Kopii once again lay in bed for a whole day due to overexertion.
– Aaah... — Kopii yawned, getting out of bed. — Still hurts.
Stretching his muscles, Kopii thought, walking over to the wardrobe and choosing the clothes he would wear to gather herbs.
— Well... — Kopii said. — What a great selection.
After Kopii got dressed, he began preparing so that what happened last time would not repeat itself. He looked at the map — the road seemed long, and perhaps he would spend a whole week reaching the needed place; last time he had thought the same and had managed in three days. But looking at the map, he could say for sure that a week was the minimum. This fact did not please him at all, but he could do nothing about it.
This was his family, and he had promised Miach that he would always help when needed. He did not want to waste time in vain, and during this little journey, he decided to sort out his feelings and understand where this thirst had come from.
He remembered only one thing from that time: if he did not kill them all, he would not survive.
The first time this feeling of thirst had saved him, but the second time he had completely lost himself. At first, he could control himself more or less, but the more monsters he killed, the weaker his control became. And when he saw the ants, he simply lost his mind.
Kopii feared one thing — that he might attack adventurers, especially when he completely lost control. The main thing he wanted to learn was how he returned to normal. If he could understand that, then he could understand how to get rid of it.
Kopii walked over to the mirror and looked into his own eyes. He was afraid that he would completely lose control of himself. Casting these thoughts aside, taking his backpack, he left the room and went down to the first floor. Approaching Naaza, she raised her sleepy eyes and looked at him. Her tail swayed lazily, as always.
— I'm off.
— Alright, Kopii, be careful.
— I am caution itself. — Kopii said, exiting the Blue Pharmacy.
He headed towards the exit of the city of Orario.
---
Naaza watched Kopii leave, remained silent for a few minutes, and then spoke:
— Do you think this is a good idea?
Looking at the stairs, a few seconds later she saw Miach slowly descending with a pensive face. A moment later, he spoke:
— You understand it yourself, so it's better for now that he rests from the dungeon.
— This journey will take up his time, thereby slowing his growth.
— I understand, Naaza, — Miach replied. — You saw yourself that he has become more reckless. – He fell silent for a couple of seconds and then continued. – I hope this journey makes him a little more patient.
– Yes, indeed.
— And as for his growth. — Miach continued at once. — Yes, you're right, it will slow his growth. But that is better than him simply dying.
— Yes, I agree with you; let his growth slow, the main thing is that he stays alive.
For Naaza, this was the most important thing; during this time, she had grown attached to him, and if he died... She did not want to think about it.
---
Kopii finally left Orario. He opened the map and looked at it carefully.
— How far one must walk for such a small amount of herbs... — Naaza said they were quite expensive, so we will gain a lot from this.
He recalled her words, hoping they were worth walking so far for.
As Orario remained behind, the fresh air and the silence of the forests had a beneficial effect on his condition. The rustle of leaves, the singing of birds, the buzzing of insects — all of this created a soothing melody, helping him calm down. He had always loved nature; since childhood, he had always found his solace in these sounds. It was in no way connected to the fact that he had no friends, definitely not.
On the way, Kopii tried to analyze his feelings. He tried to understand what exactly provoked this thirst in him, what made him lose control. He simply wants to live. That is what he so greedily feels when he loses control.
By evening, Kopii found a suitable place to spend the night. He lit a campfire, prepared simple food, and settled comfortably by the fire. Gazing at the flickering flames, he decided to change his approach to studying the thirst — to study it from its root, to understand where it had come from. That was the main question.
And he did not have to think long about this question. As he understood it, this feeling had appeared simply because he wanted to live. But immediately another question ripened in his head.
«And is that normal?»
However many books he had read, he had never heard that the will to live could be so strong. At that time, he felt no pain, no fear, no fatigue, and felt stronger than his current self.
He began to think about how these two cases differed from each other.
And he understood that everything had been different, when he had first felt it and when it had happened the second time. The second time had happened after he killed the War Shadow; the feeling had immediately overwhelmed him. The first and second cases were completely different.
But what he felt was the same. Both the first and the second time, only the situations differed, and that was all.
Kopii stared into the fire, trying to grasp the elusive thread. His reflections brought no clarity, only tangling him further.
Kopii looked away from the campfire, took the sleeping bag out of his backpack, and, spreading it out next to the fire, settled in for the night. The first thing he understood was what bliss it was. During his first herb-gathering trip, for some reason, he had not taken a sleeping bag, and had suffered the whole journey lying on the cold ground.
But now he had a sleeping bag. And it did not take him long to fall asleep.
Kopii woke before dawn. A slight chill ran through his body, and his head was still a mess. He hastily breakfasted on the remains of yesterday's food, gathered his things, and set off. The day promised to be long, and he had to cover a considerable distance before reaching the needed place.
Towards noon, Kopii made a halt by a small stream. Filling his flask with fresh water, he settled in the shade of a sprawling tree to rest and think over his further actions. He took out the map, looked at it for a few minutes, and put it back.
— Mm. – He mumbled in disappointment, realizing that he had covered only a quarter of the way.
This fact greatly upset him. He doubted this task more and more.
«Are they really worth it?»
But he had no choice but to keep walking. He wanted to reach his destination as soon as possible. As he moved deeper into the forest, the landscape changed — the trees grew taller and denser, and sunlight barely penetrated through the foliage. Kopii felt increasingly lonely, but the sounds of birds calmed him.
Suddenly, Kopii heard a loud crack of branches. He stopped abruptly and listened. The sound repeated, now closer. Quickly grabbing his backpack, he slowly drew his sword from its sheath, preparing for a fight. Looking around, he tried to determine the source of danger. Soon, a huge boar burst out of the bushes, bristled and ready to attack.
Kopii felt relief — it was just a boar.
— What are you, a boar? You're not tough. — Before he could finish, the boar charged at him abruptly.
Kopii leaped aside and climbed a tree. The boar clearly did not like this action. It began ramming the tree, hoping it would help, and when it tried to back up and charge again, Kopii jumped down, aiming for the neck. After the successful attack, he barely had time to rejoice that there would be meat today when the boar screamed and ran away.
— Hey, dinner, where are you going? — Kopii exclaimed. Now he regretted not cutting off the boar's head when he could have.
He threw his sword at it, hitting its leg. But the boar still kept running, now with the sword.
— Are you insane, boar? Give me back my sword! — Kopii quickly ran to his backpack, grabbed it, and followed the boar's blood trail. After some time, he finally saw the boar lying dead.
— How tenacious...
But Kopii stopped abruptly and realized:
— And where is my sword?