The Witch's Relay

Chapter 49: Mages' Longevity

"F-fifty-three! How is that even possible!?" I take a couple steps back and look Heather up and down. There is no way, right? Is this another one of her jokes? Looking at her face she does look amused, but also serious.

"It's the truth. Just give me a second and you'll understand."

"Okay.."

"It has to do with the mages' longevity, which in short means that the more mana you have, the longer you live." She smiles. "I suppose the long explanation isn't much longer since it is quite straightforward. Obviously, humans constantly regenerate, but the older you get, that regeneration slows down significantly. This is why old people don't heal from wounds as fast as young people. Mana however preserves the body and improves the functions of it, so the result is that the regenerative properties that are inherent to humans, gets preserved for a while longer. This keeps us younger longer, and our lives are extended in proportion to the amount of mana that we hold. This sum however usually isn't all that exaggerated, and mages' lives are usually only extended by between twenty to fifty years, but there has been cases of exceptional mages who have had their lives extended by an entire century. I will most likely end up somewhere between the normal amount though, but that is enough to preserve my appearance up until now. From here on out, I will most likely start aging normally, as if I just became thirty as a regular person."

Wait.. Does that mean me as well!? That would be crazy!

"Unfortunately for you, that doesn't include yourself." She looks a bit downcast and I give her a questioning look. "Since your body inherently rejects mana, you don't gain that ability, at least to the extent that normal mages do. And since my youth will most likely end soon, it would appear that we will probably age at about the same rate."

"That's.. No fair.."

"I suppose not. But at least you can cast fast."

I glare at her. "I'd rather have a longer life."

"Don't get me wrong, you will probably gain a few years of youth, but most likely not more than five. It's better than nothing."

Whatever. I guess I'd have to make it there anyway. For now I'll focus on just staying alive. It's not like I feel gypped or anything. Pfft.

"Enough of that for now. Let's do one more mock battle and then we take the day off."

I shake my head clear of all my thoughts and try to get myself hyped up. "Okay, let's do this."

...

Of course when she said "take the day off" she really just meant no more sparring, and instead afterwards it is time to acquire some dinner, which means hunting. Although Heather did come with me to help, so it should be pretty easy.

Rabbits are usually pretty- well.. relatively easy to catch in the mornings since they are all out eating the grass soaked with the morning dew, but during the evenings they are a bit harder to get and oftentimes stay hidden inside of their burrows.

Usually the method hunters would prefer to use is to set up a trap outside of their holes, but even though we haven't done that, it doesn't matter, because we have another, quicker, method up our sleeves.

We find a system of rabbit burrows and carefully make note of every entrance, and once we've finished that, we cover a few of them with various fabrics, and one of us, me this time, goes to the hole with the highest elevation. While Heather waits for a rabbit to rush out and get tangled in one of our makeshift nets, I start casting a spell to create a continuous flow of water into the burrow, flooding it.

At first nothing happens, but after a couple minutes when the burrow starts getting filled and water starts flowing out of the other holes, the rabbits inside also start to flee.

Most of the dozen-or-so rabbits get out and away before Heather gets the chance to do anything, but when two of the rabbits rush right into a cloak we spread out over one entrance, they get slowed down enough for Heather to strike and kill them with a staff.

Dinner acquired.

It is important to not only eat rabbit though. Apparently rabbit meat lacks a great deal of nutrients, so if one were to only eat rabbit for a time, which is almost what we've done, we will with great certainty get sick.

So to stay healthy we eat it together with some edible plants that grow out here. Although they do arguably steal flavor away from the meat.

An image of a cheerful Vannessa in the inn flashes before my eyes. I look forward to eating some more complex meals again. Out here you can't afford to be picky after all.

I sigh. I realize that the whole reason we came out here is to avoid people, but somehow I miss being around them. Not that I feel lonely, Heather is always around and I genuinely enjoy her company. But It's different somehow. Maybe I'm simply a bit too extroverted for this hermit lifestyle.

Looking at the flames glistening in Heather's eyes, I relax a bit and smile. I haven't given up on Sara, but maybe in a sense I am finally getting detached from my previous life, not completely, but enough that right in this moment, I wish for nothing more in the world than for this peace to continue on forever.

I can feel a warmth fill my cheeks, one not from the fire.

"How is it that it's always the hardest days that have the most satisfying endings?" Heather asks almost as a statement rather than a question. Her voice is so soft that I barely even make note of it.

Before I have the chance to answer she continues. "It's a question I've always asked myself but never found an answer to. Someone once told me it's because we are inherently restless."

I stare up at the constellations. The darkness reminds me of a deep abyss. "Who knows.."

"That's what I thought as well.."