Normally, one wouldn't burrow during the day and walk out at night in the Barrens. But this is the situation I'm in right now.
I don't think that I can keep awake for longer. I'm having a hard time right now trying not to fall asleep. I definitely need to burrow.
Why do I say burrow? Because that's literally what it's about.
There is a small animal that lives in this land and builds burrows for themselves and its family. It's a rodent, called koa'ty. They are a little bigger than a cat, and their burrows are the perfect size for someone like me.
Their burrows are always on the slopes of small hills, facing south, so the wind that brings moisture has an easier way in.
They are very easily scared and often leave their burrows behind if they sense danger. So all I have to do is find one and take it.
Which is easier said than done.
I mean, if they are inhabited by the builders, it would be the best scenario. Just some menacing sounds and the illusion of a monster, and the burrow is mine.
But if it's one that they have already abandoned, then it might have already been claimed by another living being.
Like sand scorpions, which are the size of a kitten and venomous.
Yeah, I don't want to fight that right now.
My mana reserves have recovered a bit, but I don't want to tap into them right now, as I don't want to be manaless if something happens to find me inside the burrow later.
Because, of course, Mimby isn't the only living being that knows about the koa'ty. And their meat is considered an easy dinner for a lot of beings, humanlike and not humanlike, in this wasteland.
In any case, they are my best shot right now, so as the corolla of the sun starts rising up on the horizon, I put myself to look at all south-facing slopes in search of holes.
:::
It doesn't take long to find some.
The first one exhales a nauseating stench. It looks like something is already dead in there, and it's a matter of time until the carrion eaters come, so I walk away really fast.
That's when I see a group of small animals that look like hyenas. They are all looking at me and at the burrow I came from.
I freeze.
They seem to be hesitating, then I remember some videos about hyenas themselves. They prefer easy food to menacing food, so I use a small illusion to refract my image in the air, to look like I'm getting bigger.
They quickly scatter and then run towards the burrow. It seems that, monsters or animals, some facts of biology remain the same.
:::
The second burrow, one kilometer away, seems better.
There aren't any strange smells, it looks abandoned.
Before poking in, I use the lightning bolt aria, tweaking it and making an effort to release just a little bit of mana, and cast it into the burrow.
There's no reaction. No movement on the ground, no sound, nothing. Then I cast a spell to emanate a bit of light and look inside, holding my sword in my hands, pointing forward.
Nothing.
It's empty.
I crawl into it. Like Mimby told me, the interior is just the right size for me to fit comfortably with some room to move.
I crawl back out and look around. Soon, I find what I was looking for, a bush large enough to cover the entrance of the burrow. I cut it from its root using the knife I found in the backpack, and take it with me.
I enter the burrow again, place the bush on the entrance, blocking it, and check that it won't be just blown away by any wind. I leave the sword unsheathed, pointing to the entrance, as a safety measure, and finally allow myself to sleep.
:::
When I wake up, I take some time to understand what's happening.
I don't see anything, and I'm in a weird position. I breathe dust in front of me. Where is my bed?
Oh.
The memories of last night come rushing.
Okay, it seems that I survived my first sleep. I carefully push the bush forward and crawl to the world outside.
The sun is still up, it seems to be a bit past noon, and there is not a single cloud in sight. The wild expanse around me seems peaceful, but the sun's assault hurts.
It's my first time feeling the sunrays on my skin in this body, after all. I'm just not used to it, so I force myself to endure it.
I open the backpack and take the bread and fruits that were there. My first lunch as a free person.
:::
After I eat, I take my time to stretch and survey the area around me.
Then, I remember the pendant Mimby made for me and check that it is still there and whole. It is.
I take a deep sigh.
The next goal is to find her tribe.
Directly north of the city, there is an oasis called Yrasema. Mimby told me that the tribe would be camping there for some time, but that if I take too long, they won't be there anymore when I arrive.
I use the cloth that was protecting the food and rip it into strips. Then I tie them together to make a sort of belt, to which I hang the short sword.
So there's no time to waste. Using the sun as my guide, I proceed northward.
:::
As I walk, I mull over everything that has happened since I arrived in this world.
My heart aches for leaving my mother behind, but no matter how much I think about it, I can't find any way I could have been able to get her with me.
If only I weren't so weak.
I chuckle at the irony of the situation. In my old life, I was raised by my father alone. In this, by my mother alone.
So, in two lives, I have one father and one mother. I just wish they were both here with me right now.
Tears come falling uncontrollably, and I have to stop for a moment to control myself.
Damn, this body sure can't deal with strong emotions yet.
I take some deep breaths until I steady myself again.
I don't even want to think about how puberty will be. If even there was a spell to soothe emotions...
My mind gears start working again, and I replay all the spell words I know and the syntax of the incantations and how they interact with the elements.
Because that's what all known incantations in this world are: just wrestling the elements under the mage's command.
Concepts like spatial magic, time magic, and similar are completely alien to this world. Nevermind something like gravitational magic, when they don't even know that gravitational pull exists or how it works.
I've been testing using some Earth words here and there in my incantations, but the effects until now were unreliable at best. And the fact that I could only do it on harmless, subtle magic limited my experimentations a lot.
Now I can push forward and do more than wet my toes in the beautiful ocean of magic.
I mean, I will be able to do it as soon as I can settle somewhere for a longer time.
I was able to understand the base structure of the incantations and of the language of this world, and I've already noticed that both have different syntaxes from the languages I was familiar with back on Earth.
So it will take several rounds of testing and failing until I reach any desired result. And right now, I can't leisurely spend my mana.
After all, magic is my only effective weapon right now. And I'll have to...
A low growl snaps me out of my mental spacing and back into reality.
"Fuck."