“Do you know how magic works Minister Stevin?”

  “Not really. The cult claims that by eating people the runes come to them.”

  Runes?

  “Do you know anything about runes?”

  “Again, nothing. Just that runes are used and come to people,” Stevin said through a yawn.

  “Hrm. The sun is getting low, so we need to take shifts so we don’t get ambushed while sleeping. I’ll take first watch, you sleep.”

  “Okay,” was all Stevin replied before grabbing a bundle of leaves and wearing them as a blanket.

  Dawn glanced into the woods occasionally, while thinking of how to acquire runes. Perhaps meditate?

  With nothing better to do and occasional glances back into the woods, Dawn began to think. What was fire? What was that fireball?

  The hours crept forward, and Dawn began to see a symbol in her mind. A shape that meant ]Flame]. Opening her eyes, Dawn realized an issue. How do you power the rune?

  She didn’t have long to ponder it though, as a wolf burst through the trees and bit at her. She barely managed to fall out of the way and scrambled over to Stevin, who was already beginning to stir.

  “Wake up! A wolf is-” was all she could get out before being bitten.

  With all the force she could muster, Dawn rolled towards the fire, wolf in tow.

  It released her, but with the massive bite in her arm, it wouldn’t be useable for a while. The pain and adrenaline clouder her mind, leaving only the rune floating in her head. Almost subconsciously, she raised her remaining arm and let something flow through her to form the rune midair.

  In a moment, the air was suddenly ablaze, and she charged the wolf with flame floating beside her hand. It tried retreating, but her suicidal charge was faster, catching the wolf's fur on fire.

  It began to run away, but Dawn wouldn’t let it. Extinguishing the floating flames, she grappled its legs. It tried biting her, but the flames on the wolf spread too quickly. It simply began to struggle, and soon fell still.

  Dawn got up, her arm leaking blood and her body somewhat charred from holding the burning wolf. But, she still lived.

  “Are… are you okay?” Stevin asked.

  “Injured. It’s midnight. It’s your watch,” was all Dawn replied, before slipping under the leaf blanket.

  Upon waking up, Dawn checked her injuries. Her arm was no longer bleeding, and her burns had receded.

  “Ah, you’re awake! Are you alright?” Stevin asked.

  “Yes. Did you do something to heal me?”

  “No?”

  “Then,” Dawn showed her arm to Stevin, “do you know why I healed this fast? Do you heal this fast?”

  “Not at all.”

  Maybe this is related to my earlier revival. Perhaps I’m immortal, or at least very hard to kill.

  “What happened with the wolf's body?” Dawn asked.

  “It’s still there,” Stevin pointed to the body.

  Dawn got up and began looking at the wolf. It was thin, and its body was charred everywhere.

  “Do you think this wolf was alone?” Dawn asked.

  “Uhh… yes? It didn’t have more come after all.”

  “I agree. It seems quite thin, so it was likely kicked out of its pack a while ago,” Dawn stood up as she spoke and turned to Stevin asking, “How much food do you get daily?”

  “Not much.”

  “Hrm. We need food. You try and salvage meat from the wolf, I’ll try hunting.”

  “Yes, Ma’am.”

  Dawn was very quiet, staring at a rabbit alone in the woods in front of her. Recalling the feeling from yesterday, she formed the rune again and fire burst into life beside her hand.

  Can I control it?

  Focusing, the flame condensed into a thin sheet. Dawn tried floating it further away, but she couldn’t send it far from her. She pulled it back in, sent it out, and pulled it back in.

  If they sent a fireball, perhaps there’s a rune that sends it flying.

  With no other choice, Dawn lept towards the rabbit, swinging the fire sheet at the rabbit. The rabbit dodged back, but she responded by sending the flame out further, striking at the rabbits neck. The condensed flame soared through the rabbit, separating the head and setting the fur on fire.

  Reacting quickly, Dawn dug her fingers into the ground, ripped dirt out, and covered the fire. While not perfect, Dawn managed to stop the fire from fully destroying the rabbit.

  “Did you manage to get any meat from the wolf?”

  “Yeah, but not much,” Stevin showed Dawn the wolf meat; it looked like half the wolf was still edible.

  “I got a rabbit here,” Dawn lifted the rabbit.

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  “Could you skin it then? I’m cooking the wolf right now.”

  Dawn looked at the rabbit, before picking up a sharp stone and carving chunks of flesh off the rabbit, removing the fur.

  Soon enough, the rabbit was skinned.

  “Here,” Dawn handed the skinned rabbit to Stevin.

  “You… don’t have to do it like that. You just need to separate the skin a little, and you can pull the rest off.”

  “Ah.”

  “I’ll show you later,” Stevin turned back to cooking the wolf.

  Dawn sat down and began experimenting with… mana? Yeah, mana. She poured out some mana between her fingers and tried controlling it. It kept shaking, refusing to stay stable, but Dawn persisted. Soon enough, it slowly became more and more stable. Dawn kept going though, solidifying the mana into a sheet of mana. Tentatively, she reached out and poked it. The mana, it was solid.

  “Meat’s cooked,” Stevin called, reaching the skewered roasted rabbit over to Dawn, who took it and began eating quickly.

  “I’ll take first watch tonight,” Dawn said between bites, “but first I need you to try something.”

  “What is it?”

  “Close your eyes, and focus on the mana in you.”

  “Mana?”

  “Right,” Dawn swallowed the final bit of rabbit before turning and facing Stevin. “To cast the fire spells, I used an internal energy. I’m calling it mana. What you need to do, is get in touch with your mana.”

  “Alright,” Stevin said, closing his eyes and taking deep breaths. Dawn stared at him, waiting. After several minutes, Stevin opened his eyes and said, “I can’t feel it.”

  Is mana only in some people? Or did he just not notice it?

  “Close your eyes again. I’ll try something,” Dawn stood and walked over to Stevin, laying her hand on his shoulder and slowly flowing her mana into him. When he began shaking, she pulled back and asked, “Do you feel it now?”

  “Y-yes,” Stevin stammered out.

  “Open your eyes,” when Stevin opened his eyes, he saw a rune floating above Dawn's palm. “This, is the rune of [Flame]. Make one with your mana and try running your mana through it.”

  Stevin did as she asked, producing a small flame.

  “Woh!” Stevin exclaimed.

  It’s smaller and weaker than mine was. Perhaps… In a moment flame burst before Dawn’s hand, dwarfing Stevins flame.

  “Why’s yours so much bigger?”

  “It doesn’t appear to be stress or adrenaline. So my next two guesses are my understanding of the rune makes it more powerful, or that your mana is just weaker than mine. For now, when your watch shift comes up, try understanding and immersing yourself in flame.”

  “Like… set myself on fire?”

  “No. Just understand fire. Stare at the fire. The world is fire,” seeing Stevin's confused look, Dawn shook her head and said, “Just try.”

  Dawn said goodnight, and for Stevin to wake her when the moon was directly overhead

  When Dawn reopened her eyes, the moon was the first thing she saw, followed by Stevin with a large flame with him.

  “Did you meditate on the rune?”

  “Yeah, but I feel… like I still don’t understand it.”

  “But this does confirm at least part of the issue was your lack of understanding of [Flame]. Well, get to sleep.”

  Stevin just nodded, before sliding under the blanket.

  Dawn sat down and began her routine. She’d glance around, and when she found nothing she’d begin practicing her mana manifestation (what she’d taken to calling making her mana physical). She made a thin sheet of mana, dispelled it, and made another, trying to be faster and faster each time.

  And with the cycle repeating again and again, Dawn found herself capable of manifesting a sheet around a foot long in less than half a second.

  How can I use this? Tools? Weapons? But what should I wield as a weapon? I should start with a simple one for now. A sword? Too short range. A spear? No, a halberd. That should work fine.

  As the sun began to peak over the horizon, Dawn’s practice had barely allowed her to form the halberd shaft.

  Dawn shook Stevin awake, told him, “I’ll go hunt,” and went out.

  Soon enough, she found a deer traveling. With a deep breath, Dawn tested her formation speed, making an axe in half a second. Dispelling the axe, she charged at the deer, barely managing to reach the deer before it began to flee. Diving and swinging her arm, the axe appeared in her hand and cut the deer's heel. With the loss of its foot, the deer stumbled, allowing Dawn to stand and strike her axe into its brain.

  With the deer dead, Dawn began to drag it back to camp.

  “So,” Dawn turned back to the deer, “I just cut through the fur and skin and peel the rest off?”

  “Yes,” Stevin responded, keeping an eye on Dawn as she used a solid mana blade to make the first cut. With the first incision, Dawn began to pull the fur more and more off, until finally the deer's flesh and fur were fully separated.

  “Do you know how to manifest mana?”

  “Manifest mana?”

  “Make mana solid, like this,” Dawn made a blade to demonstrate.

  “No.”

  “Command the mana, like in a spell, but instead of running it through a rune, command it to be solid.”

  Stevin tried and unsurprisingly wasn’t able to make anything big or stable, but it was manifested.

  “Keep up the practice.”

  The next morning, Stevin came to Dawn and asked, “So, your majesty, what is our plan?”

  “We’re growing stronger, so soon we will annex the first town. But before we do, there are 3 things we need to figure out. How to enhance our physical strength, use fire at range, and heal. You will hunt monsters while I discover the runes. When you return, you will continue your practice on mana manifestation.”

  With a nod, Stevin set out, while Dawn closed her eyes and began to think of healing, of closing cuts and patching up bruises.

  The days passed well enough, with Dawn becoming capable of making an entire halberd in a moment, and Stevin making a spear in a second. On the second day, Dawn found the healing rune and taught it to Stevin. On the fourth, Dawn took a break from her meditations to try and hunt again.

  Another rabbit was before her, but instead of her typical charge and slash, she tried something new. She encompassed her entire body with mana.

  The rabbit immediately fled, sensing the mana pouring off of her, but it taught Dawn a pair of valuable lessons. Her mana, when used, could be sensed. And, when she encompassed her body in mana it grew stronger, her senses sharper, and while she hadn’t tested it, seemed more durable.

  She reduced the mana flowing upon her, focusing its power onto her sense instead. In a moment, the forest opened before her, with the animals so obvious to her new senses that ambushes felt more like a joke than an issue.

  Dawn set out after the rabbit she lost earlier, keeping her mana suppressed as much as she could. When it appeared in her eyesight, it kept looking around, likely trying to avoid her. With it in sight, she changed her enhancement to strength, preparing for a big spring forward.

  Inhale. Watch. Go.

  Flying right above the ground with speed faster than wind, she swung a mana blade right through the rabbit before bracing herself for the crash.

  Brushing off the dirt, Dawn inspected her kill. Perfectly bisected vertically.

  Powerful, but hard to use.

  Grabbing her prize, Dawn returned.

  On the 7th day since she told Stevin the plan, she found the rune [Throw]. Teaching it to Stevin, she told him, “Prepare. 2 days from now, we will begin the annexation.” Receiving a nod, Dawn returned to her training.