I woke up to the delightful aroma of a duck curry and the sound of Draxson delighting in its taste. “MMM, that is tasty.” I slowly sat up, rubbing my head, when I noticed Draxson sitting near a pot on a fire and a spot with plates and silverware. As I sat up, Draxson noticed and immediately came to me, enveloping me with a gentle hug. “Oh, Sopheia, I'm so glad you’re awake. I was so worried about you,” whispered Draxson as I heard tears in his voice and wet drops on my neck. “Oh, forces of life, thank you for keeping my lovely friend safe,” said Draxson in a whisper I barely heard. “I can't leave you alone; you would be miserable without me. Who knows what you would do? You might just burn down this forest, eradicating any trace of enemies.” I replied in a devious tone.

  “And also, did I hear you say ‘tasty’? I thought you were more eloquent than that. Don't tell me you're becoming uncivilized. No wonder you've been eating like a beast, already succumbing to your primal instincts.” I said, teasing Draxson. “Hey, that's the first thing you think to say when you wake up recovering from such a nasty wound?” questioned Draxson. “Of course not, I'm kidding. I missed you too. I'm thankful for Draxy. I've fallen head over heels for my rescuer; such a breathtaking performance deserves a reward.” I said mischievously, with a plan in my head as I leaned closer to Draxson. Draxson let me go and tilted his head in confusion. “Good,” I thought.

  “Oh, come here, you hunk, give me a smooch,” I said as I puckered my lips and approached dangerously close to Draxson’s elven lips." At the last moment, Draxson pulled away, but not before I planted a fat, wet kiss on his left cheek. “Hey, why did you pull away?” I said as I flashed him a bright smile. “Well, let's eat this delightful-smelling food.” “Thank you for the food, Draxson,” I said as Draxson and I dug into our meal. “Mmmm, this is really good Draxson. Did you imbue this with any majic?” I asked in between scooping another bite of the curry. “ I used some slow regenerating honey, restoration herbs, and some focus and minor dexterity boost peppers,” replied Draxson after chewing a mouthful.

  “I got the restoration herbs from your familiar Comet. He flew over here a while ago to drop them off, and that reminds me: I also turned some of the herbs into a basic wound-healing paste for that nasty cut on your side and those minor scratches around your arms. The herb is ready when you're done eating.” added Draxson. “Thank you Draxson. Did you give Comet a majic worm?” I said as I placed another bite in my mouth. “Mmm, so tasty,” I add as I delight in another bite of the curry. “You see to be the one losing your eloquence, Sopheia. Yes, I gave him some Majic worms from the bag I took off you when I took off your cloak and set it aside when I was checking for additional wounds,” replied Draxson after he finished his portion.

  “I’ll have to extend my thanks when I see Comet again. I love that bird; he works so hard. He tells me a lot about his beautiful family. His missus laid eggs a while back, and they’re close to hatching…” I said as I began rambling about My Familiar until I finished eating. Draxson had a third serving but only two because I needed the energy to recover. Draxson and I split a majic restoring brownie to top off our energy. “We only have one more portion of the duck curry for when you're hungry again. Also, here is the healing paste.” Said Draxson as he packed up the food, cleaned his dishes, and handed me the healing paste that I had applied and rubbed in my minor scratches. I turned away from Draxson, who was still occupied with cleaning and packing, as I lifted my shirt to use the healing ointment on the cut right below my chest.

  I wondered how a cut managed to form here when it didn't leave a scratch on my armor when I inspected it. “I guess the skeletons could cut past armor and clothes without marking them.” I thought to myself as I finished my minor cuts, reached for the dagger holding the scarf tightly around my waist, and winced at the pressure. “Hey, Draxson, can you help me with this scarf around my waist and apply the healing paste?” I asked as I tried to loosen the scarf again before giving up. “Yeah, sure, I can help you, Sopheia,” replied Draxson as I watched him finish packing his supplies and bringing a small pouch before he kneeled at my side. “Here, you might want to eat this to lessen the pain while I undo the scarf,” stated Draxson as he handed me the small pouch with some chewy berries to occupy me while he undid the makeshift bandage. I plopped the chewy and sweet berries into my mouth as my body yelled at me while Draxson unwrapped my waist.

  Upon exposure, my wound slowly bled while applying the healing paste to fill it in. The paste began working right away as it steadily closed my wound. I barely felt the pain as I was being healed; I Would heal it later if it was still there after a few days. When Draxson finished rubbing in the ointment, he spoke up and wrapped my waist in a bandage. “Hey, Sopheia, I just noticed you got some really thick fur. Has your hair always been like this?” Draxson asked as he finished up. I looked down and noticed what he was talking about. I was still in the state I was in my dream. I also found myself more toned in my arms, and my leg muscles bulged where my socks were before I saw them bunched up around my ankles. "Probably from when I was grabbed by that one skeleton," I thought.

  “Hey, I also noticed that your shirt is stretching slightly, and your shorts are a little high. Are they supposed to be this short? Did the frost shrink them?” “. . . . Hey, what do you mean they're high up? Are you trying to look at my legs? I questioned furiously. “ I saw Draxson's face loosen as he looked at me, and he calmly said, “No, it's just your clothes that look smaller on you than when I was examining you for cuts and bruises. Also, you have a bruise where that skeleton grabbed you on your lower thigh. I calmed down as I examined my clothes to find them smaller than when I put them on today. I didn't think I would need to wear my larger clothes this early. I thought I could wear this for a few more months before growing. I suspected that with my muscles expanding, I grew a little in this new form. I began feeling a little guilty for being mad at Draxson.

  “Hey Draxson. I'm sorry for yelling at you.” I said in an apologetic voice. “It's OKOK, Sopheia. I forgive you,” Draxson chimed back. “Well, let's get you up so we can examine those skeletons before it gets dark so we put on a dozen more miles or so before we set up a camp,” Draxson said as he stood up and offered me his hand. “ If you’re ready to go on Sopheia,” he added. “Yeah, I'm ready to move on once I re-equip my gear,” I replied, taking his hand and hoisting me up. “Alright, then I will grab my bag and get some stretches in,” stated Draxson as he grabbed his pack. I watched him stretch before I put on my armor, cloak, and weapons and donned my bag. I tapped Draxson on the shoulder, saying, “Come on,” and then searched the skeletons.

  Draxson and I had been walking for a few more hours before it got dark, and we decided to rest for the night and clean ourselves. We had found a few pouches of money on some of the skeletons, and we found a large hard-cover bound book with light majic glowing from it, but Draxton was unable to open it, and I didn't want to rip it with my newly awakened strength accidentally. In addition, Draxson got a decent crystal from the skeleton that severely wounded me and collected some clocks and bone fragments he put into a jar for his cooking. We left most of the weapons as grave markers after we buried the skeletons, wrapped the salvageable armor in the gathered cloaks, and tied them to the tops of our bags upon my insistence that I could carry them. Draxson got a long spear with a frost steel edge and found arrows in the cart they surrounded. We also found a few large bags with rusted daggers inside, and Draxson took the bags and daggers. He attached the bags to the side of his bag, and some of the salvageable dagers were placed in his waist pouches and leg pockets.

  After an hour of searching, we decided to camp near one of the larger trees of the forest, and Draxson started cooking something on a fire while I went to the river and warmed up a small portion before I bathed. I sat in the cold water after I stopped using my fire majic since it drew on much more power than my frost. As I relaxed there sitting in the shallow river, I stared into the barely visible stars as the sky went from light orange to purple and then dark blue, thinking to myself. "This is pretty fun, but this has been a rough day. I don't want it to be like this every day. I’ll have to get stronger and be careful from here on." I thought, and after a few minutes, I returned to our encampment. Draxson added the final touches to what looked like thick, meaty sandwiches.

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  We ate, chatted, and then we went through our supplies before I went to bed. Draxson decided to keep the first watch while he continued to sort his supplies and all of the new equipment while I was tucking myself into my sleeping bag. I slept peacefully, dreaming about sparing Draxson with my new strength. The following morning, Draxson inventoried all of our equipment and totaled 4 dented suits of armor, 21 daggers, 1 spear,20 arrows, and 2 and a half more days' worth of food and a week's worth of majic desserts. We headed out after a soup breakfast and a cookie apiece. We lived out this cycle for a week, occasionally hunting for more supplies and fighting a few wolves now and then, as well as the occasional bear.

  8/7/1385

  Since Draxson and I began this journey together, his sleeping habits have been a bit… aggravating. I can't count the times I wanted to kick him in the chest for all the noise he was making in the night. I wonder if it will always be this way when I think about eliminating the nuisance. Yes, kill… kill, I must terminate Draxson…….’s snoring. I got up from my spot and walked over to where Draxson slept. Then I stomped my food into his ribs and began twisting my foot into him like one would squash a bug.

  “HEY DRAXSON, you need to stop this snoring. I can’t sleep with all that racket. If you don’t stop, I’ll freeze you every night until you get over this habit.” I said as I continued to rub my shocked foot deep in his ribs. “Hey, what are you doing?” asked a bewildered Draxson. “Cut that out, Sopheia. I'm trying to sleep here,” added Draxson as I dug deeper with my foot. “DID YOU NOT JUST HEAR ME?” I said you need to stop snoring, or you’ll have some uncomfortable sleep in the days ahead. I swear you are just a thick-skulled lizard sometimes.” I replied before I let out an exasperated sigh. “Just shut up, Draxson, and go to sleep,” I said as I lay back down. “OKOK, Sophy, I’ll stop snoring,” replied Draxson.

  Surprisingly, I returned to my bedroll and got some much-needed sleep.

  8/8/1385

  I wasn't awakened until whatever Draxson was making for breakfast woke me up.

  I sat up and yawned as I stretched and scratched my ears. After a moment, I greeted Draxson, “Good morning, Draxson. What are you making this morning?” I asked, rising from my bed and stretching my legs. I looked down and noticed that my clothes had gotten pretty baggy. A week ago, my transformation seemed to depart from me when I checked for the previously thick fur under my shirt. I only found the light patches of fur I had before the change and a nicely healed waist. I rubbed my hand down my waist and felt it fully healed. “I'm cooking a soup from those boars we hunted the other day. Remember how fun it was to capture those?” Draxson asked with a laugh. I remembered the boars and how I hated those beasts.

  We were hunting a few days ago when we stumbled upon some light blue boars. I asked Draxson if he could shoot them from the distance we were at, and he confidently stated that he could. Draxson loosed his first arrow, aiming for the boar’s heart, and we witnessed his arrow harmlessly ricochet off an ice barrier surrounding the boar. When Draxson went for another shot with more power, using a frost-coated arrow and piercing through the barrier, it broke as it struck the boar's hide. When Draxson knocked back another arrow, the boar finally noticed us and signaled to the 20 other hidden boars. Who then began pursuing us for an excruciating 4 hours, displacing us many miles from our original direction. I remembered yelling at Draxson as we ran for our lives, “Really, Draxson!?! You couldn't take a single one down? I hope you are happy to have 20-plus ice boars after us.” I had said.

  “It’s not as easy as it looks, Sopheia. I put a lot of effort into those shots. Would you like to fight them, Sopheia? Retorted Draxson. “ yeah, totally. I would love to fight 20 boars. Are you that hungry that you want 20 boars?” I asked Sarcastically. “That sounds good, but that's too much and will hurt the ecosystem,” Draxson replied. I slowed down and began summoning frost from the habitat to shroud my fists in a thought that crossed my mind. “This would be the perfect opportunity to test out my strength and grow even stronger,” I remember stopping and turning around while I told Draxson my plan to absorb more frost Majic and asking him to prepare a flame wall to cover our escape.

  In the end, I shredded through a few boars and managed to run away with one in between my arms and jumped over the area Draxson flame barricade would form right before he summoned said wall during our escape from the engagement. When I returned to the present, I said: “Yeah, that was Euphoric.” “ Well, anyways, here's your bowl Sopheia. Enjoy :)” “Thank you, Draxson,” I said as I took the bowl of soup from Draxson, and he smiled back at me. I, in turn, smiled back, sat down, and happily ate while Draxson dug into his food. We sat there and quietly ate until I broke the silence and discussed plans for the day. “So I think we should train with my Majic battle simulation constructs today for team training. How’s that sound, Draxson?” I asked as I finished my bowl, set it down, and placed my hands by my sides. “That sounds like a solid plan. We can also bake a power pie with the last Inferno chicken eggs from our reserves and some of our vitality honey and Mana fruit. We can have it just in case we find ourselves in an unfavorable matchup.” Offered Draxson when he, too, finished off his meal.

  Later that evening, I was fighting One of my training Artifacts from my father. I was weaving between max setting attacks from the artifact when Draxson stuck an arrow right in its throat, activating the safeguard that powered it off and rendering it disabled when the arrow landed. When the artifact retracted to its deactivated form, I sighed in relief and relaxed after the battle, “Phew, that was a close one, Draxson, you nearly hit me.” “yeah, sorry about that. I’ll work on my aim to avoid a harmful addition to your attire,” responded Draxson as he lowered his bow, standing over 30 meters away. “Hey, Sopheia, do you think we could use the training artifacts to fight other creatures?” asked Draxson as he approached me.

  “I don't know Draxson, but that might be a good idea. Do you want to try that tomorrow after we test battling both artifacts at the max setting? I asked. “Yeah, that sounds good to me. Do you want to go for another round against the artifacts? I'll try out using a spear. Then we can spar after dinner if you want to.” offered Draxson. I took Draxson up on his offer as I set up both training artifacts. “Alright, are you ready, Draxson?” I ask before I activate the artifacts. When I received a nod in response, I activated both artifacts and stepped back as the two training constructs came to life with Majic, who charged at me with their spear and shield. Draxson swooped in with his spear and blocked one of the construct's slashes with a spear while I locked into combat, slashing at my adversary with my frost steel sword.

  I went for a slash at the leg, which was met with a shield from my adversary, and in response, I delivered a kick toward its head with my right before I ducked and slashed at their legs. I watched the trainer stagger backward before recovering and swiftly jabbed at me with its spear, cutting across the top of my left shoulder. I winced upon being cut and flipped backward before stabbing out at its abdomen, being stopped by a shield and another swipe at me with its spear. I jumped, dived towards my opponent, and rolled behind them for a broad slash from shoulder to leg, scraping against the armor before being smacked with a shield to the face. I was in a daze momentarily before recovering and charging at my opponent on all fours. I slid between its legs before delivering a vertical slash from its head into the ground, deactivating its level 1 protection protocol and causing it to lose its armor. When another jab was directed my way as Draxson and the other artifact clashed between us. I delivered a punch to the head and knocked the helmet off. Draxson knocked the spear out of the hand of the one I was fighting before he rolled to the side and continued his fight. With its spear gone, my artifact charges me with abandon and punches me in the chest before blocking any retaliation. I stumbled back with the force of the punch and took a second to recover before I kicked the shield out of my enemy's hand. With no weapons, the artifact wildly punches out before faking me out and roundhouse kicking me in the side and knocking me over.

  Just as I was about to be hammer-struck by my enhanced combat trainer, Draxson’s body slammed into it, deactivating it as he blocked a swing of a spear and bash of a shield. Draxson picked up the shield dropped from my artifact and used it to cover us as he lifted me from the ground.

  Draxson drew its attention to the left as I charged around the back, unleashed a frenzy of slashes, and finished the battle in sync with Draxson, Who delivered a punch as I tore through the defenses with my claws and deactivated the battle trainer. The shields and spears the artifacts dropped disappeared and returned to the spell artifact, signaling our victory. I gave Draxson a high-five and wrapped my fingers around his in celebration before taking my hand back after squeezing his. “Good job. That was a nice save.” I said, smiling ear to ear, feeling my ears perk up. “Yeah, that was great. We did pretty well. That was an exhilarating fight,” replied Draxson as he patted my head and scratched behind my ear.

  “Hey, what are you doing, Draxson,” I said, grabbing his hand and pulling it off me. “ I stared back at Draxson's handsome elf face and barely kept myself from caressing his face. “Sorry, Sopheia,” said Draxson as he put his hand down to his side. “Let's cook something delicious and bake that pie, Sopheia. Sound good to you, Sopheia?” “Yeah. that sounds good to me,” I replied, following Draxson and helping prepare our meal.