Quin started his training with some basic strengthening exercises, the ones he had done a million times already. A couple of them were more difficult than previously, for example the push-ups, as the difference in strength between his arms was quite significant. He also wanted to go for a run, however, he would not just leave the girl alone. Especially not when the lake was only about ten meters away and falling into that can easily mean one’s death. Maybe I should hire a babysitter? Do they have one here? It is a tourist town and there are obviously times when families don’t want to bring their child somewhere, so they should have one, I think. Alright, I’ll check it later.

He only stopped his training late in the afternoon. Damn, these exercises aren’t enough. I can feel that my whole body is still filled with this energy! Though I do feel tired, these simple exercises just can’t use up enough energy. Hm, I should definitely get some equipment, I just hope that this town will have them. But I think it’ll be enough for the first day and although thanks to this healing energy I need less food, I’m starting to get hungry. Besides, I should use the remaining of the day to check some of the shops. Well, if they’re still open.

He picked up the still sleeping girl and after taking a quick bath, he went outside to look around.

The town was bustling with life even though it was already past seven and the majority of the shops were still open. Quin visited quite a few of them searching for items he needed, but he also did not forget to ask around whether someone knew anything about the girl. At first, he doubted that he would find many of the things he wanted to buy, but it turned out that these shops actually had a great variety of merchandise.

Quin purchased several sets of items needed for his strengthening exercises, from simple weights to barbells. However, his favorite one was an all-body clothing which was made from a material that was quite heavy, yet still flexible. There were several types of it, with varying amount of total weight. These clothes were perfect for his training plans, as just simply wearing them used up a lot of energy and not to speak about actually doing various kinds of exercises.

They were quite expensive, but naturally, Quin had no problems regarding an item’s cost. Unfortunately, he still did not find out anything about the girl, who at some point woke up and as usual, started to chew on him.

“You’re hungry again, huh? Don’t worry I’ll get you some food right away,” Quin said smiling and he was sure that when he said the word food the girl’s eyes brightened. “Food,” he said again and just like he thought, her reaction was the same as before. “It seems that it took you only a few days to learn the first word you can understand and who’d have thought it’d be actually food.” He could not stop laughing for a few moments.

All-in-all she was quite a nice and good kid -- of course excluding her bad habit of seeing him as her food.

Dreon, help me! Aline... Alinor... No, don’t leave me! Quin suddenly woke up in the middle of the night from his nightmare, drenched in sweat. He dreamed that he was attacked by a swarm of Shriekers, but even though his friends were there, none of them helped him and he was eaten alive. Damn! He calmed down a bit after a few moments and then noticed the girl babbling. Well, it seems like sometimes it’s not bad at all that she woke me up with her talk. He let out a small laugh.

Quin could not go back to sleep that night either. Despite that he had already experienced terrible things in his life and this was only a nightmare, it felt entirely real and frightening. He could even clearly remember the feelings and emotions he had when the Shriekers surrounded him and when they started to devour him. It reminded him of Dreon, and his death’s again.

Only after a few hours did he manage to calm down completely, when it was already in the morning.

Eventually, the girl also woke up and then they went to the cafeteria to eat. Of course, Quin did not forget to visit Fei either.

“Good morning,” she greeted him.

“Good morning, have you found out anything?” Quin asked.

“Sorry, but there are no missing kids in the town and nobody heard anything about her. Maybe she is from somewhere else?”

“Thanks for your help anyways. Well, maybe that’s true, but if I’m not mistaken even the closest settlement is more than three days away from here.”

“You are right, but there are also travelers on the road and perhaps she is the daughter of one of them. I think if they are looking for her your best bet is staying here in Hounxi,” she said. “It is the closest town to the place you have found her, so if they cannot find her I think they are bound to visit the local settlements in the hope that somebody had found her. By the way, I have talked with a few of my friends in other inns and they told me that they will inform me if someone was looking for their missing child.”

“Thank you, and anyways, I did plan to stay here for a longer period of time,” he said with a smile. “Oh right, do you know whether this town has some kind of babysitter service? I can do a lot of my training while she’s nearby but there are few, like running, which aren’t so feasible with her and I wouldn’t leave her alone next to the lake.”

Fei looked a bit taken aback for a few moments and then said smiling, “You know, I think that girl is lucky to be found by you, someone who truly cares for her, despite that it is not his duty.”

“Thanks,” Quin said, a bit embarrassed. It was true that he was used to getting a lot of praise, but he was not sure anymore how much of that was because of him and how much was because of his element. It felt great to have such a strong and unique element but during his journey, he realized that it was all due to his luck. Quin knew that he was hard-working for a long period of time but he started to wonder whether that would have been enough without his special element. Could he have become the same genius he had been with the simple earth element? Could he have really achieved the same strength as Mang? These were things that often came to his mind but he did his best to not dwell on the past and instead concentrate on the present.

“But back to your question, we do have some babysitters and I can give you a list of them if you want?” she asked.

“Yes, thank you.”

After a quick search, Fei found the paper which listed all of the available babysitting services Hounxi had.

“I have circled the better ones, however, the one I would recommend the most is this one,” she said and pointed at one of them.

“Alright, then I’ll check that one out first,” he said. “Thank you for your help, again.”

“Don’t worry about that,” she replied with a gentle smile.

Fortunately, Quin did not have to waste a lot of time on selecting the best one from the list, as the one recommended by Fei was perfect for him. The one who would be looking after the girl was a nice and friendly middle-aged woman, called Xia. Quin did not have to leave the girl there as she also agreed to come to the inn Quin was staying at. It was not that he did not trust them or Fei’s recommendation but he wanted to make sure everything would be okay on the first days. Furthermore, the girl was not just like an average child so he was a bit afraid that something would happen. However, if they were at the spa not too far away from him, then everything would become easier.

Another great news for him was that Xia could start right away thus he did not have to miss out on an important part of his training again. Alright, at least I do have luck, sometimes.

By the time they arrived to the spa, the girl was already sleeping.

“She’s like that, she eats an inhuman amount of food -- more than me -- and then after about an hour or two falls asleep for half of day,” Quin said laughing.

“Really?” Xia asked and it was quite obvious that she did not believe him completely.

“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t believe it either, but you’ll see it soon,” he said. “Anyways, I’ll be around the lake somewhere, just let me know if there’s anything you need.” Xia nodded and after putting up the clothing he had bought yesterday Quin began his first lap around the lake with great excitement.