I wake up where I fell asleep, Evan shaking me awake.

he says in a pretty neutral tone.

I get up and I notice instantly that both my back and neck are hurting… like a lot, and I can’t muffle the groan of pain I let out.

Evan remarks.

I say in a whiny voice… not really to keep up the act but because I never woke up with so much pain. It was only pain though, and I could still move normally, so after a few tries to raise I get up winching and groaning in pain.

.

Lionel this time chimes in with a chuckle: .

I say.

Telling them I’m an easy kill might not be the best way to go about it, but, they might think it's ok if I die if I don't tell them, and I need to face it… I’m not really that cunning, if I pull the wrong lie out it's gonna come out to bite me in the worst moment.

Marina says

I answer, sounding defeated, as I think that it's not likely to happen too soon.

Marina pats me on the head and says: her tone encouraging.

I nod and ask a bit more cheerful: .

Lionel says: and then he gives me a pat on my aching back which gets a snarl of pain out of me.

Lionel tells me jokingly and then adds .

I nod and do so.

The day goes by pretty quickly, I sit in the back of the wagon for most of it and I used that time to practice changing form… let’s just say that it wasn't the most productive I have ever been… but now, I think, I can at least attempt to change form and not take 10 minutes to do so, I’m still far from being able to change mid-fight.

Anyways we reach some kind of village by the end of the day when it's already night, only stopping towards midday to have a meal, which I refuse, as I had enough tasteless both.

The village has a wooden log wall all around it with one single gate, the area around the village has been logged and used for farming. The inside of the village is not much more interesting, it's nothing more than about 10 crude houses built all bunched up together.

Lionel and the others stop just outside of it and tell me to stay in the wagon, which I oblige, as I'm curious about humans in this place, but not curious enough to risk being pitchforked to death, or killing someone and becoming hunted.

Lionel and the others go into the village and come back a few hours later.

Lionel tells me that after whatever happened at the fortress shrine the village has a problem with a pack of wolves and a bear having moved towards the village, and now they cant let their animals pasture in the nearby fields as they don't have enough guards and hunters to deal with them and that he took on the job of thinning out the wolf pack, the bear was a bonus.

Lionel finishes.

I nod, hoping it's gonna be just normal wolves and normal bears… it is still scary to have to go against a pack of wolves, but there were 4 of them, with weapons and magic… normal beasts shouldn't have a chance… Right? Anyways, after they go to sleep I start worrying about the hunt, it's not like I am tired anyway, but I can’t even practice changing forms. I am so worried about being weak and useless… I really need something else I can practice or just a way to kill time… I’ll ask the adventurers if cards are a thing in this world.

Still, I can't sit all night worrying, so one thing I can practice by myself that can be good to have down is climbing, so, I just run to the nearby woods and practice climbing and staying on top of trees, which well its kinda easy when you have claws, given they are not climbing claws, and not made to grip but tear, but they are better than bare hands.

The night goes on as I learn how to position myself right and grab onto the bark first and then the branches, making sure I grab the healthy big ones and not the flimsy or dry ones. I fall only a dozen times, but all in all, I manage to take my mind away from the hunt and learn to climb a tree in a pretty quick fashion. Next time is gonna be jumping from tree to tree practice.

Morning comes and I go back to the Wagon just in time to see the adventurers coming out of the wagon and stretching, Lionel wearing the last few pieces of his armor while sitting at the back of it.

Evan approaches me and says he says it with a straight face and that makes me sweat bullets a bit but then seeing my distress he laughs and says:

Well for sure I wasn't fresh, but still had plenty of energy. He walks a bit away from the wagon and then tosses me a pair of chainmail gloves:

I do as he says and the training starts. He shows me posture and teaches me what to look out for, which thanks to my keen senses is fairly easy, my problem is seizing the moment where to strike and I end up getting punched myself many times. I get the hang of Fighting after most of the morning spent punching each other.

Evan tells me

I nod profusely, it makes sense and it was obvious that a human can't teach how a wolf fights unless he studied them, but I was at least a bit confident in my clawing skills.

Next Evan gives me a stiletto, I saw this weapon in a few games I played… I think it's supposed to be more about piercing than slashing, to get through tough skin or into the opening of armors.

Evan tells me and then takes about an hour making sure I know the stance and motion. It is a dodge and stab fighting style where you need to exploit an opening and then go for a vital point with the sharp-pointed blade, not that hard to learn, but for sure hard to master. I can't wait to get some training weapons and practice with them.

With that, the morning passes and it's time for Lunch for the adventurers, this time it looks like they bought food from the village and Marina asks:

It seems like they bought some fresh meat and cheese, still no salt, but probably they don't have any in a village so small.

I accept and they give me some sausage cooked on a hot stone with some melted cheese on top, and I have to say that the taste is great, lacks in salt, but it's good. Still, since I’m eating just for taste I don't ask for more and let them enjoy their lunch, as they also have bread and what looks and smells like beer. I have always been a lightweight when it comes to alcohol, so I don't even think about asking for a taste of it… the last thing I want is to be drunk when the fight happens.

When they are done eating Marina cleans the crumbs from her robe and says:

I ask inquisitively

Marina answers.

Ok, so basically I’m just a battery that requires electricity to charge, and humans just charge by themselves, I might actually ask them to teach me how to hunt, so I can get some amount of extra magical energy, as long as it's something with enough life energy to be worth the effort.

Marina asks me, seeing me deep in thought: .

I snap out of my train of thought and nod, she takes me to a place that I suppose it's an empty farm plot because the ground looks plowed… I wonder why it’s not planted… as the weather is not cold so it can't be winter, but whatever, I'm no farmer.

Marina says:

I follow the instructions and it’s fairly easy, it’s not much different from changing shape, instead of molding the energy inside of me I need to push it out… but it’s like a rushing river, and after a few fiery accidents I manage a small steady flame.

Marina says excitedly.

I scratch the back of my head and say:

Marina waves her hand dismissively at me and says Then she yells over at Evan and Lionel who were getting their gear ready: