Chapter 17

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

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

There was a problem though. She and Mika were only mildly intrigued by the trip, but Steven was positively fired up by the chance of letting himself go.

It was hard to tell if that was the reason for him driving this way, but the other possibility was 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 were of getting help was dashed when she saw her friend with her eyes tightly shut.

It was not the speed per se, that was the problem. It was how Steven took turns and bends. He did it while barely slowing down, which in addition 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 while trying to not let her desperation seep into her voice.

"We don't want people to see us, and the place we chose is perfect, not even marked on maps!" Steven argued. Silva could swear that she saw an evil smirk on his face, if only for a moment. He, himself was fine, as his physique was bolstered by his ability, which Silva was sure, was being abused right now. "And it is not dangerous. With my reaction time, I could avoid any danger within a moment." Her fears were affirmed.

At last, Mika opened her eyes as she spoke up. “You should be more careful, my father would be mad from anger if anything would happen to his car!”

Steven seemed to be thinking about it for a moment until he gave Mika a glare as he surrendered. “Fine! Spoilsports.” He acted like he would slow down, but then 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 showing that Steven was actually slowing down and it allowed to gather her thoughts. At least now she and Mika were not abruptly tossed from one side to another... As much...

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

At least they were not doubting her words. The account she had given was unclear even when she had tried to word everything as simple as possible, just as her actual attempts at feeling the energy. There still was one thing she had not mentioned, the fact that the energy she had found in herself was similar 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 similar 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 expressions turned worried. “Not the same! It was different, but the similarities are there.”

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

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

After some 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 scenery passing by was nice when she could actually see it. Anything too close to the window flashed past too fast.

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

There had not been any further discussions about the nature of Silva’s discovery as three of them enjoyed the scenery. Or Silva wanted to think they did. Mika was currently more busy with needling Steven about not being careful enough and not avoiding the holes and him complaining that the road was one giant hole.

Silva had to admit that the road was in a 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 planned routes and where they have spotted any tracks. This place is entirely empty now. Until last 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 is not that many of them and all of them wants 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. At one side there were some abandoned buildings and a gravel road that lead further up the mountain. At the other side of the field, there were rocks of all sizes thrown about it with a larger 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 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 place 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 only because their trainer had noticed how disproportioned was the weight he lifted when compared with his actual body.

Here though, he 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 with a little exertion lift it from the ground. The spectacle was certainly impressive. He could not lift it above his head but the weight of the thing had to be enormous. Steven dropped the rock after a moment and started to laugh refreshingly.

Girls left him to his antics and started to discuss what they would do. At some point, it was planned 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, she 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, yea, 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 anytime soon as he continued to play with his rocks. Now he was smashing several of them together making a veritable cloud of dust as a result.

Ignoring the loud noise behind them Silva explained what she would try and 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 at least gave her something to do. At least the autumn meant that there were no bugs around to bother her.

Silva started to slowly walk 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 when using it she also could not communicate with anyone. A thing 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, there did not seem to be any results. She was sure that the effects of her ability could be altered, he just had to do it right.“Maybe I have to change something about how the energy is flowing 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 had gone by she finally felt like she could influence her ability in a way that was beneficial. By forcefully using more of the 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 glare 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.” came Mika’s answer, but it only 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?”

Mika shook her head and then turned to look away from her. Silva was about to clarify what was wrong, but the next moment Mika was again looking at her, so she let it go, instead, she choose 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! 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 with a face that was wondering of 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. And Silva knew that it was not unwarranted. Those last 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 if 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 still was holding on to her upper arm she had gotten hold of when she had hurried to catch her. 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.

After once again immersing herself in her inner world Silva immediately understood what had happened. 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 being fine Silva returned her attention to the surroundings. Mika now was much closer to her and looking at her face from the side. “Is there something on my face?” Silva asked as she brushed her sleeve against her cheek.

“Ah, no, a smudge? It is gone now.” Mika let go 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 in 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 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, true, but if I could increase the amount of energy in me it would sort out itself.”

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

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

"What? Stumble on flat 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 of how long it would take for Steven to get bored of playing with rocks. “Judging by the maniacal laughter 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 outing.