, but now she didn’t feel as much as a dead fish. Gradually rising from her chair, she turned to the raven-haired woman on the porch and gave a nod. “We will take our leave. I believe we will see each other again soon.”

“I’m sure we will,” the woman said.

Scarlett turned around and, somewhat unsteadily, started walking. Rosa and Shin followed.

Soon after they’d left the village, as they were walking along the dirt road towards the part of the forest where they had originally arrived from, she noticed both of the other two giving her curious looks.

“So, what was all that about?” Rosa asked after a while.

Scarlett kept her attention forward. “To what are you referring?”

“I was expecting a bit more after all that buildup. Especially after you spent the whole day with your fancy displays. What was the point behind that, if we’re already leaving?”

“It is exactly what it looked like. I was practicing. And the ‘point’ is for me to be taught by that woman.”

“She didn’t seem that enthusiastic about the prospect,” Shin said.

“Perhaps not. But we will see how matters proceed.” This much was within Scarlett’s expectations, anyway. The truth was that she was probably still too ‘low-leveled’ for this place. Considering the rather unique circumstances of this place, though, it was still worth a try.

“Who was she?” Shin asked.

“If you were curious, you could have inquired about it with the woman herself. Although I am not certain she would have given an answer.”

Even Scarlett didn’t know the woman’s name, after all. It had never come up in the game. She had always been referred to rather vaguely, like ‘Unknown Woman’ or ‘Dark-haired Woman’. Whether there was a reason behind that wasn’t entirely clear. In the game, at least, her name hadn’t been necessary for the player to know. She was supposed to be mysterious like that.

Scarlett had avoided asking today, however, in case there actually had been a hidden reason. She was planning on asking later, though. It would make things a whole lot easier when interacting with the woman, having a name to refer to her with.

Forgoing any further conversation—Scarlett felt a bit too tired, and Rosa’s magic was beginning to lose its effect—they soon reached the edge of the forest. Treading along the same path that brought them here to Freymeadow, they trekked through the woods until they reached the clearing where they had originally entered this place. The bright orange of the setting sun was drawing its last streaks across the sky, painting a rather intimate scene over the silent glade.

At the center of the space, the strange gate still remained. A pocket of air with strange ripples to it.

Scarlett continued up to the gate, then stepped through. The world morphed around her, with her surroundings taking on the colors of fall as the clearing returned to how it was before they left. At the same time, she felt refreshed, as if all the tiredness and mental exhaustion she’d piled up over the past hours was nothing but a dream, floating away with the passing breeze.

[Mana: 4575/4575]

A small smile grew on her lips. It seems like her suspicions were correct.

“You’re back?” Allyssa’s voice called out to the side.

She turned to look at the young Shielder, who was sitting on the ground a short distance away along with Fynn.

“Whoa—” Rosa suddenly appeared beside Scarlett, the bard placing a hand against her chest as she blinked.

Shin stepped out next to her, his brows furrowed as he turned his eyes up to the cloudy sky.

“Was there nothing there?” Allyssa asked. She was studying the three of them curiously.

Shin paused, looking down at her. “What do you mean?”

She gave him a confused stare. “I was expecting you to be gone longer. Was it just a dead end?”

“…There was a village there.”

“Wait, really?”

Shin sent a glance Scarlett's way. “How long were we gone?” he asked Allyssa.

The girl cocked her head. “I don’t know. I didn’t count.” She turned to Fynn.

“Seven and a half minutes,” the white-haired young man said.

“Oh, okay. Wow.” Allyssa blinked at him, then looked back at Shin. “There you have it.”

Rosa laughed. Everyone’s eyes turned to the bard as she showed a wide smile. “Well, time sure flies by when you’re having a blast, doesn’t it?”

The sun stood high in the sky once more as Scarlett walked down the dirt streets of Freymeadow with Rosa and Shin in tow.

Just like it had in the game, the time of this place passed differently than in the real world. You could only enter while it was ‘day’, and after you left, the next time you returned it would automatically be day again, no matter what time it was outside.

It was exactly because of this quirk that Scarlett had wanted to visit this place as early as she could, to make use of the opportunity it afforded. The caveat was that the number of times you could enter ‘in a row’ had been randomized in the game. As such, she wasn’t expecting to be able to spend an infinite amount of time. After this place closed, one would have to wait at least a few days before returning.

Another unfortunate detail was that, while any exhaustion she piled up while here seemed to disappear when she left, that also seemed to go for any other physical—or metaphysical, if you wanted to call it that—changes, like increasing her mana. But the ability to train here and be able to push herself to her limit with no real drawback more than made up for this.

Although, if she actually had a choice in the matter… She probably wouldn’t have come to this place if it wasn’t completely necessary.

For now, the best she could do was to keep some of the others in her group away as best she could. Allyssa had been excited about coming with and exploring this “mysterious” village after hearing about it from Shin and Rosa, but Scarlett had ordered her to stay behind.

She was thinking about doing the same for Rosa and Shin, now that she had demonstrated that it was safe. But she needed at least one of them in order to refill her mana. Rosa was the better option of the two, considering Shin was a fighter. He wouldn’t have much more mana than your average person. Though, apparently, that was still more than Scarlett had.

But she was honestly hesitant about keeping both of them around.

The longer she waited, the worse it was bound to get. She didn’t know what she was supposed to tell them, though. If she could convince the woman in the village first, it could solve the issue of not having another person to refill her mana. But she wasn’t banking on that.

As they continued deeper into the village, they eventually reached the village square from the day before. It was roughly the same time of day now as then, but there were no kids playing around now. Scarlett had spotted a few of them helping their parents with different tasks as they walked through the village. Maybe the children would come around again later. They’d all looked excited when Rosa had given them a wave.

Crossing the square, Scarlett stopped before the building where the raven-haired woman was sitting on the porch. “Good afternoon. I hope the day finds you well.”

“That’s yet to be seen,” the woman said, looking up from the book in her lap. Her eyes stayed on Scarlett for a moment. “I see you’re the persistent type.”

“When the circumstances demand it of me.” Scarlett walked over and picked up the chair she’d used the day before, placing it on the ground in front of the porch. “Unfortunately, lately, I often encounter many situations where they do.”

She raised her hand, conjuring a mix of water and fire before her.

It was time to return to her practice.