Aldar follows Elene's call as she walks down the large mountain slope. Aldar picks her up and jumps off the cliff, running before his feet touch the ground. She screams as they fall, and after he finishes removing the momentum of falling by running, he speaks to the girl who wrapped her arms around his neck. "Would you be quieter? It hurts my ears." Aldar says with a low growl as he winces slightly.

  "Sorry... I was scared..." Elene says nervously. "Then please be scared quieter." Aldar says crossly. He double checks they haven't connected their mana cores before once again running towards the river. Elene freezes, slightly cowering from Aldar's grumpiness.

  "Here we are." Aldar says when he can hear the rushing sound the water produces. He guided himself there using the mana signal from the flyfish. At first, Elene hesitates. "Do your people take off their clothes when they enter the water?" Elene asks. "Of course they do, don't yours?" Aldar frowns.

  "They do... Just not usually in front of others." She hesitates a bit more before deciding she was stuck in this world for a while anyway, she might as well follow the philosophy, 'when in Rome, do as the romans do.' Besides, he couldn't actually see her anyway. It was probably fine...Elene takes off her clothes shyly, and swiftly jumps in the water. Aldar stores her clothes in his inventory, as well as his own, before stepping in after her. He felt the uncomfortable rush of the river as it very gently pulled him sideways. He struggles to stay afloat, and senses Elene dancing around in the water with ease.

  Aldar struggles to copy his student's fluid movements, and with a little awe he senses Elene leap out of the water like a flyfish. "Come on, Aldar! Swim with me!" Elene says with a cheerful voice from farther up the river, forgetting her earlier embarrassment. Aldar struggles against the slow motion of the river, and senses Elene beneath him. How is Elene doing that? He wonders. He lets himself sink while holding his breath, and then tries doggy paddling again. His movements are not as fluid as Elenes, but at least he was underwater. He quickly paddles to the surface, feeling the urge to get a breath of air, and realizes Elene was still beneath the surface. He would have panicked if he didn't know his student was moving against the river's pull just fine. He ducks under once again and rubs the dirt off his body like he sensed Elene was doing.

  Aldar gets out of the water and shakes off, deciding to dry off a bit before putting on his clothes. He didn't have to worry about Elene connecting their mana cores since the human flyfish was still in the water. He gathered a ball of mana in his hand, and struggled to shift the ball into an arrow. He felt the warmth of the sun on his skin, and he felt uncomfortable. He was ready to return, but Elene wasn't. He shook off the urge to return for the moment. He could put up with some discomfort.

  A few minutes later, he sensed Elene coming out of the water, so he used his inventory to summon his clothes directly onto his body, pulling on the gloves. "Ah that was fun... I still need to find something like soap though... Hey Aldar, do you have a towel?" Elene asks. "Towel?" Aldar parrots back at her. "To dry off with... guess not, huh? Then can you return my clothes? I guess they'll just get wet." Elene says.

  "I have some spare clan clothes. Want to wear that until you dry off?" Aldar offers, "You don't mind?" Elene asks gratefully. "Not at all. Here." Aldar says as he points at Elene. "Thanks, Aldar." Elene says as the clothes materialize on her. She stares at the clothes with awe after they appeared, but after another moment she tossed back the hood and treated it like it was normal- once again the aftereffects of her transfer kicked in, skimming the top off her emotions, making her more stable.

  "Let's head back. I'm starting to feel really uncomfortable." Aldar says. "Okay. Sorry Aldar." Elene says, a little chagrined. "It's fine, it's fine." He says, reassuring the downhearted Saviour. He picks up Elene. "Let's head back." He runs swiftly towards the cliff, and goes around the cliff face to a gentle incline that took much longer to get up, because he didn't want to accidentally drop his student.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "Tomorrow, will you show me how to fight?" Elene asked. "I think we should try to teach you how to use mana first." Aldar says. "I can't use mana." "What?" Aldar was so shocked, he stopped. "My world didn't have much mana, so not everyone has the ability to use it. My mana channels are too narrow to use mana. That's what the words on the purple tunnel said." Elene says, remembering the strange feeling she had running through the purple tunnel. "So you can't use mana at all?" Aldar managed to ask. "Nope. I can only store it." Elene said.

  Elene can't use mana? So it would always be this ugly, never able to use inventory, never able to sense or train. He should just drop this deadweight right here. Elene would not be able to help the clan as prophesied if it couldn't use mana. He swallows his disgust towards the Saviour, and continues carrying it back to the crevice. This wasn't just anyone who couldn't use mana. This was Elene.

  Elene had skills Aldar had never seen in an individual. On the first day, Elene displayed the ability to dissect beasts to find their weak points. Aldar had seen Elene's emotions begin to run wild due to the stress of an unfamiliar environment, but Elene managed to pull together relatively quickly, all things considered. Just today, he had watched Elene swim like a flyfish, something he didn't think humans were capable of. Elene may not be the ideal clan lady, but she had her good points.

  "Will you still teach me how to hunt, Aldar?" Elene asks worriedly, hoping he won't give up on her. Ever since he became her mentor, he became one of the few people in her life she decided to try trusting. It may have only been two days, but Elene was quick to realize no one was willing to talk to her. What he considered the bare minimum of respect to give his student, she valued it more than he knew. In a world unknown to her, these small acts of kindness helped her to adjust, and she had begun to see him as someone she could trust.

  When Elene fell off the ledge the portal had spawned her upon, he was the first to be there, helping her. That particular event was the largest factor for why she began to put her faith in him. "I don't think it's possible for you to learn to fight as we do. We all use mana." Aldar says. "I will find ways to compensate, if you will just explain what you're doing, and how you train." Elene says, swiftly turning down Aldar's attempt to dissuade her.

  "Well..." Aldar hesitated to waste precious hunting time on teaching someone who could not learn, but he remembered how elegantly she swam through the water. If Elene could learn to swim almost as if a flyfish, perhaps she could learn to cut almost as if a hunter. Besides, he had already taken her in as a student. He wasn't one to easily go back on his word, and he had known she was ugly ever since they first met. Somehow, he felt that he shouldn't treat her as he had been doing. Elene did have the proper attitude of a student. He should at least give her a chance.

  "Alright, but you'll have to practice on your own. We really feel uncomfortable in sunlight, so staying out for very long..." Aldar said awkwardly. "I understand, I will do my best!" Elene giggled happily, and Aldar just sighed. He set Elene down as they reached the Rock, and rolled it open so she could enter. She glanced one last time at the beauty of the outside world, and stepped back into the realm she couldn't navigate.

  Aldar guided her back to the crevice before heading up to the pile where all the hunters placed the food they had gathered that day. Aldar summons the beasts from his inventory, dropping them on the pile. Taking four chunks of boiled meat, he returns to Elene. "Thanks Aldar, I really appreciate you bringing me my meals." Elene says after Aldar hands her two pieces of meat. "You're my student, it's the least I could do." Aldar mumbles, pleased by the gratitude.

  His image of her was slowly shifting from the ugly outsider to his ugly student. Now, he actually felt like he owed her hunting lessons and other things she might ask for because she was really and truly his student. He had felt a sense of responsibility towards her growth and well-being before, but the feeling was engraving itself deeper into his brain with every interaction he had with her.

  Aldar tried teaching her how to train mana that day, just in case, but was disappointed when she failed. "I'll help you be a great hunter either way." Aldar had told her before they started. Now that she had failed, he would keep to that promise. It just hurt his heart to see someone with no hope at becoming beautiful or charming. He was disappointed for her, she would have difficulty in whatever she chose to do, and no one would ever take her seriously.

  Aldar thought that as her mentor, at least he should take her seriously. He would try to believe in her. Elene had swiftly worked her way into her mentor's heart, though only by a little bit. Neither of them noticed Sneakers eyes glint, reflecting a small light in front of him that quickly vanished when he blinked.