The Girl Who Hacked The Magic System Chapter 13 - The dawn of freedom

I don’t know how long I have been walking. Sotis I sat for a bit to recover my strength and my mana, before I set walking again.

A cool breeze cos from the south, steadily coming from the southern ocean and rushing north. How do I know that? Because Mimby taught it to .

This ti of the year, that’s one of the few ways to find your bearings in this wasteland during the nights that are darkened by the clouds this sa wind brings.

I sent a silent thought of thanks to her, the foxkin that was captured by adventurers and sold as a slave in the city.

Adventurers. The word has a ring to it that cos from an entire life playing tabletop RPGs and videogas.

But in the last seven years, I’ve heard enough tales to completely twist the aning of it for . Tales of trauma and suffering, of rape and slavery.

It’s probably because I was raised in a won’s world, and almost all of the won there were beastkin, the only exceptions being , my mother, and the eventual elf or dwarf.

Elves and dwarves were normally sold quickly. They fetched a good amount of money when sold, or at least that’s what was told to . I’m not sure I want to understand the economics of slavery myself, so whatever.

So all stories about adventurers ca from the beastkin point of view. The pov of those who were oppressed and enslaved throughout the land, within every human nation on this world.

But my mother had also been an adventurer in her youth. So I guess not all adventurers are the sa, and the girls that ended up in the slave den were just the ones that t the wrong kind?

In any case, the patrol will probably try to find during the day. They won’t risk going out at night just for a slave.

But the main risk wasn’t the patrol. Nor the monsters. It was the adventurers themselves.

The city guard is an institution tasked with protecting the people inside the walls. For that reason, they are composed of people who are too cowardly to be adventurers.

They stay all the ti inside the walls and don’t pick up the skills needed to roam the Wilds. They would probably just go outside to show off, walk around for a couple of hours ’searching’ for the escapee, and then declare that I was probably eaten by monsters.

The monsters themselves pose a threat. But Mimby taught one secret, that is that nocturnal monsters are imdiately attracted to light. If you carry a torch or anything else to light your path, or if you set up a campfire, they will flock to you.

Not that you are completely safe in the dark, it’s just that the encounter rate drops significantly, as there aren’t that many of them hunting around at any given ti.

After all, the wilderness is vast, and the sources of food and water are few and far between. If you manage not to actively attract a monster to you, you might get so ti without any deadly encounters.

So, the first tip to survive around here is not to use any light at all during the night, lie low, and don’t make noise. It’s not a guarantee, but a light is a safe ticket to Hell.

I’m not confident in my ability to not make noise right now, and I can’t lie low before I secure a safe spot for resting. So I can count only on the luck of not walking straight into a monster.

On the other hand, the adventurers... They have the skills and the cunning to match. Just imagining what a bunch of rough n out in the wilderness would do when they find a lost girl wearing a slave collar was enough to send shivers down my spine.

Also, this is a place far away from civilization; the monsters around here aren’t a threat to villages, cities, or trade routes. So, the people just slaughter them to sell the materials in the city.

Which ans that most of the adventurers you may find in the wilderness are simply looking for a quick buck. And returning an escaped slave is a very safe ticket to a quick buck.

At so point, the first lights started to clear the sky. The clouds were parting, so I was able to finally see a bit better the world around . Then I set myself on the next step of my plan: finding a cactus.

:::

It isn’t even hard. As soon as I’m able to notice silhouettes at a distance, I spot one. I go at it and use the sword to cut a part of it. It is barrel-shaped and has big white flowers.

I cut out the spines of its top half very carefully to avoid hurting myself, then slice that part off the main body, quickly turning it upside down so it doesn’t spill its contents.

The ’water’ it contains doesn’t taste good at all, but it’s exactly what I need to quench my thirst right now. I send another thought of thanks to Mimby, almost like a prayer.

Now that I’m finally able to see sothing, I open the backpack I took from the henchn and survey its contents. I took it because I just needed sothing to store stuff in, but if it already ca with sothing useful, I wouldn’t complain.

It had a chunk of stale bread and a handful of small fruits wrapped in so cloth (probably the guy’s planned next al), a flint-and-still I won’t ever use at night but will be useful to cook during the day, a cooking knife with a simple sheath, a pouch with so coins, an empty waterskin that slls like was used to store alcoholic beverage by its old owner, and a vial containing a weird red liquid.

I look at the vial very curiously, even looking at it against the light that was expanding on the sky.

"Is this a potion?" I wonder, getting imdiately startled by my own voice.

Now that I think about it, I’ve been in a loud environnt ever since I was born in this world. The last hours were the first mont of silence of all my (new) life. It’s a balsam to my ears.

But back at the task literally at hand. Is this a potion? Sadly, I don’t have any cheat skills like Appraisal (my wet dream), so there are only two options. Or maybe three. I could throw it away, drink it, or store it until I learn what it is.

I open the vial and take a whiff. It slls nice, sothing like artificial strawberry-flavoured sweets. It doesn’t have any hint of alcohol, which is a good thing.

Vials with red liquids are associated with health potions in all RPGs I’ve ever played.

My jump from the wall didn’t kill , but it doesn’t an that I’m unhurt. Both the fall, the escape in the city, and the blind walk through the dark, in which I was constantly tripping, falling, or bumping into bushes and small trees, left severely bruised and with a lot of cuts all over my body.

Argh, I’ll do it.

I close my eyes and drink the contents of the vial in one go.

For a mont, nothing happens. Then, slowly, a sensation of well-being started to flow through my body. It was kinda drinking a warm soup made by your significant other right after you co ho from a day of working in the rain, but stronger and sowhat more comfortable than that.

And just like that, all the pains and aches on my body ceased. The cuts and bruises weren’t there anymore. It was indeed a health potion, thank Goddess.

So might call brave, so stupid. But, deep down, I know that I’m just addicted to the thrill of taking risks. And I sohow won all the fifty-fifties of the day.

There are days in which luck isn’t smiling as much, and I regretted for years so of the daring steps I took, back in my old life. But today, right now, zero regrets.

It’s the second ti tonight that I tell myself that I need to get into a position in which I don’t need miracles to survive.

This whole night was a huge string of miracles. Not eting a monster right off the bat while I was injured and without mana was another gamble in which I staked my life.

I don’t want to do it again, but I know I’ll do it again. That’s just .

Now, I need to find a safe place to sleep.