I'm currently sat down with the blond girl right in front of me, none of us has said a word for a while now. It seems she's too embarrassed to say anything and I'm thinking of how to approach this situation.

*sigh*

Seeing that the current impasse is not taking us anywhere I decide to be the one breaking the ice and carrying this awkward conversation.

"I see, no problem with you being broke if you really want to repay me for helping you, all you have to do is work for me for a while."(Protagonist)

I say with a serious expression and tone, not showing the slightest hint of pity for her.

(I've been trying to think of a way for her to pay up, and I concluded that she can be my subordinate for a while. She showed some decent magic understanding and with her help, I should be able to properly level up and hunt my food.)(Protagonist)

I thought to myself as I have concluded that she can still be useful.

"Hum... I'm sorry to complain considering I almost killed you when you, right after you saved me but can I know exactly what kind of subordinate we're talking about here? Just know that I won't engage in any romantic or sexual activities!"(blond girl)

She had a displeased expression and a disgusted tone as she expressed her worries to me

(It seems she doesn't see me as a threat considering she almost killed me, so is properly expressing herself.)

"No worries, I have no such Intentions. I only want a hunting partner, in other words, I want to form a party with you."(Protagonist)

I say in response not bothered by whatever she thinks of me.

(She's cute and all, but I'm not interested, and even if I was that's not how I would go about it.)

I think to myself as I look at the blond girl, she has long hair that reaches her back, her face is very cute, and her white skin seems extremely smooth, her green eyes remind me of emeralds I've seen in jewelry shops and on tv, and she's wearing a white robe with some red patterns. 

The robe doesn't allow for much exposure, but even so, it's quite obvious this girl is as flat as a washing board. Also, she's carrying a wooden staff with her.

"Oh! Is that all?"(Blond girl)

She said seemingly surprised and suspicious of my proposal. She's a little too easy to read.

"I assure you that's all I need from you since you don't have the money to pay."(Protagonist)

I say with a slight smile and extend my hand to seal the agreement.

*Sigh*

She sighs and seems to be unhappy with the current situation.

"I'll be honest with you, I don't trust you at all, but I do know you didn't do anything suspicious to me until now, so I'll agree to this for now but know I won't hesitate to attack at any suspicious movements."(blond girl)

She said with a serious expression and I could see that she's not just a carefree girl, if I'm not careful I'll be in trouble.

"understood, I look forward to working with you."(Protagonist)

I say as a courtesy.

"Hey! Don't just say that without introducing yourself, I'm Sasha and I guess we'll be working together for now."(Sasha)

She induces herself after criticizing me for not doing it, then she extends her hand and shakes mine.

(I don't have a name, what do I do? Do I try and give myself a name? Nah, that doesn't go well with me.)(Protagonist)

"Sorry, but I don't have a name."(Protagonist)

I say the truth bluntly, as there's no reason for me to lie.

 (Besides I don't like lying unnecessarily.)(Protagonist)

"What? Really?..... I forgot that monsters don't commonly have names, I'm sorry for my rudeness."(Sasha)

She says apologetically.

"Don't worry, it's not a big deal. Anyhow, I think we should get started with our hunting since we are already here and...."(Protagonist)

I say as I don't mind it, at this point, I'm used to not having a name to some degree. Then I continue to talk about how we should go about hunting but get interrupted midway.

"NO! NO! NO! It's nighttime! I'll sleep and we can talk about that tomorrow. I slept badly earlier and there's no way I'm going to hunt monsters in my current state."(Sasha)

She interrupts me and rants about how it's not a good time for that, and as much as I would like to say otherwise. I can't cause she's right about it.

"Fine, I'll give you until tomorrow morning, but don't even dream about slacking off."(Protagonist)

I say agreeing to wait until tomorrow morning.

"Great! We can talk about anything else tomorrow, right now I need my beauty sleep. Good night."(Sasha)

She says as she gets up moves to the other side of my home's area then starts chanting some magic then proceeds to sleep as calmly as possible.

"This girl's a little too relaxed, isn't she?"(Protagonist)

I say since she seems to be accepting the situation a little too well.

"I wouldn't agree, since she just used an intermediate grade control spell to protect herself."(Sophia)

"Oh, that explains how she just fell asleep so calmly. I guess it's good that the person who's going to hunt with me has the notion of caution. Now, since I have nothing else to do right now, I guess I should go back to practicing the earth element... But I better go away, so I don't wake her up."(Protagonist)

I get up and move a considerable distance from where Sasha's sleeping and go back to my training.

____________________________________________

As soon as I say goodnight I move to the other side of the area where we stand and then cast the spell <wind magic: Air cloak of protection>, even though it takes a bit of mana to use, it's completely worth it since it has a duration of 12 hours. As the name says it creates an air cloak around me, and it works as an invisible barrier stopping anyone from even getting close to me.

None of the monsters in this area should be able to trespass it. Having the spell set up I pretend to fall asleep to see how the goblin will act, of course, I don't trust him one bit.

But contrary to my expectations he didn't come closer to me, he went in the opposite direction.

(Is he going to call others, or am I wrong about him?)(Sasha)

As soon as he's far enough I get up and decide to follow him. As much as it may not seem like it to others I'm the daughter of a great magician, so even though all my equipment looks ordinary, it's actually of high quality.

My robes help me with the stability of my mana, speed of movement, and camouflage ability, while my shoes don't produce any sound, and even allow me to walk on all different kinds of surfaces. 

The last but not least one is my wooden staff that for extra mana allow me to cast spells faster and even reduces my mana consumption, but I can't use it all the time otherwise it will overheat and explode, the worst part is that it didn't have to be this way, it was put on the staff so that I don't depend too much of my equipment.

I very soon catch up with the goblin and find him sitting down alone, and as soon as I get close enough I can feel the mana in the air being concentrated right in front of him.

(Amazing! He can accumulate that much without losing focus... Is he perhaps trying to learn earth Magic in the middle of a forest?! Is he crazy?! There's even a mountain in the nearby area! The sheer amount of 'earth energy' will crush him!)(Sasha)

As I analyzed the process of the goblin's meditation technique, I got distracted and even forgot why I came here in the first place.

-5 minutes after-

(No way! Not only he being able to separate his mana from the atmosphere's mana perfectly, but he's also being able to do it while trying to learn earth magic in this environment.)(Sasha)

I say as I fail to understand why, he's trying to do this when he has this degree of understanding over mana control.

(It's basically knowledge that the higher the abundance of elemental energy in a certain area the harder it is to learn it, the easier it is to use it. That's basic!)(Sasha)

I'm trying hard to understand the purpose of this, but I can't.

(What he's doing is no different than self-torture! Is he an M?! Yes, that would explain this behavior. It's sad to see someone who could have been a good magician go to waste like this.)(Sasha)

I could only come to one conclusion, then I faced myself with disappointment. I thought I had finally met someone who could be a good rival for me, in my road to master magic, but it seems it's not meant to be.

I leave the goblin to his self-torture and go back to the same spot from before, but this time to actually sleep as the scene from before left me mentally tired.