"C-, could you slow down just a bit more?" Silva asked, but she already knew the answer, as she had asked the same question several times.

  She was sitting in the back of Mika's father's car, clenching her fingers around the handle above the window.

  There was a problem, though. Silva and Mika were only mildly intrigued by the trip, but Steven was positively fired up by the chance. And the enthusiasm had manifested in a very unpleasant way.

  It had to be that. The other possibilities were too scary to imagine. Normal people did not drive this way, and the damn safety belt gave her no feeling of any safety at all.

  "We can't! We still have to be back by dusk." Steven reasoned.

  Silva sent a begging look to Mika, but her hopes of getting help were dashed when she saw her friend with her eyes tightly shut.

  It was not just the speed that was the problem. It was how Steven took turns and bends. He did it while barely slowing down! It meant that they were being tossed around the car.

  “Surely we do not have to drive that far away? And isn't it dangerous to drive this way?” Silva tried again. She kept her voice even, trying to not let her desperation seep into her voice.

  "We don't want people to see us. And the pce we chose is perfect, not even marked on maps!" Steven happily argued.

  Silva could swear she saw an evil smirk on his face, if only for a moment.

  Of course, the asshole himself was fine. His physique was bolstered by his ability. Silva was sure he was abusing his power right now.

  "And it is not dangerous. I could avoid any danger within a moment. My reaction time is boosted by being awesome."

  Silva’s suspicions were affirmed.

  At st, Mika opened her eyes as she spoke up. “Y-You should be more careful. Dad will kill me if anything happens to his car!”

  Steven seemed to be thinking about it for a moment until he gred at Mika as he surrendered. “Fine! Spoilsports.” He acted like he would slow down, but why did this bend feel even faster than the previous? “Anyway, you were talking about that energy thingy in our bodies.”

  Still, the speedometer was proof Steven actually did slow down… A little.

  It was enough for Silva to gather her thoughts. She and Mika were not abruptly tossed from one side to another... As much… So, it was an improvement.

  Silva had been trying to tell her friends about what she had discovered, but the conversation had been choppy due to someone’s driving.

  At least they were not doubting her words. The recount she had given was unclear despite her trying to keep it as simple as possible. But her friends listened thoughtfully, which made her grateful.

  There still was one thing she had not mentioned, the fact that the energy she had found in herself was simir to the one at the Refuge. She could not imagine it going over well.

  “Um, there is another thing, the energy inside me, you know, it… I kind of think it is simir to one other thing.” Checking if her friends were paying attention, Silva continued. “So, you remember that time I kind of broke into the warehouse?”

  “We do.” Mika was sending a look her way full of suspicion.

  “Well, that floating bead-”

  “We probably need a better name for it.” Steven inserted.

  “Yes, well, it kind of felt like the energy inside me.” Silva noticed that her friend's expression turned worried. “Not the same! It was different, but the simirities are there.”

  “Do you think it gave that energy to you?” Mika specuted.

  “No,” Silva shook her head. “This energy is definitely mine, and that one is not.”

  After asking some other questions, her friends sunk into their own thoughts. Silva was content to just sit and wait. She had already tried to figure it out but had no success, and the scenery passing by was nice when she could actually see it. Anything too close to the window fshed past too fast.

  They were now close to abandoned rock mines, a bit more than half an hour's drive from the Oldsteel. The road had turned bumpy as they made another turn. It had not been taken care of for years - not even covered in asphalt.

  There had not been any further discussions about the nature of Silva’s discovery as the three of them enjoyed the scenery.

  Or, Silva wanted to think they did. Mika was currently busy needling Steven about not being careful enough and not avoiding the holes. And now Steven was compining that the road was one giant hole.

  Silva had to admit that the road was in bad shape, but she was happy enough that she did not have to suffer Steven’s reckless driving anymore.

  "Are you sure there won't be any of those wolf hunters around here?" Silva asked Mika as they finally reached their destination. Steven was still trying to find a suitable parking spot.

  "They have their own app to mark their pnned routes and where they have spotted any tracks. This pce is entirely empty now. Until st week, there were some people in the general area, but now that the wolf has moved away, there is no one." Mika tapped on her pocket where her phone was. “In the end, there are not that many of them and all of them want the wolf’s head for the reward.”

  As Steven finally found a spot he deemed good enough, they got to exit the car, and Silva had the first deep breath of the fresh mountain air in a long time.

  It was an open field surrounded by dense foliage, which got sparser at the further side of it. On one side were some abandoned buildings and a gravel road that led further up the mountain.

  At the other side of the field were rocks of all sizes thrown about it - with a rger pile of them at the very edge.

  "Finally, freedom!" Steven shouted as he ran down the field to the pile of rocks. Somehow, he had managed to leave most of his clothing behind, with only a T-shirt and shorts left. Even his shoes and socks were left next to the car.

  Silva and Mika gave him disbelieving looks but did not stop him. He was most stifled by holding back, after all.

  There was no pce in the city for Steven to let out his energy and not get unwanted attention. At the gym he had attended some time ago, he had to leave because their trainer had noticed how disproportioned the weight he lifted was compared to his body.

  Here, Steven was free to run as fast as he wanted. And from the looks of it, lift as big of a rock as he wanted. Both girls watched him grab a rock almost the size of his body and lift it from the ground.

  The spectacle was certainly impressive. Steven could not lift it above his head, but the weight of the thing had to be enormous. After a moment, he dropped the rock and started to ugh, clearly feeling refreshed.

  Girls left him to his antics and started to discuss what they would do. At some point, it was pnned to slightly hurt Steven so that Mika could practice, but first, they would let them have his fun. Silva also had a suspicion that if Mika tried to injure Steven right now, it would not be all that light. Her friend was still grumpy from the trip here.

  “In the end, we could just walk around?” Mika finally suggested.

  “Um, is that a good idea? There is still a forest around us. It’s safer here, you know.”

  “Well, yeah. But, look. It is a nice day, right? And we just sat for a long time. We could really use the chance to stretch our legs.” Mika reasoned.

  “I guess if we don’t go too far off?” Silva supposed. “And we could try out some things regarding my ability meanwhile.”

  “But then I would not be able to see you?” Mika tilted her head.

  “Isn’t that the point? We came here to do just that, did we not?”

  “Ah, ha-ha, of course!”

  Silva started to walk closer to the tree line with Mika in tow, leaving Steven to his own devices. It did not seem like he would calm down soon as he continued to py with his rocks. Now, he was smashing several of them together, making a veritable cloud of dust.

  Ignoring the loud noise behind them, Silva expined what she would try. Mika nodded in agreement as she started to tear leaves of some kind of a bush absentmindedly.

  Afterwards, she tried to slowly mend them. The process was slow and tedious, but it gave her something to do. At least the autumn meant there were no bugs around to bother her.

  Silva slowly walked away from Mika’s position as she slipped under her abilities cover and started to talk loudly. The nice thing about her ability was that others would not hear her.

  The not-so-nice part was that she could not communicate with anyone while using it. It was something she was trying to remedy. She did not go further than a few meters from where Mika was and tried to find a way to let her voice carry freely.

  It was a monotonous and boring process, but one Silva was doing diligently. However, she had nothing to show for it. She was sure that the effects of her ability could be altered. Se just had to do it right.“Maybe I have to change something about how the energy flows inside me?”

  Pure guesswork, but she had no better ideas, so she stopped and tried to feel out the power and how it flowed. She had already forgotten that she was also supposed to be talking constantly.

  After a better part of ten minutes, she finally felt like she could influence her ability. By forcefully using more energy, she felt her ability strengthen. She closed in on Mika and stopped using her ability.

  In the process, she startled Mika and earned a condemning gre from her. Still, Silva had to make sure she was not wrong.

  “Hey, I think I got something.” Silva started but stopped right after. “Are you sulking?”

  “Am not,” Mika looked up.

  But the gesture made Silva sure of it. The only problem was that she had no idea what had caused it. She had been around and had not noticed anything happen to her friend.

  “Did something happen?” She finally decided to ask.

  Mika shook her head and then turned to look away. Silva was about to crify what was wrong, but the next moment, Mika looked at her, so she let it go. Instead, she chose to continue with what she had discovered.

  “I think I managed to change something about my ability!”

  “Oh, I don't think I could hear you though?”

  "Not that! It is something else. I'll start walking over there, and you give a sign when you can see me again."

  Soon, Silva had crossed the distance that exceeded her previous best by a good five meters. When she looked back, she saw Mika looking in her general direction, wondering what she was up to.

  After keeping herself hidden for about ten more meters, Silva started to feel light-headed. After five more, Mika finally spotted her and started to walk towards her.

  "Are you okay?" Mika's face was full of worry.

  Silva knew that it was not unwarranted. Those st few meters were the hardest she had ever walked and had left her winded and powerless. She almost fell while trying to sit down on the ground.

  Mika rushed to help and grabbed her by her hand, then gently assisted her in her attempt to sit down - even though Silva felt it was unnecessary, it was still a nice gesture.

  “I am fine.” Silva took deep breaths. “Just let me check something.” She did notice that Mika had squatted next to her and was still holding onto her upper arm.

  Silva was about to point out that she could not fall any lower than the ground she was sitting on. But when she saw Mika looking at her with eyes full of worry, she stopped herself.

  Silva immediately understood what had happened after immersing herself in her inner world. The steady stream of energy she had been accustomed to was now barely a rivulet. She felt the energy already returning, but it would still take some time.

  After assessing the situation and seeing everything was fine, Silva returned her attention to the surroundings.

  Mika was now much closer to her and looking at her face from the side.

  “Is there something on my face?” Silva wondered as she brushed her sleeve against her cheek.

  “Ah, no, a smudge? It is gone now.” Mika let go of her arm and rapidly stood up. “So? What happened?”

  It immediately brought Silva's attention back to her success. "I managed to increase the effectiveness of my ability!" She beamed a proud smile.

  “I see... Is that the reason you are now so spent?” Mika inquired.

  "Well," Silva shifted into a more comfortable position that did not have a pesky rock stabbing in her backside, "remember what I told you about the energy in me?" Mika nodded, and Silva continued.

  "I managed to increase the amount my ability uses normally, and by using that energy, I managed to extend the range of me being undetected. Neat, huh?"

  "'Neat' is not quite the word I would use to describe it," Mika looked down at her and straightened her clothes. "For me, it looks like a very dangerous. You can't even stand right now."

  “Well, I guess? But it would sort out itself if I could increase the energy I have.”

  "Assuming that is possible." Mika sighed. "But there are some clear applications there. Just… Just be careful."

  Silva thoughtfully nodded. “Do you think you'll be able to do the same?”

  "What? Stumble on ft ground?" Silva was not amused, and Mika then gave a more serious answer. “It depends. I have not felt anything like you have described." She shrugged. “Are you feeling better now?"

  Silva did feel better, but it would take some time for her to return to a top condition. At least using the ability was a big no for now.

  For a moment, she wondered how long it would take for Steven to get bored of pying with rocks. “Judging by the maniacal ughter, it would take a while.”

  “Yes, wanna go and see where is that road heading?” Silva measured how much she could walk in her head.

  “We can do that!” A joyful answer arrived in an instant. It seemed that Mika, too, had started to enjoy this trip.

  Enkiari