Fight for a Living

by Sophia Schmidt

  In exchange, I will keep your personal meat safe and sound. Also, whenever you cook for me, we will share the meal evenly. Deal? Selia offered him her hand."

  It was still a rip-off, but it was his only option.

  Deal. I have only one rule. I don't do laundry.

  In the next days, Lith's house resounded with much more laughter and joy than usual. Him bringing game home had raised some questions, but nothing he couldn't explain easily.

  The food helped everyone relax and let go of the stress of the past. Even Lith and Orpal started to smooth over their relationship, limiting the glares and insults to a couple every day.

  More importantly, Lith could finally start practicing martial arts again. His routine was very simple, hunting in the morning, magical training in the afternoon, martial arts at night.

  Thanks to the Invigoration breathing technique, Lith was now able to stay up for almost a week before being forced to rest.

  He would sneak out of the house as soon as his Life Vision spell confirmed that everyone was asleep.

  Once outside, he would create mud dummies with earth magic to both practice martial techniques and temper his body. His first priority was the footwork.

  Maybe it was because he was only four years old, or maybe it was the lack of activity due to the previous constant hunger, but his body was embarrassingly clumsy and lacked coordination.

  Whenever someone threw anything at him, even a chestnut from a meter away (3 feet), he would either miss it entirely or dunk it on the floor.

  Lith knew that despite his spellcasting being very quick, especially spirit magic, it was not instant. He could not afford to become a sitting duck as soon as someone closed in too much.

  Magic was powerful, but not omnipotent. What good could Lith being able to topple mountains possibly do, if the only thing necessary for a random thug to kill him was to sneak up on him?

  Even back on Earth, Lith had always thought that considering mind and body as separate entities was dumb. Exercise had always allowed him to relieve his stress and relax his mind. Exactly like studying always allowed him to perform at his best, be it at work or martial arts.

  Brute strength was just violence, pure intellect was just ideas with no substance. Only when mind and body were trained together could the body perform as the mind required.

  About a week after Lith had begun training, something happened.

  He was alone at night, practicing footwork by circling around the dummies, when he felt that something was wrong.

  Pain burst from his mana core and quickly spread to his whole body, accompanied by head-spinning nausea like he had never experienced before.

  "What's happening to me?" He screamed inwardly. "This can't be a bottleneck, the last one resolved just yesterday and no bottleneck ever felt like this."-

  Soon he started gasping for air, unable to stand up anymore and writhing in pain.

  "I can't die! I don't want to die again, not after enduring so much. I refuse to become some slave in a distant galaxy or an old man waiting for death. I've had enough! I refuse to die!"-

  He used all his willpower to convert every iota of his mana into light magic, fighting off the affliction that was tormenting him, but to no avail.

  The pain got worse and worse, his power incapable of keeping up.

  When he surrendered, the burning sensation was finally free to rise all the way up to his mouth.

  Then he started puking lumps of a black, sticky substance that looked like tar, but smelled like something had died and rotted for weeks under the summer heat.

  They were the size of a nut, but the strain he felt was akin to having barfed two elephants walking side by side.

  The stench was so bad that, even in his incapacitated state, he found the strength to summon some dark magic to destroy them without leaving traces.

  Lith spent the next minutes spitting, drinking, even eating grass to get rid of that revolting taste in his mouth.

  When everything returned to normal, Lith was too exhausted to practice, so he had to use Invigoration to return his body to peak condition.

  As soon as Lith started executing the breathing technique, he discovered that he was now able to sense his mana core with much greater clarity.

  While absorbing the world energy with Invigoration, he could feel and manipulate the mana flowing through his blood vessels and his organs to the point of being able to visualize even the residual magic in his hair.

  Despite his eyes being closed shut, Lith could see inside his body as if he was observing a state-of-the-art 3D full body scan.

  Still dizzy, he tried performing the footwork exercise again. Lith's movements were still far from perfect, but he no longer felt like he had two left feet.

  "It's an amazing improvement considering that, until a minute ago, my goal was to stop tripping on my own feet. I wonder…" -

  Lith stretched forward his right arm with his hand opened, applying spirit magic to the heads of the dummies.

  The best I could do before, with so many targets at once, was to squeeze them a little, and now...

  He clenched his fist, faster and harder than ever before.

  The dummies' heads popped like balloons.

  Chapter 16: Encounters

  During the following days, Lith made several discoveries about the changes he had undergone. His body felt lighter than ever, all his physical abilities were augmented, all his senses were sharper and had been heightened, compared to before.

  There had also been cosmetic changes in his appearance. The moles on his body had visibly shrunk, his skin was smoother than after a Spa treatment back on Earth, plus most of the freckles around his nose and eyes had disappeared.

  Lith took note of all these changes, trying to come to grips with what had happened. He could not care less about the beautifying effects as, even with no moles and freckles, he still looked like a crude hillbilly.

  If his mother had passed anything on to him, he was unable to notice. Unlike his sisters, Lith had nothing of her beauty or grace. Elina moved like a ballerina while he was rough and clumsy enough to feel like a caveman.

  Lith had deep set eyes like his father, a high forehead, and a nose a little too big for his face.

  He wasn't ugly, but not even a little cute. The best he could give himself was a solid, plain six out of ten. Lith's only hope for improvement was the teenage growth spurt to get rid of his thin and scrawny build.

  Figuring out the changes in the mana core required even more time. Lith understood that his mana had undergone a qualitative change, becoming purer and denser.

  This allowed him to cast stronger spells, also reducing the time he needed to manipulate elemental and spirit magic, resulting in faster casting speed.

  Through Invigorate, he could now spot the presence of that tar-like material scattered all around his body, in his organs, blood vessels, and even his neural pathways.

  Whenever he used the Accumulation technique, he could feel the smaller tar-like particles being pulled toward the mana core, while the bigger ones would fragment over time, shrinking in size before actually moving.

  Confident in his new strength, Lith started going deeper into the woods, hunting for bigger prey. He was no longer afraid of predators. Instead of avoiding them, he started looking for them.

  Lith wanted for his family to have enough fur to make a set of warm clothes for everyone. He was sick of being forced to wear so many layers of clothes during winter that he was unable to walk properly, swinging every step like a penguin.

  The problem was that Lith still moved through the forest making a lot of noise, exuding enough killing intent to scare away anything that wasn't stupid or desperate enough to stand in his way.

  It was only thanks to the Life Vision spell combined with spirit magic that he was still capable of hunting. The spirit magic range had expanded to over 30 meters (32.8 yards), so he could easily kill any animal that tried to escape by climbing up a tree or by taking flight. />
  When Lith wasn't able to catch anything, he would shoot down any bird that made the mistake of flying within his range.

  One day, Lith was exploring a new area of the Trawn woods, hoping to find a fur wearing meal, killing two birds with one stone.

  While looking at a small mound, his Life vision spotted three lifeforces hiding a few meters underground. They were not strong enough to be predators, but they were big enough to be the perfect lunch.

  If those are rodents or other smart animals, there could be more than one exit. I have no time to waste, I'll force them out!

  After getting on the highest spot of the mound, always keeping both eyes on the prize, he used earth magic.

  Magna! The ground around him started to shake, making the burrow and the small tunnels collapse. The creatures started panicking, taking the most direct route out.

  Lith started running, following their underground movements as close as possible, not letting them get out of the spirit magic range.

  From a well-hidden hole near a bush came out three big, fat rabbits, two of them still wearing a snow-white fur.

  Lucky! Lith screamed while snapping his fingers, forcing the rabbits' neck into a 180° turn.

  I'll keep the brown white one for myself while I'll trade the other two pelts with Selia for a larger amount of lower quality fur. Today is really my lucky day.

  Lith was so used to being alone in the woods that he always thought out loud, which helped him to break his sense of isolation. He hung the rabbits to his belt by the ears and started walking toward Selia's house.

  After a few steps, Lith heard an odd sound closing in. He had never heard it before, so he started looking around for its source. Soon he could see two horses in the distance, galloping in his direction.

  F*ck! It seems I have been too loud. Fight or flight? To answer his own question, he activated Life Vision again. The horses were just horses while the men were far from impressive.

  The one taking point was barely as strong as Selia while the one behind was even weaker than Raaz, Lith's father.

  Lith forced himself to hide a cruel smile. "Well, well. My first encounter with complete strangers in this new world! Are they good people? I bet that humans are humans everywhere. This would mean that they are a**holes! I can't wait to find out!"

  Lith stood there, waiting for them to arrive.

  The first man was clearly a servant, dressed in a hunter suit made of leather of low quality with a crest on both his chest and shoulders. He was an unshaven middle-aged man, with pitch black short hair, mean and angry eyes sitting on a face worthy of a mugshot.

  The one behind him was dressed in a suit of much better quality, probably brand new. He wore the same crest on his chest, but this one seemed to be made of silk and was embroidered with gold.

  He was a kid, maybe sixteen years old, with a handsome face and the build of a swimsuit model. The tight-fitting leather emphasized his muscular body moving in tune with his horse.

  Lith felt really pissed off and he knew exactly why.

  I really hope he is as much of a d*ck as he is handsome. Otherwise, not only will I be forced to start to believing in prince charming, but I will also die of envy.

  Hey, kid! The servant had a rude tone of voice. "What was that noise from before?"

  Lith put on his best innocent expression, playing wolf in a sheep's clothes.

  Good day, sir. It was just me hunting. I'm sorry if I scared you. Lith's voice sounded genuinely apologetic. He wanted to give them the benefit of a doubt.

  Where did you get those? He said, ignoring Lith apologies and pointing at the rabbits.

  From a rabbit hole. They are my game. Lith smiled, keeping watch on both of them.

  Give them to us, now. They will make a perfect muff for my mother.

  The handsome youth also had a beautiful voice.

  If you are really sorry, you should offer us proper compensation. Even a commoner like you should know the basics of decency. He said with a mocking smile.

  Lith dropped the act as if it were a live grenade.

  Seriously? Robbing a kid in broad daylight? Don't you have any shame?

  Kid! The servant rebuked. "Do you know who are you talking to? He is the son of baron Rath, lord of these lands."

  Lith started laughing out loud.

  Please! Trawn woods has no owner, except maybe count Lark. Stop spewing bullsit just to cover your sorry as. And besides, do YOU know who are you talking to? I am the supreme mage!

  See what happens when you waste your breath on commoners, Korth? The young noble took up the short bow he carried on his back, nocking an arrow. "They are just too stupid, it's in the nature of things."

  He shot the arrow with a perfect aim towards Lith's heart.

  But Lith was far enough and had kept many spells ready on his fingertips. With a wave of his hand, a strong gust of wind hit the arrow on the side, making it spin out of control before harmlessly hitting the ground meters away from its intended target.

  Despite being flabbergasted, the young noble was able to keep his cool, nocking another arrow while ordering Korth to kill the kid.

  Lith raised his left hand, freezing Korth in place with spirit magic while, with the right, he took control of the arrow that slipped away from the youth's fingers before stabbing him in the eye.

  The youth fell from his horse, screaming in pain

  To think that I even bothered giving you guys a chance to get out of here alive. Lith sighed shaking his head.

  Wait! If you kill the young lord, you and whoever you love will die! Think about it.

  Lith started laughing again. "Really? And how could they ever find out what happened here?" Lith moved his left thumb and Korth noticed with horror that his right hand was moving against his will, unsheathing the hunting knife he carried at his belt.

  Wait, please! Have mercy! Don't do this, you are just a kid! He begged.

  So, when you want to kill, you kill. But when you lose, I am supposed to show mercy? The spite in his voice was palpable. Lith lowered his ring finger, bringing the knife to Korth's throat.

  Since you are just a servant, I'll give you a clean death. With a flicker of the little finger, Lith forced Korth to cut his throat from ear to ear.

  Then he approached the young noble that was still writhing in pain, uncaring of what just happened to his loyal servant.

  As for you, you are the kind of guy I hate the most! With one hand, Lith kept him frozen at mid-air while he used the other to punch him nonstop.

  You have f*cking everything! Money, beauty, a bright future, and all you can do with such treasures is screw those who are already struggling to survive?

  Lith hated humans more than everything, even back on Earth, the only thing keeping his rage in check was his responsibilities towards his family.

  In the new world, there were no cameras, no GPS, nothing. There was only power and for once he was the one holding it.

  You know, I have a very ill sister. Lith said after venting out. "I could never practice darkness magic on living beings because using it on animals is just plain cruel. You, on the other hand, are just a monster with the face of a man. You will make a perfect specimen for my research."

  Trawn woods resounded with screams for hours before death could come to claim her prize.

  Chapter 17: Encounters (2)

  While Lith was approaching Selia's house, he felt a profound sense of shame tormenting him.

  It's a shame to waste so much good equipment and horse meat, but I have no plausible excuse for it. Our farm could really use a couple of horses, but what if someone recognized them? Too many risks for so little reward, destroying everything was the right thing to do.

  Once he had finished with his experiments, Lith used darkness magic to wipe away any trace of what happened, turning everything into dust.

  Selia was so excited seeing the two rabbits, she let slip how she had a dire need for them to fill the order of a very generous client.

>   Respecting his master's teachings, Lith exploited the situation.

  Hunters don't do favors, they make deals. He quoted.

  In exchange for the snow-white rabbits, Lith managed to get a full set of low-quality warm clothes and Selia would personally tan the remaining pelt for free.

  That and the three rabbits ready for the cooking earned him great praise from his family, except Orpal. Over time he had started to consider all the food that Lith brought home for granted, so his hatred and envy returned stronger than ever.

  "That little Leech! Hunting with magic is easy, any idiot could do it. Everything he does is a slap in my face. I never get the respect that I deserve as the firstborn and it's all his fault! First, he flaunts his luck hunting, then he plays martyr, asking mother and father to let a piece of trash like Tista be the first to have fur clothes. What can Tista possibly do with them? Getting ill with style? No, Lith did it on purpose.

  He knows that my stupid parents still resent me for telling the truth about that cripple. Lith only did it to make me lose face. -

  The truth was quite different from Orpal's self-centered interpretation.

  Lith really loved Elina, Rena, and Tista, while Orpal was never on his mind. He cured anyone in the family without being asked to, except for Orpal. Not out of spite or anger, but simply because his existence was irrelevant in Lith's eyes.

  If Orpal lived or died, it was not his problem. He would not do anything to harm him, but would not help him either. For Lith they were complete strangers living in the same home.

  The reason why he had wanted Tista to be the first to benefit from his luck, was that Lith hoped that with warm enough clothes his sister could finally spend more time with him and Rena during winter, playing in the snow.

  In Lith's eyes, the image of Carl would often overlap on Tista's visage. He loved them deeply and both of them were victims of a cruel fate.

  Lith wasn't willing to let anyone or anything, not even a congenital condition, take his loved ones away from him.

  He suffered at the thought of how little of life she could enjoy. To give Tista the opportunity to experience speed and the feeling of the wind on her face, Lith built a swing for her with the help of their father, Raaz.