"I saw you fight in the Proving Grounds," my stalker declared, with all the seriousness of someone headed for the gallows.
"...Yes? And so did everyone else. What’s your point?"
"You fought like none of us could. You lasted longer than you should have."
"What’s your point?" I repeated, starting to lose my patience. The cat lady seemed determined to dodge the main question as long as she could, and the suspense was eating away at me.
"You were using your mana to do it. I saw it. I — I want that. I want that kind of strength, speed, and endurance."
I tilted my head at her. "Wait, you’re telling me this is about my body strengthening mana technique?"
"That’s an extraordinarily common name for a technique like that, but yes. If it’s what let you fight beyond your body’s normal limits, that’s the technique I want to trade for."
Shock surged through me, followed quickly by anger.
"You made me think someone was trying to assassinate me, over a foundational technique?" I didn’t exactly get in her face, but judging by her startled look, my hostility was clear.
She didn’t back down, though. If anything, my words seemed to light a fire in her. "Foundational technique? That’s what you call a treasure all of us would kill for? You’re treating it rather lightly. Where are we supposed to learn? How did you even manage to get it?!"
I opened my mouth to snark back, then closed it.
Reluctant as I was to admit it, she did have a point. I had no way of knowing what her life was like before the legion. But if it was anything like Hayden’s, then she had plenty of reasons to be angry.
Hell, Hayden was actually talented when it came to mana, and his trainers had done almost nothing to help him. No useful mana techniques. No regular skills. They just provided basic manipulation exercises, then promptly left him to his own devices. At most, they checked occasionally to make sure he wouldn’t accidentally kill himself.
I found this lack of education more than a little suspicious. Unless I was missing way more of Hayden’s memories than I realized, all he got out of the training camp was a half-baked competence with the sword.
And a honed body, of course. Also ingrained obedience towards demons, a ton of details on how to serve them, and several lifelong traumas. But who counted those, right?
Now, maybe Hayden was an exception. A kid they decided not to teach seriously, for some reason. An idiot who went on and somehow claimed the top recruit spot for his training facility anyway, guaranteeing his acceptance into the legion...
Or, as was far more likely, the trainers were just shitty and did a horrible job with everyone.
"They didn’t teach you anything useful in the training camp either, did they?" I asked quietly.
"No, they didn’t. So, I assume you somehow got the technique in this world?" Her voice was sharp and accusing, almost bitter.
I supposed she had cause to feel that way. Looking back on everything that had happened, I was rather lucky. Oh, I bled and struggled for every ’lucky’ opportunity I got, but things worked out for me more often than they didn’t.
In fact, how did I even get the technique? I absorbed it after the mess of my first battle. As I was back then, my chances of actually killing a person with that technique were low. It was probably bundled in with the many souls I stole by killing my fellow recruits, but I still wondered who its original owner was.
That was when I realized the limitations of normal rank soul memories. I knew the previous owner of the body strengthening technique thought of the skill as something basic. All his comrades were trained in it. But that was the extent of my knowledge. If the skill had come from a greater soul, the memories would be more extensive. I would know the exact school or order of the technique, and...
"Well?" the cat lady snarled, jerking me from my thoughts. Then she winced, refusing to look me in the eye. "I — I apologize. I did not mean to snap at you. I just... I really need this trade."
But when beginners started out with this technique, they needed to follow precise orders of strengthening, along with incredibly complex mana weaving patterns. If they weren’t careful, they could over-strengthen a muscle group and then crack a bone when they tried to use it. And honestly, that was the most benign accident they could have.
The Absorption Station gave me the technique pre-packaged with everything I needed to use it safely. My new friend would have to earn those skills herself.
"I’m not worried about working hard to learn," was her snappy response. I also noticed her tail do a weird flick, and her ears twitched in a pattern that had to mean something.
Somehow, I knew her body language was not meant to flatter me.
"Fair enough. Before we start this exchange, my name is Hayden. Feels weird to keep talking to you without knowing your name."
I held my hand out for a shake. After staring at me for a second, she hesitantly took it.
"Mia. My name is Mia." Her pretty gray eyes twinkled, and she offered me a tiny smile.
I fought the urge to wince away from her.
Frankly, there was a reason I knew almost nothing about the other recruits, and why I contented myself with nicknames that gave a nod to their species at best.
I did not want to get close to any of them.
I didn’t even want to see them as people.
If I did, then it would be so much more difficult if I had to kill them or watch them die. Things were much better as they were. We were just somewhat familiar faces to each other, no fondness or camaraderie muddying the waters when it was time to act.
Mia was watching me, eyes alight with hopeful expectation.
It’s just a trade, I told myself firmly. Good business. Practical.
I took a deep breath and forced down all my lingering reluctance.
"Are you fine with starting now? I don’t know how long it’ll take for us to pick up each other’s techniques, but there’s no point in wasting time," I asked.
"That’s okay. I’ve wanted something like your body strengthening for a while now," Mia answered eagerly, plopping herself down on the floor. "How do I start?"
I wanted to tease her about assuming she would get to learn first, but I just rolled my eyes and sat down across from her. "Okay, so, first you need to learn the order in which you’re going to be strengthening your body. Then I’ll pass on the mana weaving patterns you’ll be using."
It was... fun, talking to someone and exchanging ideas about how best to approach mana techniques. I couldn’t relax fully, not while hanging out with another recruit, but I did enjoy myself.
The thing is, I knew from the start I would enjoy it.
That’s what I was afraid of.
Even as we talked, a part of me wondered what I would do if I ever had to kill her. Would I be able to act as ruthlessly as I had in the past?
Or would I hesitate, and pay for it?