...

He carefully placed all six fishes on a slab of stone he found outside. Thankfully, there was a river not too far from where they slept and he managed to catch fish by using his magic. Placing a bunch of sticks he found underneath, he then pointed his fingers at the sticks and lit it up with a tiny bolt. Not wanting to destroy everything, he tried multiple times using only very minimal mana, and soon enough, the sticks caught fire and the stone began to heat up.

'Magic is easy.' He told himself whilst controlling the fire, wrapping it around the stone and the fishes. 'All I have to do is think of it and it just works.'

He was bothered by how incredibly easy his magic was to activate. All he needed to do was think of whatever he wanted to happen and then 'release' his mana. It was so easy that he was able to catch the fish by the river just by flicking his hands up whilst thinking of said fish. His lightning skill was easy to understand, but his manipulation proved to be his long-awaited cheat skill. This skill allowed him to control just about everything, from the statues and the ceiling to even fishes itself. Although it required some focus, the skill was without a doubt, a very powerful cheat.

This cheat of his did have a caveat, and that was that he would have headaches when used. At first, he thought that it would create headaches whenever he used the skill, but later on, he found out that it wasn't the case. He managed to activate manipulation on certain things and his head was clear of any pain. He tried to piece together what exactly was different from all those objects that would activate this weakness, but his thoughts were disturbed by the rumbling of his stomach.

'Sorry, sorry...' He patted himself as turned his eyes over to the fishes, grilling at the makeshift pan. With his fingers, he lifted one of the fish remotely, checking it from underneath, and found it to have been fried rather nicely, that said he started to go nervous. He rarely ate fish back on Earth and would even have difficulty identifying a tuna from a sardine if he ever saw one, but now, he was staring at six such creatures all with different colors and sizes.

The only reason that made him sure they were fishes was that their shapes looked identical to a fish, but knowing that some can be eaten whilst others cannot he found himself unable to dig in and eat the meal. Thus, he decided to wait for Nicole to wake up and give her thoughts on the matter as she may be able to tell the differences.

'Ohh...' Just as Isaiah was thinking of her, she finally yawned and sat up, rubbing her eyes. She blankly looked around like a rabbit and found her foot wrapped in leaves and cleaned.

"Good morning." Isaiah greeted first,

Nicole replied late, "Guten Morgen." She then launched a fury of German words that Isaiah couldn't understand. Nicole looked at Isaiah and waited for his reply and the two were drowned in silence for a while,

"Sorry, but what do you mean?"

"Aah, forgive me... I, I thought you were a native."

"Is okay." Isaiah waved his hand once, 'And here I thought I actually had a translation skill... Why oh why does life not give me convenience.' He shook his head and saw Nicole examining her foot,

"Did you do this?"

"Yes... I saw a wounded deer rubbing itself on this, so I thought it might help."

"I see..." She then rubbed her thumb on the leaf and smelled it, "An Amora... It's good you got the Romada variant and not the poisonous Gilead, they don't exactly heal wounds but they do ease the pain... Thank you," She nodded before her eyes landed on the fish, "Is that breakfast?"

"Yes... I was waiting for you to wake up actually I don't know which of them is edible or not..."

Nicole crawled towards the fire and began to scan the fish, "I... Forgive me but I too am not sure,"

"Aah..."

"But..." She picked one out that looked more edible than others, "I don't think river fishes are dangerous to eat, as long as they are not the long ones they are relatively good, it's all about taste..." She rubbed her fingers on the fish and found them unscalled, she however didn't complain and instead took a piece of its meat and removed the skin presenting it to Isaiah before continuing her reply "About how many bones are there and the size of their meat," She then ate the whitish meat she picked up and her face showed that it was alright.

Isaiah nodded silently as he picked out a fish that looked edible and ate it as she did, removing the skin and eating only the white meat inside. But the silence which ensued was too demeaning for him to handle and thus, trying to engage in small talk, he asked, "By the way, what did you tell me just a while ago?"

"Ah... That?" She lowered her head, "I was just saying, about my foot, and... And," She turned her head slightly to Isaiah, "Forgive me, but I was asking if you touched me at night or not?"

"What... No... No, I didn't..."

"I know." She replied, "I was... Nevermind."

"..." Isaiah remained silent, he didn't know just how to reply to her words and decided to remain silent throughout the meal.

Having rested awhile, both Nicole and Isaiah then scanned their surroundings, having left the swamp and taken shelter near one of the trees.

"I don't see anything at all... Maybe we are safe?"

"That might be, but where do we go?" Nicole asked.

"Well... East as you said? We can meet up with this associate of yours,"

"Father's." She corrected before continuing, "That said, I doubt we might be able to, the guards had left towards east, I believe they would be waiting in ambush for us."

"I can fight them,"

"No... You've done enough. It's best if we rest, you don't look so good... There. We can walk towards the forest in that direction until we see a road, then we can rush towards lord Steiner's lands and seek refuge in the cities or villages... Maybe we can even meet my brother on the way..."

"Why didn't we head there in the first place?"

"The main road. I believe it's safer now, the guards would be more occupied with looking at places the slaves might try to escape that they would leave places they won't, unguarded. Hiding in plain sight." She grinned, "Now then, shall we go?"

Isaiah stared at her,

"Yes?" Nicole found herself blushing lightly from his looks,

"You... You are different from last night?"

"Ah... Well, you don't know where to go, and like, I do, so... So I decided to take the lead."

"Aah, right... Well, I wasn't talking about that... You know what, lets just go."

Their trip north was uneventful and they soon found themselves out of the forest and into a long clearing where a packed-clay road was laid. They followed after the road but when the sun above became unbearably hot, they returned to the trees, sheltering themselves from the heat whilst keeping sight of the highway as they moved. Both remained silent as they had no water supply. Even though he no longer had to run, the taxing march still took its toll on his body and they had to rest every now and then.

"I feel bad." Isaiah gasped as he closed his eyes,

"Why?"

"I... I am too weak for long distances. Sorry for slowing us down."

"It's alright," Nicole replied, she too was equally tired but not as tired as Isaiah was, "You just lack exercise is all."

Isaiah wasn't too sure if that was an attack or just something she said without care as her face remained aloof.

Once again, they resumed their march and just as the sky was getting colder, Nicole stopped and pointed onwards, "Horses, men riding them..."

Isaiah tried to squint his eyes but all he saw was the vast emptiness of the highway ahead, "Let's get a closer look then?" Isaiah asked and she readily agreed. As they walked a few more kilometers, Isaiah soon noticed a small unit of horsemen, one of whom was carrying a banner whose symbol he could not distinguish.

"I can't exactly tell..."

"That... The family crest!"

"Which family?"

"Ours, I mean, mine... That's Ervin."

"Ervin?"

"My brother... He... He is here, there, over there the one with silver hair that's him!" She pointed to a certain rider who unlike others did not wear any headgear, the man was busy speaking to another soldier. Nicole soon ran away, so excited she must have been that she forgot about Isaiah who stood back at the forest.

'I see...' He told himself and continued to look, only when he had confirmed her safety would he turn back.

There was a reason he gave his second name instead to Nicole, and that was because Isaiah was aiming for her hand. However, she was a noble. And nobles really care about one's background so much, meanwhile, Isaiah has a very dubious background. If he ever wanted to have a remote chance of getting to marry her, then he would need to build up his credentials first.

First, he would need to remove his slave status. Then he would have to build up a reputation.

He already had the power to achieve his goals, now he only needed the means. And there was only one place in a fantasy world where those two could be easily achieved.

'Adventuring guild.' He told himself, 'I have good magic, I just need to go there first and then make myself some stacks.'

He may even meet other women he would grow to like, who knows? But first things first, he has to get stronger and richer, then once he finally has the standings that a noble would go green in envy for, he will find her back,

'Alto von Bismarck,' He commited her father's name to memory, 'I shall return!'

***

Attua looked over the sky with his slanted eyes, though the sun's rays were hot and bright he showed not one bit of concern as he watched the hawk which flew above him in a circle. To his side, Ervin von Bismarck, heir apparent of Duke Alto and Nicole's brother, sat on his horse with his eyes turned to his right closely examining the caravan that was slowly making its way to the highway.

"Attua? Any news." Ervin asked as he noticed him look down,

"It seems so," The man replied as he pointed his hand north-west, "Stahl seems to have found something over at that direction,"

"Are you sure?" Mammon, a large man came over with his arms crossed, the massive sword on his back was nearly as long as he was as tall, "We've been scaring the poor merchants and travelers around here as we come to them all armed..."

"I told you to leave the others behind..." Hansel, a young blonde knight looked over at the band of 50 knights as their escort, "That doesn't look friendly to those people you know."

"Nothing we can do about it, lord Ervin here is the heir to the family, and we are, after all, in lord Azerback's territory. Though the war had ended 20 years ago, there are small skirmishes happening here and there." Mammon removed his helmet and rubbed his forehead, "That said Prince Ervin, are we going to have to fight against Titan? Your father is generous, sure, but I cannot spend all my salary if I just die."

"Whereabouts your loyalty now?" Hansel crossed his arm,

"Loyalty is good and all but dying for someone else is a different matter."

"Don't call me prince," Ervin quickly replied, "Secondly, as long as I get my sister back there is no need to fight against him. I appreciate the concern Hansel but it is indeed true, I'd rather have you all alive than dead."

"As God wills it." Gama came over with both his hands folded as if in prayer. His white and green priestly garment was adorned with a rosary while a simple scepter hung on his back, "I have already offered my life to the Almighty, if I have to fight and die, then I fight and die."

The priest's words made them all silent as they looked at him with weird eyes, though he was subjected to such looks he nevertheless maintained his calm smile and instead pointed to his left, "As the Lord says, lady Nicole will arrive from the left,"

"Aah..." Hansel raised his hands in a shrug, "You and your god, again... How many times do I have to tell you,"

"Hold on..." Attua stopped the young knight as he looked up, "Stahl..."

They all looked up and saw the hawk suddenly fly over to their left, it was there they saw someone running towards them out of the forest,

"Nicole..." Attua gasped as they all squinted their eyes to look, he happened to possess the keenest senses of them all. Hansel turned to Gama with a shocked face,

"As the Lord wills it," Gama spoketo the baffled Hansel, "But it seems that we might have to fight against the large Knight now do we?"

"Right..." Mammon took out his sword as they prepared for battle, "Let's go get the lady and scamper off..."

***

"My lady, it is so good to see you all safe," Mammon quickly unfurled his cape and handed it over to Nicole who covered herself, Hansel and Gama took up the spot in front of them with their weapons poised and ready.

"Herr Mammon, my brother where is he?"

"Here..." Ervin replied with a flat voice, though his eyes were full of concern his face showed not one bit of his emotions, "That said, is Titan after you?"

"Brother? No... He, he is defeated by... Huh? Nicole looked back and couldn't see Isaiah, she began to frantically look everywhere but found no trace of him "Where... Where is he?"

"He, my lady?" Mammon asked,

"Yes... Herr Peter, he was here with me..."

"This Peter, was he who helped you escape?"

"Yes. He even killed an assassin chasing after us and managed to best Titan in battle!"

"What!" Hansel yelped, "Sur-surely you jest."

"Oh no... He really did,"

"Then if he did..." Hansel gritted his teeth, "Should we go look for him then?"

"No need..." Ervin replied, "There are a lot of Peters in this region, a man who beat Titan and calls himself Peter, its clear he doesn't want to be known."